Chapter 23
Oakley
My hands trembled as I stepped back into the house. The officer who’d arrested Cole asked about our first time, where we were, how old I’d been, how old he’d been, and when we’d had slept together in the UK.
This wasn’t a secret.
I didn’t care that my family and his were standing outside listening… along with half the neighbourhood. All I wanted was for them to let him go.
“Come inside,” Mum said. “Jenna and David are going to the station.”
I looked back, frantic as I saw them get into David’s car. “I want to go, too.”
David held his palms, unlocking the doors. “Let us take care of him. If you’re there, he’ll worry more about you. We’ll bring him home.”
“I can help,” I said, blinking another tear down my cheek.
How was everyone so calm?
“You just helped by answering questions, Oakley. If we go in there making demands and panicking, we won’t help him. I’ll bring him back to you.”
“David’s right, sweetheart. Let’s get inside and wait.”
“O-Okay,” I said. “Will you let me know what’s going on?”
“Of course,” David replied, and got into the car with his wife.
I’d caused them so much trouble and they were still worried about me.
Mum ushered me inside where I sat on the sofa with Mia. Lizzie and Ali decided to take Nan and Grandad home and they’d wait for news at Ali’s.
I rested my elbows on my knees and put my head in my hands. This was my fault. We should’ve lied and covered up our relationship better.
But this was so wrong since we’d not broken any laws whatsoever.
“Oakley? Hey, don’t do that… he’s going to be home soon, you’ll see. Can you talk to me?” Mia said.
“He was arrested because of me.”
“He was taken to be questioned because of your dad. I don’t know how did it, but he’s obviously behind it.”
It was sickening to think that he still had friends—ones willing to lie and cause trouble on behalf of a paedophile.
“I hate him so much,” I breathed. “How is he my dad?”
“He stopped being your dad a long time ago, babe.”
“Yeah, well, that’s true. Do you think Cole’s mad at me? He didn’t look angry.”
She smiled softly. “He’s only ever been angry with you for one thing.”
“Leaving.”
“Yeah. You can’t do that again. You know that, right? Whatever happens now, you have to do it together. I can’t watch him fall apart again, Oakley. I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it out.”
Her words were like claws to my heart, scratching until it bled.
I wiped away a tear from under my eye, swallowing acid. “I can’t do it again, either.”
“Good,” she replied, bumping her side against mine. “You know that this questioning thing is dumb, so stop panicking.”
“I’ll stop when he walks back through that door. I’ve literally brought nothing but trouble for him.”
“Well, I think you’ve brought a bit more than that. Stop being a stress head. Now is the time to live and have fun. I mean, not this second, but once he’s back.”
I cracked a smile. “Right.
Underneath the panic, I knew that it would be okay. You couldn’t make and change laws on a whim. We hadn’t broken any, so he would be home soon, but my heart still slammed against my rip cage as if they could.
“Jenna’s on the phone,” Mum said, stopping by the door. “They’ve now taken him in for questioning and will wait there.”
That wasn’t news.
“She saw him briefly and he’s okay. Honey, this is going to be straightened out. David is threatening to press charges against whoever is doing this.”
“See,” Mia said. “Everything’s fine.”
“The press is outside,” Jasper said. “And I have an idea.”
“What could you possibly want from those arseholes?” Mia asked.
“Well, they’re blood-sucking parasites, but they’re blood-sucking parasites who’re on Oakley’s side. They’ve condemned those wankers from the start, and now, because of them, Cole’s been arrested. I say we use them.”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s not obvious about that, Mia? I’m saying Oakley goes out there and tells them what’s happening.”
“But why? Cole will be home soon.”
“Shit like this sticks. We need everyone to know the truth so that no one can say things like Cole also slept with a minor. Still gross to think about you and him like that, by the way.”
“Don’t think about it, then,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “But you’re right, and I’m going to do it. They’re here because they’ve heard about Cole being taken off in a cop car. I don’t want any of them adding two plus two and getting five.”
Mia nodded. “You’re right. We can’t leave any room for speculation.”
Being questioned for having sex with someone underage was about as serious as it got, even if it was all rubbish, and I couldn’t have him facing those sorts of consequences. I wasn’t talking about legally because that would be taken care of. But people talked, and he could lose his job.
I stood up, and Mum, hanging up the phone, said, “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I’m doing this. I’m not letting anyone twist this to sell a story and make money.”
I was going to make this right and then I was going to plan the rest of our lives together, because like hell was I spending even a day away from him.
“Do you want us to come out there?” Mum asked.
“She’s not going alone,” Jasper told her.
“I can do it,” I countered.
“I’m not doubting that, but you’re not going out there alone.”
“We shouldn’t all go,” Miles said, wrapping an arm around Mum. He’d been brilliant since he’d arrived, and I could see the strength in Mum now from just having him around. He was all she needed. “It should be Sarah and Jasper.”
Mia nodded. “Fine. Whatever will help. I don’t want anyone to think he’s like those people.”
“No one is going to think that,” Jasper said.
“You don’t know that. He was taken in right after the trial and sentencing.”
“Hey,” I said. “We’ve been over that, and preventing wild, fabricated stories is why I’m about to go talk to those reporters out there.”
I was focused now. The rapid thudding of my heart had slowed. I had something to do, some way to help Cole, and that helped me not lose my head.
“Come on,” I said to my mum and brother.
“Oakley, you’ve never wanted to go to the press. I can go out there if you want,” Mum said.
I shook my head. “No, it has to be me.”
I would do anything, speak to anyone, if it meant Cole’s name wasn’t dragged through the mud, if people wouldn’t question why he was taken off in a cop car, and if they didn’t think there was some truth to it.
“All right. If you’re sure.”
Before I could dwell on the nerves starting to grow in my stomach, doubling by the second, I walked out of the house.
It didn’t take me long to want to run away. I wouldn’t, not ever, but as about ten people turned to me, ice slid down my spine.
You can do this.
Mum and Jasper stood on either side of me, a step behind. Just knowing they were there gave me enough courage to do the speaking part alone.
For late afternoon, it was still so bright outside. Squinting against the sun, I mentally prepared myself to speak with them. After keeping my distance and telling them no repeatedly, I was now going to ask them to believe Cole and me.
They already did—they’d printed it enough times. They were, rightly, on the side of the children my… Max and Frank hurt.
“Oakley, why was Cole arrested?”
“Do you feel fifteen years is long enough?”
“What charges is Cole facing?”
“What have the police discovered about Cole.”
I held my hand up. “I will answer your questions, but I need one question at a time.”
To the person who’d asked what the cops had on Cole, I said, “Firstly, he wasn’t arrested.
The police have taken him in for questioning, they have nothing on him because there is nothing to find.
I believe someone my father knows has given false information in a final, pathetic attempt to control me. ”
“What was the charge?”
“Where is he now?”
“No charges have been brought to him,” I said, clearly needing to put that point across again. “He’s currently being questioned at the station. I have also given a statement about that time.”
“Is it true he was arrested for having sex with you when you were a minor?”
“Yes,” I said. “But that’s not what happened. Cole and I aren’t even two years apart in age, and we did not sleep together while I was underage.”
“You believe your father said that to hurt you?”
“He controlled my entire childhood. I didn’t speak because he told me not to. I refused to engage in appointments with doctors and other medical professionals because he told me to. He can’t control me anymore, and he hates that.”
One of the reporters nodded. “What do you think this means for Cole?”
“Absolutely nothing. I told the police the truth, and he’s doing the same now.”
“Do you expect him back soon?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why would he be questioned if the police know what happened?”
“The police had information they were duty bound to act upon. I was fifteen when Cole and I first slept together, but we were in Italy where the legal age is fourteen. When we got home to the UK, we waited until I was sixteen. He was seventeen. Cole has done nothing wrong. Neither of us have.”
“How do you feel about your father?”
Wow, what a question. “I think he needs a lot of help. I think he needs to be off the streets for the rest of his life. He can’t be around children or have Internet access.
I don’t know who he speaks with or who visits him, but I hope they wake up.
If they continue trying to ruin the lives of the people I love, we will press charges.
I just want to be left alone to heal and find happiness. ”
“Is that why you moved to Australia?”
“I needed time. There was a lot to process, and I couldn’t do it in a place that held a lot of bad memories.”
“Will you be going back now?”
“I don’t know,” I replied.
No, absolutely not.
Mum and Jasper were still behind me. We hadn’t spoken since we arrived when the plan had always been to go back. I was in a much different place now, not to mention the fact that I was an adult.
“Do you still have those memories here?”
“They’re quieter now. I’ve spent a long time working on myself. My past will always be there, but it won’t define me or what I want for my future.”
“Are you angry that Cole was hauled off to the station?”
“I’m not angry at the police—they should look into every allegation against a child, always—but I’m angry with my father for trying to tar Cole with the same brush. Cole was my lifeline growing up. He wouldn’t hurt me. Thank you for listening. I’m going to wait for him now.”
As I turned around, I was surprised that no one called my name. No one asked Mum or Jasper to answer any questions.
I blew out a breath as I walked away, shocked and proud that I’d managed to do that without too much anxiety. But this was for Cole.
Mum closed the door and hugged me. “Darling, you were brilliant.”
I shook my hands. “Yeah, you think they’re going to be rooting for Cole?”
“They already were,” Jasper said, squeezing my shoulder. “You have the heart of everyone, Oakley. Read a paper once in a while. Re-join the twenty-first century and get on social media.”
I turned my nose up. “I’m good, thanks.”
“How did it go?” Mia asked, hope big in her eyes.
“She did amazing. No one will believe the shit that wanker is saying now,” Jasper replied.
“Language!” Mum scolded. Miles smirked behind her.
What would happen to them if I didn’t go back to Australia?
There was so much to consider. Mum and Jasper would follow me around the world, as they’d proved, but I couldn’t ask them to.
It was time for them to live for something other than me.