Lukas #2
I come to stand by her side, angling my body slightly in front of hers. “We haven’t met yet.” I offer a hand to the asshole standing in front of me. “I’m Lukas, Harper’s older brother.”
“Oh my God, Lukas,” Harper mumbles as her hands come out to shove me to the side the best she can.
I have enough rage in me right now that my feet don’t budge, so Harper steps around, placing herself directly between me and the suit guy.
“I'm sorry about him,” she mumbles.
He looks past Harper, who is a head lower than the two of us. He eyes me up for a second, and I take him in.
He’s about my height, and while I have enough muscle on me from the military plus farm life, he’s a bit bigger than I am. More like Grayson’s body type with a suit that looks custom made and a cocky gaze to match.
He carefully extends his hand to grasp mine, and we shake, a silent battle between us of who can squeeze the other’s hand harder.
“Nathanial Brooks,” he says. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Lukas.”
I drop his hand, propping both of mine on my hips. “Wish I could say the same.”
“Excuse my asshole brother,” says Harper, who is still trying to push me away. “He’s brand new and still learning how to be a decent human. We have to go easy on him.”
“I hear you’ve been sniffing around town lately, trying to con some of the older folk into selling you their land.”
He has the audacity to bark out a laugh at that. “There are a lot of rumors about me, Lukas. Some are true, but most aren't. Unless your family is looking to sell your farm, I don’t think there’s anything else you and I have to discuss.”
The hairs on the back of my neck prickle. “Seems like you and Harper have found plenty of things to talk about.”
Harper spins to face me, her hands flying out to shove against my chest. “It’s because I’m a very likeable person, jerk.” She turns back to face Nathanial. “It was nice to see you. Sorry again about my asshole brother.”
He laughs and focuses his attention back on her. “No worries, Harper. It was good to see you, as always.” He dips his head once in a nod before briefly looking up at me. He nods again, and then turns to cross the street, walking in the opposite direction.
I watch him pull a set of keys from his pocket and beep the locks on a shiny black Escalade. He climbs inside, and once he slams the door, his gaze falls over the dashboard to where Harper and I are still standing. I raise my hand in a cocky wave, and I can see him laugh, shaking his head once.
So, he’s not intimidated by me, that’s fine. But he sure as hell better leave my little sister alone.
Harper scoffs, turning to storm down the street toward my truck, and it takes me a minute to realize she has taken off.
“Harps, wait,” I call out, jogging a few paces to catch up with her.
“Let’s just go home. I’m sick of your shit already.” She wraps her arms tightly around herself as she storms the block. She might be a foot or so shorter than me, but those little legs carry her far, especially when she’s in a mood.
“Harper, wait.” I reach out to grab her by the elbow, pulling her to a stop. “You don’t know that guy. He could be a creep for all we know. He could—”
“I don’t know that guy?” she interrupts.
“He’s been coming to the bar for years, Lukas.
We’ve had years to talk about anything and everything.
He’s fine. He’s a normal guy, a good guy.
” She crosses her arms over her chest. “And you know what? You and Grayson can beat your chests and compare dick sizes all you want, but sometimes, I think Nate knows me better than anyone else does.”
Her words stun me, and I flinch, nearly stepping back with the accusation.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
The tip of her tongue darts out, pressed between her lips for a moment before she shakes her head.
“Never mind.” She turns her head to the side, eyes briefly closing as a cold gust of wind kicks up and pushes back her hair.
“All I’m going to say is that I trust him. Shouldn’t that be all that matters?”
“Grayson said he offered to buy the farm.”
“He gave Grayson a business card and said if he was interested to call. That’s all. It’s not like he’s knocking down Mom and Dad’s door, threatening to buy them out.”
I take a pause, wondering if Grayson’s love for the farm means he embellished the story a bit.
Maybe the truth lies somewhere between what he says and what Harper says.
“I just don’t want an older guy taking advantage of you, that’s all.
” Nathaniel, or Nate, as Harper says, looks older than me, and he might be older than Grayson and Theo, too.
Harper is technically an adult, but she’s still my little sister.
“I probably tried to play the older brother card a little too hard, hey?”
She pushes out a huff of air with that. “I wish someone in this family would trust me to make a good decision for myself.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She finally turns to face me. Her trademark Hart family eyes ablaze.
“Look at all of you.” Her voice drops an octave.
“Dad is constantly nagging me to find a steady job that pays benefits and doesn’t have me working weekends.
Mom wants me to settle down and marry some local farm boy so we can take over one day.
Grayson and Theo still treat me like I’m a little kid sometimes, and you?
” Her eyes start to water, and I reach out to rest my hand on her shoulder.
“We’ve always been close. You’re my big brother, and I love you.
But … well, you’ve been back almost a year, Lukas …
but it feels like you’re just starting to come back, if you know what I mean. ”
There’s a lump in my throat, one that swells the more she talks. Harper and I were always close when we were younger. We’re closer in age than we are to Theo and Grayson, and being that they’re twins, it always seemed to be the two of them against the two of us.
I didn’t talk to my family much while I was in the military.
I’d call my mom once in a while in the beginning and send a few letters back and forth.
But once I deployed, I barely talked to anyone.
My mom still sent a letter once a month like clockwork.
She’d put in the occasional message from my siblings or extended family.
Harper sent a few care packages, but I never sent her a letter, thanking her for them.
The first six or so months after I got back were spent in a drunken stupor.
I’d see Harper more than anyone else, only because my ass was plastered to a bar stool where she worked.
The nights usually ended with an argument between us because she’d cut me off long before I was ready to call it quits.
There are years of conversations for us to catch up on, and while I don’t like the idea of some slimy land developer sniffing around Copper Ridge, I need to trust that my sister knows how to handle herself.
“I’m sorry, Harper.” I reach my arms out to pull her in for a hug.
“I should trust you. I know you’re spunky and can defend yourself, and you’re not afraid to put someone in their place.
I know you’ve never had the same feelings toward the farm that the rest of us have, but I don’t think I really thought about how it’d make you feel. ”
It’s always been a sore spot between Harper and my parents.
We were all assigned barn chores as a kid, and Harper would do hers, but then she’d spend extra time cuddling the baby calves and singing to the chickens.
Then once a year, when it came time to ship the cattle out to meet their fate, Harper would have a meltdown.
She’d scream and cry and beg my parents to keep them, not understanding our purpose behind raising them. As she got older, she began to understand that it was the circle of life, but as far as I know, to this day, when the cattle truck comes for pickup, Harper’s nowhere to be seen.
When she turned twelve, she announced to my parents that she was a vegetarian. And even though my parents love her, I could see the tension build between them with her choices.
“I know you'll never work on the farm the way we do. And I'm guessing that if Mom and Dad sold it to retire and the rest of us were to find other jobs, you probably would be happy with that. But the work means something to us, Harper. It’s now the livelihood for Grayson and myself and our future children. I promise, I won’t bother you again about that guy, if that’s what you want, but please just know that it’s coming from a place of love. ”
She looks at me with watery eyes, and she shrugs, pushing out a heavy exhale and bouncing her shoulders from side to side. Her arms finally loosen, and she drops them to her side. “Jeez, still not used to you actually talking about this stuff.”
I smile at that. “Hey, it’s still weird for me, too, if it means anything.”
I look down the street to the lot where my truck is parked, then glance down the other end of the street where the diner sits, the open light still flickering on. “Hey,” I nudge her toe with the tip of my boot, “how about dinner? Let me buy my apology with a veggie burger and milkshake.”
She sniffles. “And cheese fries?”
I wrap my arm around her shoulder, pulling her to me for a hug as we spin toward the diner. “Always room for cheese fries.”