Do not read further if you are not of legal age to do so. All the usual disclaimers and copyright laws apply. "Love is All that Matters" is the second volume in the "Doing Hard Time" saga.
LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
~ Chapter 15 ~
From the Narrative of Harrison Ridgeway IV:
"When he brought that up, I was scared shitless."
"Harrison!" Mom protested my choice of words.
"Sorry, Mom."
"Go on, tell us what happened next," said Josh.
We were all gathered around the counter of the Surf `n' Sand Cafe.
"Shouldn't you and Reid get back to work?" I asked.
"No, because in case you haven't noticed, there are hardly any customers at this hour. Besides, this is far more interesting than serving coffee to all the -"
Reid's words were cut short by Josh's hand covering his mouth. "Not in front of the customers," he hissed.
Reid shrugged and Josh removed his hand. "Okay, I'll keep my opinions to myself."
Josh shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder why you even wanted to start a cafe."
"It was a fun idea at the time." He looked at me. "I don't suppose you want to take over my job, Harrison?"
"No."
"Pity. At least I'd have had more time to practice for my competition."
"What competition?" asked Mom.
"Oh, it's just the annual Surf Fest. Reid always takes part . . . not that he's ever won," Josh informed Mom.
Reid punched him in the arm. "Hey! I did get second place last year."
"I didn't know that you surfed," Mom commented. "You should encourage Harrison to take it up too. At least that way he'll get some sun; he's far too pale."
"Mom!" I groaned.
Josh quickly said, "I don't think a tan would really suit Harry, Aunt Marcia."
Mom looked at us, amused. "I keep forgetting my little boy is all grown-up and now has a boyfriend to leap to his defense."
Both of us blushed. I hastily changed the subject. "So who won the championship last year?"
"Carter Holborn. If you were here often enough, you'd see him around; he's quite a frequent visitor to the cafe. Not without good reason." Reid looked slyly at Liz, who was standing nearby. She looked up questioningly when she heard her name mentioned.
"We were just talking about your boyfriend, Liz," Reid told her.
Her face reddened as she denied it. "Carter isn't my boyfriend. We aren't even officially dating."
"Oh yeah? It can't be Josh's awful coffee that he always keeps dropping by for."
Both Josh and Liz glared at him. Unrepentant, Reid continued, "Well, you'd better get him quickly before someone else does. If only he was gay - I wouldn't mind having him myself."
Josh and I looked at each other. It was an encouraging sign that Reid was expressing interest in other guys. Although it was hard to tell if he was joking, especially since this Carter guy was apparently straight.
"Leave the poor girl alone, Reid," Mom said. It was obvious that Liz was hopelessly in love. Her pretty face was still red. "Liz, could you please go and check if those muffins are done?"
"Yes, Mrs. Ridgeway," said Liz, looking thankful to escape.
"You're still baking?" I asked Mom. "I thought you already finished?"
It was Josh who answered. "The ones she made earlier sold like hot cakes, which I guess isn't that far off the mark. The customers kept wondering how they'd missed them all this while. I had to tell them this was the first day we were selling them and they said they'd be back for more every day from now on."
Mom looked pleased.
"It looks like you have a career in baking, Mom," I said.
Mom sighed. "If your father hadn't persuaded me to marry him, I would have finished college and started a little business of my own, not unlike this one."
"I never knew that," I said with interest.
Mom looked away and muttered something that sounded like, "There's a lot that you don't know." I was perplexed. What did she mean by that?
But before I could question her, Reid interrupted quietly, "Umm, guys? Just wanted to let you know, there's this guy at the corner table, who keeps looking towards us in an awfully shifty manner."
"What? Where?" I said a bit too loudly
"Shh . . . behind you. I don't suppose you know him?"
Mom looked over my shoulder and her eyes widened. "Isn't it the same man who came to the house the other day, just before your father found out about ."
I quickly whirled around. My eyes met the guy's and I recognized him instantly. It was indeed the guy who Dad had hired to spy on me. I felt myself boil with rage. I know it was unfair of me; he was probably just doing what he was paid to do by Dad. But that didn't stop me from getting mad at him for ruining my life.
I jumped off my stool and dashed towards his table. But the guy had also gotten up the moment I'd turned around and was out the door before I reached him. I ran out of the cafe in hot pursuit. But the guy was obviously a professional, having planned his escape route beforehand.
Josh and Reid caught up with me as I glared at the rear end of the black car that was speeding off.
"He's lucky I didn't get my hands on him," I panted. "That arrogant son of a -"
Josh grabbed my shoulders and tried to calm me down. "Don't get worked up, baby. Hopefully it'll teach him not to try again. Why do you suppose your Dad's trying to keep tabs on you?"
"I don't think it's me he's concerned about - it's more likely to be Mom."
"Well you didn't mention your living at Josh's place or anything like that, right?"
"No, but he must have overheard us discussing her baking for the cafe. He's bound to report it to Dad and then he'll be here to ruin the whole thing." I felt upset. I'd just recovered from one shock which had ended well, when Dad had to do something like this. Mom and I had walked away from him, but he wasn't going to let it rest.
The anger faded and I felt emotionally drained. "Why can't he just leave us alone?" I cried. Josh wrapped his arms around me and tried to whisper comforting words in my ear.
From the Narrative of Reid Emerson Scott:
It was such a drastic change that came over Harrison. One minute he was looking adorably cute, blushing as his mother teased him about Josh. The next he looked so lost and vulnerable, you just wanted to hug him and make it better. I let Josh do the comforting. He led Harrison back into the caf‚, while I remained on the sidewalk, trying to remember what it was we'd been discussing that might have been overheard.
I'd never met Congressman Ridgeway, but if I did, I would have to restrain myself from punching him. It was hard to believe that he could treat his wife and son in this callous manner.
"Hey, why are you still out here?" Josh's words interrupted my train of thought.
"Hmm? Oh, I was just wondering . . . you don't suppose he overheard Harrison talking about his job application at Fernley & Ashmore?"
Josh looked concerned. "You don't think the congressman will try to sabotage that, do you?"
"I don't know - you're the one who's met him, so you tell me. Do you think he's capable of it?"
Josh was even more worried. "He can be pretty ruthless; even Aunt Marcia says so. But surely he won't go to such lengths. I mean, come on, they're trying to move on with their lives here."
"Yeah, well, that's probably exactly what he wants to prevent from happening. Why do you think he's hired a guy to spy on them?"
Josh shook his head. "I can't believe this. What do you think he'll do next?"
"Well, stop Harrison from getting a job, for starters."
Josh looked skeptical. "Are you sure he can do that?"
"He's the local congressman, Josh. I mean, my Dad could do that, and he's only the CEO of Scottmart."
Josh put his hand on my arm and said softly, "I'm sorry. This must remind you of your own problems."
I shrugged off his hand. "I don't care about my Dad any more, Josh. As far as I'm concerned, he died along with my Mom. I just wish I could have looked after Carl like Mom asked me to. I haven't seen him in . . . almost eight years." I felt tears gather in my eyes.
"It's not your fault, Reid," Josh said gently.
"Dad said it was. He blamed my telling her that I was gay for hurrying her into her grave. And he might have been right."
"No, Reid, you know he wasn't."
I looked away and saw, through the cafe window, Marcia comforting Harrison. I smiled through my tears.
"Look at them. Sometimes, I really wish Mom was still alive. Or at least that she'd had enough time to tell me how she really felt about me being gay."
"She would have loved you all the same. Trust me, Reid. Mine did. But we didn't have that much time together either."
I turned back to him. "We were both unlucky when it came to parents, huh?"
Josh nodded sadly.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about that now. But Harrison has got his Mom on his side. And I'd do anything to make sure they stay together."
Josh looked at me in surprise. "I didn't know you were so noble, Reid. Where have you been hiding it all this while?"
"Shut up," I said, pretending to be annoyed. "I was just looking out for Harrison and Marcia. I don't want to see either of them get hurt."
Unexpectedly, Josh hugged me.
"What was that for?" I asked in surprise.
"For being such a wonderful guy. I'm sorry I was annoyed at you before."
"No, you were probably right. I can't believe myself that I was so mean to Harrison."
"Forget about that, Reid. As far as Harry's concerned, he's forgiven you. And what you've just said makes up for it in my eyes, too."
"That's great, Josh, but that's not the issue here. You have to do something about this new problem."
"Me?"
"Yeah, well, you are his boyfriend."
"Okay, what is it that I need to do?"
"Find out what Congressman Ridgeway is going to do and stop it. Duh." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"Exactly how am I going to do that?"
"Doesn't Harrison have a sister?"
"Yeah, Phoebe. I think she's a doctor at the Seacrest Community Hospital. She's married too, with a baby."
"Well, you're going to need her help if you want to do counter-surveillance."
"I don't even have her contact number. Although -" He looked thoughtful. "If I'm not mistaken, she's supposed to come by later and drop off some clothes and stuff for Harrison and Aunt Marcia."
"Great. You can ask her then."
"Ask her for what?"
"To find out exactly what her father knows and tell us about it, so that at least he doesn't have the advantage of surprise."
Josh looked doubtful. "Are you sure she will be willing to? I mean, she does support Harry, and I don't think she likes their Dad that much, but still it's a lot to ask of her to spy on her own Dad."
"You won't know until you've asked," I told him. He still looked doubtful. "Unless you want him to find some way to hurt Harrison again."
"Oh God, no." Josh shuddered. "He's done enough harm to him already."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm missing out on something here?"
He looked up. "Oh, that's right, you don't know. I'm not sure if I should tell you -"
"Now you're keeping things from me?"
"It's not that, it's just that it's kind of personal for Harry. But since you've been so concerned about him, I guess it won't do any harm to tell you. Just don't bring it up in front of Harry, alright?"
"Okay."
"Harry's father . . . he used to beat his son."
I was stunned. "What? Oh my God! Why would he do something like that?"
"Because he's a monster?" Josh spat. "He said it was because Harry disappointed him. But Harry really tried desperately to please him, you know. He was always top of his class and a good basketball player too."
I was still trying to get over my shock. "My God. I never knew it was that bad. That's worse than my Dad. At least he never hit me. Poor Harrison. And he still put up with his Dad for all these years?"
"He has one of those complexes. He kept telling himself that his Dad did it for his own good."
Guilt started to weigh on me. "And I went and assaulted him. I hate myself more than ever now." I put my head in my hands. "He's still so nice to me. I feel like shit."
Josh said gently, "Come on; don't beat yourself up over it. You couldn't have possibly known. Hell, even I wasn't sure until yesterday."
I looked up. "Yeah, I would never have guessed. He never showed any sign of abuse."
"Reid, you ought to know better than anyone that people don't always show what they're feeling on the outside. But he'll get over it; I'll make sure of it. And if his father tries anything again, I will kill him, congressman or not."
I smiled slightly. "I'm glad you didn't kill me that day, when you found out that I assaulted Harrison."
Josh grinned. "One of the privileges of being the ex- boyfriend."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Okay, now we'd better go inside before Marcia and Harry suspect something's amiss. And I will talk to Phoebe if she comes by later."
From the Narrative of Joshua Spencer:
It was late in the evening when the doorbell rang. Both Reid and I arrived at the door at the same time; Reid motioned to me to open it. Standing on the doorstep was Harry's sister, Phoebe. I knew at once it was her, because she resembled her mother quite closely, except that her hair was dark brown, not red like Marcia's.
She looked from me to Reid, then back to me. "Which one of you is it?"
Reid looked confused. I knew immediately what it was she wanted to know. I put up a hand. Both of them stared at me. I quickly lowered it, feeling like a foolish schoolboy, and cleared my throat.
"Um, hi. I'm Harry's boyfriend, Josh."
She scrutinized me carefully. "Well I have to say I certainly don't remember meeting you. I would remember such a handsome face."
I blushed, much to her amusement.
"Don't worry; I'm not going to steal you from my brother. He deserves to be happy, after all the trouble that minx put him through."
"Minx?" asked Reid. Phoebe looked at him.
"Oh, sorry, I'm Reid Scott," he said apologetically. "I share the house with Josh."
"Well I haven't introduced myself either. I'm Phoebe Morrison, Harrison's sister, as you might have guessed." She extended a hand, apparently forgetting that she had a bag slung on it. Reid caught it before it fell to the floor. I took the other bag from her.
"Sorry, I'm such a klutz," she apologized. "But at least I'm not a minx. That was Harrison's ex-girlfriend. But you don't look like a minx. Are you?" This last comment was directed at me.
"Er , no. I don't think so." Phoebe's habit of jumping from one topic to another was making my head spin.
"Good. It was so difficult to find this place. That idiot brother of mine, he told me 180 Syracuse Drive. But the last house on this street is numbered 118. I guessed he must have mixed up the last two digits. Where is he, by the way?"
As if to answer her question, Harry came out of the living room, rescuing me from the beginnings of a headache. Don't get me wrong, she seemed like a nice enough person, but she came on a little strong. I half-expected to throw her arms around me and congratulate me.
Harry said, "Phoebe?"
She turned to look at him. As soon as she set eyes on him, Phoebe burst into tears.
To be continued .
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