Chapter Fourteen #2
Blane gave him a wry smile. "She told me she made Cash promise her he'd steer you in that direction."
"And what did she ask of you?" Emmett asked eventually.
"To have your back. You know how we were; me and Em were always the ones who knew you best. She knew Cash would push you beyond where you wanted to go. And that I'd have your back no matter what."
Emmett nodded.
Blane glanced toward the kitchen again. "I'm glad you're opening up to the possibility. But as far as I'm concerned, the jury's still out." He turned back to Emmett. "You know my deal; I'll protect you even against yourself if necessary."
~ ~ ~
They'd finished breakfast, and Blane was clearing the dishes away, having insisted that Harper should sit with Emmett for a while, when Emmett's phone rang.
"Hey, Cash... Yeah, of course. Put them on..."
Harper's heart melted a little bit as she watched him talk to the girls.
"Yeah, I'm fine... Hey, Alana. Don't be mad at him.
.. I told Uncle Cash not to tell you last night.
There was nothing you could do. I didn't want you girls to worry.
And all I needed was some rest... Yeah, she did.
She kept an eye on me..." He glanced over at Harper and smiled.
"Yeah, she's still here..." He glanced over at her again.
"I don't know yet. We'll see, okay?..." He smiled.
"I'll be fine to take care of myself by Monday, Tanya. Yes, you do need to go to school."
Harper chuckled at that.
"Okay. Well, we'll see you in a few minutes then. Okay. Love you, Button... Okay, Alana. Love you, too."
He ended the call and set his phone on the coffee table in front of him.
"They're okay then?" Harper asked.
"Yeah. Worried, of course, but they needed to hear my voice. They'll be better once they see me."
She nodded. "Well, I was thinking I should get out of the way."
He frowned. "You don't need to do that."
"I kind of do." She looked down at herself.
"Oh shit, of course. Sorry. You didn't have a change of clothes or anything, did you?"
"No, but we weren't exactly planning a sleepover, were we?"
He gave her a wry smile. "No. Sorry about that."
"Don't be. I'm glad I was here and able to help. And I'll come back and help some more if you want me to. It's just with the girls coming home, they'll want you. And Blane's here. And Cash... You'll have everyone you need."
He met her gaze and held it. "It's not about need, Harper. I like having you around."
She smiled. "I like being here. And not just to be useful. But I really do need to go home, take a shower, get changed, and regroup. And you won't even notice that I'm gone. You need to reassure the girls."
"Yeah, I do. But listen..."
She nodded. "I'll text you in a little while, see how it's going. If the guys need to leave before then, just text me and I'll come right back."
"Okay, thanks. But how about this...? Do you like pizza?"
She gave him a puzzled smile. "I do. Why?"
"Because pizza’s Blane's thing, and if I know him, at the first chance he gets, he'll run up to the take-and-bake place in town and come back with supplies. If you want to hang out this evening, we can have pizza. You won't need to cook or anything."
"Then thanks, I'd like that. As long as you know that I don't mind cooking. I don't mind helping out. And you already know that the girls and I get along. We can figure things out between us."
"Yeah, I know that."
He held her gaze for a long moment, but when it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything else, she checked her watch. "I'll get going then, before the girls arrive."
When she got back to the cottage, she closed the door behind her and leaned back against it, taking in a deep breath before blowing it out slowly.
She'd left here twenty-four hours ago, thinking that she was just going for a horseback riding lesson.
She still hadn't processed everything that had happened since then.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to start thinking about it now. She needed a shower and a change of clothes. Emmett was going to be all right. That was all that mattered. Well, that and the girls.
She kind of wished she could have stuck around, to be there for them, but she figured that she was one person too many. Cash and Blane, like Emmett had said, were family; she wasn't.
She pushed away from the door. She wasn't going to start down that road. That family word had always haunted her.
She set her purse on the counter in the kitchen, deciding that she needed a shower before anything else. Just as she stepped away, her phone rang and she took it out, smiling when she saw Shelley's name on the display.
"Hey, Shelley Bells, how are you?"
"Never mind me, how are you? And what happened to you yesterday? I hung around at the hospital for a while, but you didn't answer my texts."
"Shoot, sorry. I didn't even think to check my phone. I silenced it while we were in Emmett's room."
"That's okay. I wanted you to know that I was there if you needed me."
"Thanks, Shelley Bells. I always know that."
"Trip said you were going to stay at Emmett's last night. Are you still there?"
"No, I came home. Blane's there with him, and Cash is bringing the girls back—they stayed at his place last night."
"Really? I would have thought they'd have wanted to be at home with Emmett."
"Yeah, me too, but he decided it was better for them not to know until this morning."
"Ouch. How did you feel about that?"
She sighed. "Like it's up to him how he handles things with his daughters."
"I know, but... are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I’ve just been taking a trip down memory lane. I haven't seen the pointy end of a gun in who knows how many years, and I certainly haven't had to consider how a daughter feels when her father’s injured in even longer."
"Do you want me to come over?"
"No, thanks. That's okay. I'm going to jump in the shower, get changed..." She blew out a sigh. "And then probably hang around here, waiting to see if Emmett wants me to go back over and help out."
"Help out? Is that all it is? It didn't seem that way to me yesterday. He was glad to see you."
"I was glad to see him too, of course I was, but I think that kind of thing has to go on the back burner for a while, doesn't it?" She let out a short laugh. "I'd hate to be accused of pouncing on the man when he's incapacitated."
Shelley laughed with her. "I hardly think anyone would accuse you of that."
"I'm not so sure. You saw Blane, didn't you? Sergeant Sparkles?"
Shelley laughed. "Oh my god! I can just imagine his reaction to you calling him that. He's a bit... scary, isn’t he?"
"Stern maybe, not scary."
Harper stood up a little straighter. Yeah, sure, Blane was an intimidating figure, but she refused to be afraid of him. And when it came down to it, she was glad that Emmett had such a good, if fierce, friend.
"Well, do you want me to come over and hang out with you until you know what you're doing?"
Harper closed her eyes. As much as she wished that Shelley had been there with her at Emmett's house last night, she didn't think she could face her coming over now—she knew that once she was surrounded by the warmth of her friend's support, she might just fall apart.
"I'm good, thanks. What are you and Trip up to today?"
"Don't brush it off as though it's something normal that you have going on," said Shelley. "It's a big deal, Harps. It's okay to be shaken up."
"I know, and thanks, but you know me—I have to brush it off and keep going."
"I know you do. But promise me that when you slow down, if it catches up with you, you'll let me be there for you."
"You're the only one I ever have."
"That wasn't an answer," Shelley said sternly.
Harper laughed. "It's as close as you're gonna get. How about that?"
"Fair enough. I'll take it, since you're being honest about it. And as for Trip, he's on his way out soon—heading down to see Emmett. I thought I could ride with him, and he could drop me off at your place. If you need to leave and go to Emmett’s, I can always pop over to see Jim."
Harper pursed her lips. "It would be good to see you."
"You, too."
"Just don't be too nice to me, okay?"
Shelley laughed. "I'll do my best."
"You know what I mean. I can hold it together until you're nice to me."
"I'll be as mean as I can. How about that?"
"Deal."
"Okay, I'll see you in a little while."