“I’m sorry about what he said, and that my dad let him say it. I chewed them out after you left.”
“I shouldn’t have taken off like that and left you there to deal with it.”
“I quit, too.”
Clay’s eyes widened at that revelation. “You can’t do that. You’re an owner.”
“Not yet. And I’m not going to spend the rest of my life working with them if it means losing you. I’m done fighting with them, and I’m done with secrets.”
Clay sat up and helped me up with him. “So, we’re both unemployed? That’s a bummer.”
I laughed. “I told you dating me was a bad idea.”
“Oh yeah? When? Because I recall you saying there were no outs. That we were doing this no matter what.”
“Yeah, but I’m not holding you to ‘no matter what’ unless I do a better job at this girlfriend thing.”
Clay raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking to improve?”
“You told me not to butt in on your behalf, and I did it anyway. I was so afraid you wouldn’t ask for something that was rightfully yours. I’m sorry I’m a Harwood and we just do things, and then when everything blows up, we get into a wrestling match next to the explosion.”
Clay pulled me into him and hugged me. “Don’t be sorry for being you. But speaking of asking for things…” He jumped to his feet. “Hang on a second, I have something to show you.” He jogged over to his truck and opened up the passenger side door before returning to where I was sitting with something behind his back. “I got this from my grandparents’ house. That’s where I went instead of coming here.”
I tried to get a look at whatever it was, but he easily blocked me. Even knowing he was enjoying my curiosity didn’t stop me from hopping to my feet and starting up a pointless game of keep-away. After a minute, I gave up and turned my back on him. Big mistake.
“Hello, Lauren,” Clay sing-songed in a high-pitched voice. He tapped my shoulder with whatever it was, and suddenly the leering face of a Nutcracker doll was in my face, making me scream a little, and Clay laugh a lot.
“Please tell me you’re not taking up ventriloquism to express your inner feelings. Why do you have that?” I grabbed for it, but Clay held it out of reach.
“My grandmother put it in a box for charity and asked me to drop it off for her. All these years of not telling her how much I hated the thing, and she tosses it aside on her own.”
“I’m not sure I’m following. Are you wanting me to help you punt it across the yard? Because I would love to help with that.”
“Later. Right now, I’m going to face one of my fears and just tell you. I love you, Lauren. And it’s okay if you can’t say it back. I’m done being afraid of going for what I want.”
Clay tended to gesture when he talked, and the Nutcracker doll waving in his hands made it really hard to take him seriously. It also made him impossible not to love in that moment. “I love you, too. Way to make this awesome moment weird with your creepy doll.” I stole it out of his hands and copied his motions until he tackled me into the grass.
When Parker and Dad pulled up to the curb in their apology caravan two minutes later, Clay was still chasing me around the yard with the Nutcracker doll. What a day.
31
___________
Clay
The entire Harwood clan had never been to my house all at once, but that’s what happened. Charlotte arrived in her sedan a few seconds after John and Parker and immediately threw her arms around me and Lauren in a group hug on my lawn.
“I saw this coming, but you’re still both busted for not telling me,” she whispered.
“Sorry,” Lauren whispered back.
Behind us, John was shuffling from one foot to the other. It was only a theory, but I was pretty sure he had called Charlotte hoping for some sympathy, and got an earful and instructions to get everyone over here instead. There were few reasons John ever left work, and I had to imagine Charlotte was one of them.
John cleared his throat. “Connor and Melissa are on their way here. Clay, do you mind if we all come inside and talk with you?”
Melissa and Connor were coming, too? Lauren’s fingers, which were laced with mine, gave a little squeeze.
“Yeah, sure. Come in.” I led the way, grabbing my laptop and socks off the couch before motioning for them to sit.
