Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
My life had never been better, but I should’ve known the balance rested on the thinnest of tightropes and it was about to be jostled.
I was expecting a delivery, so I didn’t think anything of the knock on the door. I was still in my pajama shorts and one of Drew’s hockey shirts, riding the high from a night and morning filled with leg-shaking sex. Drew had only left half an hour ago to go pick up Rory from Ava’s.
My smile was friendly as I opened the door, but it fell off my face when I saw my dad standing there instead of the delivery person I’d expected. He was wearing his usual outfit of blue jeans, a UM Grizz T-shirt, and steel-toe boots.
My stomach dropped to my feet. “Dad?” The word barely made it past my lips.
My dad had barely spoken to me, let alone come to my house, since I’d started at CFU.
His brown eyes—the same exact shade as mine—swept over my appearance with that familiar look of disappointment. “Harper. We need to talk.”
I thought my stomach had sunk as far as it would go, but at the ominous tone of his words, it fell further and I swallowed hard, all happiness I’d felt this morning replaced with dread.
“Sure,” I said, stepping back so he could come in.
He walked past me into the living room, his gaze sweeping over the space, taking it all in.
“Coffee?” I offered weakly.
“No, thanks.” He spun around as I closed the door and joined him in the living room, but he didn’t take a seat so neither did I. Instead, I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Is everything okay?”
“I received an interesting phone call yesterday. It seems there’s a rumor going around Meadowbrook that you’re dating the Dumontier boy.”
My cheeks burned and I had no doubt my whole face had turned bright red—the curse of red hair and fair skin.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. I should’ve known the second Drew’s parents saw us together that news would get out in our small town.
And there was nothing Meadowbrook liked more than gossip—especially about the Tinsleys and Dumontiers.
His voice stayed level, but a muscle ticked in his jaw. “Tell me it’s not true.”
The demand hung between us. I wrapped my arms around myself, Drew’s shirt suddenly feeling like the world’s worst armor.
“I can’t.” I hated how small my voice was. I wasn’t embarrassed of my relationship with Drew. But the little girl in me who wanted to make her dad proud was dying from the pure hatred that filled his eyes when I spoke.
“Jesus Christ, Harper.” He stared at me like he’d never met me before, and I’d never felt so small. It was a harsh fall from the high I’d woken up with. “How could my own daughter betray our family this way?”
The venom in his voice made me flinch.
“Dad, you don’t understand—”
“I understand plenty.” His voice got louder, and I was grateful my roommates weren’t home.
“I understand that my daughter is making the biggest mistake of her life. Frankly, I didn’t think you could do worse than when you chose to come here for a music degree, but then you went and did this.
Do you have any idea what that family did to us? What they cost us?”
His words hit me like shrapnel and I was sure I was bleeding out, but I couldn’t look away from him.
“That was decades ago—”
“Decades? You think that matters?” His face was getting red now, the way it did when he got really worked up.
“James Dumontier destroyed your great-grandfather—stole his fiancée, betrayed his best friend, stabbed him in the back for a woman. Robert lost everything that mattered because of that family’s selfishness and lies.
It changed the entire trajectory of our family.
You can’t just dismiss it because some time passed, Harper. ”
I’d heard the story of the feud my entire life—every Tinsley knew about the Dumontiers’ betrayal.
But why did none of them ever question that each generation could be different?
“Drew isn’t his great-grandfather,” I said, quiet but calm. “He’s not responsible for—”
Once again, he cut me off. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It never has for that family. They’re all snakes.” His laugh was bitter. “You think this boy is different? You think he actually cares about you? Wake up, Harper. Boys like him don’t date girls like you for the right reasons.”
Seriously, was I bleeding on the carpet? Because his words cut worse than they ever had, hitting at an insecurity I hadn’t even realized was there until he spoke it into existence.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I hated how small my voice came out.
“It means you’re naive if you think a Dumontier would be interested in a Tinsley unless there was something in it for him.”
The accusation hung in the air like poison. My chest grew tight and it felt nearly impossible to breathe.
“You don’t know him, Dad.”
“Don’t I?” His voice dropped, but I still heard the scorn underneath every word. “Think about it, Harper. What better revenge could there be than this? Making you fall for him, stringing you along, then destroying you when it serves his purpose. The ultimate way to humiliate our family.”
My knees weakened, but I didn’t want to show him how his words had sunk in like barbs.
“That’s not what this is,” I said, but doubt was already creeping in.
Before I could say anything else, another knock came at the door. Then the door opened and I knew without looking who it was going to be.
“Harper?” Drew’s voice was filled with warmth and happiness. “I’m back.”
Dad’s expression grew thunderous and panic clawed at my throat. How was I supposed to stop this train wreck?
Drew walked into the room, his face lit up with a smile and Rory babbling happily in his arms. “Hey, beautiful—” He stopped midsentence when his gaze landed on my dad.
The smile died on his lips. “Mr. Tinsley,” he said, acknowledging him. Then he looked at me. “What’s going on?”
Dad looked at Drew for a long moment, taking in the baby in his arms, then back at me. “Harper was just telling me about you two,” Dad said, his voice deceptively calm, but there was still that tic in his jaw that told me how upset he was.
Drew looked between us, clearly trying to read the situation.
“Funny thing is,” Dad continued, “I’ve been hearing about the Dumontiers my whole life. How they take what they want and don’t care who gets hurt in the process.”
“Dad, stop,” I said quietly.
But he kept going, his voice getting harder. “So when I hear my daughter’s gotten mixed up with one of you, I have to wonder what the angle is. Because there’s always an angle with your family.”
Drew’s face tightened. “There’s no angle. I care about Harper.”
“Do you?” Dad’s laugh was humorless. “Or is this just another way to stick it to us? Get the Tinsley girl to fall for you, then what? Break her heart? Make her look like an idiot?”
“I would never hurt Harper.” Drew was emphatic. He almost looked pissed at the mere suggestion.
But…
He’d hurt me before. He’d never seemed to have a problem hurting or messing with me when we hated each other.
My dad didn’t acknowledge his words. Instead, he stared at me for a long moment, his face cycling through disappointment, anger, and the one that scared me the most—grief. When he spoke again, his voice was arctic.
“Looks like you’ve made your choice. And I’ve made mine. Don’t come running back when this fantasy falls apart, Harper. Because by then, it will be too late.”