Chapter 7 #2
Lucas wiped his nose, but he nodded. He even let Patricia kiss his cheek before leaving, though him keeping his eyes lowered meant he missed her mouthing a “Thank you” to Nell.
As soon as the door shut, the last pieces of armor fell. Patricia closed her eyes, sighing as she leaned against the wall.
It was rare to see her in that state. Patricia was so good at taking care of herself that she’d extended the skill to everyone around her, but now she looked close to collapsing. She might have done just that if she hadn’t forced her feet to move, sitting next to Harper on the couch.
“How did the meeting go?” Harper asked. Patricia rubbed her temples.
“Imagine the worst. That should suffice.”
Harper pressed her fist against the couch cushion. This issue had been draining them for over a year now, and the fact that it shouldn’t exist at all just made it worse.
Mason and Patricia hadn’t been married, but they might as well have been. They’d been together for over a decade, shared a home for almost as long, and they had a goddamn kid. But because neither of them liked the idea of marriage, the world didn’t take their union seriously.
It had been over a year since Mason had died.
He was a firefighter and had gotten separated from his group inside a burning apartment building.
When they found him, he was unconscious.
Hadn’t even made it to the hospital before smoke inhalation made his heart give out.
A tragic accident that his loved ones couldn’t properly grieve because life refused to give them any kind of break.
His parents had never respected his life choices, either regarding his chosen profession or the stripper he’d fallen in love with.
Since his family was more than loaded, they’d employed a pack of lawyers to ensure that the monetary benefits that should have gone to his child and life partner ended up with his already wealthy parents.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. The fancy legal team sicced on the case had made the argument that Lucas would be better off with relatives his father had hated instead of his own mother.
The measly defense Patricia could erect came in the form of an overworked lawyer whose primary strategy involved receding on everything except custody.
It was the only thing that should matter. But the money did, too. The only people who thought it didn’t had never wondered how they would pay next month’s rent.
“I don’t know if I can keep doing this,” Patricia said quietly. “I want to. For Lucas, if for no other reason, but… I’m just so tired.”
Her weak voice stunned Harper for a second. She had never spoken like that. She didn’t invite worry, didn’t complain, didn’t talk like this at all.
Except when she needed to go back to Shreveport. Though it had never been this bad.
“What happened?” Harper asked.
“What always happens. They pulled some legal trickery meant to extend the case because they know they can survive an endurance game longer than I can. They’re running circles around my excuse of a lawyer, too.
He’s supposed to be on my side, but I don’t think he actually wants to be there.
He didn’t even dismiss them when they suggested Lucas had been left alone in an unsafe environment. ”
“That’s bullshit. You made sure Nell and I were here.”
“And they framed it as child endangerment.”
Harper could imagine that conversation far too easily. The truth was that Patricia was requesting government benefits after her partner died in the line of duty, and, in order to make that request, she’d left Lucas with two women who’d known him since he was a toddler.
But people didn’t care about the truth, only what it could be twisted into. In the eyes of outsiders, Patricia was looking to squeeze profit from a tragedy, and to do it, she’d left her kid alone with a stripper and a drug addict.
“Then drop the lawyer and get a better one.”
“I can’t afford a better one.”
“You can if you get a new job. Working literally anywhere else would be more lucrative than the Penny. And Nell can help. If she goes with you, then you can stand up to them.”
“We’re not doing that.”
“Why not? Darryl is paying you less than you’re worth, and Nell gets scared every time she talks to someone who isn’t a regular, because she can’t be sure anyone will help if he breaks the rules.
If you asked around, you could both get work elsewhere, easily.
You could move out of this shitty apartment and get into a better school district.
It would be the right thing to do, for your family. ”
Patricia put her hand on Harper’s. “I am doing what’s right for my family.”
Harper took a sharp breath, a sudden sting rising in her eyes. Though it wasn’t the first time she’d heard something like that, it hit like a gut punch every time.
Six years ago, Patricia had found a nineteen-year-old kid strung out in an alley, and rather than ignore her like anyone else would have done, she’d offered help instead.
Proper food and clothes. A safe place to sleep.
She had even been there when Harper had gone through such an arduous round of rehab that she came close to quitting several times.
Being sober in the club scene wasn’t supposed to be easy. But with Patricia and Nell around, it was just that. Them always working in the same place was partly for familiarity reasons, but Harper knew she was also to blame. Even if they never made her feel like that was the case.
Harper blinked away the looming tears. “You’d be better off if you were more selfish, you know that?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Patricia put an arm around Harper’s shoulders, pulling her close. “If you weren’t here, things would be infinitely harder. We’ll make it through. No matter what happens or how bad it gets. But we’re doing so together.”
Another gut punch. Though, this time, Patricia’s touch softened the blow somewhat.
It would probably never vanish. That feeling of dragging other people down with you. Patricia kept insisting that wasn’t the case, but Harper had spent most of her life being told the opposite. It was all but ingrained at this point.
Hope and Henry never had to deal with that. They were good kids. Had gotten straight A’s and made valedictorian of their respective years, while Harper struggled not to fail most of her classes.
The only person who hadn’t made her feel like a fuck-up back then was her girlfriend, Karina, and she hadn’t used kindness to suppress that belief.
She’d used numbing agents instead. Alcohol first. Then pills.
Then harder things. And when she got bored and broke it off, Harper just replaced the clean stuff Karina had gotten her hooked on with anything cheap that provided a half-decent high.
No wonder her parents kicked her out. Seeing your daughter passed out on the front lawn lost its charm after the tenth time it happened. But as messed up as Harper had been, Patricia had still seen her as worthy of help. Same as with Nell before that. And with Evie too, years prior.
Patricia had been more of a mother to the three of them than the women who were supposed to carry the title. That she was being painted as nothing but a selfish gold digger proved just how unfair the world was.
They ended up sitting silently on the couch for several minutes. With Harper struggling to get the kind words to settle and with Patricia allowing herself to look as weary as she obviously felt. She didn’t shove the exhaustion away until the front door opened again.
“Shoes off first!” Nell grabbed ahold of Lucas until he’d kicked off his boots. He hurried to the couch, carrying a stack of pizza boxes.
“Nell said we can all stay up late and watch scary movies!”
“I don’t recall the ‘staying up late’ part.” Nell shrugged as she took off her jacket. “But I may have said the ‘scary movies’ part. Once you’ve done your homework. There isn’t that much left.”
“Really?” Lucas whined. “I don’t get why I have to. I only have those optional assignments left.”
Lucas being too bright for his own good had been an issue for a while. He’d already skipped a grade, and his classes were still boring him.
“You have to because studying is a skill, and you need to practice.” Patricia sighed. “But I don’t know if I can stay. It’s Friday, and I should really—”
“Don’t even think about it,” Harper said. “You have the night off. No one expects you to show up, and it’ll stay that way. Stay home and relax for once.”
Patricia looked ready to protest, but Harper’s dismissing tone held enough logic to be convincing. Or maybe Lucas’ wide eyes did the trick.
“Fine.” Patricia gestured Lucas over so she could give him a hug. “But we’re not staying up late. You have an early day tomorrow.”
Lucas groaned, but didn’t complain beyond that as he started going through the last of his homework. Patricia took out her phone, fingers swiping over the screen.
“Workaholic,” Harper said through a fake cough, rifling through the chaotic mess of clothes that was her suitcase.
“It isn’t work. I’m just checking if Maya has a shift tonight.”
Harper nearly fell off the damn couch. Somehow, Patricia didn’t notice, but Nell sure did.
“Oh?” Nell said innocently, sitting down next to Patricia. “Why are you doing that?”
“Maya’s doing Colton’s job for him,” Patricia said. “She’s started walking the girls to their cars when he’s too lazy to do it. Since I won’t be there to remind him of his duties, I need to make sure everyone will be okay.”
Nell obviously hadn’t heard a word she said. She was too busy grinning at Harper, who was mouthing some graphic threats back at her.
Patricia must have sensed the tension in the air—or maybe she just noticed Harper’s crude hand gestures—because she looked up from her phone.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” they said in unison, though Nell’s version came out amused while Harper’s was a near snarl.
“They’re whispering about dating,” Lucas said, attention on his homework.
Patricia turned fully towards Harper, brows furrowing.
“What is he talking about?”
Rather than conjure up a suitable response, Harper just opened and closed her mouth in a manner she suspected looked awfully fishlike.
“I have to get ready for work.” She shot up from the couch, poking Lucas in the side as she went past him. “I hope you get nightmares, you little scamp.”
Lucas giggled as she hurried towards the bathroom. A cold shower would help. Both with the blushing and with drowning the inappropriate thoughts that perked up whenever Maya was mentioned.
There was no point to those goddamn thoughts. Harper knew the rules. The drama ensuing from mixing work with romance always resulted in someone getting hurt, jealous, or just plain resentful.
But following the rules had never been her forte. She’d been sneaking around with Kieran for long enough to get proficient at it. Would it really be so bad to take her and Maya’s near-daily conversations in the direction they both obviously wanted them to go?
Yes, it would. Her keeping Kieran a secret hadn’t ended well. And though Maya might act cool about a lot of things, that wasn’t a guarantee of future behavior.
She had said she would be fine dating someone with Harper’s profession, but that could change. Such as when she had to witness Harper taking off her clothes in front of strangers and then not get upset about it.
It didn’t even matter. Maya would find someone else. Someone who wasn’t dragging around a cargo plane’s worth of baggage. Both their lives would be a lot less messy if they kept the current trend. If they stayed just friends.
Friends who blatantly flirted with each other every goddamn chance they got.