Summer Sins

by Julia James

  ‘I take it June Beckforth changed her mind about having the deluxe collagen facial,’ she said once Hayley had dropped into the nearest chair.

  ‘Yes, she apparently can’t afford it at the moment,’ Hayley said, feeling her colour drain even further.

  ‘You don’t have another booking until twelve. I’ll keep an eye on the phone.’

  ‘Thanks, Lucy,’ she said and closing her office door, sat down and put her head in her hands.

  Instead of going straight back to Jasper’s house after work Hayley took a detour and called into Raymond’s inner-city parish. He wasn’t at his small house, but when she walked into the church she saw him lighting a candle near the altar.

  He turned around at the sound of her footfall and came down and took both her hands in his. ‘Hayley, what’s wrong? You’ve been crying. Has Jasper upset you?’

  She shook her head and choked back her sobs. ‘No. I just felt the need to see you. I have so much on my mind. You said if ever I was in trouble you’d be there for me … Well … I’m in trouble.’

  He led her to one of the pews and sat down beside her, his expression tender with concern. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘I’m pregnant.’

  He paused for a moment. ‘A child is a gift from God, Hayley.’

  ‘I know …’ Her sniff echoed loudly in the empty church. ‘I want this baby so much but I can’t tell Jasper.’

  ‘But why ever not, my dear? He’s your husband.’

  She looked at him through tear-washed eyes. ‘But you know what it’s been like for him. It’s made him bitter and yet I found out today it’s not his fault.’

  ‘What’s not his fault?’

  She took a moment to blow her nose. ‘He’s not Daniel’s father,’ she said, looking down at the scrunched-up tissues in her hand. ‘Miriam’s mother-in-law came to see me. She told me someone else is Daniel’s father. She wouldn’t say who. She and Martin Beckforth are using the information as a bribe to extort money out of Jasper. For all these years I’ve thought he was a neglectful father. I hated him for being selfish and yet he’s the most unselfish person I’ve ever met. He’s sacrificed so much for the sake of a child who he’s known all along isn’t his.’

  There was another short silence.

  ‘Does Daniel know who his father is?’ Raymond asked.

  ‘No … that’s what’s so terribly upsetting.’ She turned to look at him again, blinking back tears. ‘June Beckforth doesn’t seem to care what effect it will have on Daniel to find out his father is some sort of creep or criminal.’

  ‘Is that what she said?’ He visibly paled with shock. ‘That the boy’s father is a criminal?’

  ‘No … not really …’ She chewed at her lip for a second. ‘She just said it would be a bombshell revelation. She’s even threatening to sell her story to the newspapers. I just assumed it must be someone disreputable otherwise why would Jasper want to keep it quiet for all this time? He’s trying to protect Daniel.’

  ‘No, he’s not,’ Raymond said heavily. ‘He’s not doing it to protect Daniel at all.’

  ‘He’s not?’ Hayley blinked at him in puzzlement. ‘Then who is he protecting?’

  Raymond looked at her with deep sadness in his hazel eyes. ‘He’s doing it to protect me.’

  ‘You?’ She blinked at him again. ‘Why would he be doing it to protect you? You’re a priest, for God’s … I mean, for Pete’s sake. You deal with this sort of stuff all the time, you know people’s confessions and—’ She stopped when she saw the glimmer of tears sprout in his eyes, the sudden silence so heavy she could hear the faint flickering of the candles on the altar.

  Raymond took a breath that sounded as if it hurt him deep inside and said, ‘Jasper’s doing it to protect me because I’m Daniel’s father.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  HAYLEY STARED AT him in a stunned silence.

  Raymond got to his feet and sent a shaking hand through his thinning hair. ‘For years I have tried to forget about the one time I betrayed my promise to God. I begged Him for forgiveness and moved on. I have felt the call for the priesthood since I was a young choirboy. I didn’t want anything to stop me from achieving my goal of serving the community.’ He turned to look at her, his expression tortured with guilt. ‘I had no idea Daniel was mine. Not until this very moment. Like you I had assumed Jasper was responsible. Our father assumed it too. Everyone assumed it. And why shouldn’t they? I had rarely strayed from the straight and narrow, certainly not with the frequency Jasper did. He was in and out of trouble all the time. I made one error, but I had no idea it would have these sorts of repercussions.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say … This must have come as a tremendous shock to you,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I just wanted to talk to you about my own dilemma never once suspecting you were somehow connected to it.’

  ‘For once in my life I don’t have the answers, Hayley,’ he said. ‘I’m the one everyone comes to for help and guidance and yet I am at a loss to know what to do. And yet I can’t help thinking of the boy. That poor young man has never known his real father.’

  ‘I think June and Martin Beckforth are wrong,’ Hayley said. ‘They think Daniel will be disappointed by finding out who his real father is, but I don’t agree. In fact, I can’t help wondering if he already knows. He and Jasper are very close.’

  He gave her an agonised glance. ‘I have to come forward and claim him as mine. What will my parishioners think of me?’

  Hayley got to her feet and gave his arm an affectionate squeeze. ‘They’ll think you’re human, Raymond, just like the rest of us. No one is perfect and certainly not all the time. If God can forgive you, then I don’t see why your parishioners can’t do so as well.’

  He smiled a sad smile. ‘You’re a wise young woman, Hayley. Jasper is a very lucky man.’

  ‘For another few days,’ she said with a droop to her mouth. ‘He still wants our marriage to end.’

  ‘Then I will keep praying for a miracle,’ he said. ‘Go home to him, Hayley, and tell him about his baby. God knows I wish I had been told all those years ago about mine.’

  ‘Even though it might have meant you would have lost everything you held most dear?’ she asked.

  ‘I would have not lost as much as Jasper has done on my behalf,’ he said. ‘Our father believed the worst of him. He has been tainted with the shame of this for too long. He deserves to be free from it at last.’

  ‘He and Miriam did what they thought was best at the time,’ she said. ‘Jasper knew how devoted you were to your faith. He wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of your dreams.’

  Raymond gave another deep regretful sigh. ‘And yet I have inadvertently stood in the way of his …’

  * * *

  Hayley came into the lounge an hour later to find Jasper pacing the room, his face like carved stone as he swung to face her. ‘Where the hell have you been?’ he barked at her furiously.

  ‘I was visiting Raymond. I wanted to—’

  ‘Would you care to explain to me the meaning of this?’ He thrust the crumpled pregnancy-testing kit package at her.

  She froze as she looked at it. ‘Where did you find it?’

  ‘I didn’t find it,’ he bit out. ‘Rosario came dancing down the stairs with it in absolute raptures, congratulating me effusively. I can only assume from her reaction that the test you conducted turned out to be positive.’

  She swallowed. ‘Yes … yes, it did …’

  ‘I’ve taken the liberty of packing your things for you,’ he said coldly. ‘I’ve already sent Eric around to your flat with them. I will be serving divorce papers on you as soon as possible.’

  Hayley couldn’t seem to locate her voice. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Shock and pain had turned her stomach into a churning pit of despair. She was frightened she was going to be sick or even faint. Her fingertips felt icy as the blood drained away from her extremities to thud through her brain with
skull-cracking force.

  ‘You warned me you were going to make me regret marrying you, didn’t you?’ he said. ‘But little did I think the way you would do it was to foist another man’s child on me. The irony, if only you knew, is particularly astounding. But I’m not coming to the party. I want you out of here and if I ever see you again it will be a minute too soon.’

  ‘Jasper …’ she managed to choke out ‘you surely don’t think I would—’

  ‘I’m not hanging around here to listen to your pathetic attempts to weasel your way out of this,’ he cut her off. ‘Now I know why you so readily agreed to marry me instead of Lederman—you thought I was the bigger fish to land. No doubt you’re going to run away with him now on the spoils of your divorce from me. I heard him mention something about a baby when you met him in the bar that night. You must have cooked this up between you all along. He fathered your child while I’ve been primed to pay for it.’

  ‘I can’t believe you’re—’

  ‘That was a nice touch telling me you loved me,’ he went on bitterly. ‘You nearly had me fooled which shows just how hard-nosed you’ve turned out to be. But you forget I’ve seen it all before. I’m no stranger to the manipulative wiles of women who have dollar signs for eyeballs.’

  Hayley was perilously close to tears but her pride insisted she hold back until she was alone. She needed time to think without this bombardment of shattered emotions disrupting her brain. So much had happened in such a short time she felt totally shell-shocked. Jasper, too, needed time to let the dust settle. He hadn’t given her a chance to tell him what she’d stumbled upon this evening, but all she could hope was that when he did hear of it, it would make him rethink some of his assumptions about her.

  She watched in desolation as he left the room without a backward glance. She let out the tight breath she’d been holding and, tugging off her engagement and wedding ring, left them on the coffee-table near the sofa.

  Then, with her heart breaking, she picked up her bag and keys and walked out of his life.

  Three months later …

  ‘Your next client is here,’ Lucy said as she poked her head around the waxing-room door.

  Hayley glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘But I don’t have another client until three. I checked the book just before Mrs Pritchard came in for her eyebrow and lash tint.’

  ‘It was a last-minute thing,’ Lucy said. ‘It’s a young guy with troubled skin. I think he just needs a deep cleanse or an express facial or something. I would have done it but he asked for you.’

  Hayley came out to Reception to see Daniel Moorebank sitting on the edge of one of the chairs. He stood up and smiled shyly. ‘Hello, Hayley.’

  ‘Hi, Daniel,’ she answered. ‘How are you?’

  ‘I’m fine. Great, actually … er … except for my skin, of course.’

  As far as she could tell there was absolutely nothing wrong with his skin. ‘What can I do for you?’ she asked.

  He flushed and pointed to a small, almost invisible blemish on one cheek. ‘I was wondering if you could help me clear this up. Can we … er … talk in private?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Come into the treatment room.’

  She waited until he was seated in the consultation chair before she inspected his face. ‘You’ve got great skin, Daniel.’

  He flushed again, reminding her so much of his father she felt a sudden tightening in her chest. Raymond had told her of his first official meeting with his son, how it had gone, and how poignant it had been. Hayley’s hunch had been right: Daniel had already suspected who his father was but had forbidden Jasper to reveal the truth for the sake of Raymond’s position in the community. But in the end Raymond had decided to leave the priesthood and pursue a career in social work, which had already brought both him and Daniel a great deal of happiness.

  Hayley hadn’t heard from Jasper. She had sent him rent money but the envelopes had been returned each time unopened. She wasn’t sure what to make of that but assumed he was determined to cut off all contact, even though he owned the property she lived in.

  She had seen a photo of him in one of the gossip magazines; he had been surrounded by group of glamorous young women, which seemed to indicate he had well and truly moved on.

  ‘So … how are you?’ Daniel asked, his hazel eyes slipping briefly to the slight bulge of her abdomen.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I’m over the worst of the morning sickness now.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  There was an awkward silence.

  Hayley watched as Daniel fidgeted in his chair, his eyes flicking anywhere but to hers.

  ‘He loves you,’ he suddenly announced baldly, meeting her eyes at last. ‘He really loves you.’

  ‘Who?’

  Daniel rolled his eyes. ‘Jasper, of course.’

  Hayley tightened her mouth. ‘Then why doesn’t he come in here and tell me himself?’

  ‘He’s too proud,’ he said. ‘I keep telling him he’s got to get himself sorted out but he won’t listen. I’m worried about him.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll find someone else to console himself with,’ she said. ‘Or several someones.’

  ‘No,’ Daniel insisted. ‘You don’t understand. He’s totally screwed up over this. He doesn’t want a divorce, I know he doesn’t.’

  ‘He has a funny way of showing it,’ she remarked wryly.

  ‘He thought you were going to rip him off, but you didn’t ask for a thing. You even left the rings he bought you behind. He wasn’t expecting that.’

  ‘How do you think I’ve felt for the last three months vomiting every time I think of food with no one to support me?’ she said.

  Daniel looked uncomfortable. ‘I know it must have been tough, but he’s a bit stubborn, as you know.’ He reached into the back pocket of his jeans, took out a piece of computer paper and handed it to her. ‘You should read this before you give up on him. I saw it by accident when I was doing an assignment on his computer. It’s an email from his lawyer documenting that the flat you’re living in is now yours.’

  Hayley stared at the message, hardly able to believe her eyes. It was there in black and white, the flat was now in her name.

  ‘Will you at least come and see him?’ Daniel asked into the long silence. ‘He’s been so wonderful to me. He’s set up a trust fund for me so I can go to agricultural college in a couple of years’ time. The property he bought in the Southern Highlands is for me. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of doing. I can’t believe he’s been so generous. He’s waiting on council approval on Crickglades to come through, but when it does he’s going to incorporate a big youth centre complex there. He’s getting the gardens his mother designed restored so they can be enjoyed by everyone who visits.

  ‘I’ve been staying with him on and off for the last three months but it’s not the same without you there. Rosario says the same. I know the spelling’s different but you’re like Halley’s comet. You’re the only bright thing he’s had in his life in years.’

  She pursed her mouth at him. ‘You know, I can tell you’re a Caulfield,’ she said. ‘You’re already showing signs of that lethal charm.’

  He smiled. ‘I don’t know how to thank you for what you did for me in uncovering the truth before my mother’s husband could go to the press. I have two fathers now instead of one. Raymond is a great guy. I can’t believe the way he has given up everything to be there for me. But then I think of Jasper and he’s the same. The greatest love a person can show for another is to give their life for another person. Jasper did that for me when I needed it most.’

  Hayley struggled to hold the tears back. ‘Will he be home this evening?’

  ‘I’ll make sure he is,’ he said. ‘I’ll make myself scarce so you can talk to him in private.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that; it’s your home as well.’

  ‘Not for much longer. I’m going back to Mum’s now that creep has moved out since she told him she wants
a divorce. But in the meantime I’m going to spend more and more time at Raymond’s place. He and I have some stuff planned with some homeless kids. I’m helping him with a community project. I love it. It’s so amazing seeing the change in young kids’ lives.’

  Tears sprang from her eyes. ‘Daniel, I’m so proud of you,’ she said. ‘You really are one special guy.’

  He grinned at her as he got to his feet. ‘So you think my skin’s OK, then, do you?’

  She stepped up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. ‘Everything about you is perfect, Daniel.’

  Hayley took a deep breath as she stood in front of the intercom panel outside Jasper’s house. She decided against pressing it and used the code instead. She still had a key to his house and approached the front door with it shaking slightly in her hand.

  She opened the door and listened for sounds of movement but all was silent. She stepped inside, her ears still straining, but there was no indication anyone was at home.

  Disappointment surged through her. She had been building herself up to this for the whole afternoon. It didn’t seem fair that no one was here to receive her.

  She sat on one of the sofas, her spirits sagging as she wondered if Daniel had got it wrong. Jasper might be out with a new lover, or even worse bring someone back with him.

  She jerked upright when she heard the roar of his car nosing its way into the garage. She waited with bated breath for the sound of his footsteps, her legs wobbling as she got to her feet as he came into the room.

  His eyes widened in shock when he saw her, his face visibly draining of colour. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked.

  ‘I wanted to see you.’

  ‘What about?’

  She tried not to be put off by his curt and too rapid response. ‘I thought you might like an update on your child’s progress,’ she said.

  His gaze flicked to her swollen abdomen before returning to hers. ‘You seem pretty sure it is mine, but I’d like confirmation first.’

  ‘That can easily be arranged.’

  ‘So you’ll agree to it?’ he asked.