The Lawson Boys: Alex by Angela Verdenius Page A

somehow
your Grandmother found out and decided to let me know before she
died.”
    Silence fell
between them. The lights overhead mellowed and several couples came
into the privacy of the booths. Soft music started out the back and
the smell of food cooking drifted through the room.
    “It’s getting
late.” Leaning down, Harly retrieved her small shoulder bag. “I
should go. That is, if we’re finished?”
    There really
wasn’t anymore to be said. “I guess we are.” Standing, he waited
until she got out of the booth. “Wait at the door and I’ll pay our
bill.”
    “I can pay for
mine.” She reached for her bag.
    “I invited you,
Harly, I’ll pay the bill.” Without waiting for her to reply, he
strode across the room to pay the bill before following her through
the pub and out to the Jeep, holding both the pub door and Jeep
door open for her as he’d always been taught by his parents.
    ‘Good manners
never failed a person’ was his mother’s mantra. Amongst many
others.
    The drive back
to Harly’s house was done in silence, but it was a more comfortable
silence. The heater spilled warmth into the car and he caught the
scent of her perfume, dim now after the hours at work but still
audible.
    Turning into
her driveway, her made her stay inside the car while he opened the
gate and drove through, pulling up outside her house.
    She was already
out of the car by the time he got around to the other side, and he
almost said something before catching himself. His time with Harly
was over, there was no point in pushing something that shouldn’t
matter.
    He held his
hand out for her house key.
    “Really?” she
asked.
    He waggled his
fingers.
    With a sigh she
surrendered them, and he walked up the veranda and unlocked the
door, pushing it open and turning on the hallway and outside
light.
    Buffy greeted
them enthusiastically and the cats appeared from various parts of
the house to meow their own greetings. Or complaints, seeing as it
was possibly later than their normal mealtime.
    After patting
Buffy, Harly straightened to face him. “I hope you found your
peace, Alex.” There was sincerity in every thread of her words. “I
am sorry. I can’t redo anything, but I hope you understand.”
    He studied her
for several seconds. Yes, he did feel a sense of peace, he did
understand, but there was still a tightness in him, one that should
have eased. It was a puzzle to mull over later when he was
alone.
    Reaching out,
he laid his hand on her shoulder and bent down to kiss her cheek.
“I do understand, Harly. Thank you.” Stepping back, he added
honestly, “I regret last night, it should never have happened. But
as you said, it can’t be undone.”
    They stood in
the doorway looking at each other. The light was bright in the
yard, the night chill, the house warm and welcoming.
    But it was her
house, not his. He had his answers and that was the end of it. He
could have his two weeks holiday with Paul before heading back to
the city to his family, and from there back to the army base.
    “Can I ask you
something?” she asked suddenly.
    “Sure.”
    “This happened
sixteen years ago. Some men would be angry, but it seems…” She
stopped.
    “It seems?” he
asked curiously.
    She searched
for the right words. “Fresh. No, not fresh. Ummm…it’s not an
overreaction, it’s…I can’t find the right words. Men would be
angry, annoyed, but you were furious last night. Really mad. More
than mad, if that makes sense.”
    He stared down
at her.
    Nervously, she
shifted from foot to foot. “I’m sorry. I can only go by my own
family’s reactions, so maybe your reaction is perfectly
normal.”
    It was normal.
He had a right to be mad, especially when it came on top of…when it
happened right after… Oh Jesus . “I have to go.”
    Without another
word he turned and strode away, getting into the Jeep and shoving
it into gear, driving down the driveway and out through the gate
without allowing his thoughts to progress