Chapter 5 #2
"Graham's a spoiled trust fund asshole from Marco Island who barely has a job, and Cullen doesn't like the way he tosses money at his ex or his kid."
"Sounds like you've got a bug up your butt about him, too."
"More than a bug." Harley turned in the chair and leaned forward. "I was married to that prick."
Juniper tilted her head. "That's interesting."
"Not sure I'd use that term to describe the fact that my ex-husband is sleeping over at my friend's ex-wife's place and getting cozy with her little boy." Harley grimaced. "Small world likes to kick you when it can."
Juniper set down her mug on the table. "I take it Cullen knows Graham is your ex-husband?"
"That's the worst part of it." Harley dropped her gaze to the floor.
"When Tamara first mentioned she'd met somebody, it worried Cullen.
But I told him it would be okay. That it might help.
It might allow him to have more time with Tyler.
But then Cullen picked Tyler up one Sunday and there was my ex in the doorway, hand on Tamara's back like he'd already moved in.
" Harley wiped a couple of tears from her cheek.
"Cullen called me from the car. Couldn't even get the words out at first. Just—'Harley, it's him.
It's your Graham.' I collapsed to my kitchen floor. "
"I'm sorry if I'm being unsympathetic, but why? I don't understand why it's so damning."
Harley lifted her gaze toward the sky. "Have you noticed I'm not around Cullen anymore when Tyler's around?"
Juniper thought about that for a second, and she honestly wasn't sure she'd paid attention to it. "I suppose so."
"When Graham filed for divorce, he did so the night I spent a few hours in lockup."
"Excuse me?" Juniper blinked. This had to be the best kept secret in Calusa Cove. She knew there were some. Audra, Dawson's wife, said the Everglades would keep a few good mysteries until it was good and ready to spit them back out. But no skeleton stays buried forever in the Everglades.
"It happened five years ago on Marco Island. I assaulted Graham. I don't make excuses for it. Graham tried to make it more than it was, and I spent a year on probation."
"I'm so sorry." Juniper was speechless. She'd seen and heard some shit in her day. But this, she never expected. And certainly not from Harley. Granted, the girl was a tough read. But that didn't make her a bad person. Introverted. Sure. Trust issues. Definitely. But criminal. No.
"I don't regret hitting Graham. I only regret when I did it," Harley said. "Graham gets to be the victim. He's good at it. Right up until he isn't."
"Tell me about him," Juniper said. "Your version of Graham Mavis."
"Oh, it's not Mavis," Harley said. "I changed back to my maiden name when we divorced. That asshole's name is Graham Halloran."
Juniper swallowed her breath. That complicated the shit out of things for Cullen.
It also made Juniper want to hear more. Need to hear more.
But she couldn't push too hard because she didn't know what Cullen had told her about Aegis, and Juniper wasn't about to toss Cullen under the bus. "I'm listening."
"Graham can be charming as hell. And nobody warns you about a man like him," Harley said.
"All sunshine and unicorns at the start.
Treated me like I'd been put on the earth for him to spoil.
Gave me things I hadn't even worked up the nerve to want yet.
I spent that first year thinking I'd won some lottery I never bought a ticket for.
" She snapped her fingers, one sharp crack.
"Then one day. Just like that. The man I married walked out of his own body and somebody colder climbed in behind his eyes.
And when the charm quit getting him what he wanted, he found other ways. "
She didn't say fists. She didn't have to. It was in the way her hand had gone tight around the tumbler, knuckles pale.
Juniper leaned forward, elbows on her knees, but didn't reach for her. "What happened? How'd you end up getting arrested."
"It was at a family party on the main property.
His father had invited half the island." Harley swiped at her eyes.
"Graham stands up with a drink in his hand and tells everyone I'm too simple to be trusted with easy tasks.
He made fun of my outfit. Said it cost a fortune, but that he'd told me to get one designer, but I botched it and got an out of season off brand.
Told everyone I made a better cleaning lady than a wife.
Said I put new meaning into the wrong side of the tracks.
Silly him for thinking he could elevate me. "
"He actually used the word elevate?"
"Not only does Graham believe he's above most people, but he also takes it upon himself to educate the world on how to do things. He'd walk right into your bar and tell you how you're not doing it right and then explain how it should be done."
"Oh, he'd be hauled out by his balls if he tried that." Juniper raised her coffee.
Harley dragged her thumb over the seam of her tumbler.
"That night, Graham didn't just humiliate my wardrobe choices.
He mocked my intelligence. Called me ignorant, stupid, and a redneck.
I held it together ‘til we were alone in the kitchen.
We had words. He called me a name that starts with a C.
I called him a douche canoe and told him I wanted a divorce.
He told me no one leaves a Halloran. I told him to fuck off and I turned to leave.
He grabbed me by my hair and yanked out a big clump.
He manhandled me. I put my elbow through his nose. "
"He put his hands on you first."
"True. But three people only saw me break his nose. I served a year. Probation and an anger management class." She held Juniper's gaze. "Hitting a man doesn't get to be right just because he spent two years hitting me first."
"I disagree."
"Tell that one to the courts." Harley arched a brow. "I'd have to prove it. And for two years while he used my ribs as punching bags, I never told anyone. Never went to the cops. Never saw a doctor or the inside of a hospital. That's on me."
Juniper thought about all the things a person quietly carries.
The ones that don't make it into any file, like the version of herself she kept in a drawer with a false bottom.
She knew more about that than she could ever share with the woman on her porch.
"You don't have to keep confessing it to me," she said. "I'm not the one who needs you to."
"Cullen knows." Harley's gaze shifted back toward the water.
Her eyes now dry. Her voice tighter. More controlled.
"And he's said things to Tamara, who thinks I'm crazy.
She doesn't want me near Tyler and believes Cullen is a jealous ex-husband, which is absurd.
" She squared her shoulders. "I'm scared for Tyler.
That little boy is in a house with that man, now, and Tamara has blinders on because she's still in the sunshine part.
She's getting everything she ever wanted before she's done asking for it.
I know that feeling from the inside. I know exactly how good the front porch of that house looks.
" She drew a breath. "If Graham whispers the right poison in Tamara's ear, and Cullen loses his days with Tyler, he won't survive it. And I'm not sure Graham will either."
"You're carrying a lot of what ifs on your shoulders." Juniper held up her hand when Harley opened her mouth. "I understand they’re based in experience, and your fear is reasonable. Have you talked to Dawson? Or anyone in the Aegis Network?"
"No. Cullen hasn't wanted to, but I'm gently pushing, especially after Graham's father tried to have Cullen fired." Harley's shoulders dropped an inch. "I needed to talk to a girlfriend. You always seem to land on the right notion. Even when there isn't one."
"I don't know that I've got the right idea.
" Juniper turned a thought over, and when it came up solid, she gave it to her.
"But you should take it to Dove. She's tough, you know that better than I do.
But there's a whole well of empathy under it, and she works alongside Cullen every day.
She'd read the warning signs you're reading, and she'd know how to move without lighting his fuse.
Not to mention, Trent is his best friend and knows how to help keep those demons locked away. "
"I don't want to break his trust," Harley said.
"I understand, but like you said, this isn't about him, or you. It's about Tyler." Juniper reached over and squeezed her wrist, once. "And you can land on this porch anytime you want to. Day or the middle of the night, I don't care. I mean it."
"I might hold you to that." Harley stood, tumbler in hand, and dredged up something close to her usual grin. "It's appreciated. Around here especially, where the gossip runs louder than the gators in mating season." She touched her lips. "And kisses in parking lots."
Juniper laughed. "I wondered if we'd ever get that."
"I'm glad you and Sterling had a nice evening." Harley waved her hand over her head as she strolled down the porch steps.
Juniper picked up her coffee, too cold to drink now, but she held it anyway. She watched the water, and thought about all the ways a person could tell the truth and still not be believed—and all the ways a person could lie while everyone nodded along.