“She’s changed.”
“Yes, she has.”
“I hurt her.”
“I heard,” Natalie replies drolly. She bursts out laughing at my mortified expression. “I may be old, Jordan, but I’m not deaf.”
I’m afraid and ashamed to find out how much Natalie overheard. If it was everything, then she’s smart enough to put the pieces together and know I slept with Douglass.
“And if you care to hear my two cents, I think you should go for it.”
Nothing. I open my mouth, and nothing comes out.
A whisper of movement comes from behind me right before Harper materializes at my side.
“Hey.”
I lift a hand hello, still lost in thought. After I left Natalie’s, I drove straight home and came out to the courtyard to sit with the roses. My way of connecting with Mom when I need to feel close to her.
Harper slips her ballet flats off her feet and sits cross-legged beside me in the cool grass. It’s one of those rare, perfect evenings to be outside, when the air is crisp and not stifled with the usual humidity, and the sky is cloudless, no haze to blur the brightness of stars or the almost full moon.
Harper bumps my shoulder. “Fallon has been trying to reach you. Thanks for making him blow up my phone when you wouldn’t answer his calls.”
I left it inside. Didn’t feel like being disturbed. “Sorry about that.”
She wiggles her toes. “It’s okay. It was nice to talk to him. I miss him, Aurora, and Trevor. Fancy a weekend trip to Highland soon?”
Our half siblings are scattered all over, with the exception of those three, who live in Fallon’s hometown of Highland, North Carolina. We do have standing, weekly group video chats, but it’s not the same as seeing them in person.
“Anytime.”
I miss them too, and a hefty dose of being around my crazy siblings and their kids will do me some good. I never knew how much I needed family in my life until they dropped onto my metaphorical doorstep.
I fall back onto the ground, tucking my hands under my neck and peer up at the night. The constellations of Cassiopeia and the Big and Little Dippers are easy to locate. No light pollution to obscure the view.
“You’re getting home later than usual.”
She leans back on her elbows. “After I closed the gallery, I painted a little. Have you eaten yet?”
Harper owns her own art gallery in the aptly named Galleria part of Houston. Along with her work, she promotes local artists. She also donates a majority of her profits to various causes. It’s not like she needs the income since we’re all independently wealthy. My sister has a good heart. She and Bennett survived a school shooting when they were in high school. A lot of what she paints is a way for her to deal with that trauma. Her form of therapy.
“I had something at Natalie’s,” I reply, and wait for her to pick up on that. It takes less than three seconds.
Harper sits back up and looks down at me expectantly. “And? Did you talk to Douglass?”
“I tried. The woman is fucking stubborn. Can we not talk about it tonight? I need some time to wrap my head around everything.”
Stuff about Mom and Natalie. Stuff about Douglass. And what I’m going to do about both.
She studies me intently. Harper knows not to push any further. She unfolds her legs and stands up, wiping off the backs of the dress slacks she wore for work.
“I’ll say one thing, and then promise to drop it.”
Her face comes into view as she bends over me, her golden-brown hair cascading forward over her face like a curtain. Even in the darkness, I can see the blue of her eyes. Eyes that are exact duplicates to mine.
“She’s worth it. And so are you. Don’t let past mistakes or that night or the fact she’s Amelia’s sister get in the way of what could be the most wonderful thing in your life. I’m a true believer in fate. It brought Bennett back to me. And it brought Douglass back to you.”
I mull over what Harper says, listening to her receding footsteps as she walks away and heads inside the house.
