I don’t know what to say that won’t sound hollow or useless. I shift closer and sling my arm around her shoulders. “Nothing prepares you for that.”
The second my arm settles there, reality snaps into focus. The intimacy of the gesture hits hard and fast, panic flaring just long enough for me to consider pulling back.
This is too much. Too familiar. Too easy. I should move, but then Harper leans into me.
Her head rests against my chest, her body relaxing into it. As if every point of contact between us comforts her, too. My heart stutters, then flips entirely, the sensation so intense it almost steals my breath.
I stay still. I don’t tighten my arm. I don’t loosen it either. I just exist in this perfect moment.
And then someone knocks at the door.
“An hour,” she murmurs, more to herself than to me. “He said an hour.”
I glance at the clock on the wall. Forty minutes have passed. Why are they back early?
Watching Mason walk out that door with David felt like swallowing broken glass, and I’m not even the one with legalstanding in the situation. But he has every right to have that hour with his father. I can’t imagine shorting time with that boy.
Harper gets up to answer the door, but I stay put. If I’m there, it will only fuel David’s bullshit.
The door opens and closes with a firmness that carries down the hall.
I hear Mason’s voice first, tired but still bright, chattering about ice cream flavors and how chocolate should always have chocolate chips in it.
David’s voice follows, polished and pleasant, the tone he saves for public moments when he wants to sound reasonable. “Alright, buddy. Say goodbye.”
“Bye, Daddy,” Mason says quietly.
“I’ll see you soon,” David gently replies. Then his voice turns harsh, “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer. We need to revisit the custody arrangement. That…manis a problem.”
Harper’s voice has a chill that spikes ice up my spine. “Have your lawyer call mine.”
The door closes again, this time softer, more final.
“Mom?” Mason asks.
“Yes, baby?”
“Why is Daddy mad at Aiden? Did he do something bad?”
Harper doesn’t respond quickly. She takes her time, summoning an answer.
But the truth is, I did do something bad. I broke a heart that wasn’t mine to break. I wrecked her, and until the day I die, I will regret it.
“No,” she lies softly. “Aiden didn’t do anything bad.”
“Then why is Daddy mad at him?”
Harper exhales slowly. “Sometimes grown-ups get mad because they’re upset. And sometimes they don’t know how to talk about it the right way. Did he say anything about Aiden?”
There’s a moment of silence out of a kid who is never silent. “I told him about the firehouse and how cool it was, and then he told me I can’t be a firefighter.”
“Baby, you can be whatever you want to be.”
“I want to be a dog walker.”
Harper chuckles under her breath. “Then you’ll be the best dog walker in the world. Time to get ready for bed. Go say goodnight to Aiden in the living room.”
Mason barrels to me, arms outstretched as he engulfs me in a bear hug. “Goodnight, Aiden.”
