Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Harper
F rom where Harper sat looking over the water, she could see seabirds diving to catch fish. The spot she’d begun to think of as her own private hideaway was peaceful, the only sounds the birds and the leaves blowing in the gentle breeze. She tucked her feet up under her legs on the outdoor lounge, a cup of coffee long turned cold cradled in her hands. She’d been out here for hours, her grumbling stomach telling her it was time to head back to the house.
It was also time to head back to LA.
Three weeks she’d been given by her father. That time was now nearly up. Since that first night at karaoke, she’d gone back twice more, singing both times. She’d even promised to sing tomorrow night at the Cape Wilde Oyster Festival, this time an original song and not a cover. Rowan was part of the organizing committee, Harper had discovered, and ran an oyster farm of his own.
Harper hadn’t taken much convincing, to her surprise, and she was more excited than nervous about her upcoming performance.
For the most part, she was happy that she was finally able to get up in front of people and sing like she’d been able to before her mom died, but every time she did she felt like it took her one more step away from Cape Wilde.
One more step away from Logan.
They hadn’t talked about her leaving, and Logan had slowly become more withdrawn as her time in Cape Wilde came to an end. He was quieter around her—had fewer smiles—and although they still shared a bed, his love making had changed.
Logan was behaving as if he’d never see her again, as if these were the last days they would ever have. In a way Harper knew that was reasonable, what did they have in common after all? She was from the literal other side of the country, and still needed to sort out this mess with her sister and her dad.
And it was her sister that was foremost in her mind.
The tabloid press had gone bananas when they’d spotted Isla and King in upstate New York. Harper had long since deleted social media from her phone, avoiding any news about her family that didn’t come directly from Isla or King.
Her father had gone back to LA almost immediately after the gala, leaving his two daughters on the other side of the country. The only contact she’d had from him since she’d been yelled at on the phone and Logan had hung up on him, was a terse voicemail and a follow-up email, both demanding that she provide a status update on her song writing.
Harper had ignored him, for the first time in her life. And it felt good.
She smiled, a sense of satisfaction rolling over her. She’d worked harder than she ever had and now had a notebook full of songs. They weren’t her usual work—they’d gone in a slightly more melancholic direction to the bubbly pop she usually wrote for Isla—but they were good.
They might even be the best she’d written.
She frowned, untucking her legs and finishing the coffee. She slipped her sandals back on and made her way along the track back to the house. Logan’s home. The place that had begun to feel so familiar to her—the man who had begun to feel so familiar to her—that it was going to rip her heart out to leave.
But he hadn’t said anything about her staying. And she knew that he would never leave with her. His family were all in Cape Wilde. He’d already given up his dream to return here, to support his family. He wouldn’t leave again.
She sighed. It didn’t matter anyway, her life was in LA.
Harper’s phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out, smiling as her sister’s name popped up on the screen. She swiped open the messaging app and stopped in her tracks halfway to the house.
It wasn’t from Isla. It was from King. She opened it with shaking hands.
It’s King. Your dad has gone off the rails.
Three little dancing dots appeared, then disappeared. Then appeared again. Harper held her breath.
He says he’s going to sue Isla.
“What!” Harper exclaimed. She shook her head in denial. How could this be real? Her fingers flew across the screen, typing out a reply.
That makes no sense. We’re his family.
The three dots appeared and then disappeared.
She’ll explain in person. Coming tomorrow.
“Tomorrow?” Harper’s hand fell to her side. She turned on the spot where she had stopped in front of the house.
Tomorrow was too soon. She needed more time.
She dialed Isla’s number, but it went straight to voicemail. She tried again, and again but the call never connected. It was pointless. Even if she did reach Isla, what would she say?
Thank you, but I don’t want to leave?
She was going, like she’d planned all along. She had to. There was too much at stake not to. So why did it hurt so much?
Harper stared up at the house that had begun to feel like home. She blinked back tears.
She covered her mouth with her hand and turned to look up the drive toward the road. She couldn’t see further than the trees, but in her mind, she was looking all the way to LA. Back to her life.
Harper staggered to the front of the house, her legs feeling like jelly, and collapsed onto the steps that led to the front door. She wrapped her arms around her legs and sat staring at the trees but focusing on nothing.
That’s how Logan found her an hour later, still sitting there. He’d been at work, coming back to have lunch with Harper. He had pulled up next to the house in his truck, not bothering to put it in its usual spot.
“Harper? What’s wrong?”
She was vaguely aware of being wrapped in his strong arms and lifted to her feet. She managed to walk inside and collapsed onto the couch.
She lifted her tear-filled brown eyes to his concerned green ones.
“What’s happened?” Logan squatted down next to her, the leather of his boots making a faint squeaking noise as he did. He was in his usual jeans and checked flannel shirt, the sleeves rolled up over broad forearms. There was a faint scent of sawdust about him, and his ball cap was the old one he wore when working.
He was everything solid and warm and safe. And she wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and have him tell her that everything would be fine. That she would be fine.
But she couldn’t.
It would be unfair. It was already hard enough for both of them.
They both knew what this was. He’d given her no indication that he saw a future for them together, and no matter what her heart felt, she wasn’t prepared to settle for anything less than a man who loved her with everything he had to give.
Like she loved him?
Oh no. This could not be happening. How could it? She knew she would be leaving all along. There was nothing for her here in this tiny Maine town.
Nothing at all.
You know that’s a lie.
She looked down at her hands, twisting together in her lap, and swallowed the words before she blurted them out and ruined everything.
“Harper? You’re starting to scare me.”
She gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
He ducked his head, his hands resting on the sofa on either side of her legs, mimicking the exact position they’d taken what felt like an age ago, but was really only a few weeks.
“Isla and King will be here tomorrow.”
Logan’s expression shuttered so suddenly she wondered if she’d imagined it. “Oh yeah?” He looked away and over her shoulder.
“Um, yeah. I suppose I’ll be going with them.”
Logan stood up and walked away from her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. He didn’t look at her, instead facing the water as he did when he needed to think. “That was the plan.”
“Yeah, I know.” Harper said softly. A little piece of her heart cracked and drifted away, or at least she imagined it so. There would be a part of her that she would leave in this house forever.
Her eyes drifted to Logan’s back, the flannel of his shirt stretched over his broad shoulders, the worn denim of his jeans hugging his legs in a way that made her mouth water. Logan was the kind of guy who was made for taking care of people. He did it for his family, his friends and even a complete stranger. She couldn’t imagine him living in this big house all alone for long.
Any woman would be ecstatic to have him in her life. A stabbing pain lanced her chest at the thought, and she barely managed to stifle a gasp. Yes, she needed to get away from here.
Far away.