Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
MARCUS
“ H arper! You’re here!”
Tiny voices startle me awake. Harper is still lying on top of me, eyes wide as she looks at the girls standing in front of us.
Shit. We must have fallen asleep talking on the couch.
“What are you doing here?” Sam asks.
Harper looks at me before sitting up and letting the girls tackle hug her. “I missed you.”
“We missed you a lot,” Sadie tells her.
“I know, sweetheart.” Harper drops a kiss to the top of each of their heads. “I missed you too.”
“Did Gigi scare you off?” Sam asks.
“Hey.” I sit up and pull Sam onto my lap. “Gigi was mad, but remember what I said?”
She screws her face up, thinking. “That she’ll be happy again soon?”
“That’s right.” I nod. “Now, who wants breakfast?”
“Pancakes?” Sadie asks. “Please?”
I shake my head. “No. Yogurt and fruit this morning. ”
“Nuts.” Sadie follows Sam into the kitchen and pulls out their breakfasts that are premade for them.
“They were hoping they’d get the good stuff since you’re here.”
Harper laughs. “What a mean dad you are.”
“I’ve got bigger problems than that.”
“Like?” Harper asks.
“I need to figure out how to talk to my mom.”
Harper takes a deep breath, her lips thinning into a small line. “Do you want me there with you?”
“Yes. Do you really want to?”
She nods. “If we want her to see this is real between us, yes. Just because it’s hard, doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I promise, we’ll get through this. You’re the best thing in my life, Harper. You and those girls who are probably adding chocolate chips to their yogurt.”
Harper peeks behind me and smiles. I know I’m right based on that look.
“All I need to be happy is you three. If my mom can’t see that, then that’s on her.”
“We’re doing this together,” Harper reiterates.
As if summoned, the front door opens. “Morning, girls.”
“We’re doing this now?” Harper hisses.
“Crap. I forgot Emma has the day off and she was coming over while I’m at practice.”
“Gigi!” Sam yells. “We’re having chocolate chips with yogurt for breakfast.”
“Okay.” I spin on my heel. “We’re going to need to have a chat about how many chocolate chips you eat.”
Sam looks chagrined as Mom steps into the kitchen. Her eyes immediately lock on to Harper. I guess this is going to be harder than I thought.
“What is she doing here?” Mom spits out.
“I was just leaving.” Harper winces and grabs her jacket.
“No,” I tell her. There’s a demand in my voice. I’m not going to lose Harper again because of my mother. “Mom, you need to know the truth.”
Mom crosses her arms, hoisting her bag farther up her shoulder. “That she left when you needed her most?”
Harper scoffs. “That’s not what happened.”
“One day you were here, then the next you weren’t.”
“Because—” Harper starts, but I interrupt.
“I left, Mom. Not Harper.”
“Stop trying to protect her.”
“Sam. Sadie. Go upstairs to your room.” I turn to face the girls who have questioning looks on their tiny faces.
“Are we in trouble?” Sadie asks.
“No, Sadie, you’re not in trouble. I need to talk to Gigi alone.”
“Someone is definitely in trouble,” Sam whispers as the two of them head upstairs with their cups of yogurt.
I can’t fight the smirk that lands on my face. Of course they think that.
I wait for the sound of their door shutting before I turn toward my mother again. Anger is coming off her in waves. Anger that is directed at Harper when it should be directed at me.
“It’s my fault, Mom. Everything that happened when Jamie died? It was my fault.”
Mom shakes her head. “It’s just like you to take the fall when she left.”
“Is that what you think happened?” Harper asks .
“I don’t want to hear what you have to say. You abandoned my son.”
“Mom!” I shout. I can’t help it. “I left Harper. I didn’t think she could take everything that happened and I left. I didn’t tell her when Jamie died or when Dad did or when I adopted the girls. Everything that happened is my fault.”
“What?”
She looks like someone slapped her. “Why would you tell me she left?”
“Because it was easier. I didn’t want to face the fact that I couldn’t handle everything that happened and ran away scared.”
“I…I…”
Tears are streaming down my mom’s face. I should have expected it. My lie has had years to fester and cause her to hate Harper. I figured I would never see Harper again, so why worry about Mom’s opinion?
“You didn’t leave?” Mom asks Harper.
Harper shakes her head. “Marcus is the love of my life. Nothing could ever make me leave him.”
I turn to look at Harper, and a fierce wave of love washes over me. I don’t know how I ever left the first time. She is everything to me. The very beat of my heart. “And nothing could ever make me leave her again. Nothing.”
Harper walks over to me and takes my hand. “I’m sorry for everything that happened and what you’ve been through. But I’m not going anywhere. Nothing you or Marcus say is going to drive me away. I love him and those girls more than anything and will do whatever I can to prove that to you.”
I press a kiss to Harper’s palm, holding it over my heart.
“If you want to hate someone, Mom, hate me. I deserve it. ”
Harper turns her attention from me to my mom. “Believe me, I hated him for what he did too. Hated him for a lot of years. But that’s in the past. We can’t change it and can only move forward. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
“I can’t believe you lied, Marcus.” Mom shakes her head at me.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I know I caused you a lot of pain by not telling you the truth.”
“But why? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I hated myself for walking out. Losing Dad and Jamie? I’d rather you didn’t hate me for what I did too. Over the years, it just got easier to keep up the lie.”
Mom covers her mouth with her hand. “This is a lot for me to take in right now. I need some time to digest all of this.”
The fact that she’s contrite bodes well for us. I don’t dare let the seed of hope plant itself inside of me. I don’t want it to be stomped out before it has a chance to grow.
“Take your time,” Harper tells her. “I’m going to head out and let you two talk before you leave, okay?”
I nod. “I love you.” I give her a quick peck, then she’s out the door.
Mom walks over and pats my cheek. “I could wring your neck, son.”
I give her a sympathetic smile. “I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“I never meant to keep lying to you, but I never thought I’d get a second chance with Harper.”
“I should have known you two would have a second chance. You loved her like your father loved me.”
I smile at her. “Dad always did say you were the one great love of his life. ”
Mom’s brown eyes grow wet again. “I miss that man every day.”
“I know. It’s how I felt about Harper. Missing her.”
Pressing onto her toes, Mom kisses my cheek. “Then don’t let her go. Don’t let anyone get in the way between the two of you. Not even your egos.”
“I won’t, trust me. I’m not letting Harper go for anything.”
“Good. Maybe once the girls get home from visiting Dan’s parents, we can all get together?”
“I’m sure she’d like that,” I tell her.
“I can get to know her again. Hear what’s been going on in her life the last few years.”
It’s the best I could have hoped for today.
“Can we come out yet?” Sam calls from upstairs.
“Come on down.”
Their feet thunder down the stairs.
“Did Harper leave?” Sadie asks. “I wanted to see her again.”
“She’ll be back tomorrow, okay?” I tell her.
“She’s not in trouble?” Sam asks.
“No,” Mom answers. “Harper isn’t in trouble. No one is in trouble.”
“You sounded mad,” Sam states, Sadie nodding along with her.
“No one is mad,” I tell them. “We’re all fine.”
Mom looks at me in agreement.
Yeah, everything is going to be just fine.