Second Time Around (22 page)

Still feeling angry, Alec decided to look through the notebook before showing it to Halley. Everything was clearly dated and he noticed that the entries started shortly after she said she had begun filming the first movie. As he flicked through the pages he mentally tallied the balances. When the first break in dates came he worked out that she had received less than $5000 for her role in the film.

Alec grinned wryly. He imagined that was an enormous sum to a child but as an adult with a mortgage he knew it wouldn’t go far. Hoping that Halley wasn’t going to be too disappointed by the lack of compound interest he kept scanning the entries.

When he saw the value of the next deposit Alec did a double take: the sum wasn’t far off eighty thousand dollars. His eyes ran down the column in disbelief and noted that every entry was for the same amount. He then turned the page and continued to read.

Unlike before there were now multiple small withdrawals. A more primitive version of Halley’s neatly looped writing claimed expenditures that revolved around junk food, presents for others and clothing. A few pages later he came to the first entry written in red: Chantelle. Someone had ruled off the entries above her name. The amount next to her name was identical to the amount Halley had received the same day. Every entry that followed had a corresponding one with Chantelle’s name written in red for an identical amount. A few pages later the entries stopped at a date thirteen years in the past.

Below it a bank account number was written in a different hand and Alec recognised that the prefix belonged to the bank he used. A glance at the debit card confirmed it. He guessed that when Krystal had moved to Australia she had transferred Halley’s money with her.

Alec tapped the card on his knee thoughtfully. If his estimations were correct Chantelle had taken out close to eight hundred thousand dollars that Halley had earned leaving Halley with a similar amount. How on earth had Chantelle managed to go through such a huge sum and seemingly have nothing much to show for it?

Feeling nosy and still irked enough at Halley not to tell her of his discovery, Alec took the debit card and the notebook down to his office and logged on to his computer. He called up the bank’s website and entered the account number.

Onscreen a message appeared to tell him that a passcode had been sent to his phone. He had to enter the passcode in the box provided before he could access anything about the account.

Alec crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. He knew that the passcode wouldn’t be sent to his phone. It would be sent to Krystal’s. Did Halley even have Krystal’s phone or had she got rid of it?

As much as he was tempted to drop the search right there because he couldn’t go further without Halley’s help, Alec was too curious to do so. However, he didn’t want to speak to Halley because he was still fuming over how she had thoroughly and publicly kissed another man despite being married to him. He was at an impasse.

The scent of roast chicken wafted through the open door and Alec’s stomach rumbled. He had lied earlier. Without Leonora in the office to timeously interrupt a meeting with a notoriously long winded client he had wound up running behind schedule and the day had unravelled from there. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast and was famished.

At the thought of his assistant, Alec recalled Halley telling him to ask Leonora what had happened. Dare he call his PA and ask for her take on the situation? Alec wavered as to whether he should. He used to be certain of Leonora’s loyalty but he knew she had become a good friend of Halley’s. Would she lie?

You’d blindly accept Miranda’s version of events rather than ask someone you trust to present a less biased view?

Alec’s conscience niggled at him but as he went to reach for the phone another thought stopped him.

What if Leonora verifies what I saw?

His hand fell to the desk.

But what if she doesn’t?

He was still deciding what to do when his cell phone rang. Upon seeing that Leonora was on the other end, Alec took a deep breath and answered.

“Hi Alec, you um, haven’t um, seen the news tonight, have you?”

There were far too many ums in his normally assertive PA’s sentence for Alec’s liking.

“Yes I have.” Alec’s words were clipped.

“Oh God I knew it,” he heard her mutter then louder “Honestly Alec it wasn’t what it seemed and it’s all my fault.” Leonora’s voice grew faster and higher in pitch as she spoke.

“It’s not Halley’s fault that she kissed Riker Sell on camera in front of a large crowd today?” Alec was proud that he managed to keep his tone even.

“Um, well she didn’t plan for that to happen.” Leonora launched into how she had learned that Riker Sell would be at the park and had tricked Halley into going there because she was hoping that Halley would be able to introduce her to him. She then explained that Miranda had come across them first and had started being bitchy to Halley which had led to Miranda making the bet that Riker Sell wouldn’t give her the time of day.

“Halley went up to Riker and stood beside him but he never looked in her direction,” Leonora continued. “Then Miranda started strolling towards her and Halley realised she had to take drastic action to get his attention. It really was my fault,” Leonora added woefully. “Halley knew I’d upped the bet.”

Alec knew what happened next and didn’t want to hear about it again.

“So what happened afterwards?” he asked.

“I got to have lunch with Riker Sell,” Leonora all but shrieked in excitement. Then she caught herself. “Sorry about that. I swear that man turns me into a teenage girl.” She coughed. “I meant to say that Riker…” She paused. “Cool isn’t it? I’m on a first name basis with Riker Sell!”

This time Alec coughed.

“I mean Halley, the girls and I all had lunch with Riker Sell,” Leonora said a little more calmly.

“Were you there the whole time?”

“Of course I was,” Leonora said indignantly. “Riker took us to an expensive restaurant. I was amazed that the staff didn’t even blink when he asked the waiter to mash a serving of vegetables for Cassie to eat. He seemed disappointed when he found out that Halley was married and devoted to you,” Leonora added reflectively.

“Afterwards we walked Halley to the train station and made sure she got on the train okay with the girls then Riker walked me back to the office. He even let me take a selfie with him!” Her last words were said in an excited squeal and Alec held the phone away from his ear. As he did so he knew he had overreacted earlier. He owed Halley a huge apology.

“So how much money did you make out of Miranda?”

Leonora told him and when Alec ended the call he found himself smiling at the thought that Leonora had managed to make twelve hundred and seventy dollars out of his ex-wife.

When Alec returned to the living area the children were around the dining table eating. Cassie who had already been fed was now walking around the coffee table smacking it with a coaster and Halley was jiggling Lily in her arms as she sat at the table trying to eat.

He crossed over to the table and took the seat beside her, ignoring the pieces of paper and crayons in the centre of the table that hadn’t been cleared away when the table had been set. While he waited for Halley to acknowledge his presence, Alec rubbed the back of his neck. He felt contrite and anxious. What if she decided she would be better off without him?

Now that he had found the bank account it was a possibility. He toyed with the idea of not telling her about it but discarded the idea. After everything she’d been through she deserved to have financial security.

Beside him, Halley hadn’t noticed his arrival. She was too busy trying to settle Lily. As she did so, Alec observed that Halley had barely started her meal whereas the children were all close to finishing theirs.

“Why don’t you give me Lily so you can eat?”

Halley looked at Alec in surprise then passed Lily to him without argument. There was something about Alec that always settled Cassie and Lily. She didn’t know whether it was his scent, the heat that emanated from him, his soothing baritone voice or something else but it always worked.

Alec pressed Lily against his chest and tucked her head under his chin. As he rubbed her back Lily’s grizzles slowly subsided.

“I owe you a huge apology,” Alec began just as Halley swallowed her first mouthful of her lukewarm meal.

Halley’s eyes darted to the children spread around the table, noting by their still forks that they were avidly listening.

“We can talk about it later.” She met Alec’s eyes then indicated their audience with a sideways nod.

“No. I had it out with you earlier in front of them. It’s only right that they get to hear my apology too.”

“Is this part of the screen test too?” Casey asked from across the table.

“Yes it is,” Halley decided as Alec shot a quizzical glance in her direction. “I’ll explain later,” she murmured.

Em leaned forward in her seat beside Halley to smile at Alec.

“Can we judge Daddy’s performance?”

“Sure. Why not?” Halley found herself amused by the children’s take on what was happening.

Ignorant of the reason for the byplay, Alec decided to press forward with his apology before another distraction occurred.

“I am so sorry for what I said earlier,” he began and frowned when he absently noticed that Casey and Em had each picked up a piece of paper and a crayon. Then he mentally shrugged as Corey followed suit. Why should the children pay particular interest to an apology between adults?

“It was completely out of line for me to say the things that I did, especially when I never gave you a chance to present your side first. Please forgive me.”

The moment he stopped speaking the boys started drawing but Em leaned back in her seat and shook her head at him sadly.

“I think you can do better,” she said. “Give me a little more drama.”

Halley grinned at her words but Alec was taken aback.

“What on Earth?” he began but Em cut him off.

“Are you going to put more effort in or was that it?” she demanded, her crayon hovering above her piece of paper.

Halley had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud at Alec’s expression. He was looking at Em in disbelief as though he half expected her head to start spinning around.

“More drama,” Alec muttered. “Right.” Although he didn’t have a clue what was going on in his daughter’s mind, the boys were nodding in silent agreement so he decided to play along. He pushed his chair back and dropped to one knee, taking care not to unsettle Lily as he did so. With his right hand he plucked the knife from Halley’s fingers, dropped it on her plate then took her by the hand.

“Dearest Halley, I wronged you by coming to the worst possible conclusion without hearing your side of the story. For that I offer you my most heartfelt apology,” Alec said melodramatically. “How was that?” he said out of the side of his mouth while maintaining his earnest gaze on Halley.

“Keep going,” Corey advised.

“I am an unworthy bumsplat” the children giggled “and to atone for my sin I will wash the dishes for a month.”

“We have a dishwasher,” Casey interjected.

“And I will make all the children ice cream sundaes for dessert,” Alec continued unfazed.

“Yay!” Casey and Em shouted.

“It’s Friday,” Corey said.

“So am I forgiven?” Alec finished, not taking his eyes off Halley.

Although appeased by his apology Halley wasn’t going to let him off so easily.

“That depends upon whether you have learned anything.”

“I have,” Alec assured her, giving her fingers a hopeful squeeze.

“Like what?” Em prompted.

“To only discuss personal issues when you lot aren’t around,” Alec told her.

Halley snorted and Alec knew that all was well.

“If I have a Sunday tonight does that mean I have to go to school tomorrow?” Corey wanted to know.

“Only if you want to,” Halley told him with a smile.

Corey considered it. “Nah. I think I’ll sleep in.”

Halley and Alec shared a grin.

On the other side of Halley Em wrote something on her piece of paper and held it up, turning it from side to side so everyone could read it. As she did so the boys held up theirs and Alec noted they all contained a largely written number.

“What’s this about?” he asked after releasing Halley’s hand so he could retake his seat.

“It’s your score,” Casey told him patiently.

“The others gave me tens and I thought I gave a great apology so why did you give me a six?” Alec asked.

Casey looked at the paper. “Oops.” He turned it upside down so it now read nine.

“I see,” Alec mused. “What should I have done to get a ten from you?”

“I want a banana split instead of a sundae,” Casey said.

“But you cheered when I said I’d make you a sundae,” Alec pointed out.

“I know,” Casey agreed gravely. “But when I thought about it I decided I’d prefer a banana split.”