The Game Changer (Hideaway Bay #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“ T hat…that can’t be.” Harper stared at her niece’s phone screen. Willa had done a search for Buck McCandless, the results of which were now on display. Buck was the biological father of Harper, and her sister, Frankie. The same man the biological mother they’d just met had just told them was dead.

Unbelievable. Sharlene was a real piece of work to tell them such a lie.

Willa pushed the screen closer to Harper and her mother. “It shows a guy named Buck McCandless taking second place in some fishing competition.” Willa glanced at the screen again. “Says it’s from three years ago.”

The room felt like it was spinning. Harper didn’t know what to think. She put her hands on the kitchen counter to brace herself.

Frankie leaned in to get a better look. “It’s got to be a different guy by the same name. We don’t have any idea what he’d look like now, so a picture isn’t much help.”

Harper remembered vaguely what her father had looked like, but now? Forty-seven years later? With gray hair and an equally gray beard, plus a few added pounds? Her distant memory wouldn’t be much help.

Willa shrugged and took the phone back. “Maybe it’s not him. But we’ll find out soon enough. I found this guy on Facebook and sent him a message.”

Harper’s stomach churned. “You did what?”

Willa went back to the couch where she’d been sitting with Archie, Harper’s apricot labradoodle. “I messaged him. Asked if he’d once been married to a woman named Sharlene. How else was I supposed to find out?”

Harper stood there, mouth open, genuinely speechless.

Thankfully, Frankie picked up the slack. “Willa, sweetheart, don’t you think you could have talked to us first? This is sort of your aunt’s and my business.”

Willa frowned at them. “Um, he is my grandfather . Don’t you think that makes it my business, too?”

Harper turned away and busied herself with the chicken breasts she was grilling for their dinner. “I don’t know what to make of this,” she whispered quietly enough so that only Frankie would hear.

Frankie came over and put her arm around Harper’s shoulders. “How about we have a glass of wine?”

“Yes.”

“On it,” Frankie said.

Harper stared at the chicken, sizzling away in the grill pan. She hadn’t wanted to meet their mother, but she’d done it and it had gone about as badly as she’d anticipated. Maybe worse, in some regards. Now their father might not actually be dead?

If he wasn’t, Shar had lied to them. Why wouldn’t Shar want them to meet Buck? There had to be a reason.

As that thought settled over her, a new resolve rose up in Harper. Tongs in hand, she turned back around. “Let me know as soon as you hear from him, Willa.”

Willa’s brows rose. “Yeah?”

Harper nodded before going back to the chicken. “Yeah. I want to know what he says. If that’s him.” She turned the chicken breasts over. They’d be done soon. She clicked the tongs together like castanets. “And if it is the Buck McCandless, I…want to meet him.”

Bottle of wine in hand, Frankie’s mouth came open as her forehead wrinkled in disbelief. “You want to meet him but you didn’t want to meet her?”

“That’s right. It’s only fair to get both sides of the story.”

“I’d agree with that,” Willa said.

“No one asked you,” Frankie shot back teasingly. She pulled the cork from the bottle then set it on the counter.

“Mom! Rude.” Willa laughed.

Smiling a little, Harper slanted her eyes at Frankie. “It was kind of rude. Even Archie’s giving you a look.”

“He is not.” Frankie playfully crossed her arms. “But I see how it is. Now you two are ganging up on me?”

Harper ignored the comment. “Do you not want to meet him? You were so gung-ho about Sharlene, I just thought—”

“I don’t know,” Frankie said. She sighed and leaned back on the counter next to where Harper was cooking. “You know how you felt at lunch? Overwhelmed and in need of some time to process everything?”

“Yes.”

“That’s how I feel now.” She opened a cabinet and took glasses down.

“I not only understand that, I respect it.” Harper really did understand. She imagined that Frankie had had some blue-sky idea about how meeting their biological mother was going to go. And then that hadn’t happened. The letdown had to be immense. “This should take time. This is a big deal. It should take as much time as you need it to.”

“Thanks,” Frankie said. “I’m trying not to let it overwhelm me, but my head is a little messed up.” One hand on the wine bottle, she stared out into the distance. At the water beyond the house maybe. Suddenly, her expression lightened, and she glanced at Harper before filling the glasses in front of her with wine. “Of course, it’s not as big of a deal as you and Mitch going on a date.”

Willa’s gasp practically echoed through the house. “You didn’t tell me you were going on a date with him.”

Harper pulled the chicken out of the grill pan and put it on a plate to rest before she sliced it. “I’m not going on a date with him. Your mother is referring to the invite we all got to go out on his boat with him.”

“I was,” Frankie said as she set a glass of white wine next to Harper.

“Oh.” Willa seemed disappointed. “But, you know, maybe that’s sort of a practice date. To see how he feels about doing something like that with just the two of you.”

“I don’t think so,” Harper answered. She started slicing the chicken into nice, thin pieces to top the chickpea salad with. “I’m not going to disclose any details, because it’s none of your business, but the man is very much still mourning his wife. I know you both want to think something more is happening, but it’s not.”

“It’s still nice of him to offer,” Frankie said. She sipped her wine. “Going out on the boat will be fun. What can I take to the table?”

“Add the dressing to the salad, give it a stir, and then it can go. I’ll be right behind you with the chicken as soon as I finish slicing it.”

Frankie dumped the dressing in and mixed it in before picking up the big bowl. “Smells good. Nice and lemony. To the table I go.”

She carried the bowl over, then came back for her wine. “Am I supposed to invite Lucas? Seems like Mitch should be the one doing that. It’s his boat.”

Harper nodded. “I think that should be Mitch’s job to do. It’ll be a fun day.”

Frankie nodded and smiled, but there were stress lines around her eyes. She obviously wasn’t over what had happened today. They’d met their birth mother for the first time since she’d given them up for adoption at ages six and three.

They could use an afternoon of fun and relaxation.

They ate dinner, during which they mostly talked about Mitch and Lucas, then they cleaned up and settled in to watch television. Harper took Archie out for one last pee before bed, then said goodnight and went into the bedroom to read for a bit. It had been a long, complicated day and she was filled with all kinds of emotions.

Her tablet and the book on it rested on her lap, ignored. Did she really want to meet her birth father?

She actually did. Something about having met Sharlene, and how that meeting had gone, made her feel like meeting their birth father was only fair.

Maybe part of it was because it seemed to her that Shar really didn’t want them to meet him.

Why? Was Shar just angry about the past? Had he done something? Was he really a bad guy? Sure, he’d been involved in the bank robbery, but he’d done his time. Hadn’t he? And, really, how bad of a guy could he be at nearly eighty?

She wished she’d looked at the photo Willa had found. Harper could do a search herself, of course, but she was tired. The day had already been a lot to handle.

She got out of bed to brush her teeth. Archie was already curled up in his bed, his stuffed bear, Mr. Brown, tucked under his chin. Archie was a pretty adorable creature, but cuddled up with Mr. Brown brought the adorable to a whole new level.

She took a few pictures of him, adding to the thousands currently filling her phone’s memory.

She plugged her phone in to charge, then got back into bed. She shut down her tablet. She couldn’t concentrate on a book. Her mind was on her parents. Her biological ones. Not her adopted ones. Thinking about them brought her adoptive mother, Annie, to mind.

Her mother was in the final stages of dementia, getting the best care Harper could afford at a facility in Nevada. Annie was eighty-eight years old and hadn’t recognized Harper in a long while.

Seeing her mother that way broke Harper’s heart. Annie had been everything to her. She’d put up with the broken child she’d adopted, loving Harper through the meltdowns and tantrums and acting out.

Thankfully, Harper had come around pretty quickly, understanding that her adoptive parents were kind, caring people and that they were doing their best. Which had been pretty great.

Now, as she looked back at her life, she had an even greater appreciation for them and all they’d done for her. The sacrifices they’d made. The patience they’d shown. The unconditional love they’d given her.

They’d wanted a child so badly that they’d taken her. The bottom of the adoption barrel. Or at least close to the bottom. Certainly not the cute baby or adorable toddler they must have once dreamed about. Instead, they’d gotten a petulant, moody nine-year-old with abandonment issues.

Harper put her tablet aside, pulled her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. There was an ache in her chest from missing them. Her dad had passed way too soon after a heart attack. And dementia had taken her mother years ago.

In her heart, Harper felt like meeting Shar had been a betrayal. Harper didn’t want or need that woman in her life. She’d had parents. Amazing ones.

If she was going to meet her biological father, he was going to have to understand that she wasn’t looking for a dad. She’d had one of those and no man was ever going to replace him. Not even one related by blood.

But she couldn’t help her curiosity.

If Buck McCandless really was out there, it was only fair to see what he had to say about what had happened to her and Frankie. How things had gone so wrong.

Harper heaved out a sigh. She also really wanted to know why he thought Sharlene had told them he was dead.