“Sounds like a hell of a friendship.”
They both laughed, and Harper lifted her glass of juice. “To new beginnings.”
Tilly lifted her glass. “May they be better than the crap we left behind.”
They clinked their glasses and sipped. She remained with Tilly for another hour, chatting about anything and everything. The woman was easy to talk to and even easier to like. It was nice to just talk without having to censor what she said. How anyone could believe Tilly had a bad bone in her body, Harper had no idea.
When her friend rose and said goodbye, Harper locked up after her before heading to Cody’s office. The door was ajar, but she still knocked. He glanced up from behind the desk, and she grinned at his reading glasses.
“I like the sexy glasses.”
He leaned back in his seat. “Yeah? Like them enough to come over here?”
“And what would I do over there, Mr. Walker?”
His smile widened, showing one perfect dimple. “Come and see.”
She took one step toward him, only to stop when her phone rang. She pulled it out, frowning when she saw it was an unknown number. Jesus Christ, was it her brother again? Better question, did he know their father was here?
Probably.
For once, she wanted to answer it. Tell him just what she thought about him even though it would likely achieve nothing.
“Everything okay?” Cody asked.
“Yeah, I just want to take this. I think it’s Ross.”
His eyes narrowed. “You sure you want to talk to him?”
“I need to ask him something.”
Cody nodded, never taking his gaze from her. Instead of turning away, she crossed to his desk and lowered her head until her mouth touched his before whispering, “Keep the glasses on.”
He growled, and she chuckled as she straightened and headed out of the room, only answering when her feet hit the stairs. “Ross?”
“What the fuck? I’ve been trying to call you for days.”
She could have laughed at the irritation in his voice. “Don’t tell me you’re actually surprised I haven’t answered. Ross, Mom stole from me andyouhit me. Then the first call you make is to tell me Dad’s out of prison.”
He scoffed. “We had every right to that money, and I hit you because you were being fucking annoying.”
Thiswas her brother. This was herfamily. Unbelievable. “Well, as fun as this is, I only answered because I want to know if you knew that Dad was coming after me.”
Ross laughed. Actually laughed. “I figured as much. He wanted to know your address, so I assume he wanted to find you.”
“And you and Mom just up and got it for him? Not caring about what he’d do to me?” She shouldn’t be surprised. But God, it still hurt. It always hurt.
“Mom would do anything for him. Actually, Mom’s the reason I’m calling. She’s in the hospital. Dad hurt her. She needs you to come home and take care of her.”
Harper frowned. “Is she okay?”
“A few broken ribs. A black eye and a fractured wrist. Dad wasn’t happy with the state of the house…or the state ofher.”
Ross didn’t even sound disturbed by the fact his father had put their mother in the hospital.
She dropped her head into her hand, massaging her temple. “Did you file a police report about what he did?”
“No. Mom doesn’t wanna get him in trouble.”
