by M. A. Foster
AMELIA GREETS ME with a smile and a wave from behind the hostess counter. Friday’s are crazy, especially after the football game.
“Harper.” Amelia waves me over. “Max wants you to go straight to his office.”
Hmm. That’s odd. Max doesn’t usually come in on Fridays until after the football game.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Taking the hall toward the employee lounge, I stop outside his closed office door and knock.
“Come in,” he calls out.
Pushing the door open, I walk inside to see Max leaning with his backside against his desk, reading a piece of paper. I step farther inside his office, my stomach flipping when I see Emerson, Dylan, and his mom, Jessica.
The expressions on their faces say it all. They know.
“Have a seat, Harper.” Max gestures to the empty chair in front of his desk beside Emerson.
Taking a seat, I clasp my hands in my lap and wait with bated breath. My heart is racing, a nervous lump sitting at the base of my throat.
Bracing myself, I raise my head to meet Max’s eyes.
“I’m not really sure where to start,” he says as he passes me the sheet of paper.
Taking it, I look down to see that it’s the copy of Cole’s patient information sheet. I guess that answers my question about Emerson seeing anything in the book. This looks even worse. God, what they all must be thinking.
Lifting my head once again, I admit, “This belonged to my sister,” before turning to look at Emerson. “I assume you found this in that journal?” She must have flipped through the journal and discovered it.
She pins me with a glare. “Actually, it was loose in the box, which is the only reason I even saw it. If it were tucked inside your journal, it would still be there. I don’t make it a habit of snooping through people’s personal things.”
I nod and pass the paper back to Max. “It’s not what you think.”
“So you’re not stalking my brother,” Dylan chimes in sarcastically.
Turning in my chair, I meet his glare. “No. I’m not.” Turning back to face Max, I say, “I’ll tell you everything if you’re willing to listen.”
Max gestures for Jessica to take the chair behind his desk. Dylan moves to stand behind his mother, and now all three are facing me. Emerson is still sitting beside me.
First, I look over at Emerson. “That journal you found last night originally belonged to my mother. But after she died, my sister got a hold of it. I didn’t even know it existed until after she died and I was packing up her room. That paper”—I gesture to the information sheet now lying on Max’s desk—“also belonged to my sister.”
“Who is your sister? And why does she have my son’s personal information?” Jessica asks with a frown.
Lowering my head, I take a deep breath. “My sister was Jaden Price, Willow’s mother.”
Emerson gasps beside me. I look up at Max just in time to see him straighten to his full height and narrow his eyes.
Jessica brings one hand up to cover her mouth and the other to her chest.
Dylan exhales a curse under his breath. “Cole is gonna lose his shit.”
“He’s not,” Max says, looking over his shoulder. “Because we’re not gonna tell him.”
“Max,” Jessica begins, but Max holds up his hand and turns his attention back to me.
“Is that why you’re here?” he asks. “So you can get close to my son.”
“Truthfully, no. But last summer when I applied, it was in hopes of seeing Willow.” Tears pool in my eyes. “I just wanted to see her,” I cry. “When Jade died, I didn’t just lose my sister, I lost Willow, too. I lost my family.”
“My God, Harper.” Emerson sniffs beside me.
Shaking my head, I brush away the tears. “When I found the journal, I was shocked to find out that Willow’s father was one of my classmates. Do you know how hard it was for me to sit behind him in class every day wondering if he’d ever let me see her? I waited for him to call. That’s all I wanted. But he never once took my feelings, my grief, into consideration.”
“Because he was a scared sixteen-year-old kid,” Dylan yells. “He wasn’t thinking about anything or anyone but Willow.”
“Dylan,” Jessica chides. “Calm down.”
“I know that, Dylan. I’m just telling you what I was thinking and feeling at the time. I’m not here because I’m trying to get close to Cole. I’m not one of his ‘groupies,’” I quote Dylan and Alex from my interview. “It’s always been about Willow. I had finally given up and moved on by the time Alex called me in for an interview. I had a boyfriend and I was happy.” I shake my head, thinking about how my happiness had been based on nothing but lies. Josh’s and mine. “Max, I took the job because I needed one, and I genuinely like working here.”
“I think we need to all sit down with Cole and talk,” Jessica says. “What’s your relationship like with Cole?”
“We’ve only recently become friends,” I say truthfully.
“And you haven’t shared any of this information with Jay?” Emerson asks.
I shake my head. “No.”
“Are you interested in Cole?” Max asks, and I frown. “You know….” He waves his hand around. “Someone help me out here. I don’t know what terminology kids are using these days.”
I pull my lips to the side, amused.
“He wants to know if you’re planning to screw my brother,” Dylan explains with a laugh, and my eyes go wide.
“Dylan,” Jessica chastises him again. “Don’t be so crude.”
“That’s not exactly what I meant, Dylan,” Max chides.
“No,” I defend. “We’re barely friends.”
“It’s only a matter of time before he tries to bang her,” Dylan offers.
Max jerks his head toward Dylan. “That’s enough. She’s Willow’s family, too, and she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Does Jay know that Willow belongs to Cole?” I ask.
“Jay and anyone else who matters believe that Willow was adopted,” Max tells me.
“Does Willow understand that Cole is her dad?”
“It’s complicated,” Jessica says. “She and Cole share a strong bond. She relies on him just as any child would rely on a father. Willow is very smart, but she doesn’t understand the difference between him being her father and him being Cole.”
“Who does she think you are?” I ask.
“She calls me Mom,” Jessica replies, then gestures to Max. “She calls him Pops. Basically, she calls us what Cole and Aiden call us. She’s at the stage where she repeats everything she hears.” She smiles. “I know you think it’s unconventional, but it’s not our call. She’s Cole’s daughter, and this is how he chooses to raise her.”
I nod in agreement. “I’m not questioning his parenting. I’m just trying to understand. Honestly, from what I’ve seen, Cole is amazing with Willow. She’s sweet and funny, and she has a big personality. She looks so much like Jade.”
“I still think we need to tell Cole the truth,” Dylan interjects.
He’s really starting to piss me off. Doesn’t he understand how much this might hurt Cole?
Unless…
“Why are you so hell-bent on telling him, Dylan?” I taunt. “Do you really think he’s gonna be like ‘Okay, that’s cool’?” I give two thumbs up. “Or do you want to see him hurt?”
Max frowns and looks over his shoulder at Dylan. “What’s she talking about?”
Dylan crosses his arms over his chest, challenging me. “No clue.”
My eyebrows jump to my hairline. Oh, so it’s like that. “No clue?” I repeat. “Jade was actually interested in Dylan. He invited her to that party and even flirted with her for a bit, before he blew her off for another girl. Then Jade got stupid drunk and hooked up with Cole. She didn’t know they were brothers. Fast forward a couple of months later and she’s talking to Dylan again. Then Jade found out she was pregnant. She and Dylan were still friends. Fast forwar
d another couple of months, and Cole shows up at Dr. Graham’s office, where Jade worked. He didn’t remember her, but she remembered him. I assume that’s why she made a photocopy of his patient information sheet. The last thing she wrote was that she was going to tell Dylan about Cole.” I glare at Dylan.
He drops his gaze. “I didn’t know she’d been in an accident. It wasn’t until our family meeting that I put the pieces together.”
“I don’t understand,” Jessica says, turning to Dylan. “You’re angry with Cole because… why?”
“Because I liked her and if he hadn’t knocked her up, things would’ve been different.” Dylan turns to me. “I cared about Jade. It didn’t matter that she was having someone else’s baby. I would’ve been there for her. But the universe decided to play a sick joke on both of us. Cole….” He lets his last word hang in the air, shaking his head.
“I know you cared about her, Dylan. Jade knew it, and she cared about you, too. It hurt that I had to learn all these things about my sister from a journal. I’ll always love my sister, but I’m so pissed at her for leaving me in the dark with all these secrets. And the Averys—” Shit.
My relation to the Averys was never supposed to be a part of this conversation.
“What about the Averys?” Emerson snaps.
“Patrick Avery—” I begin, but Max cuts me off.
“What about Patrick?”
“He’s my father.”
“What?” Emerson gasps.
Dylan throws his head back and laughs loudly. “Holy shit, this just keeps getting better.” He digs his phone out from his front pocket and taps the screen. “Hold on, let me get Jerry Springer on the line.”
“Shut up, Dylan.” Max rubs his temples. “This is too much information. I’m starting to regret even bringing you in here.” He huffs out a humorless laugh. “I think I’m going to need a few minutes or months to absorb all of this. Harper, go to work and pretend we never had this conversation.”
Nodding, I stand from the chair and head for the door, but at the last minute I turn around to address the four of them. “Thank you for giving me a chance and hearing me out.”
“Thank you for your honesty.”
“Harper,” Emerson calls. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise.” She winks.
“Harper.” Jessica stands from behind the desk and makes her way over to me, then wraps her arms around me. “Everything will work out, sweetie,” she whispers in my ear. “I promise.” She pulls back and takes my hands. “Thank you for being so mature about this, and for being patient with Cole. He’ll come around. I promise. Just give him time.”
I want to say he’s had more than two years but I don’t. They’ve accepted me into their family. I just hope Cole does the same.
“That’s what I was hoping for. I wanted to pretend that journal never existed and just let things happen the way they’re supposed to. Cole and I are working on our friendship, when he’s not driving me nuts,” I tease, and Jessica laughs.
I move my gaze to Dylan. “Are we okay?”
He nods and offers a sad smile. “We’re more than okay. I’m sorry, Harper.”
“Thank you. Me, too.”
I NOTICE ZACH’S Jeep parked out front as I steer my car into the garage.
Walking into the kitchen, I pause and laugh under my breath at the sight of Jay sitting cross-legged on the island countertop, strumming an acoustic guitar and singing Radio Head’s “Creep.” Zach is right beside her, perched on a barstool and hunched over a textbook, while Grace flits around the kitchen, humming along.
Jay smiles when she sees me and stops strumming.
Zach looks up from his textbook.
“I love that song,” I tell her as I wave to Zach. “Hey, Zach.”
“Hey.” He smiles and returns his attention to his textbook.
“Thanks.” Jay taps the guitar. “You wanna try?”
I hold up my hands. “No, thanks. I’m musically challenged.”
She smiles. “I could teach you sometime.”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“You don’t like music?”
“I love music. I like to sing and dance, but I’m just not real good at the singing part.” I laugh.
“I don’t believe that. You have a very angelic voice. I bet with some practice you’d be really good.” She winks. “So what’s your passion?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, mine is music. Zach’s is football… and me.” She snickers and Zach smirks. “And Grace loves to cook.” Grace nods and hums in agreement. “I know you like being on the yearbook committee and that you like to take pictures. Do you want to be a photographer?”
“I love photography. It’s one of the reasons I signed up for the yearbook committee and the photography classes. But I also like art. My mom was an art teacher and a part-time photographer before she got sick. Maybe I’ll be an art teacher, too.”
“Oh, I like that.” She looks over at Zach. “Maybe I can be a music teacher.”
Zach closes his book and stands up from the barstool. “You can be whatever you want, babe,” he says, shoving his book into his backpack before plucking the guitar from Jay’s hands and passing it to me. “Come on, creep.” He scoops Jay off the counter and tosses her over his shoulder.
“Zach!” she shrieks.
“Sorry, Harper, but I need some alone time with my girl.” He winks before he struts out of the kitchen.
“Harper, please don’t drop that. It was my dad’s,” Jay calls out.
I clutch the guitar to my body. “I won’t.”
Jay’s laughter echoes in the distance over the pounding of Zach’s feet against the stairs.
Grace giggles and shakes her head. “Those two are crazy in love. I’m so glad they found their way back to each other.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
“You will have love like that, too, Miss Harper. Someday,” she reassures me.
“Maybe.” I shrug and pass the guitar off to her. “I’m not really looking for love right now.”
“You don’t need to look. If it’s true love, it will find you.” She winks.
“I DIDN’T KNOW the Pussycat Dolls reunited,” Hannah says, and Ashton laughs. I turn my head, following their line of sight to see Jay heading our way with Harper, Lexi, Kali, Cherry, and Olivia trailing behind her. Jay smiles, her gaze locked on Zach. It’s good to see her happy—to see them both happy.
Hannah’s smartass comment earns a few snickers from the guys, because they do kinda look like the Pussycat Dolls. However, it would be funnier if it wasn’t meant as an insult.
My attention moves to the sexy-as-hell redhead behind Jay. Harper has one of those long, lean bodies like Jay, but with more curves. Long legs, narrow hips, and an ass that I want to dig my hands into. And those lips…
She’s total perfection.
I’m done playing this little friend game she thinks we have going on. I want her. And now that the boyfriend is long gone, there’s nothing standing in my way.
“Hey, Z,” Jay says as she and the girls squeeze in at our table.
“Last time I checked, this table is for the athletes, not a bunch of music nerds,” Hannah sneers.
“Wow.” Jay’s eyes go wide, completely offended. Music nerd? She’s fucking rock royalty.
And my family.
Zach opens his mouth, ready to blast Hannah, but Brad beats him to it.
“Shut up, Hannah.” He turns his gaze on Cherry and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Music nerds are hot.”
I’ve had enough of this shit.
I look around and spot an empty table. “I’ve got a better idea,” I offer, standing with my tray in hand and jerking my head toward the empty table.
“Where are you going?” Ashton whines.
The sound of her shrill voice shoots straight to my ear drums, reminding me that there’s one last thing standing in my way. But that’s gonna change after today.
“ARE WE GONNA ju
st stand in your driveway, or are we going inside?” Ashton asks, reaching out to tug on the hem of my T-shirt.
“No, I think we should talk out here.”
“Talk?” Her brows dip in confusion. “About what?”
A guilty knot twists in my stomach. Why do I feel like I’m breaking up with her? She’s not my girlfriend.
No matter how many times I’ve told her.
Jay’s Range Rover pulls into the driveway behind my Tahoe. The driver door opens, but instead of Jay, Harper climbs out. “Hey, guys.” She waves as she closes her door and moves to open the back one. The second it opens, Willow calls out for me. “Co!”
I chuckle at my demanding little diva. “Hold on,” I tell Ashton before jogging over to the Rover.
Harper grabs Willow’s bag from the back seat and pulls it over her shoulder, then steps out of the way.
“Hey, Co,” Willow says when I appear in the doorway, and Harper lets out a light laugh.
“Hey, baby girl,” I coo as I pull her from her car seat. “Give me a kiss.” I push out my lips. I’ll never stop being amazed by her love for me.
“Jay had dance class and your dad was busy, so I offered to drop her off,” she explains. “Is your mom home?”
“No,” I tell her as she follows me.
“Hey, Ashton,” Harper says.
Ashton sneers. “Hey.”
“Hers ass,” Willow says, pointing to Ashton.
She means Ash.
I chuckle under my breath, and Harper twists her lips to the side to hide her smile.
“Hi, Willow,” Ashton says in the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard come out of her mouth since I’ve known her, reaching for my little girl.
“No.” Willow presses further into me, turning away from Ashton.
“I can take her inside and watch her until your mom gets home.” Harper bites down on her bottom lip as she reaches for Willow. “Come on, sassy girl.” Willow goes to her willingly. “She’s already had dinner, so I’ll give her a bath.”
“Cool, thanks.”
Harper nods and walks off with Willow perched on her hip.
“Is she the nanny or something?” Ashton asks.