by Dylann Crush
Despite the humidity and heat in the air, my body felt chilled, like the temperature had dropped twenty degrees. I’d bet my savings, my sanity, and my future on this place. Being stuck in limbo, not knowing when we’d be able to move forward, had thrown me for a major loop. A double major loop, like the kind on that roller coaster at Six Flags I rode one time that made me want to toss my cookies all over the place. “Well, why don’t you at least come over here and grab a sandwich? I made lunch.”
“Thanks.” Dustin gave me a smile.
Instinctively, I reached for him, stopping myself before I wrapped my arm around him. So much for being careful. Thankfully Liam and Rodney were too interested in the box of cookies I’d tucked into the bag to pay much attention to us. Dustin noticed though. I could tell by the way his mouth twitched up at the corners.
“You okay?” he asked, letting his hand linger on mine as he took the sandwich I handed him.
“I will be.” Taking in a deep breath, I nodded.
“I may have to stick around a little while longer, based on how this asbestos cleanup goes.” He tilted his head to the side, studying my reaction.
My skin tingled as his gaze drifted over me, making me feel deliciously exposed. “Are you sure you’re up for that?” I teased.
His voice dropped a couple of notches and he leaned in close. “Oh yeah, I’ll be up all right. I might even be kind of glad for the delay.”
“Would you cut it out?” I might chastise him for being so forward with the boys around, but my thighs quivered, already anticipating what extra time with Dustin might entail.
While Liam and Rodney grabbed their lunches and started packing up the equipment they’d barely unloaded, I let my gaze drift around the room. I’d already become so attached. But I’d experienced setbacks before. This would be a minor problem. A week or two to do clean up and we’d be back to work. And if that meant spending a couple of extra weeks with Dustin, I could handle that, too. I might even enjoy it.
30
Dustin
It had been three weeks since they shut down the studio. Three weeks since they’d promised to get someone in there as soon as possible to clean up the space. If something didn’t happen soon, one of two things would occur: I’d go crazy trying to keep two thirteen-year-old boys out of trouble for eight hours a day or I’d bail and find myself halfway back to LA before Harmony even knew I was gone.
Option one was the more likely of the two. The more time I spent with Harmony, the less likely I was able to picture myself without her in my life. And that was a problem.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” Mom asked. Her dizzy spells seemed to have evened out a bit since I’d been helping more around the house.
“I guess we’ll start clearing the back part of the track.” Without something to work on at the studio, I’d taken to having Liam and Rodney help me clear brush and debris from the practice track my dad had helped me build all those years ago. It’s where I first learned to ride and Scarlett had given me permission to start Rodney on a bike. A baby bike. Liam had been working on Harmony, but I didn’t see her ever giving him the green light to ride.
In the meantime, he seemed content to help out. I’d also given them both an overview of the bikes I had in the garage. By the end of the summer, they’d probably be ready to do some modifications of their own, assuming we weren’t back to swinging a sledgehammer soon.
“You’re doing a good thing by keeping those boys out of trouble.” Mom poured her coffee then offered me a cup.
“Thanks. I didn’t realize how much energy it would take to keep up with the two of them.” The first week I’d been more of a referee. Liam’s attitude wasn’t too terrible, but my nephew was kind of an ass. We’d been working on it though, and with any luck, the two of them would stop bickering so much and start getting along.
“How’s Harmony handling the setback?” Mom sat down at the table, her crossword in front of her.
“She’s doing okay. Obviously she’s not happy about it, but what else can she do?” We’d had a few heart-to-hearts and Harmony was hell-bent on getting out of waiting tables as soon as possible. In fact, she’d asked if we could get together this morning so she could tell me about an idea she had—something to keep her busy while we waited for the asbestos crew to do their job. “She’s going to stop by in a little bit.”
“Good. I’d love to see her. Make sure you invite her in for a cup of coffee.” Mom held her pencil poised over her crossword, ready to get started. I didn’t bother to remind her Harmony didn’t do coffee.
“I will.” I grabbed my mug and headed for the front. Rodney must be here.
“Hey, Uncle Dustin.” Rodney climbed down from his mom’s truck. She’d started dropping him off with me in the mornings before she headed to work.
“Hey, kid. Ready to work on the hill today?” I waved at my sister as she turned the truck around.
“Once we get it cleared off, can I try a jump?” His eyes shone with enthusiasm. Reminded me how I felt when I was first learning how to ride. I hadn’t had a teacher though. Hopefully I’d save him a few rough tumbles by showing him the right way to do things.
“I think you’d better master puttering around the yard first, don’t you?” I reached out to ruffle his hair.
The smile disappeared, replaced with his standard scowl. “I suppose.”
Just then tires sounded on the gravel. Harmony must be coming up the drive. Her truck appeared around the last curve before the house. I couldn’t help the warm glow that started in the center of my gut at the sight of her. I’d been getting used to seeing her just about every day. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.
She eased to a stop and then both she and Liam hopped out.
“Hey, Rodney, why don’t you and Liam run in and see if your grandma has anything you can snack on for breakfast.”
“Come on.” Rodney held the screen door for Liam and the boys disappeared into the house.
“Good morning.” Harmony moved to where I stood at the edge of the porch.
“Good morning to you.”
Her eyes sparkled. Something had her all worked up. “So I dug around a little bit in the city’s files.”
“Oh yeah?” I reached out to straighten the collar of her shirt. “Find what you were looking for?”
“I did.” She pulled a folded piece of paper from her back pocket. “I knew there had to be a reason that mud works so well. Looks like the original Swallow Springs flowed through a part of your land. Did you know people came from all over to take a dip in the springs?”
“Sure did. We learned that back in grade school when they talked about the history of the town. But then they dried up. There’s still a tiny trickle that runs through a pipe in the town square.” I pointed to the area on the map where the center of town rested.
“I’ve seen it. Not very impressive.”
I nodded in agreement. “I’m assuming this has something to do with what you wanted to ask me about?”
“You’re a quick one, Mr. Jarrett.” She gave me a playful poke in the stomach. “I want something only you can give me.”
My mind exploded with possibilities, the majority of them triple X-rated. “Say the word, darlin’. I’m your guy.” I leaned in to try to kiss her.
“You perv. I want your mud. I figure the spring must still be running underground somewhere, and that’s what’s making the mud at the end of your driveway so fantastic.”
“So you want to get dirty with me?” There had to be some way I could spin this to my naughty advantage.
She rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “Whatever. Can I have your mud? I can pay you for it. I just thought it would give me something to get started on while I wait for things to get going again on the studio. Orders for those mudpacks I’m making are coming in faster than I can keep up. I need more dirt.”
“If it’s dirt you want, it’s all yours.” I leaned toward her to kiss her. She dodged me instead. My
lips landed on her hair, right behind her ear. “What was that for? The boys are inside.”
“I know. It’s just”—she looked toward the sky, maybe waiting for some sort of divine inspiration on what to say next—“it’s just, I keep getting more and more comfortable around you. I’m afraid I’m going to slip one of these days and they’ll see us.”
I moved in, giving her a proper kiss. One that involved tongues and even a little moan—hers, not mine. “What’s so bad about that?”
“About someone seeing us together?” She pulled back, sliding the map into her back pocket while she considered my question.
“Yeah. I mean, we started off not wanting people to know we were seeing each other. But I’ve been thinking about it.”
“What about it?”
“About us.” I shrugged. “What’s the big deal if people see us together? We’re both adults. It’s not like we’re going to get in trouble.”
“No, it’s not that. Keeping it between us has been nice. No questions. No assumptions. Nobody gets hurt.”
I slid my hand along her cheek. “If we walked away from each other now, do you think neither one of us would be hurt?”
She tilted her head, nuzzling her cheek into my hand. “It’s not that easy. Liam would get hurt. He’s so attached to you already. If he thinks there’s a chance that you and me…”
“That we what?”
“That we’d stay together, okay? If he thinks there’s a chance that you would stick around, it would get his hopes up. I don’t want to do that to him.”
“What if I did?” I didn’t consider my words before they fell out of my mouth.
She stared up at me, her brow furrowed. “You don’t mean that.”
“I don’t?”
“No.” Twisting away, she walked along the edge of the front flowerbed. Mom had planted a variety of annuals that provided a show of color all season long.
“What if I do?”
Her head jerked back to face me. “What are you saying, Dustin?”
My heart sputtered, like the gas had just been cut and it was about to stall out. “I’m saying I might want to stick around. I’ve had fun with you.”
“Yeah, fun with me on the dock, fun with me on my knees.” Her lips stretched into a thin line. “We’ve been having a lot of fun. But being in a relationship is a lot more than figuring out who’s in charge of buying the condoms.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“Look, I think it’s better if we just keep things as they are. Unless you’re serious about sticking around. But you’d have to be one-hundred percent sure before I’d tell Liam. Not even ninety-nine point nine percent sure, but a full hundred percent. Otherwise, it puts him at risk of a heartbreak.”
I reached for her hand, twining my fingers with hers. “I’d never hurt him.”
“Not on purpose.”
My other hand went to her cheek and I smoothed her hair away. “I’d never hurt you either.”
Our eyes met. Hers held hope, along with a tiny bit of unease. I’d give anything to chase that lingering doubt away. But would I be willing to give up my job? My life in California? I leaned in, pressing my lips to hers. She responded by wrapping her arms around my shoulders. Her fingers played with the hair at the base of my neck. I deepened the kiss, trying to give her everything she wanted, everything she needed.
The screen door squeaked then slammed.
“What the hell?” Liam shouted.
Harmony pulled away. A glint of guilt shone in her eyes before she turned to face her son. “Liam. I thought you were getting something to eat?”
“I did.” He held out a banana. “What’s going on?”
Rodney snickered. “Looks like my uncle was about to bone your mom, dude.”
Liam glanced from Harmony to Rodney. His hands clenched into fists. I saw it coming before my nephew, but neither one of us had a chance to stop him. Liam put everything he had into that punch. It cracked across my nephew’s smirk, sounding like a shotgun blast.
Rodney staggered backward, his hand covering his nose. Blood spurted between his fingers. We all stood there for a split second, probably in some sort of shock, before Harmony and I sprang into action.
“Liam!” Harmony rushed to Rodney’s side. He pushed her away, struggling to stand.
“You okay?” I put my hands underneath Rodney’s shoulders, hoisting him to his feet. “Tilt your head back. Liam, go get some paper towels from inside.”
Liam shook out his fist, hung his head, and retreated inside the house.
“Is it broken?” Rodney yelled. “Did he break my nose?”
“Let me see.” I peeled his fingers away from his face, trying to take a look. Please don’t let it be broken. I’d never hear the end of it from my sister if it was. Although, it wasn’t my fault Liam decided to man-up and finally defend himself against the verbal onslaught Rodney had been subjecting him to for the past few weeks.
Liam returned, a wad of paper towels in hand, with Mom behind him.
“What happened?” she asked.
“He broke my nose,” Rodney shouted, pointing at Liam.
“Let me see.” Mom brushed us all away, took a quick look at Rodney, and declared it just a bloody nose. “Come on in to the house and let’s get some ice on that.” She led Rodney by the arm, up the steps and into the house.
“Liam, what got into you?” Harmony asked.
Liam kept his eyes on his feet. “He didn’t have to say that about you, Mom.”
“I’ll be inside.” I didn’t want to get in the way of whatever needed to be said between Harmony and her son, so I followed Mom and Rodney into the house. My nephew sat at the kitchen table, a bag of peas pressed to his face.
“Are you going to do something about that, Uncle Dustin?” Rodney asked. Splotches of color dotted his cheeks, and I almost felt sorry for the kid.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Good. He can’t go around punching people like that. If I hadn’t been so off-guard I woulda popped him in the face with—”
“Cut it out. You had no business saying what you said to Liam.”
Rodney glared at me. “You saw what he did to me.”
“And I heard what you said about his mother. That’s unacceptable.”
Mom looked on, probably waiting to see how I’d handle this, ready to run interference if necessary.
“Liam and Harmony are part of our lives now. You’ve got to accept that.”
“Or what?” Rodney let the peas fall to his lap. “And just whose life are they a part of? It’s not like you’re sticking around. And once you go, I’m not gonna put up with that asshole anymore.”
“Rodney.” Mom didn’t have to yell to get someone’s attention. All she had to do was lower her voice and let that sharp edge come through.
“I’m sorry, Grandma, but it’s true.” Rodney glanced to my mom as his eyes filled with tears. “Uncle Dustin won’t stay. He’ll go back to California and leave us here again.” Then he jumped up from the chair and ran to the back porch.
“You ready to tell me what happened?” Mom asked.
I shook my head and rubbed at my temple. The beginnings of a headache pulsed at the edges. “Liam and Rodney saw me kissing Harmony. Rodney spouted off something I won’t repeat, and Liam decked him.” I internally braced myself for the tongue lashing Mom might unveil.
“Good.” She folded the hand towel she’d had wrapped around the peas and set it on the counter. “It’s about time the boys figured out you and Harmony are interested in each other.”
“What?”
“Oh, I may be getting on in years, but I’ve known you’ve been sneaking out at night to go somewhere. Now it makes so much sense.” She took her seat at the table again.
“So now what?” I let my arms fall to my side. “What am I supposed to do to fix things?”
Mom smoothed a hand over the paper. “How’s Harmony with all of this?” Her gaze drifted to the front room.
“That sounds smart. It’s a mama’s job to protect her kids from getting hurt.”
I thought about what Mom went through when my dad walked out. All the sacrifices she made so Scarlett and I could stay in the home we’d grown up in. “I suppose.”
“So now what?”
I tried to wrap my head around that question. “That’s what I want you to tell me. What am I supposed to do now?”
“What do you want to do, son?”
I let out a long, slow breath while I thought about the possibilities. Harmony and I holding hands as we walked through the carnival. Teaching Liam how to take an engine apart. Spending every night in Harmony’s bed. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried sticking around before.”
Mom reached for my hand. “Then don’t you think it’s about time you did?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek while I thought about that. Could I stay in Swallow Springs? Could I give up the adrenaline rush, the emotional high, the flat-out charge I got from competing? Could I give up the spotlight, the awards, the recognition of a job well done when it came to my job?
“I don’t know, Mom.”
Mom patted my hand. “You’ll figure it out, sugar.”
Her faith in me seemed misguided. Could I really stay in Swallow Springs? The hometown where I’d failed so miserably as a teen? The one place I’d never wanted to set foot in again?
31
Harmony
I got up from the table to answer the door. Dustin. Of course. After Liam decked Rodney I couldn’t leave him there. So I called in to work to let Cassie know what happened, and she told me to take the day off and spend it with my son. As soon as we got home, Liam high-tailed it back to his bedroom. I’d tried to talk to him but he refused to engage. All I got was a headache from the pounding bass he had blaring on his radio. I knew my son. He needed space before he was ready to process everything.