Chapter Five
"Do you have everything you need?" Emmett asked Tanya.
She set her spoon down in the empty cereal bowl and rested her elbow on the table, chin in her hand, as she stared at him, before finally saying, "I think so. I'll go and check in a minute. Can I get a banana?"
"Of course you can, honey. Do you want to grab one for your sister and take it up there to her when you go? She's not going to have time to eat anything more than that at this rate. We need to get moving."
Tanya nodded agreeably, but didn't move.
Emmett took a slug of his coffee and stuffed a file of papers into his bag. Today was one of his least favorite days—the last Monday of the month was when he caught up on the paperwork at the clinic.
He went to rinse his mug and counted to ten before turning back around.
Tanya moved at her own pace, and he didn't like to rush her, but sometimes he had no choice.
The sight of her sitting there with her chin in her hand, staring out at the clouds, looking as though she didn't have a care in the world made something in his chest tighten.
"Tanya, honey?" He spoke gently, but she still jolted in surprise, her eyes widening as she stared at him.
"Oh, right. Sorry, Dad. I'm going now. Bananas."
"Yep." He chuckled after her as she took two from the fruit stand in the middle of the table and ran upstairs calling, "Alana. Are you nearly done? We have to go. Dad's waiting."
Emmett grabbed his keys and phone from the counter and went to wait by the door.
Since Alana had discovered makeup, his mornings were a lot more stressful. But to her credit, even though she hid out upstairs painting her face until it was almost time to go, she rarely made them late. A minute later, they both came thundering down the stairs.
"I'll tell him."
"No, I want to tell him."
"No, I will!"
He shook his head with a smile. He thought he was doing an okay job of keeping up with them as they grew into young women, but he was still more comfortable when they argued like little girls in the way he was used to.
"Dad, I..." Tanya began.
"I told you I'll tell him," Alana interrupted.
Emmett opened the front door and hurried out. "Whoever's telling me, you can do it on the way. Come on."
Once they were all in his truck, Tanya turned in her seat—she got to ride shotgun these days since Alana was happier sitting in the back, tapping away on her phone. She surprised him when she leaned forward between the seats and said, "Harper's coming to get us tonight."
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and stared at the road ahead, hoping that he wouldn't give himself away—although just what he was afraid of, he didn't know.
"Alana. I wanted to tell him," Tanya whined.
Alana huffed a big sigh. "Okay, so you can tell him the rest. You don't need to be a baby about it." She flopped back into her seat and took her phone out.
When he glanced at Tanya, she was grinning at him. "I thought Libby was coming for you tonight."
"She was, but she had something going on. Something with her new horses or...”
“She's taking delivery of a couple of new horses for her riding therapy program," Alana said matter-of-factly from the back seat.
"Yeah, that's right," said Tanya. "But anyway, she can't come and Harper's coming instead."
He nodded, not knowing what to say. What would he say if it were anyone else?
So many of his friends helped with picking the girls up from school and getting Alana to rehearsals, and the arrangements changed often.
He relaxed a little when he figured out that if they told him that Ace was coming to get them because Libby couldn't, all he'd do was ask if they were okay with it.
He reached the end of the drive and pulled out onto the highway before asking, "Are you both good with that?" in what he hoped was a normal voice.
"I'm not just okay with it," said Tanya. "I can't wait. I really missed her while she was gone. Didn't you?"
Emmett's mouth went dry. How did she even have any idea? But no, what was he thinking? Of course he hadn't missed her. Relief washed over him, even though he felt a little foolish when Alana said, "Well, duh, of course I missed her. She's awesome. Right, Dad?"
He glanced in the rearview mirror, and the look Alana gave him set his nerves right back on edge.
She looked expectant in a way that kind of reminded him of Harper.
He had no idea what his older daughter was thinking, but he wasn't going to get into it.
Instead, he echoed her own words back at her.
"Well, duh. Of course she is. You guys get along with her so well.
And we're lucky that she has so much time and doesn't mind spending it helping us all out. "
"You get along with her too, don't you, Dad?" Tanya asked.
"Sure I do. I don't see her as much as you guys do, but she seems... nice." He held his breath—even to his own ears the words sounded what Alana would call lame.
"We should invite her over one night when you're home," said Tanya.
He gripped the steering wheel tighter, hoping that Alana would help him out and shoot that down, as she did with so many of Tanya's ideas.
Instead, she smiled at him in the rearview mirror and said, "Yeah, I think that's a great idea.
We'll have to figure out one night when you can come home early and we can all have dinner together. "
Emmett frowned, wondering how exactly he could wriggle his way out of this—and for that matter, where it had even come from.
"Can we, Dad?" Tanya asked.
"We'll have to see. You know what my schedule's like. I wouldn't want to invite her over and then have to cancel."
"She'd be fine with it," said Tanya. "She's pretty laid back."
"And even if you had to stay at work late, she could hang out with us till you got there," said Alana.
"We'll see," he said in a firmer voice this time, then waited. The cab of the truck was tense for a few moments, but he relaxed when Tanya said, "Okay," and Alana took her phone back out before telling him, "Yeah, but don't think we're going to forget."
For the rest of the drive up to town, Emmett wondered if the girls were just trying to make sure that they got to see more of Harper again now—or if.
.. no, it couldn't be more than that. He didn't know why he was even thinking about it.
If anyone, he was the only one whose mind had gone near the possibility of something more between Harper and him.
And he wasn't even thinking about it. It was just.. . He didn't even know...
Okay, so maybe he was attracted to her. And he felt guilty about that. That was all. That was why he was hyperaware that the girls might pick up on it. He'd hate that.
~ ~ ~
Harper checked the time on the dash of her truck as she pulled into the parking lot of Trip's clinic up in town.
She had plenty of time before she needed to be at school to collect Tanya.
The two of them were going to hang out in town until Alana was done with her rehearsal, and then she'd take them home.
She was excited to see them both, and relieved that she didn't need to stay out of Emmett's way anymore.
Even though he'd said that he'd appreciate her input, she intended to tread lightly—at least at first. Her plan for this evening was to pick up something for dinner for them while she and Tanya were in town waiting for Alana to get finished.
Then she'd drop the girls and their dinner off at home and leave.
Of course, she'd like to see Emmett when he finished his day, but she was aware of her own tendency to be too pushy. Whatever she got the girls for dinner, she’d make sure there was enough for him, too.
She hurried across the parking lot and into the reception area. Brooke looked up from the desk and smiled when she saw her. "Oh, hey, Harper. How was New York? Did you have a great time?"
"I did, thanks. It was good to be back there. But it's even better to be back here again."
"Oh, I'm so glad you feel that way. I didn't know if you'd want to come back. I mean, New York's pretty different from here, isn't it?"
"It couldn't be more different," Harper agreed. "But I do love it here."
She grinned at Shelley, who came out of the back carrying two mugs. "Oh, hey, Harps. I didn't know if I should make you a drink or not." She set Brooke's down in front of her.
"I'm okay, thanks. I don't need one. Like I said, I only wanted to stop in and catch up with you. I won't keep you for long."
"You guys can go in the back, you know," said Brooke. "I'm fine out here."
Shelley laughed. "I know that. The job's all yours now. I know you don't need me anymore. I'm only here to hang out."
Brooke had taken over from Shelley as Trip's receptionist. And even though she'd never worked an office job before, she was doing great.
Brooke smiled. "I'm not trying to get rid of you or anything. I'd love to listen in on your gossip if you want, but I figured the two of you might want a private conversation."
When Shelley raised her eyebrows at Harper, looking a little guilty, Brooke chuckled. "See, that's what I mean."
Harper laughed with her. "Okay, maybe we'll have a quick chat before I leave, but what about you, Brooke? How are things in your world?"
"Everything's great, thanks. I love working here. It's made my life so much easier."
"And mine," Shelley added.
"Yeah, I think it worked out for both of us, didn't it?" Brooke agreed. "And that's about all that's going on in my... Oh no, wait, my big brother's home. Did you know that?"
"Oh, that's right. Blane's your brother, isn't he? He and Mav have moved back here?"