Chapter Fifteen #2
She smiled as she took in the sight of him. The bruising was worse today, worse even than it had been this morning.
He met her gaze. "I'm doing better than I look, I promise."
She gave him a wry smile. "I hope so, but that's not saying much, is it?"
She was surprised to see Blane sitting in an armchair—he seemed out of place there, rather than standing in the corner. He greeted her with a nod, and she relaxed a little when he said, "He's doing a damn sight better than he might have been. I don't know if I said it yesterday, but thanks."
"There's no need to thank me. I'm glad I was there." She turned to Emmett. "And I wish you'd stop telling people that I did anything. You were the one who launched yourself at him and disarmed him."
"And you were the one who distracted him to give me the opportunity."
"So, how about you say it was a team effort?" asked Alana. She got up and came to Harper, surprising her when she greeted her with a hug.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Harper asked, as she wrapped her arms around Alana briefly before the girl stepped back.
She looked younger and more vulnerable than Harper had seen her before when she said, "Thank you. I’m okay. I'm glad you're here."
Harper nodded, not sure where to look. She didn't know how Emmett or Blane would react to that.
Blane got to his feet and checked his watch. "Do you need anything before I leave?" he asked Emmett. "I should get going."
Harper held her breath. She didn't want him to leave on her account, but at the same time, being here was easier when he wasn't around.
Emmett surprised her when he struggled to sit up. Both girls rushed forward.
"Wait, Dad, I can help," said Tanya.
"What do you need?" Alana asked.
He gave them a reassuring smile. "If you want to do something for me, the two of you can go and choose which pizza we're having later, while Uncle Blane gives me a hand to get down the hallway."
Alana stepped back, but Tanya gave him a puzzled look for a few moments before realization dawned on her face. "Oh," she exclaimed, "you need to go to the bathroom, right?"
Emmett chuckled. "That's right, Button." He gave Harper a wry smile. "And now that we all know that, I'll be on my way."
He held his left arm up to Blane, who stepped forward to help him to his feet.
She followed the girls into the kitchen, where Tanya showed Alana the casserole Harper had brought.
Alana turned to her looking concerned. "Uncle Blane already brought pizza. But we... I can..."
Harper smiled. "It's not a problem. I only brought the casserole in case you needed something quick and easy. It can go in the freezer for another time. And I know that you both like the top crispy, but it just needs to be uncovered for the last ten minutes when it's reheated."
"Awesome," said Tanya. "Tater tot casserole is one of my faves. But what kind of pizza do you like?"
Harper chuckled. "I don't think I ever met a pizza I didn't like. I'm good with anything. And are you girls okay if I stick around for dinner?"
She was surprised by the serious look in Alana's eyes when she turned to face her. "Not just for dinner. We have something to ask you."
Tanya nodded eagerly.
"What's that?" Harper asked.
"Would you be able to... would you want to..." She was surprised to see Alana so unsure of herself—that wasn't normally her way.
"We want you to stay," Tanya blurted out.
"Yeah." Alana shot her sister an irritated glance. "That's what I was going to say. If you can, would you stay with us?"
Harper raised her eyebrows.
"You can stay in Dad's room, since he has to stay on the couch," said Tanya. "Did you sleep in my room last night? My pillow smells like you."
Harper smiled at that. "I did; I hoped you wouldn't mind. Someone needed to be here with your dad to check on him every couple of hours after the knock to his head."
"For concussion, right?" said Alana.
"That's right. But he seems to be doing fine."
"He is," Alana agreed.
Tanya smiled. "He's a tough cookie."
Harper was relieved that they were so resilient. But then Tanya was right. Emmett was a big, tough guy.
"Anyway," Alana continued. "We can take care of him."
Tanya nodded enthusiastically. "But we like having you around. And Dad does, too." Her smile dimmed. "Do you like being here—with us and with Dad?"
Harper watched Alana carefully as she answered. "I do. I love hanging out with you—and your dad." She hesitated, but she had to say it. So far, the two of them hadn't done a great job of concealing the fact that they were trying to push her and Emmett together.
"What's wrong?" Tanya asked.
"Nothing's wrong, sweetie. It's just..." She met Alana's gaze again. "I'm the kind of person who likes to have things out in the open, so I'm going to come out and say it. You both know that I like your dad... I'd hate for either of you to feel like I'm... overstepping."
"No way," said Tanya enthusiastically. "We love it, don't we, Alana?"
Alana nodded at her sister while still holding Harper's gaze. "I know what you mean, but I've been thinking about it a lot. Dad likes you, too."
"He does," said Tanya. "I can tell."
"And you’re..." Harper was horrified when Alana's chin started to quiver. "Listen, I'm going to go upstairs in a minute, but nothing's wrong. I just... it's hard, you know?"
Harper reached out to touch her arm. "I think I do, sweetie. You don't have to say anything."
"I do," said Alana. "Dad deserves to be happy. And I think maybe you guys..." She sniffed. "I mean, no pressure or anything. You might not, too, but if you don't get the chance to hang out together, you'll never find out, will you?"
Harper shook her head.
Alana sniffed again and stood up a little straighter. "Okay, well, that's that then. But..." Anger and fear flashed in her eyes. "But you have to be good to him. Don't hurt him."
Harper had to swallow around the lump in her throat. "I won't. I give you my word; I'll never do anything to hurt him, not if I can help it."
Tanya was watching their exchange with a puzzled look. She reached out to touch Alana's arm. "It's okay, Alana. It's all gonna be okay, you know."
Harper's heart melted a little in her chest as she watched Alana hug Tanya to her and kiss the top of her head. "I know, Button. It'll all be okay. I'm just being me for a minute, all right? I'm gonna run upstairs now."
Tanya watched her go with a puzzled smile on her face before turning to Harper. "She gets weird sometimes."
Harper smiled. "She has every right to. And besides, I think we all get a bit weird sometimes."
She crossed her eyes at Tanya, who laughed and made a goofy face, saying, "Not me, I’m never weird."
It seemed to Harper that Alana was that much older when Emily died. She probably had more memories of her mom and as the older sibling, no doubt felt a responsibility to both her dad and to Tanya.
Harper nodded to herself. It might seem from the outside that Emmett was the one who needed the most help, while Tanya needed some support. But she wondered if Alana, trying to hold everyone together, might need the most support of all.
~ ~ ~
Once Emmett was settled back on the couch and Blane had gone, Tanya came to sit beside him and took his hand.
"Are you hungry, Dad? We can have pepperoni pizza since that's your favorite."
He smiled. "Yeah, if everyone else is good with that?"
Harper nodded. "I'll go and turn the oven on."
"Where's your sister?"
Tanya made a face at him, and Harper looked a little uncomfortable.
"She's gone upstairs," Tanya told him. "But she said pepperoni, too, since you like it."
He shot Harper a puzzled look, but she shrugged.
"Want to run up and check on her for me?"
Tanya heaved a sigh. "Okay, but she'll say yes to pepperoni—and she won't let me in."
"Is she all right?"
"Yeah, she's okay. She wants Harper to stay, but she's worried about it, too."
"Go check on her for me, then?"
"Sure."
When she'd gone, Emmett raised his eyebrows at Harper.
"They asked me if I'll stay to help take care of you... Alana said she wants me to, but at the same time..."
Emmett cleared his throat. He didn't need her to spell it out.
"I'm happy to stay if you want me, or I can call Blane to come back if it's not a good idea."
"No. Alana would have asked him to stay if she didn't want you here. She does. But it's..."
"Difficult," Harper filled in for him when he didn't continue.
"Not even that. It's... unknown territory."
She nodded. "It is for me, too, and the last thing I want to do is hurt the girls."
"You won't. I feel bad asking you to stay because I need you." He cleared his throat again. "But it's not only because I need you."
"I'm not here just because I want to help you."
He smiled. "So, what do you think? Do you want to stay? Should we see how things go?"
"Yeah, I think we should. I'll stay—on one condition."
"What's that?"
She met his gaze and held it. "You have to tell me when it's time for me to go. I won't be able to relax if I'm constantly wondering if I'm outstaying my welcome, and at the same time thinking that I'm being useful."
"Okay. If we get to the point when it's time for you to go, I'll say so. Do you need to go home now—to get a bag?"
She smiled. "I brought one just in case. After last night, I didn't want to be caught without my toothbrush and a change of clothes again."