Page 79 of The Twelve Days of Christian
Rachel angles her body towards Ollie, blue eyes lit with a threatening gleam. It seems she’s overruled my plan to deal with the situation myself. I decide to let her have her bit of fun while I gather my thoughts. I’ve been rehearsing what I want to say to Ollie for the last couple of hours, but I didn’t expect an audience. It’s thrown me thatwe’ve got company—especially these two who assume they have the right to wade right into the thick of the problem.
I move from where I’ve been watching from the doorway, and take a seat in one of the wide armchairs, vacant due to the absence of the dogs. Haley follows me and I pull her onto my lap. She shuffles back into me, and I try not to be distracted by the ripe curve of her bum, or the weight of her breasts beneath my arm, as we settle in to watch the entertainment. While the banter’s all been a bit tongue in cheek, I get the feeling Ollie’s about to be roasted alive.
“So, Mr Templeton—Ollie—I can call you Ollie?” Rachel’s all courtroom serious as she fixes him with a smile that’s borderline cruel, as if he’s a mouse and she’s a feral cat toying with him before she rips him apart. He nods, playing along with her, but I can see the disquiet in his eyes.
“I gather you’ve chosen to represent yourself?”
He nods again.
“Just as well, I think.” She pauses, scanning the room. “Since I’m not sure there’s anyone else here prepared to defend you.” I can see she’s right on that count. Everyone here is on Team Haley and Christian.
“OK, first question.” She folds her arms, tipping her head to one side, mouth set in a terse line. “Would you agree that Christian Steele is a good man?”
Ollie nods again. Like one of those bobbleheads people have on their dashboards, it seems to be his only form of communication, dumbstruck under her questioning glare.
“I gather that’s a yes, but would you state that for the record, please?”
When he finally speaks, he’s answering Rachel, but looking at me. His hazel eyes meet mine, this morning’s cold anger still there, but maybe also a flicker of shame.
“Yes, Christian’s a good man.” His voice is low, tinged with reluctance.
“Thank you. And would you also agree that Haley Templeton is an intelligent and capable woman able to make good decisions?”
“Absolutely,” he says. He gives his sister a soft smile, and in his expression I see the love and respect he has for her, even though he hasn’t exactly shown it today. “Probably better ones than me.”
Rachel pounces. “Repeat that last thing you said for me, please.”
“I said Haley can probably make better decisions than me.” Ollie speaks confidently, loudly, as if he is indeed delivering his words to a packed courtroom.
“I rest my case.” Rachel’s smile is smug. “So—”
“Enough.” I lift Haley off my knee, rising to my feet before settling her back into the chair. Rachel’s had her fun, but this is not a game. This is my life and Haley’s, not an episode ofJudge Judy.It’s up to me to take the stand in my defence.
“But—”
“I said enough, Rachel.” I ignore the way her lips thin into a terse line of displeasure. I’m going to say what needs to be said. Even though I know there’s a risk Haley may walk away from me once I do. “This is between Ollie and me.”
I swallow, my throat thick with apprehension. I’m about to drag up stuff I thought Ollie and I had put behind us. But his reaction this morning suggests it’s far from buried. Now there’s no choice but to have it out with him.
“Ollie, I know why you’re being such a prick about this. You don’t think I should be with Haley. That, because she’s your sister, she’s off limits.” I pause, inhaling a jagged breath. Once I say the words, there’s no going back. “Just like Kendra was.”
Three pairs of female eyes bore into me, the question they both want and fear to ask written all over their faces. I study Haley. She licks at her lips, skin pale, and I think I read a flash of hurt in her questioning expression.
I’ve worked so hard to get her to think well of me, to trust I’m a better man than everyone says. And mostly I am. Except for one lapse of judgement at a party over two years ago. I wish I could wind back time, because if I could, it’s a night of my life I’d do over again very differently.
However, if we’re going to have any chance at a future, Haley needs to know all of me. Secrets will eat away at you. And if she ever found out—it would only take a slip of the tongue from someone who was there, or from Ollie—it wouldn’t be the knowledge that would end us, but the fact I kept it from her. So I’m telling her now, and she can decide what to do with it.
“One night at a party over at Teddy’s, when Ollie was away—that trip to Peru just before Kendra and him got together—something happened between her and me.” I close my eyes and take another deep breath, gathering courage. “She was drunk. We all were. And while that’s the reason it happened, I’m not using it as an excuse. Even drunk, I knew I should have pushed her away, but I didn’t.”
The moment Kendra Cole cornered me against the worktop in Teddy’s kitchen, pressing her shapely body hard against mine and kissing me like she meant it, will be forever etched in my brain. And that, under the fog of alcohol, I allowed my own instinctive responseto overrule both my usual caution with women, and my loyalty to a friend, will always be one of my biggest regrets.
I knew Ollie was smitten with her, yet still I let it happen. Guilt drove me to tell him. He laughed it off, and we made a deal to put it behind us. Ollie made it seem like forgiving me for the drunken make out with the girl he’d been attracted to for months was the easiest thing in the world. Now I know different.
I swallow again, hard. I search Haley’s eyes. They’re calm; eerily so. Is there a storm behind them and it’s coming my way?
“It was a mistake. It meant nothing to either of us. But that’s not the point. It shouldn’t have happened at all. Not when I knew how he felt about her.”
“And you promised me.” Ollie’s voice is heavy with bitter disappointment. It tears at me, a painful reminder of my vow. “You promised, Christian. We agreed we’d never let a woman come between us. That we’d be straight with each other.” He shakes his head, eyes closed, a ragged exhale filling the silence.
