Chapter 55
When the server returned with their food, Harper felt a slight twinge of regret at her choice. The pie looked delicious. Probably would taste that way, too. The kitchen would have to try pretty hard to mess up chocolate and caramel.
But it was undoubtedly loaded with sugar and simple carbs and tons of calories. Nothing like what she usually ate. Her body wasn’t going to like it. She’d probably end up with an upset stomach, a sugar hangover, maybe even some pimples. Just not a smart choice. But she hadn’t been in a smart head space.
Finding out both your parents were convicted criminals who’d done time could do that to a person.
She was grateful that she and Frankie were the only ones who knew about their biological parents’ past. If this information had been part of what the press had uncovered about her, there was no way any of her clients would have stayed. Maybe Mitch, but then again, maybe not. People with that much to lose generally didn’t want to associate with the criminal element.
Shedidn’t want to associate with anyone from the criminal element. And now, she was related to them.
The pie was calling her name. The quick sugar fix might not be good for her, but it was exactly what she wanted. She picked up her fork and sliced through the end of the wedge of pie, getting a little ice cream along with the chocolate and caramel.
As soon as the pie touched her tongue, the muscles in her cheeks seized up at the rush of sweetness.
“How is it?” Frankie asked. “It looks amazing.”
“It’s…very sweet. But really good.” Too good. No wonder people got addicted to sugar. She glanced at her sister’s club sandwich. “That looks really good, too. Healthier than what I picked.”
“You want some of it?” Frankie pushed her plate closer to Harper. “Take it, please. I’ll never eat all of this. Take some of the fries, too. You just have to promise to save me a part of your pie.”
“Okay. Deal.” Harper snagged a fry, then helped herself to a quarter of the sandwich.
Shar was smiling at them. “You girls get along so well. I’m so glad about that.”
“I’m glad about that, too,” Frankie said.
Harper pointed to Frankie with the end of her fork. “She’s the reason we reconnected. Her parents helped her find me.”
“And yours didn’t?” Shar asked.
“My parents were older and didn’t have a lot of money. I did some looking on my own, but it never amounted to anything.” She’d tried, but Frankie had been underage, the records still sealed, and professional help meant money neither she nor her parents had. Then her dad had passed and life had gotten complicated.
Frankie nodded. “My dad was a police detective. He knew exactly how to find people. He was the real reason I got Harper back in my life. Also, I started looking as soon as I became of age. It was a lot easier to find her, since she was older, and by then the records had been unsealed.”
Shar picked a sliver of onion off her sandwich. “I’m sure that helped a lot.”
Harper finished chewing the bite of sandwich she’d taken. She didn’t want to talk about herself or focus on Frankie or their lives. That’s not why they were here, at least not in her mind. “You said you remarried.”
“I did,” Shar answered. “And, yes, I did have children.”
Even though she’d been expecting it, the news slugged Harper in the gut. “So…we have siblings?”
“A half-sister and a half-brother.”
Frankie went still, her sandwich in her hands, just hovering in front of her. Happy, sad, or just shocked, Harper couldn’t quite read her.
“Either of them in jail?” Harper asked. Probably not a nice thing to say but the sugar had kicked in and she was well past caring. This was still the woman who’d made the bad decisions that had resulted in their lives being upturned.
“No,” Shar said sharply. “Tabitha is a stay-at-home mom. She has a daughter and twin boys. She’s very active in their schools.” She lifted her chin slightly. “Her husband is an airline mechanic.”
“And your son?” Harper asked.
“Trevor is a plumber. He does very well for himself. His wife is a dental hygienist. They have one boy, Hunter. Great baseball player. Might even go pro.” Shar looked pleased with herself. Or maybe it was pride in her children. Her other children.
They all sounded nice enough. And normal enough. Harper still had no real desire to meet them. She felt disconnected from it all. Like it was happening to someone else. Like it wasn’t really about her or Frankie.
“My kids have cousins,” Frankie said suddenly. She placed her sandwich back on her plate, wiped her hands on her napkin, and nudged Harper. “How about that? We have siblings and my kids have cousins.”
Harper nodded. “Yep.” She understood Frankie’s enthusiasm. Somewhat. But she definitely didn’t share it.
She put her quarter of the sandwich down on the paper placemat and took another bite of the pie. The ice cream was melting, so she might as well eat it. And it was infinitely more interesting than what was happening at the table.
“Don’t you think that’s cool?” Frankie asked.
“I think it’s something.” Harper shrugged. She really didn’t want to rain on Frankie’s parade, but she wasn’t good at lying. There was no point in that anyway. “If your kids are interested, then I think it’s great for them.”
“Don’t you want to meet our siblings?”
Harper held her tongue. She hadn’t wanted to meet their mother and Frankie knew that. She tempered her words with as much neutrality as she could. “Maybe someday but this is a lot for me to take in. I need some time.”
“Sure,” Shar said quickly. “I can understand that. You both probably need some time. There’s no rush.”
That seemed like an odd response. Something niggled at Harper’s thoughts. A sense of reluctance on Shar’s part? Harper looked at her, trying to read her. “Did you tell them about us? Do they know?”
“That I was coming here to meet you? Or that I had other children?”
“Either,” Harper said, holding Shar’s gaze.
Shar looked away, returning to her sandwich. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to finish all of this.”
The change of subject seemed to be a pretty clear answer. Harper sucked in air. “You didn’t tell them, did you? They have no idea, do they?”
Shar pursed her lips. “I thought I should see how this meeting went first. It’s a lot to explain to someone that they have family they never knew about. Tabitha and Trevor have great lives. I didn’t want to—”
“Upset them?” Harper’s anger was back. “Or did you really just not want to tell them about your shady past?”
“Harper,” Frankie said quietly.
Harper shook her head. “Wow. This is…” She swallowed, trying to keep her voice down and her anger under control. The café was a nice place. The owners didn’t deserve a scene. She glanced at Frankie.
Tears trickled down her face.
Harper grabbed her sister’s hand. Nothing else mattered except that Frankie was okay. But she wasn’t. She was obviously hurting. Obviously upset that this woman hadn’t cared enough about them to talk about them to their siblings. “Hey, I’m right here. We’re just fine. We have each other. Always.”
Frankie sniffed and gave a little nod before looking at Shar. Frankie’s eyes held a lot of pain. “How could you not tell them about us? Didn’t we matter to you?”
“Of course you mattered to me. I just didn’t think—I don’t know, it was hard, and—I meant to.” Shar frowned. “You don’t know what it’s like.”
“No, I guess we don’t. And neither do they.” Harper raised her hand and got the server’s attention. The woman came over right away. “Can we get some to-go boxes and the check? One check for us, one for her.” She pointed at Shar.
The server gave them a nod. “I’ll be right back.”
She was quick, returning shortly. She dropped off the boxes, put both checks on the table. Harper pulled her credit card out and handed it to the server. She picked up Harper’s check and took her credit card and went to run it.
Harper hastily packed up the remains of Frankie’s sandwich and fries. She scraped the ice cream off the pie and put the remains of that in a box, too.
“I’m sorry,” Shar said softly. “I know you’re upset. I’m sure I can make it up to—”
“It’s fine.” Harper’s words left icy vapor in the air. “I realize now that you losing us to the state was the best thing that could have happened to us. So thanks for that. Maybe it’s best if we just leave it there.”
The second the server came back with the receipt, Harper added a tip and scrawled her name on the signature line. Then she grabbed the boxes of food and her sister and got them out of there without a backward glance at the woman still in the booth.