15. Brady
CHAPTER 15
Brady
L istening to her tell her story of the hell she endured over the past years leaves me speechless. It also leaves me so fucking angry. “I just want to be free of them.” The desperation in her voice cuts me to my core.
I vow to do whatever is in my power to make that happen for her. “Harmony,” I say her name as if I’ve said it my whole life, as if I was born to say her name. Pushing her hair behind her ear, I then trail my finger from her ear to her collarbone. Trailing my fingertip down the side of her neck. “Harmony.” It sounds like a plea more than anything else. When my finger gets to her collarbone, my head leans forward, placing a kiss on her neck, right under the hinge of her jaw. The feel of her heart beating as fast as mine makes me kiss her again softly. Her hand comes up to my cheek. My cheek now rubs with hers as we move our faces so our mouths meet. The kiss is soft, the need to pull her into my lap and bury my hands in her hair and kiss the ever-loving shit out of her is more than my need for my next breath. Her tongue slides into my mouth for a split second, and I feel more alive than I have in my entire life. The need to taste her fills me. The need to take her makes my body come alive. The need to have her and only her is something I’ve never known I needed, and I haven’t even had her.
“I can’t do this,” she murmurs. My heart sinks to my stomach as I move away from her. “I can’t drag you into this.” She gets up to stand, my hand falling from her, and the cool air hitting where it was just resting on her warm skin. “I refuse for them to take anything more from you.” She turns to walk to the door but then stops, and I watch her walk back and bend so quickly that if my eyes weren’t open, I would think it was my imagination. “Thank you for the most beautiful kiss of my life. I’ve never wanted to be kissed so badly in my life,” she whispers before her lips softly touch mine. The tingle is still on them when she walks through the front door and softly closes it behind her. The sound of the lock almost makes it final. I want her so fucking much my whole body aches for her.
I exhale, getting up and walking back over to my house. Every single step feels like torture, especially when I shut my own door. Knowing she’s so close, knowing I wanted to do so much more than just kiss her. I’m so screwed is the only thing that goes through my head. I’m ready to claim them both, Wyatt especially. Every time I’m with him, it’s like a piece of me is woken up. It’s like a piece of me can breathe a little bit lighter now that he’s there. Being with him, I know why she wants to keep him away from those people. He’s wholesome and pure, just like his mother. I’ve never felt this connection or this pull to someone else in my life. I’ve also never wanted someone as much as I want her, and it has nothing to do with her trouble. It has to do with the fact that every time she looks at me, something shifts inside me.
I’m walking up the steps when my phone pings and I suddenly think it’s her texting me to come back, but I see Taylor’s name and I close my eyes.
Taylor: Hey, I’m sort of in the neighborhood. Do you want some company?
I shake my head.
Me: Hey, sorry, been a rough couple days. I’m headed to bed. Maybe another time.
I cringe when I answer that way, thinking that things with Taylor will never happen again.
The following day, I try to avoid Autumn, but she’s like a dog with a bone and nothing to do with it, so she seeks me out. “You can hide,” she teases, finding me testing my new batch, “but I’ll find you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” My eyes fixate on the paper in front of me as I write what needs to be recorded.
“I heard you spoke with Ryleigh.” My eyes fly to hers.
“You were in the room when I got the number, so that’s not a surprise.” I chuckle.
“Did you talk to Dad?” She folds her arms over her chest and cocks her hip to the side.
“There is nothing to talk to him about.” I dismiss the question.
“You don’t think he’ll want to know about all of this?” She smiles. “Because if it means nothing, like you say it does, why wouldn’t you bring it up to him?” She asks the question but is not really asking it since she doesn’t give me a chance to say anything. “Unless you’re afraid of him.”
“I’m not afraid of anything.” I try to play it off.
“So it’s okay if I tell him?” The question earns her a glare. “That not only are you paying her lawyer bill?—”
“I’m not paying her lawyer bill.” I point at her. “I just sent her a retainer.” Her head tilts to the side. “Why are you the biggest pain in my ass?”
“Because it’s my job as a younger sister,” she states proudly.
“Good to know.” I put down the pen. “But I have a tour to go and get ready for.” I look at my watch, seeing I have about ten minutes before they arrive. “Thanks to my younger sister, who decided it would be fun.”
“Those tours got us out of the red and into the green,” she points out. “You’re welcome again that my awesomeness has solved all of our problems.” I chuckle as I run my hands through my hair. “Now can you go to Ms. Maddie’s and see if they have any cakes left? Your nephew would like that very much.”
“Fine,” I say, walking with her toward her office and the back door, “if that will make you leave me alone.”
“Never.” She gets on her tippy-toes and kisses my cheek. “And can you get me a decaf coffee?”
“Anything else?” I pretend to be annoyed.
“Nope, that will be all.” She turns into her office as I walk out into the sunlight. My thoughts go straight to Harmony, wondering what she’s doing right now. I don’t have to think too hard because I spot her right in front of the coffee shop, but the woman in front of her has my blood turning cold.
“How dare you show your face in town,” Mrs. Cartwright says to her.
“I thought I felt a chill in the air.” I join whatever the conversation is, hoping like fuck she stops spewing the shit out of her mouth. “I just don’t see any black smoke filling the sky.” I look up. “Did you not take your broomstick today?”
Mrs. Cartwright’s face goes from shock to ashen white. “Why, I have never been—” She puts her hand to her chest.
“Stick around, there is more of that to give you,” I tell her. “We can sit down if you like and talk about your son.” I ignore the way her eyes go big, but after the shit I heard last night, I know if I’m around, Harmony will never hear the evil come out of her mouth again. “Not the one who died drunk driving and killing four people.” I look around, wondering if I’m going to have an audience. “The one who shows up at his ex-wife’s house blitzed out of his mind in the middle of the night, asking to see his son?—”
“I don’t believe that’s any of your business.”
“You would believe wrong since I live next door, and he doesn’t do it quietly,” I point out to her. “Now, I know this is going to fall on deaf ears since you think he can do no wrong”—I smile at her—“but he does that again, I have no problem calling the sheriff and reporting it.” She glares at me before she turns on her heel and walks away. “Have a blessed day,” I call to her retreating back. “Fucking bitch,” I mumble, then turn to Harmony.
“You do not take any shit that lady gives you.” I point to where Mrs. Cartwright just walked away from me. “Not one fucking word.”
“I usually stay clear of her, but she caught me coming out of the bakery,” she shares, looking at me. “This scene is going to get back to Winston…”
“Good, I hope it does,” I retort. “Now, I have to get my sister some cake or else she’s going to go apeshit.” She laughs. “Want a coffee?” I ask instead of just telling her I’ll see her later.
“I already had coffee this morning, but thanks.” She smiles at me, and if I could, I would lean in and kiss her.
“Okay,” I concede. “I guess I’ll see you later?”
“Unless I got fired, and I don’t know it.” She laughs, and I want to hear her laugh more.
“Not that I know of.” I smirk at her. “See you later.” I walk away from her before doing something stupid in the middle of Main Street.
Stepping into the bakery, I spot Ms. Maddie walking out with a tray of donuts from the back. “Hey,” I say, “by any chance do you have any cakes left?”
She tilts her head to the side. “Is this for you or your sister?” she asks, and my eyebrows pinch together.
“My sister. Why?” I ask, and she reaches under the counter and takes out a bag with a cake in it.
“Charlie already came in and paid for cakes from now until she gives birth.” She shakes her head. “I’m to put one aside every single day.”
“Good to know.” I grab the bag and order the decaf coffee for her.
I dump the cake and coffee on Autumn’s desk, having just enough time to get back to the tour. That night, Harmony and I work side by side, and I swear I see a different side of Harmony. Even the day after, she comes in with a smile, and by the end of the week, I can see that she’s even more at ease with herself. She’s friendlier with everyone, and by the end of the night, they all make sure to say goodbye to her when they leave.
She’s taking on even more tables by Saturday night, and it’s a good thing because not one table is free. For six hours, she runs around making sure everyone is taken care of, even stopping at Janelle’s table when she sees she is swamped. By the end of the night, it’s always the two of us closing up, side by side. Neither of us wants to address or talk about what is happening between us. Last week's kiss is almost a memory that needs to be redone so I can remember how it felt.
I walk her out to her car every night, wanting to kiss her but wanting her to be the one who takes that step, like tonight. “Drive safe,” I tell her when we get beside her car, and she laughs.
“I will.” She opens the door and takes one more look at me before getting in. I stand here in the middle of the parking lot long after she’s driven away, telling myself she needs space to work everything out. At the same time, I’m telling myself I’m about done with this, and she has one more week before I snap and make her mine in more ways than one.