Pieces of it All (19 page)

"So, if you continued on in school, what exactly would it be for?" Beth's eyes widened at the prospect of her dad agreeing to this. Her ears had to be playing tricks on her.

Her mom perked up. "Horticulture."

"Horti - what now?" He asked.

"In a nutshell, studying plants. I've only got another year to go. I'll earn my Associates Degree by the time Beth finishes her first year of college."

"How did you manage that with one class a week, Mom?" Beth's degree was going to take years, and that was with a full-time schedule.

They pulled into the driveway. "It hasn't been only one. I take online courses, too."

Her dad shut off the car. "Wait a minute. How are you paying for all of this? I haven't seen any bills or payments on this."

Beth kept her hand on the door handle, wanting to sprint from the car, but the anticipation of her mom's answer held her hostage. "My parents."

"You took money from your parents? You know my stance on that."

"I never went to college. They wanted to help. If it makes you feel better, I insisted we pay them back."

"You bet we will." He shook his head, looking back and forth between Beth and her mom. Beth sat on her hands, anxiously awaiting his next move, expecting an explosion. After a long and emotionally draining day, was she witnessing the beginning of the end of her parent's relationship? She was going to join the crowd of kids with divorced parents, all because her dad couldn't accept her mom's desire to better herself. She took a deep breath as he smiled and spoke again. "On your graduation day."

No one expected a frantic knock on the door at nine-thirty at night. Beth and her parents settled on the couch, popcorn popped, starting to watch
Oz: The Great and Powerful
, her mom's choice, when the heavy beating on the door and multiple rings of the bell startled them.

Beth's dad checked who was making the ruckus, and within moments Sue marched into the room beside him. "You." She pointed her finger at Beth. "Where's that boyfriend of yours? Where is he?"

"Probably at home." She sat the popcorn bowl down on the coffee table. "Why? Is everything okay?"

Sue tore off her glasses, her cheeks a color of red Beth had never seen before. Heavy, angry panting accented her pursed lips. "No, everything is
not
okay. I got a call from Dr. Naise and Leslie today. Both said you and that boy stole from my clients." Beth's mouth dropped open. "I hope to hell you aren't, Beth."

Her dad stared at her, disappointment in his eyes. "No." Beth said. "I'm not." Stealing? His fingertips had touched her cheek, his lips had fondled hers. He took her virginity - stole! - hours before. She pushed the bile back down to her stomach. "Are you sure?" It couldn't be true.

Sue pressed her fingertips against her cheeks. "Of course I am, Beth. I don't think screaming clients would be calling me if nothing was really missing." She put her hands on her hips. "I should say
ex
-clients because they won't be using my services anymore."

"I ... I can't believe he would steal." Did she? No matter how minimal, he had a criminal past. Could she be absolutely certain he wasn't a thief and defend him?

"Well, believe it." Sue said. "Where does this guy live?"

Beth's mom cut in. "He's just a few houses down."

Sue stopped her yelling momentarily. "What happened to you, Sharon? When did you get that cast?"

"Tonight. We'll talk about it later. Harvey lives in the brown house with the brick a few doors down, but I wouldn't go now. It's late."

Beth thought of Harvey's father. Harvey reacted so quickly to get her out of the house when he came home. Sue pounding on his door and throwing accusations at him wasn't going to equate to a good situation, especially if his dad was there. "I'll talk to him." Beth volunteered as she threw her arm in the air.

"What the hell is on your finger?" Her father froze, his eyes on her hand.

She touched the bottom of the band with her thumb. Beth hadn't tried to hide the ring. It started to feel like a natural part of her finger, and she never thought to keep it hidden.

"What in the world are you wearing?" he repeated. "Don't you even tell me that's what I think it is." He grabbed her hand.

"It's not an engagement ring, Dad." She pulled away. This would be hard to explain without him losing his cool.

"Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that. You still didn't answer me." His cheeks puffed up.

Didn't she? He only asked her to clarify Harvey hadn't proposed. "Don't worry, Dad. It's nothing. Harvey wanted to show me he cares about me."

"He couldn't make you a mix tape?"

What was a mix tape? "You mean like a playlist?" He glared at her. "Sorry," she apologized.

"You're moving way too fast with this boy. I'm not comfortable with this at all." Walking in circles around the couch, he grabbed a hold of his hair. "What is he doing giving a little girl a ring? You haven't known him long enough to be exchanging those kinds of gifts."

"Dad, if you don't mind, it's been a long day. Let's not argue about this right now."

"I do mind and I do want to get into it. You're barely an adult, and you're just going off to college. You don't need this kind of commitment with anybody."

"We're not getting married. We haven't even had a conversation about marriage."

The circling changed to pacing. "You're smarter than this Beth! Guys like him have
one
thing on their mind!" He tapped his finger to his temple. "I don't think I need to explain myself. I
do not
care for this guy." Sue cleared her throat. Her dad looked at Sue and added, "Not to mention he's a thief!"

Beth refused to believe that. Jumping to conclusions before she spoke with him was irresponsible. She should get the entire story first. He didn't have a right to butt into her love life. "He didn't leave with anything from those houses."

Sue knelt down beside Beth and took her hand, examining the ring. "Beth," she started, "he didn't take a television or a laptop or anything. He took a music box and ... " she squeezed Beth's hand. "A ring."

Her hand fell onto her lap. "No. No. He said this belonged to his great-grandmother. It was passed down to him. He didn't steal this."

As much as she wanted to believe her own words, she knew the chances of what Sue saying to be true was a lot more likely than the ring being an heirloom. She twirled the band around again and let out a sigh as she pulled it off and placed it in Sue's hand.

"Thank you, Beth. I'll get this back to Dr. Naise right away." She kissed Beth's forehead. "Please tell Harvey to bring the jewelry box to me as soon as you speak with him. Leslie is not happy and I'm sure is already bad mouthing me around town."

Without giving Sue a chance to say goodbye, Beth ran up to her bedroom and texted Harvey.
We need to talk.

Immediately her phone dinged back.
Yes, we do. I'll pick you up tomorrow for lunch at the beach. A picnic.

She responded a picnic would be wonderful. The empty space on her finger said otherwise.

Chapter Twenty Three

Harvey laid the blanket under a tall oak tree overlooking Lake Michigan. The peanut butter sandwiches, grapes and water didn't scream romance, but hopefully enough to impress Beth. He had to salvage anything left of the relationship, and Beth agreeing to a picnic was a step.

The entire drive to the park, Beth clung to silence. She sat stiffly in the passenger seat of the Bonneville, and stared out the window. She accepted a peck, nothing more. Fine, he couldn't blame her. A lot of work laid ahead of him trying to win her trust back.

Beth took a seat, and Harvey placed himself next to her. She scooted a few inches. "Beth, please. Sit next to me." He reached his hand out only for her to pull away. How childish. "Come on, honey."

"Honey?" She questioned. "Do you remember what happened yesterday?"

Unfortunately, he did. All too much. He'd thrown a woman out of the house more than once when his father came traipsing through the door inebriated. Contrary to those occasions, this time he cared about the person climbing out the window. This time, sober, he recalled every moment with her, her soft lips, her smooth skin, his dick deep inside her. Oh, he wanted to be with her again so badly it scared him. "About that."

"Yeah, about that. I'm embarrassed and humiliated. Not exactly how I imagined my first time ..." she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

Harvey scooped in, pulled her into his chest. "I'm so sorry, Beth. I wish I could take back what happened."

He wanted to catch the tears pouring out of her eyes. He'd save them so he had a piece of her with him always. He'd rather forget when he became a man, as his father referred to the act.
Happy thirteenth birthday!
His drunken father had whispered to him as the woman came into the house in her high heels, short skirt and painted on makeup. After the more than awkward encounter, his father handed the lady some cash and she went on her way. That night, Harvey took his first drink.

Harvey's hand touched Beth's cheek, and she flinched, but allowed the gesture as the tears seeped through the spaces between his fingers. "You have no idea how special being with you was. I panicked when my father came home. Things didn't end in the best way. I don't want crawling out a window to be your memory." God damn, he fucked up. Big time. This fragile woman in front him sat ensconced in heartache, with him to blame. Previously, he didn't care if he broke anyone's heart. As long as he had something to drink and someone to screw, who the hell gave a shit what happened to them? Not anymore.

"It
is,
though." She turned her head, looking away from him. "In the future, when I look back on my first time, I'll always remember the shame I had as I rushed out your window."

He inhaled a cleansing breath and collected his words to piece them together the right way. Did an appropriate apology exist for this situation? "I." He stopped. An "
I'm sorry"
wasn't sufficient. "It's just." Another pause. Nope. It wasn't 'just' anything. "Beth..." He took her left hand. He squeezed, feeling around. "Where's your ring?"

She dropped her hand, setting it on the blanket.

"Beth. Did you lose your ring? What happened?" He'd steal another one if he had to.

She lifted her face, meeting her honey eyes with his. "Harvey, I need to talk to you. The ring didn't belong in your family."

The pencil that punctured his hand years ago was nothing compared to the pain piercing through his heart. "What? How could you say that?" How did she know? "Where is it?"

The tears slowed and she wiped her cheeks. "My aunt has it. To give back to its rightful owner."

Its rightful owner.
Dr. Naise. "No. You're the rightful owner." He tried to save himself. "The ring belongs to you." She didn't have a right to give away a present he gave her.

"How did you buy it?" The words came out of Beth's mouth almost before he finished his sentence.

The blanket wrinkled as he sat up on his knees. "I told you. I didn't. It was passed down to me." From who? Who did he say gave it to him? Think, think, think! His aunt. No. Cousin? No, that wasn't right, either.

"Tell me about her. Your great-grandmother."

Great-grandmother. Right. The twinkle in her eye disappeared as she stared back at him. Hope replaced the face of admiration she'd given over the past few weeks. She expected an answer, a story about his great-grandmother and her importance in his life. He'd give anything to have something to say to her, but his mind drew blank. Who was his great-grandmother? His grandmother? Who was his
mother
for fuck's sake? Lying made no difference now.

"That's what I thought." She started to stand.

"Beth, wait!" Harvey pulled her back down to the blanket and she toppled over him, letting out a grunt.

"Harvey! Ow!" She rubbed her elbow as she straightened herself out, but not before a woman walked by with her dog, the little puppy lab stopping to sniff the blanket. "Come on, girl," the lady urged her dog. "Sorry," she said to them.

The lady kept walking, probably assuming Harvey yanked her down playfully in a romantic gesture. "You may be able to be more 'intimate' or share your feelings, but I've certainly been through a lot more than you ever will. You're right. The ring didn't belong to my great-grandmother. I don't know who she is." He stood up and grabbed his hair on either side of his head. "Ugh!" he yelled. "I don't even know who my damn mother is, Beth! Not a clue! There! Is that
good
enough for you?" He sunk down to eye level with her. Pointing his finger in her face, inches away from her nose, he added. "I took the fucking ring and I'd take it again. I've told you enough about my past. I'm done talking about this. Done! Do you understand?" He wasn't being bullied into reliving his misery to satisfy some need she had to know everything about him.

She shoved his hand out of the way, surprising him. "Don't put your hand in my face like that ever again. If you want to be with me, you will not treat me like this. I understand if you don't want to talk about what may have happened to you, but, at some point, you're going to have to. Or this – us – can't happen."

"Is everything okay here?" A young man approached, out of breath. "I was running by and couldn't help but hear the arguing. Is this man threatening you?"

Adrenaline filled Harvey's veins as the man pointed in his direction. "I didn't invite you into our business. Keep on going, guy," Harvey threatened. He hadn't punched someone in a long time, and this fool didn't want to be the brunt of all the anger he had built up inside.

He ignored Harvey and continued to speak to Beth. "Do you need me to call the police?"

Harvey stood back up and turned to him. "Look, just get out of here." He shoved his finger into the man's chest, his blue tank top covered in sweat. No way was he going to let this prick come in here pushing out his pecks trying to move in on Beth. He'd get the hell out of their business and not look back if he knew what was good for him. Harvey increased his breathing and lowered his finger.