One Hour to Midnight (26 page)

Leon went so still, his expression so savage that for one horrified moment, Veronica was truly afraid. With an explosive huff of breath, he almost flung her away, turned over, offering her the broad expanse of his bare back as he leaned up and switched out the light.

Trembling in heart and limb, Veronica moved putting the width of the bed between them. Why, in God's name, had she agreed to this travesty of a marriage?

I should have listened to Kathleen. I could have helped Jordan without marrying Leon and saved myself his heartache.
 

Chapter Fifteen

L
eon looked around the room that had been home for Jordan for the past few weeks, checking under pillows and in drawers for any items left there.
 

It was amazing how much stuff had accumulated in the short time they'd been allowed to bring him items from home.

"Here, Dad, you missed this?" Jordan dived under the bed and brought out a Gameboy cassette. "It's one of the games Vic brought me."

Ah, Veronica.

"Take it easy, Jordan," Leon said briskly. "You sit in the chair while I finish packing your things, okay."

"But I'm going home."

"I know you're going home, but you still have to be careful. Remember what Prof Carey told you."

Jordan was reluctant but did as he was asked. Leon watched him trying to gauge his mood and find the words for this difficult conversation. How would his boy react? "Did you enjoy Veronica's visits?"

Jordan wrinkled his nose, swinging his feet as he sat in the chair. "She's okay for a teacher."

 
Leon crouched down in front of him until they were at eye level. "She's a little more than a teacher, son."

Jordan's legs swung a little harder. "I know she gave me some of her good bones."

"Bone marrow, it's slightly different. And yes, part of Veronica's now inside you and she's a big part of your body makeup."

Jordan gave him a horrified look and clapped his hands to his skinny chest. "Does that mean I'll grow lady boobs like hers?"

Shit! What does Jordan know about lady boobs?

"Don't fret, you'll still grow into a normal man," Leon said, grinning at his son's dismayed expression.
 

And it's only because of Veronica I can actually say this with any degree of confidence.

"Vic's got such big boobs."

Leon gave the boy a startled glance.
Forget those thoughts, kid. You're far too young.

Had Jordan noticed what he'd noticed that night he'd seen Veronica in that bar? Thoughts of his new wife made guilt hit him upside of the head, her stricken expression seared into his eyeballs.
 

Making love doesn't necessarily involve liking you.
 

The echo of his scathing words added to his discomfort.
 

What the hell came over me to say something so bloody crass?

After all she'd done for him and Jordan, Veronica didn't deserve his anger. Small wonder she'd given him the cold shoulder ever since their quarrel.

"Is Vic going back to New Zealand now I'm going home?"

"No, she's staying with us at Claremont."

Have you even told him we're married?

"But I thought she went to the beach."

At a loss as to how to answer, Leon stood up and continued packing items in Jordan's suitcase. "Veronica wasn't well enough to go to the beach so she stayed with us at Claremont."

"She told me she'd gone to the beach." Jordan gave him a stern look. "Did she lie to me?"

Oh hell! Why didn't I think to check with Vic as to what she'd told Jordan?

He grimaced. As Vic had gone out of her way to avoid him, there was no chance of any conversation.

Can I blame her? After being so damn tactless?
 

The uncomfortable thought made Leon squirm. Pushing his discomfort aside, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his son.
 

"She did go to the beach, but the week before she gave you bone marrow, she needed to come here every day for a special injection and as she doesn't have a car, it was easier for her to stay at Claremont and have McKenna bring her into the clinic."

Jordan seemed satisfied with this explanation and Leon eased out a relieved breath.

"Why did she need an injection?"

Leon tried for an explanation Jordan would understand.
 
"The injection made it easier for the stem cells in her bone marrow to graft onto yours."

"Did she puke after her injections, too?"

Leon suppressed a grin at Jordan's avid look, the little ghoul. "She often felt sick."
 

"Yeuck! Those injections were so gross."

"Gross maybe, but they did make it so you could get better."

"So why's Vic staying with us? Doesn't she want to go back to her little house? She told me she really loved it and has a neat garden."

This kid has the tenacity of a Rottweiler
. Leon decided there was no way around it except to give Jordan the blunt truth.
 

"No, she's staying at Claremont because she's now married to me. Veronica is my wife and your new mother."

Jordan looked at him, with an expression that astounded Leon. His illness had intensified the mannerism. As he faced his son, Julia's long ago words ghosted through Leon's memory.
Our little boy's an old soul, don't you think?

Now, facing Jordan's piercing scrutiny, he was inclined to agree.

"Why did you marry her?" Jordan's lower lip protruded. "I don't need a new mother."

I'm not his mother. You and Julia took good care of that.

Leon sighed and raked a hand through his hair. This was proving much more difficult that he'd thought.
 
"I married Veronica because I was lonely."
 

"Why are you lonely? You've got me 'n Cassie 'n McKenna."

"Sure we've got each other, and Cassie and McKenna, but that's not the same for me as having a wife. And Veronica
is
your real mother."

"She's not my mother, my Mum is dead. You sleep with her?" Jordan asked his dismay palpable. "In my Mum's bed?"

Geeze, who is this kid?
 

"Yes, son, Veronica and I sleep together. And no, we don't sleep upstairs in your Mum's room," Leon explained patiently. "We all sleep downstairs."

Leon sent Cassie a mental thank you.

She'd anticipated just such a reaction.
 

When he'd asked her to prepare the large upstairs master suite for him and Veronica, she'd just looked at him, blue eyes flashing.
Are you out of your mind? How do you think Jordan will react? Think about the family time you all spent there? Do you think your boy will forget?

"What about her cat? Did she leave Mutley behind, too?"

Leon didn't miss the revealing too, and Jordan's horrified expression was enough to know he needed to tread warily.
 
"No, Mutley's now at Claremont with Vic."

"Vic showed me photos. He's cool." Jordan's legs swung rapidly. "But she's not my Mum."

Leon chose his words with care. "Vic is your birth mother, Jordan, and you do share her genes. This is why she could give you bone marrow. But she doesn't want to be your mum, she only wants to be your friend."

Jordan's leg swinging slowed a little, his brow puckered in a frown. "The same as she's your friend?"

"Veronica is my wife." Leon's sex hardened.
Not quite, son. You're too young for a sexy, sassy friend like Vic.
 

"How did her cat get to Claremont?"
 

 
"I arranged for Mutley to be flown over from New Zealand for Vic, she missed him so much. Mutley's now at Claremont." Leon grinned and shook his head. "He's one dynamite cat."

"He's huge?"

Leon was so relieved with the change of subject he ran with it. "Not only is he huge, Jordan, he's a thief. You have to watch him or he'll steal the food off your plate."

"I can't wait to see him." Jordan swung his legs, eager to be gone.
 

"Then I guess we'd better finish packing."

~***~

Veronica glanced around Jordan's room one last time.
 

Everything was ready.
 

She and Cassie had cleaned the room to within an inch of its life, the curtains, the bed mattress and the carpets had all been steam cleaned. Professor Carey warned them Jordan was still at risk from infection. For several more weeks they weren't to allow him to come in contact with anyone with even the slightest hint of a cough or cold.
 

Paranoiac about the risk, Veronica had employed a firm of commercial cleaners to give the whole house a thorough going over. Leon raised his eyebrows at all the activity, but made no comment.
 

The physical work gave her little surcease from pain.
 

Leon's fierce denouement created an insurmountable barrier. Since the night of their bitter quarrel, he'd not once touched her.
 

His coldness in bed left her devastated.

Even more devastating was the realisation of just how much she'd come to treasure their physical closeness. The only reason Veronica knew he'd shared her bed was the indentation his head left in his pillow when she woke.

The intolerable ache in her heart left her wounded.
 

If his verbal attack left her bleeding, her fiery reaction to his arbitrary decision to bring her possessions from her Albany house left her floundering. It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture. Yet she'd rounded on him like some out of control shrew.
 

Now, pride refused to let her make the first move to heal the breach.
And isn't pride a mighty cold bedfellow!
 

She sat on the edge of Jordan's bed and rubbed a hand across the bright motorcycle printed duvet. She frowned, but didn't see the agitated movement of her hand.
 

Did Leon really consider she'd tried to come between him and Julia? There was enough truth in his accusations to cause her more than a little discomfort.
 

She looked out the window, but didn't see the majestic gum trees as she tried to imagine herself in Julia's shoes.

How would I feel watching Leon up close and personal, with a young, very pregnant girl? How would I react if there was a girl here now, in the same condition I was?
 

Veronica knew she would absolutely hate it.

Shaken to the core and acutely uncomfortable, she leaped to her feet just as Cassie walked into the room, "Everything okay in here?"

Without pausing to consider her words, Veronica burst out, "Cassie do you think I came between Julia and Leon? Interfered in their marriage?"

Cassie's hesitation was more telling than any rush of words.

Mortified, Veronica lifted her hands to cover burning cheeks.

"Julia was envious of your pregnancy." Cassie crossed the space and took Veronica's hands in hers holding them tightly.

"No wonder she hated me." She clung to Cassie's hands like a lifeline.
 

"Veronica, listen to me. Julia's infertility was neither your problem nor your responsibility."
 
Cassie sat on the bed and pulled Veronica down beside her and gave her hands a little shake for emphasis. "She was wrong to put pressure on you as she did."

"I never imagined it then?" Veronica eased out a shaky sigh. "So often I've wondered if I was super sensitive or imagined things that never happened."

Cassie frowned and Veronica sensed she was choosing her words carefully. Veronica desperately needed an unbiased viewpoint. For far too long she'd only had her own unhappy thoughts, with all the accompanying doubts.
 

"It's not my place to criticise, but Leon did you a grave disservice bringing you here." She paused infinitesimally and her blue eyes turned hard. "When you first came here, I did suggest he find another place for you to stay. I knew what would happen."

"If only—"

Cassie cut her off, expression stern. "Don't go there! You'll drive yourself crazy. As my mother would say, crying over spilt milk is such a melancholy thing to do."
 

Veronica knew Cassie was right.

The decisions made ten years ago were immutable.

It was what it was. She drew a pattern on the bedspread with restless fingers. It eased an ache in her heart to know she had not imagined Julia's manipulation.