The Lawson Boys: Alex (29 page)

That was what
was important, he thought. She understood, she accepted, and she’d
moved on.

At that moment
she looked up at him, and he knew that if they were to move on with
their lives he had to accept her decision. Like it he didn’t have
to, but accept it he had to, for her sake. And for Harly’s sake,
he’d do anything.

“Mr
Bentley.”

Her father
straightened and looked around at him, wiping a tear from his eye
but meeting Alex’s gaze with a steady, determined one of his own.
Not backing down. For that, you had to respect a man, and Alex
nodded slightly.

“Alex.” Mr
Bentley said gravely. “We love our daughter. Never think we
don’t.”

“I know you
do.” He took a deep breath. “And I love your daughter. I’ll take
good care of her, she’ll never want for anything, and no matter
what happens, I will be there for her.”

“Even when
thousands of miles away?” her mother whispered.

“Yes,” he
replied. “Me, my family if I’m away…you, her parents.” It was a big
concession, but the glow in Harly’s eyes was worth it.

Boy, did she
owe him. He’d had to choke that last part out. The fact that he had
to mean it was a bitter pill to swallow, but what the hell…Harly
was happy.

“Never doubt
it.” Mrs Bentley’s reply was fierce. “We’ll always be here for
Harly. No matter what you think.”

“It’s all
right, Mum.” Harly squeezed her hand before standing and crossing
over to Alex.

Placing his
arm around her shoulders, he tucked her into his side, glad to have
her safe in his hold once more.

“So, anyway,”
she with forced brightness, obviously wanting to be done with the
unpleasantness, “the instructions for the feeding of my furry kids
are on the kitchen table along with the food. You have the spare
key and the phone number of where we’ll be staying. I’ll be back in
four days. Any questions?”

Jesus, he just
wanted to squeeze her tight. Alex smiled down at her before looking
back at her stunned parents. “I promise to take good care of her,
and she’s promised me to phone you at each service station on her
way home, so you’ll know she’s safe.”

“She does that
anyway,” Mr Bentley muttered, subdued.

Oh, really?
Alex gave Harly a little squeeze. So much for her promise when she
already did it. No wonder she’d agreed to that so readily.

“Harly.” Mrs
Bentley got to her feet. “Honey, you know we love you, don’t
you?”

“Of course,
Mum. I never doubted it.”

Mrs Bentley
smiled faintly. “Just so you know.”

Harly broke
from Alex’s hold to swiftly cross the room and embrace her mother,
hugging her tight before turning to her father and repeating
it.

No, there was
no doubt the Bentleys loved their daughter.

Alex waited
until Harly returned to his side, then he took her hand and steered
her to the front door.

Her parents
forced smiles as they waved them off, but Harly wasn’t smiling when
she turned back to gaze out the front windshield.

Fully
convinced that she was angry at him for forcing the issue, Alex
waited for her to berate him, but as the silence stretched on he
glanced at her. Her expression was unreadable. It remained that way
the whole silent trip back to the house.

When they
pulled up in front of the house, she remained in the seat while he
turned the Jeeps engine off, got out and walked around to open her
door. He held out his hand to assist her, and she came straight out
of the cab and into his arms, burying her face in his chest and
hugging him tightly.

Feeling her
tremble, Alex cradled her close, one hand on the back of her head
and the other at the small of her back. “I’m sorry for upsetting
you.”

“No.” Her
words were muffled by his jumper. “You said what you had to. It’s
okay.”

Pressing a
kiss on the silky hair before resting his chin upon her head, Alex
sighed. “I guess I’m not always in control of my temper.”

Weakly, she
laughed. “Temper? You were so controlled that I thought you were a
robot.”

“My old
training Captain would be pleased to hear that.” He rocked her
gently.

“I just…” Her
breath caught. “I just don’t like seeing them upset.”

“Your parents
mean a lot to you.”

“As do
yours.”

“Yes.”
Comfortingly, he continued to rock her gently from side to side.
“Guess there’s going to be a lot of compromise in this
marriage.”

Surprised, she
tipped her head back. “Marriage?”

“Of
course.”

“Are you
proposing
to me?”

“Oops.”
Grinning, he tucked her head back onto his chest. “Sorry. I forgot
you weren’t ready for anything like that yet. Let’s take a
raincheck.”

Any other
woman would have been indignant. Harly just laughed.

And that’s why
he loved her so much.

~*~

Five Months
Later

Australian Army
Base

Afghanistan

Dear Alex

Hmmm, that
sounds so official, but I guess calling you Lover Boy just wouldn’t
do in a letter. In case it falls into the hands of one of your
fellow soldiers… you might cry if they start calling you the same
thing. So I’ll just go for Dear Alex. I’ll leave off calling you
Lover Boy until you come home.

Well the roof
was leaking again, but Dad came over and fixed it. Nothing like a
new, shiny piece of tin on the roof to really show me how old the
other sheets are! Still, at least I don’t have to worry about a
leaking roof.

Mum was over
the other day to help plant vegetables. It’s her newest phase -
please save me! Mind you, she’s fighting the birds for the
seedlings, they keep coming along and destroying some of her crop.
Hah! Crop! Makes it sound like a couple of acres instead of just a
couple of raised garden beds. Anyway, she said we needed a
scarecrow to put next to the garden beds *rolling eyes* and when I
mentioned this to Marty on the phone, he suggested we ask you to
send a pair of your ratty old undies home, he reckons that’ll scare
the s**t out of any bird. Or dog. Or thief.

Cindy hasn’t
given up on trying to make me join the Family Firm making plus-size
clothes, but I told her - quite firmly - the answer is, and always
will be, no. NO. She said ‘Sure. So, call me when you decide to
sign a contract.’ And then she phoned me the next week to ask me if
I’d named my price yet. Does she ever give up? Hmmm…she’s a Lawson,
so I guess that’s a no to that, too.

Your Mum told
me that you like corn. How come you never told me that? My Mum now
insists we have to plant corn for when you come home. I told her
the birds will probably strip the cob before then. Please send your
ratty undies.

Becky is
getting quite round now. Really round. Paul has managed not to
disgrace himself by mentioning her weight. He did crash and burn
though…he mentioned the word ‘hormones’. If you get back here
before Becky gives birth, don’t mention ‘weight’ or ‘hormones’.
Actually, add ‘swollen feet’ to that list as well.

So, my Lover
Boy - oops, forgot I wasn’t going to call you that until you were
home - that is all the news I have right now. I’ll be waiting for
your reply. Miss you, love you, going to do naughty things to you
when you get home.

*Kisses*Hugs*

Harly

Smiling, Alex
looked from the letter to the photo on his locker. It was a copy
given to him by Becky just before he’d returned to the city. It was
the photo taken in her house that long ago night, when he’d been
gazing down at Harly with such love and she’d looked right up into
his eyes with an answering love that was so plain on her beautiful
face. That photo was the first thing he looked at when he awoke,
and the last thing before he went to sleep. Or when he got back
from patrol, whichever came first…and last.

Picking up the
photo, he pressed a kiss to her face. “Love you, Harly.
Always.”

Opening his
locker, he took out a pad and pen, rested the pad on his knee, and
started writing.

~*~

Three Weeks
Later

Harly’s
Home

Whicha,
Australia

Dear Sexy
Sheila

I can call you
that because the only ones likely to see this letter are Buffy and
Pepper, and they’re such staid old ladies that they’d never admit
to understanding it. *leer* And please, call me Lover Boy in your
letters all you want, everyone here already knows my reputation. Of
course, that reputation is now all for you, but they don’t need to
know that. *wink*

Glad your Dad
fixed the roof. I’d hate to think of you doing the breast stroke
(that’s for me to do to you) in your bed. When I come home, I’ll
get up there and check out the rest of the roof. Then we’ll do the
breast stroke…

You can tell
Marty for me that he’s just jealous because my ratty undies mean I
work hard. His are so pristine you could eat off them. Okay, I
wouldn’t advise that. Eat off them, I mean. You have to maintain
some hygiene. Ask Marty about his hygiene. It’s a little
questionable most times. I should know, I lived with him during our
teen years. I don’t think he’s changed much.

No, Cindy will
never give up. She is a Lawson, as you pointed out. However, unlike
me, she isn’t going to get the prize. I got the prize - you.
*insert deep, hot kiss here. Use your imagination. I sure as hell
am*. Just ignore her. I’m afraid it won’t make her go away, but
it’ll save you some headaches.

Tell your Mum
thanks for me. I’m looking forward to that corn. She’s to guard it
from the birds with her life. Sorry, can’t send my ratty undies.
Undies aren’t the easiest things to come by out in the desert, I
need all the rags I can get.

Jesus, pregnant
women! *please destroy this after reading it, as I don’t want Becky
to kill me*. Poor old Paul. Tell him to offer to massage her feet,
but for Gods sake, don’t mention the SWELLING! *guffaw*

So, my sexy
little sheila, life out here is dust and heat and sand in my crack
and all those other things that make life interesting. Poor old
Billy fell off the tank and sprained his ankle, we laughed like
hyenas. He wasn’t impressed, can’t imagine why. He gets to sit on
his arse while we’re out slogging in the heat. Some people just
don’t know when they’re well off, eh?

< Miss you,
love you, going to do naughty things to you when you get
home.>

Really? You’re
going to do naughty things to me when I get home? Keep reading
those erotic romances, but I’m warning you right now (no, I’m
promising), my prowess will make those romances seem SO tame. Eat
plenty of protein, build up your strength.

Oh, by the way
- did I mention I’m coming home in the spring?

*Kisses*Hugs*

Alex *aka Lover
Boy*

Laying the
letter flat on the table, Harly sighed and smiled. Reaching for the
photo in the antique stand that had pride of place in the middle of
the kitchen table, she studied the photo as she always did whenever
she’d read a letter from Alex. A copy also had pride of place on
her bedside table. It was the last thing she looked at before going
to sleep, and the first thing she looked at upon waking.

It was the
photo taken in Becky’s house that long ago night, when she’d been
gazing up at Alex with the love plain on her face for all to see,
and he’d returned that gaze with an answering love that was just as
plain on his face. It never failed to make her feel closer to
him.

She pressed a
light kiss to his face. “Love you, Alex. Always.” She placed the
photo back down beside the second frame that held the photo of Alex
in his soldiers uniform, leaning back against the Army tank,
laughing but with that slight air of danger and alertness.

Going into the
lounge, she returned with a pad and pen, sat down, and after
reading his letter once more, she stared out the window, thinking
for several minutes before she finally put pen to paper.

The sunlight
pouring through the window caught her blue topaz and diamond
engagement ring, the flash reminding her of her fiancé’s eyes.
Smiling, she started to write.

Dear Lover
Boy,

Unbelievably, I
think you just flashed me. I can’t wait until the spring when
you’re here and can do it in person…

####

BIOGRAPHY

Angela
Verdenius lives in Australia, where she is ruled by her cats,
adores reading, and thinks a perfect day is writing and drinking
Diet Coke, followed by reading or a good horror movie.

To date, she
has written numerous novels in sci-fi romance and contemporary
romance, 2 novellas, and several short stories, one of which is a
zombie story she had great fun writing. Her books have won many
reviewers’ awards, as well as having been on the Fictionwise
best-seller list and winning the Golden Rose Award.

Visit her
website at
http://www.angelaverdenius.com/
,

The lighter
side of life on her blog
http://angelaverdenius.blogspot.com
/

and at
Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/angelaverdenius