Chapter 19
HARRISON
“Justin, run back to that piece of driftwood.” Tossing the baseball isn’t easy with my left hand, but he manages to catch it in his mitt before falling into the sand. This, of course, garners howls from his little brother. “Oh yeah, hot shot. It’s your turn.”
It’s a gorgeous day. The breeze off of the water is perfect, and the humidity is low. But it’s far more than the weather that has me standing tall, and I know it.
I’ve loved every second of having Harlow and the boys here. I know it’s too much too soon, but I’m in no hurry to see them leave. While my mother clearly acts as if she’s gone back in time, I’ll take it, if only to see her this full of life. And it’s more than just her. This house is full of a carefree joy that hasn’t lived here in years.
“Justin, you’re up.” I know I need to slow down. We could both get hurt if we start acting like a happy family after one date. Yet Harlow’s right. This could’ve gone all kinds of sideways. But it didn’t.
“You trying to wear them out again?” Harlow laughs from behind me.
“Nah. They said baseball was starting up soon, so I thought we could toss the ball around a little.”
“You’re such a good man, Harrison.”
Glancing over at her, her hair is dancing in the breeze. She’s so fucking beautiful it makes my chest squeeze. “Because I’m throwing a ball?”
“You don’t get it. They never have this. The men in their lives are so self-centered. They’d never put their phones down long enough to interact with their kids like this.”
Hell. That’s a damn shame. Her boys are great. “They’re the ones missing out, Harlow.”
“I know. But the boys are too.”
Suddenly, a thought hits me. “They’re safe with them. Right?”
“Oh, yeah. They’re knuckleheads, but they’d never let anything bad happen to the boys.”
“Harry! My turn!” Alec yells.
Taking a few steps back, I lob the ball high in the air. Alec comes running beneath it, his baseball mitt held at an awkward angle. When the ball drops down, it hits him square between the eyes. “Oh shit.”
Harlow and I run to his side. He doesn’t look too worse for wear, shaking his head like Tom after being struck in a Looney Tunes cartoon. All he needs is the little bubble overhead, demonstrating his dizziness, like Tom usually had after Jerry struck him with something heavy.
“Ah man, Alec, I’m sorry, little man. You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“He has a hard head,” Justin interjects. “That’s what Mom always says.”
“I say he’s hardheaded. That’s different,” Harlow says, swiping back Alec’s soft hair, the color closer to mine than hers.
“Why don’t we take a break and put some ice on that? It might leave a mark.”
Harlow looks up at me, and for a moment, I worry she’s angry. But her concern is replaced by a tender smile.
“But you’re the nurse, not me.”
“I think I’d feel better if I got another ice cream sandwich.”
“Oh brother.” Justin smacks his palm to the center of his forehead.
As we make our way to the deck, I find my mother standing at the top of the steps, looking worried. “It’s okay, Mom. He’s going to have a bruise, but he’s fine.” Yet the moment Alec reaches her, she pulls him in for a hug.
“Justin, you want ice cream too?” I ask.
His face breaks out into a grin, and he nods.
As I reach the freezer, my eyes land on the clock. 4:14. My heart sinks, knowing they’ll probably have to head home soon. Is this cavernous hollow pulling at my chest how Harlow feels every time she has to send her boys to their fathers’ place for the weekend? I barely know these two and it’s making me sad to watch them go. I can’t imagine what dropping them off must do to her.
As if she has mental telepathy, Harlow snakes her sexy tattooed arm around my waist, leaning her forehead against my back with an audible sigh. I can practically feel the anguish pouring off of her.
As much as I’d like to ask her about it, that’s for another day. So I attempt to change the subject. “You want some sugar too, sugar?” I laugh.
“I just wanted to thank you again. We haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”
Spinning to face her, I have to fight not laying one on her here in front of Mom, Joyce, and her boys. “I have to confess something.”
Her body tightens beside me.
“I’m not ready for you guys to leave. It’s crazy. I shouldn’t feel this way. Holy shit, I just met your boys, but I feel like I’ve known them forever. It’s almost a little too comfortable.”
She snickers. “Well, I know one way to fix that.”
Now I’m the one with my shoulders stiffening. I can’t help but be a little suspicious by her statement. I mean, she showed up for our non-date with two unexpected guests. What else does she have up her sleeve?
“It’s a long story, but this is actually supposed to be their weekend with their dads. But I’d switched some days around. The night we met at The Conch House, actually.”
Images of this gorgeous woman lying on my bed in only those mesh panties come to mind. It’s apparent I’m not hiding my lewd thoughts when she pinches my ass. “Ouch.”
“Anyway. I’m supposed to have them at their place in about forty-five minutes. I don’t have the heart to break it to the boys.”
My brows pinch together. “They don’t like going there?”
“I don’t think they mind, but most of the time they’d rather stay with me. I actually acknowledge they’re in the room.” She turns, looking over at Mom and Alec. She’s carefully placing a bag of frozen corn wrapped in a towel over his injury. Alec appears to be eating up all the attention. “They definitely won’t want to leave all of this.”
“So, I have an odd question.”
She looks at me with apprehension dotting her face.
“Are their dads like Ross’s ex-wife on Friends? Are they, like, together?”
Harlow breaks out laughing. “It might seem that way to some. No, I think they’ve given co-parenting a whole new meaning. They tag team their weekends with the boys. It’s probably easier that way. They’re both very straight. Just not looking to win any father of the year awards.”
“Ah.” I chuckle. “Well, why don’t you ask if they want to come over? We could all have dinner here.”
Harlow looks at me like I’ve asked if the six of us could all move to Mars. “Are you sure you weren’t the one who got hit in the head by that baseball?”
“I’m serious.”
“Harrison, this might be taking getting to know me a bit too far. I mean…” She looks over her shoulder again. “These two are on their best behavior right now. You’re shiny and new. And have a pool.” She giggles. “But they won’t always be like this. And even on their worst days, they’re easier to handle than my ex-husbands.”
I bend down, putting a kiss on her nose. Hell, if anyone’s looking. “Well, if it will let me spend a few more hours with all of you, I think it’s a fair trade.”
An hour later, the doorbell rings, and I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing. Harlow comes to stand beside me, and we head toward the door.
Thankfully, Joyce decided to spend the rest of the evening with Mom. I’m not sure if I’m willing to risk my mother’s antics around Harlow’s exes. It would invite way more questions than I’d like to contend with tonight. And this dinner party is strange enough. I admit, I fully expected her exes to turn us down flat. But apparently a free meal and a whole lot of curiosity was all it took.
“Hey, Jimmy. Rob. This is my friend, Harrison.”
I lean in and awkwardly shake each of their hands with my non-dominant one. They both seem a bit guarded. But who wouldn’t be? “Come on in. Grab a beer.”
This must’ve been the right thing to say, as Rob seems to visibly relax as he steps in beside me.
“Dad!” Alec yells, flying toward Rob like a torpedo.
“Hey, buddy. What happened to your head?” Alec’s bruise has darkened a bit, but still isn’t as bad as I expected.
“Harry hit me in the head.”
Rob whirls to face me, and I immediately take a step back.
“Harry didn’t hit him,” Justin blurts. “Alec tried to catch the baseball with his face.”
Rob seems to back down at this.
“It was an accident. I swear.”
“He’s fine, Rob. I think he was looking up into the sun and didn’t see it coming,” Harlow adds.
“Can I get you a drink? We don’t have much food here. I’ll have to run out and grab stuff for dinner, but there’s plenty of beer.”
“Sure,” Rob mutters, still looking edgy.
“Steaks okay?”
“Yeah, I could go for a steak,” Jimmy says as he reaches into the fridge. “Nice place, man.”
“Thanks.”
“Any idea what we’re doing for dinner?” Harlow asks as she enters the kitchen.
“Rob and Jimmy are good with steak. Maybe we can grill hot dogs or burgers for the boys?”
“That sounds perfect.”
“Do you guys mind hanging out here while we hit the market?” I ask. Both Jimmy and Rob’s gazes are glued to the large flat screen in the den where the baseball game is in full swing. They move into the den without a word, a silent confirmation. “Justin, your mom and I are going to the store to grab things for dinner. No going in the pool while we’re gone, okay?” I’m not sure I trust these two to keep a close eye on the boys if this game has them this hypnotized. I think I get what Harlow meant about these two.
“Yes, sir.”
“We need more ice cream sandwiches,” Alec yells. “And popcorn.”
I shake my head as I grab the keys to the truck. In the distance, I overhear Rob ask, “You guys live here now?”
Harlow
Walking into the grocery store hand in hand with a man is completely surreal. Even when my boys were infants, neither Jimmy nor Rob ever came along. But if this weekend has shown me anything, it’s that Harrison is a man above men.
Reaching for a shopping cart, he starts to push with one hand when I swat him away. It’s enough he’s here, forget that we’re cooking dinner for my kids and ex-husbands. I nearly laugh out loud at the mind-bending thought. “I can push the cart. We didn’t make a list. What do we need?”
“Well, I think Rob would be fine with a liquid diet.” He winks. “Does he have issues with alcohol?”
“No. Not that I’ve seen, anyway. I think he has too much time on his hands.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s allergic to work,” I say, grabbing a small, round watermelon from the large bin. “He hasn’t kept a job for more than a few months since I’ve known him. Hard to afford beer if you don’t have a job.”
“What about Jimmy? Does he have the same affliction?” he asks, looking over the produce.
“No. He’s always worked hard. Not like you. More nine to five. He’s a plumber. I think he does well for himself, but most of it goes to his bookie.”
Harrison scrunches his face. “Damn. That’s too bad. Good plumbers are hard to come by. If he managed his money the right way, he could be rollin’ in it.” All of a sudden, he stands up tall and reaches up with his good arm to scratch the back of his head. His gorgeous dark blond hair has a bit of a curl at the end.
Unable to stop myself, I wrap my arms around him and stand on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “Is the non-date part of our weekend over?”
He nuzzles my neck. “Not as long as your exes are at my house.”
I giggle. “Touché.”
“We need to grab what we need and go, or dinner will be really late. What do you want with the steaks and burgers?”
This is still so new to me. Having a man want to cook for me. Gah. It’s sexy as hell. “I don’t know.” It’s moments like this that I realize how little we still know about the other. We’re definitely doing this relationship thing backward. “What do you like to eat?”
As if a twister has hit the store, I spin through the air as Harrison lifts me up in one strong arm, spins, and deposits me into the shopping cart. “You.”
“Get me out of here before they throw us out of the Piggly Wiggly.”
“This is the Jingle Mart, missy. We ain’t got no highfaluting Piggly Wigglies around here. You must be doing your shopping in Miami.”
I’m laughing so hard, I barely make out the strange looks of the older women walking by, staring at us as we clown around. “Harrison, please pull me out of here. If I try and climb out, my head will probably match poor Alec’s.”
A flash of guilt tinges Harrison’s once jovial expression as he swiftly pulls me to standing, placing a kiss on my nose.
“I was there. It was an accident. And he’s had so much fun with you this weekend, he’d gladly risk another head injury to do it all over again.”
“I know. I still feel bad.”
“Well, don’t. But I bet if you throw some ice cream in this buggy before we checkout, he’ll be your shadow from here on out.”
“Done.”
The rest of the evening goes off without a hitch. Dinner was incredible, everyone got along like old friends, and Jimmy and Rob even put their phones down for a while.
After dinner, we went back out onto the beach to play a makeshift game of baseball with the boys. I could tell Harrison was holding back a little, for fear of another injury. But as the game unfolded, so did the frolics.
Harrison had no trouble pushing me into the sand when I tried to keep him from stealing third. Then, when I was up at bat, he snuck up behind me and untied my bathing suit top. It was a decorative tie, and he knew it. But my kids nearly lost it when they saw him sneaking up behind me. The looks on their faces as they covered their mouths to contain their hysterics was priceless.
Once Rob was pitching, Harrison would take turns carrying the boys like a sack of potatoes and running the bases after they successfully hit the ball. It was the most fun I can remember having, even if I was completely surrounded by testosterone.
No one wanted to leave. But it’d been a long weekend, and we all needed a good night’s sleep. The boys would be spending the night with their dads. Yet, as tempting as it was to want to stay here with Harrison, I had to be at work for the 7:00 a.m. shift and given he was there to greet me most days, he’d have to be up even earlier.
We all said our goodbyes to Harrison before walking the boys to the truck to buckle them in.
“Can we come back here?” Alec asks, rubbing his little eyes. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind he’d be out before Jimmy’s truck had left Harrison’s driveway.
“Maybe. I’m glad you had fun.”
“It was awesome.” He yawns.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say, kissing Justin on the head.
“Okay, Mom.” His yawn mimics his brother’s. “I like Harrison.”
“Me too, buddy.”
Giving a quick hug to Jimmy and Rob, I start to make my way to my car when I hear rustling behind me.
Rob runs over to where I’m standing. “Harlow, thanks for tonight.”
I laugh. “Don’t thank me. It was all Harrison’s idea.”
“Well, I’m glad you found him. I think he’s a keeper.”
Shock. I’m in complete shock.
“What?”
“I told you that you deserved better. I’ve never met anyone quite like that guy. I mean, who invites your exes to have dinner?”
I giggle. “I know, right?”
“Well, I’m just saying, if you don’t hold on to him, Jimmy and I might ask him out.”
I’d laugh, but I don’t think he’s joking.