Chapter 29
Claire
Picking up Bea was a piece of cake. Rachel offered up the guest room so I wouldn’t have to drive back, but I’d had more than enough coffee on the ride over to keep me awake a few more hours. Plus, Asher was worried about Bea and would be disappointed if we didn’t come home.
Bea chatted nonstop for twenty solid minutes before she passed out in the back seat. When I pulled up to the cabin, the guys were gone and Asher was waiting on the porch to greet his daughter.
The poor thing didn’t wake up as he carried her inside and tucked her into his bed.
When she woke up this morning, her three pseudo uncles spoiled her. They worshipped her and acted like they’d received diamond-encrusted bracelets from Taylor Swift when she gifted them plastic friendship bracelets with “Dolly” strung on them. Everyone got one, including me.
Asher nearly pulls out of the guys’ plans to take the boat out now that Bea has returned, but she learned it’s Make Your Own Slime Day at the childcare facility and is more than elated about attending.
The guys invite me on their excursion, but I politely turn them down, not wanting to cut their trip short if I’m called into the clinic.
After completing mundane administrative tasks and treating a family for poison ivy, I pop over to the gym for a vinyasa yoga class.
Lacey, the instructor, is a gem. If I had to guess, I’d pin her close to my age, but the wisdom and aura she exudes are ageless.
I always leave feeling relaxed yet invigorated, so with any luck, today’s session will serve me a heaping pile of mental clarity.
She ends class with a fantastic guided meditation about not being afraid of what the future might hold.
About leaning into unpredictability. It hits me straight in the solar plexus.
Because truth be told, I’ve been avoiding the inevitable: what comes after this summer.
I’ve always prided myself on having a plan, being prepared.
But this summer is unlike anything I’ve imagined for myself.
And why has it felt so perfect?
Lacey turns the lights back on, and as people trickle out of class, I realize Kendra and Todd were in attendance too.
Ugh, Kendra. The first time I saw her lean a little too closely into Asher, I nonchalantly asked him about it.
According to him, she and her husband have been coming every summer for years with their children.
When I asked if the way she behaved that day was typical of her, he admitted it was but assured me she’s never crossed a line.
He seemed rather annoyed by her flirtatious behavior, so I dropped it, though I secretly envision throwing her over the dock every time I catch her gaze lingering on his ass a little too long.
That bum belongs to me, lady!
I’m still lounging on my mat, in no rush to leave this little oasis, when Todd’s deep tone rumbles through the room. Still on my back, I crane my neck, finding Lacey poised on a step stool, organizing yoga blocks on the shelf in the narrow closet.
Hovering in the doorway, he says, “You’re much better than the yoga instructor who worked here last year.”
“Oh?” She peers over her shoulder, though she’s more concerned about her work than him.
“Yes. Yoga instructors shouldn’t be overweight.”
My skin prickles and I sit ramrod straight. What the hell? And why is he blocking the closet door like that?
“She didn’t have a perfect body like yours, sweetheart. And she wasn’t nearly as flexible,” he says, his tone slimy.
Shit.
Dreadful memories from med school flood my system and bile rises in my throat.
I leap to my feet and fly across the room, nearly catching my toe on a yoga strap that was left behind. I’m mere feet away when Todd puts his hands on Lacey’s backside.
“Don’t fall now,” he says with false concern.
She’s elevated twelve inches off the ground. She’s not going to fall.
“Lacey,” I say, my tone calm yet commanding.
“Dr. Connelly,” Todd croaks, immediately retracting his hands. “I, uh, didn’t realize you were still here. I was just telling Lacey how much I enjoy her class.”
“I know.” I keep my focus locked on him, praying those two little words are enough to imply that I just witnessed the whole interaction.
Eyes narrowed, he looks from Lacey to me. He may tower over me, but my power stance remains sturdy.
Lacey, on the other hand, looks like a frightened baby bird.
He clears his throat. “I think I’ll—”
“Go,” I finish for him. “Goodbye, Mr. Harmon.”
When I’m certain he’s left the room, I face Lacey. “Are you okay?”
Lip quivering, she nods.
“Has he done something like that before?”
She shrugs. “He’s never touched me before. But he’s always staring at me in class. Yes, students are looking at me for instruction and form, but he stares at me longer than necessary, you know? Or maybe not. Maybe I’m overthinking it.”
Lacey’s words are like a punch to my gut. The way she’s gaslighting herself leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
“You’re not overthinking it,” I assure her. “Have you spoken to Asher about this?”
Ducking, she shakes her head.
“Why not?”
She sighs. “The Harmons are financing the expansion of the camp. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize.” A sense of disquiet seeps into my veins.
Lacey’s situation is all too relatable. She thinks she’s taking the easy way out by not causing drama. But I can’t stand back and let her repeat my mistake. I refuse to allow another man to get away with being a sleazy piece of shit. “I’ll take care of it,” I promise her.
Though her smile is timid, she doesn’t argue.
I’ve nearly reached the welcome center when I remember Asher is out on the boat with the guys. I call his cell, but it rings until it goes to voicemail. I don’t leave a message, but I do march straight to the childcare building.
Call it an adjacent maternal instinct, but I feel a strong urge to be near Bea. It’s as if I have a sense of obligation to protect her.
Spotting me at the door right away, she cheers. “Claire!”
She nearly face-plants as she leaps over a plastic firetruck, but she corrects herself at the last second.
“Oof,” I say as she barrels into me. “You okay, Dolly? That was a close one.”
Cheeks flushed, she drops her head back. “I’m okay. Are you here to pick me up?”
“Yes, but only if you’re ready to go home.”
Of course I mean home as in her home—not our home.
“I’m ready.” Without hesitation, she slips her socked feet into her Velcro sneakers by the door.
She collects her jar of neon orange slime, and the counselor hands me the tablet at the front desk so I can sign her out. It’s a good thing Asher added me to the list of people allowed to pick her up.
Then she convinces me to skip hand in hand all the way back to the cabin.
“Can we watch a movie?” she asks after we’ve eaten our weight in watermelon down by the dock.
“We sure can.”
When Asher doesn’t answer his phone again, I fire off a text, letting him know I picked up his daughter, and not twenty minutes into Monster’s Inc., she’s out cold on the couch beside me. Throwing a lightweight cotton blanket over the both of us, I shut my eyes and rest too.
The snick of the door startles me. My eyes fly open, and I find the movie credits playing on the screen. Bea is still sound asleep, though her head has migrated to my lap.
Asher appears, rounding the couch on my left.
“Hi,” I whisper.
Focus fixed on his daughter, he whispers, “How long has she been out?”
“A little over an hour, I think.”
He sits beside me and caresses her temple.
All the air is sucked from my lungs. The interaction is intimate. I should feel uncomfortable, like an interloper in this parent-child moment. And yet I don’t.
“I can take her.”
“No, it’s okay. Let her sleep.” I mindlessly rub her back.
We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching Bea breathe peacefully. Holding a sleeping child is usually a wonderful way to calm my nervous system, but thoughts of Lacey and Todd soon take over.
As if he can sense my mood, Asher shifts, frowning at me in concern. “Is everything okay?”
I turn my attention to him and inhale deeply. Fuck. I really don’t want to screw up his business relationship with the Harmons, but Lacey’s safety is my priority and obligation.
Suddenly my mouth is dryer than the Sahara Desert.
He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me.”
His empathetic tone soothes me, making it easier to continue. “I witnessed some disturbing behavior between an employee and a guest today.”
Brow deeply furrowed, he asks, “What do you mean? What happened?”
I take another full, deep breath and don’t mince my words. “I attended Lacey’s yoga class, and before I left, I witnessed Todd Harmon sexually harass and assault her.”
“The fuck?”
Bea stirs on my lap but remains asleep.
“Shh. You’ll wake her.”
“Tell me exactly what happened, Claire.”
Step by step, I walk him through the situation. The whole time, his face is pinched in repugnance.
He threads his fingers through his hair and swipes a hand down his face before staring me dead in the eye. “Claire. I will not tolerate sexual harassment or assault at my camp.” He rises abruptly, then pulls his phone from his pocket.
“Ash. What are you doing?”
“Mr. Harmon,” he says, turning away from me with the phone to his ear. “It’s Asher Greer. I need to see you in my office.”
Todd’s low timbre floats on the air, but I can’t decipher the words.
“I’m afraid it can’t wait,” Asher says. “I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
He hangs up and studies Bea. “Can you stay with her? If not, I’ll have Natalie come over.”
“We’re fine here. But, Ash, wait.” I hold out a hand, and he takes it. “What are you going to do? Lacey told me the Harmons are funding the expansion of the camp.”
“I know.” He squeezes my hand and drops it, then solemnly walks out the door.