by MJ Summers
Three hours later, she was back at the house, having visited her dad and picked up some groceries. She made her way out to the Rent-Haul with a groan, not wanting to face the job ahead of her. Lifting the rolling door on the back of the truck, she noticed that everything had shifted during the trip. Several boxes had spilled their contents, leaving magazines and books scattered. “Crap,” she said to herself, climbing up into the back.
Just as she had finished returning the contents to their boxes, she heard a truck pull up behind her. Risking a glance, she saw it was Evan. She watched as he got out, tossing his keys in the air and catching them as he approached. He was dressed in a white tank top and dark grey shorts, an outfit she would have hated if it hadn’t been displaying his considerable muscles. He took off his aviators when he reached the shade of the rental. A stout grey dog with white paws stood next to him, wagging his body enthusiastically at Harper.
“If it isn’t the girl next door!” Evan announced. “Can I give you a hand?”
“I could use both, actually,” she answered.
“Then you can have ’em both. You pass things down and I’ll haul them to the house.”
“Perfect.” As she turned to select a couple of boxes, Harper could feel Evan’s eyes on her as she bent down. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. He had been flirty the night before but, of course, he would be. She’d flashed her breasts at him. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“It’s more like he has me,” Evan replied. “This is Boots. He’s a little hard to look at but he more than makes up for it with personality.”
“I can see that,” Harper said, looking over at the dog, who was panting happily at her.
“So, what were you up to this morning?” she asked, hoping this casual question would provide an answer to whether or not he was with anyone.
“I met a few friends to do some climbing out at the Flatirons. Perfect day for it.”
“Sounds fun. I’ll come with you so I can show you where I’m putting everything.” She slid a few boxes to the back edge of the truck, then started to climb down. Evan moved in to help her, taking her by the waist and gently lowering her to the ground in front of him.
Their eyes locked. “Thank you,” she said, annoyed at how breathy her words sounded.
“Anytime,” he answered, picking up two large boxes and carrying them toward the house.
Boots gave Harper’s leg a nudge, clearly hoping for some pats. Harper smiled down at him, her hands too full to give in to his request. She gave him an inquisitive look. “Why Boots?”
Evan winced, then laughed. “I let my niece and nephew name him. When I agreed to Boots, I thought it was because of his white paws, but later I found out I had named my dog after the monkey on that Dora cartoon.”
Harper laughed with him. “Why didn’t you change it?”
“Ah, it suits him. Plus, I gave them my word they could pick his name. I couldn’t go back on that.”
“Makes sense.” She gazed at him for a minute, taking in what he’d just said. A hotter-than-hell man who kept his promises. But that must just be talk meant to impress her. No one really kept their promises.
Just as she was starting to feel excited about an afternoon alone with Evan, she heard another truck pull up and suddenly there stood Craig. Harper felt a mix of happiness at seeing her brother and disappointment that she’d now be relegated to third-wheel status as sports talk took over. She brushed off her momentary self-pity, realizing it was ridiculous, and dropped the box, hurrying to greet her big brother. “Craig!”
“Hey, Harper!” He looked worn out to her. He was only two years older, but a hard life working on rigs around the world made him look like he was on the wrong side of forty. He lowered his tall, lanky frame to hug his little sister before pulling back and ruffling her hair in the way that had always driven her nuts. His hair was much lighter than hers, and his eyes were a brilliant shade of green to her blue. There was little about them physically that marked them as siblings, other than their tall frames.
“I thought you couldn’t make it until Monday?” Harper asked, swatting his hand away and smoothing her hair.
“Managed to get off a little early. Dad said I just missed you at the hospital.” Craig stopped when he saw Evan, his face spreading into a wide grin. “Hey, man, how the hell are you?”
“Can’t complain. Great to see you!” Evan said. “I thought I’d come help unload all the shoes and purses.”
“Me too. I was planning to tally them all up and see if Harper might hold a world record in useless accessories.” Craig laughed, lifting a box down.
“Are we taking off the gloves already, Craig?” Harper asked, crossing her arms at her brother.
“Oh yeah, we are!”
An hour later, most of Harper’s things had been unloaded from the back of the truck. As they worked, Harper suffered through dozens of cracks about how many boxes of clothes and shoes she had. She was glad they’d never know she’d given more than half of her clothes and accessories to Jasmine and a couple of the other assistants who had come to her apartment to help her pack.
“Evan, do you have an empty room? Because pretty soon we’re going to run out of space at my dad’s,” Craig teased.
“My basement is pretty empty, but that won’t be enough. I was just thinking maybe I could build on to the back of the house. Another two thousand square feet ought to do it.”
“Ha ha. You two are hilarious,” Harper cut in with a deadpan expression. “You should take that act on the road. It would kill among people who love really obvious jokes.”
“Evan, have you noticed that she doesn’t have even one piece of furniture?” Craig asked.
“Look, Plague, the clothes and accessories are part of my job,” Harper interjected. “I sublet my apartment, so I took all my personal items and left the furniture. If you’ll notice, there are also plenty of books and magazines.”
Evan burst out laughing. “Plague! I forgot all about that nickname.”
Craig levelled his sister with a dirty look for a second, then suddenly a twinkle appeared in his eye. “So, Evan, did you know Harper had a thing for you in high school?”
“Shut up, Plague,” Harper hissed.
Craig, ignoring his sister, turned to Evan. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’d find her old diary in one of these boxes if we looked long enough. Harper Donovan is written on almost every page!” Craig laughed as though he were a comic genius instead of the village idiot.
Harper’s face turned bright red as she stepped up into the back of the truck to retrieve some of the last boxes. She briefly considered crawling into one of them but her plotting was interrupted by Evan’s voice.
“Is that so, Craig? How do you know I don’t have a diary where I wrote Harper Donovan on every page?”
Turning quickly, Harper saw the shocked look on her brother’s face as Evan shut him down hard. She picked up a box and handed it down to Evan with an expression of pure gratitude. He gave her a little wink, then strolled back to the house with the box in his arms.
* * *
The next morning, Harper went to the hospital just after breakfast. She brought two coffees in travel mugs, knowing how much her dad hated the idea of spending four dollars at a coffee house for something you could brew at home for a few pennies. Gratitude rushed over her when she saw him. He was alive. And she was there to be with him.
“Good morning!” she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. She placed a bendy straw in the hole at the top of the mug and carefully handed it to him. “Coffee from home. It’s cooled enough by now for you to use the straw.”
He offered her a small smile that looked as though it took more than a little effort. “Thank you. You finish getting all moved in yesterday?”
She gave him a confident look, settling herself at the foot of his bed where he could see her. “I did. After I visited you, I actually finished putting everything away. I hope you won’t mind that the basement
is kind of full of boxes right now.”
“Doesn’t matter. I may never see the basement again, anyway.” Roy’s voice was quiet.
“You will, Dad . . .” Harper started but stopped when she saw her dad wave off her pep talk.
“I heard you lost your job.”
Harper stiffened up at his words. “Yes, I did. I’m sure you’re not too impressed with that.”
“On the contrary. Craig told me how it happened. That took some balls, kid.”
Harper looked at him in disbelief. That was not what she was expecting to hear from her father after her temper had basically cost her her job.
He continued, “Shows me maybe I’ve misjudged you a little. I figured you for the type who wouldn’t let anything get in the way of your career, but it sounds to me like you took a stand when your old man needed you.”
Tears sprang to Harper’s eyes against her best efforts to stop them. Quickly standing, she picked up a bouquet of flowers that needed water, taking it into the tiny bathroom attached to his room.
His voice followed her. “Now, don’t go getting all soppy on me or you’ll make me wish I hadn’t said anything.”
She filled the vase with some water, checking to see that she didn’t look blotchy before returning to the room. She cleared her throat loudly. “No, of course not,” she said, turning to him with an incredulous look. “The coffee went down the wrong way,” she lied. “What? You thought I was . . . Pfft . . . No.”
“Anyway. Thanks, kid.”
* * *
“Evan? Evan-from-Heaven Evan?” Megan asked as she stopped herself next to a lounge chair in her backyard. She stared at Harper in disbelief as she handed her a glass of iced tea. Harper, who was relaxing in a chair near the pool, nodded excitedly.
“You better dish fast before Luc gets Elliott to bed and comes to join us!”
“Yes!” she whisper-yelled, trying to be careful not to wake the baby asleep on her shoulder. “Can you friggin’ believe it? He bought his parents’ house.”
“Rigghhtt. Now I remember hearing that. I completely forgot to tell you. Is he still the hottest guy on the planet, other than Luc, of course?” Megan asked excitedly.
Harper was giddy. “Oh. My. God. He’s seriously gotten hotter than he was in high school. Remember how he had that athletic build when we were teenagers? Well, he’s all muscly now in that really manly way. How is that even possible, Megs?”
“I don’t know, but it happens. I saw pictures of Luc as a teenager and although he was cute, I definitely met him in his prime. Okay, but back to Evan. Single?”
“I think so. He hasn’t mentioned anyone and I have to say, he was a little bit flirty with me.”
“Of course he was. You’re gorgeous! He could use a good woman after what his awful ex-wife did to him.”
“Yeah, what happened there? Craig told me they broke up, but you know him, as far as getting the gossip, he’s not worth a shit.”
“Well, I did hear a little from one of the moms at Elliott’s school who grew up with Avery. Apparently, she left him during the recession. As soon as he told her they had to sell their massive house to keep his crews employed, she was gone. I guess she told him that it was them or her.”
“Seriously? That is so awful.”
“Yeah, well, he’s the one laughing now. He landed the bid for the Pine Crest subdivision. It’s a new neighbourhood going in next to Boulder Mountain Park. He’s developing the entire thing, and from what I hear, he’s going to make millions.”
“Wow. He never said a word about it yesterday. Good for him.” Harper shifted a little in her chair to pick up her drink. “I can’t believe she walked out on him just when he was losing everything. What kind of person does that? But more importantly, why would he be attracted to someone like that?”
“Good question. I think she did a very convincing nice-girl act until things started going downhill. You don’t really know someone until you’ve been through a crisis with them.”
“You mean like being woken up every hour for two months straight?” Luc interjected. His interruption was a welcome one but mainly for the fact that it was accompanied by a tray of cheese and crackers. He bent down and gave Megan a kiss on her forehead before setting the dish between the ladies. “That would definitely qualify as a crisis in my books. How did I do?”
Megan beamed up at him. “I have to say, you did very well.”
Luc carefully lifted his daughter from Harper, settling her against his chest before relaxing into a chair beside his old friend. He pressed his lips to his little girl’s head gently before inhaling her new-baby smell. “I did do well, didn’t I? I had very good advice from Megan’s mom, who told me to forgive anything your wife says before five in the morning.”
Megan laughed, her eyes shining with love as she stared at their little girl in Luc’s arms.
“How is your dad?” Luc asked Harper.
“Oh, you missed all my fretting earlier. I was just filling Megan in on all the details. Still no sign of feeling in his legs. He was so quiet when I went to see him this morning, which is understandable, but I’m a little worried he’s starting to get depressed.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. This must be very difficult for you as well,” Luc replied. “You will let us know if there’s anything at all we can do, yes? If you hear of a hospital or a doctor that can do more for him, we’ll gladly take care of sending him wherever he needs to be.”
Harper felt that annoying lump in her throat again. “Thanks, Luc. I know you would, but I can handle it.”
Megan gave Harper a stern look. “Listen, lady, you don’t have to be a rock all the time. You need to know when to ask for help. Doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human.”
Harper wrinkled up her nose. “Yuck. I’ve never liked the thought of being human. As a species you all are too vulnerable.”
The three sat for another hour, catching up and enjoying the last of the pinks and purples disappearing behind the mountains. Harper shared her horribly embarrassing story of getting locked out of the house the night before and they all laughed as quietly as they could until their stomachs hurt.
When Amelie woke, Harper decided it was time to make her exit. “I better go. Thank you for supper. It was delicious. And thanks for letting me have some Amelie time, Megan. But not you, Luc, you baby hog.”
“I can’t be blamed. I am too much in love with her to let anyone else hold her. She has me under her spell, like her mother,” Luc replied, his French accent making his words sound all the more romantic.
“That may be the case, but I’m only going to be in town for a few months. It’s only fair that I should get a lot of cuddle time in now.”
“Sorry, mon amie,” Luc answered. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
“You better. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even have that little bundle of joy,” Harper replied, running her finger along Amelie’s chubby cheek. “You let your mom and dad get some sleep, little monkey, or Auntie Harper isn’t going to teach you how to apply makeup when you’re older.”
“My Amelie won’t need makeup. Look how beautiful she is,” Luc stated defensively.
“Easy there, buddy. No one is saying she isn’t beautiful.” With that, Harper gave Megan the “call me” sign on her way out.
* * *
As she drove across town, Harper thought about Megan’s life, feeling happy that things had worked out between her two friends. Harper had introduced them, hoping only that Megan would have a little fun with Luc. Megan had been a single mom for over five years and had been working so hard to build her photography business and take care of her son, Elliott, that she hadn’t bothered to give herself a break. No one could have predicted that they would fall in love and become a family. Amelie had been a surprise that came along only a few months after they met, but she was obviously a welcome one at that.
Luc, a highly successful nightclub owner and real-estate investor, had never seemed more content in al
l the years Harper had known him. He was absolutely overflowing with love for Megan and both of the kids. And Megan had come to life again as well. She wasn’t as serious as she had been after her marriage to Ian had ended in tragedy. He had developed a devastating drug problem shortly after Elliott was born. Now Megan seemed more like the girl Harper had grown up with. Confident, fun, lighthearted. Elliott, too, had benefited from Luc’s presence in his life. He finally had a full-time dad who cared for him, took him to Little League games and played with him. He seemed more carefree now. Instead of being like a miniature man who was always worried about his mom, he seemed more like a young boy now. Harper was grateful that things had worked out so beautifully for them, and as she drove along, she even felt a hint of pride at the part she had played in it all.
But as she neared her new old home, a small seed of loneliness took root. She was going back to her dad’s house on its quiet street, a place full of memories, both happy and horrible. Somewhere she’d avoided as much as possible for over half of her life. The thought made her ache for her apartment in Manhattan, right in the centre of the universe. There, she could find ways to distract herself twenty-four hours a day.
But it wasn’t just a hideout for Harper. New York was her home. She missed her friends and the feeling of excitement in the air, but she missed her work most of all. She loved being on the cutting edge of the fashion industry, seeing the incredible artistry of the biggest designers and knowing who was going to set the trends long before the rest of the world found out how it would be dressing a year from now. It was like being in on an incredible secret. She would need to put that part of her life on hold, knowing she would have her chance again. For now, she would be here for her dad, and as soon as he was strong enough, she would go back to her real life in Manhattan.
* * *