A familiar head of springy black curls drew his attention to a customer standing at the front of the line. Once he heard the honeyed tone of her voice as she ordered an espresso, he knew for certain it was Harlow. A rush of adrenaline pulsed through his veins. His heart began to beat wildly in his chest. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman’s nearness had caused such a variety of physical reactions.
Although it was nice to see her again, Nick wondered if she would feel the same way about him. All of a sudden, he felt like a teenager.
As she walked by with coffee in hand, Nick reached out and gently tapped her arm. “Hey there. I was beginning to think you’d gone back to Seattle,” he teased.
Surprise registered on her face. “Nick! It’s good to see you.”
Was it?Nick asked himself. He had messaged her a few times over the past few days and she hadn’t responded. Maybe she’d taken his number only to be polite. If that was the case, it was better to know now rather than waste either of their time.
“If you have a few minutes, we can sit down and catch up after I order my coffee,” he suggested, practically holding his breath while he waited. If she wasn’t interested, he would have his answer. Nick wasn’t going to make a nuisance of himself pursuing a woman who wasn’t interested.
“Sure,” she said, a smile turning her lips upward. “I’ll just grab a table outside. The weather is way too nice to ignore.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be right out.” Nick breathed a sigh of relief as he ordered his coffee and waited for it at the counter. This felt better than making a slam dunk when he’d played on his college basketball team.
***
Harlow picked a table outside that would allow her and Nick to talk while the sun provided some warmth from the autumn chill. She felt a little bit guilty about not reaching out to Nick. He had texted her a few times while she was out of town, but she’d had her hands full with care issues related to her mother. Harlow should have told him she had a family emergency, but she’d simply ignored his messages, telling herself she would contact him once she returned to Mistletoe. But she had been too busy catching up at the clinic, and now he probably thought she’d been avoiding him, which was by no means the case.
Tears pricked her eyes just thinking about her mother’s condition. She hadn’t recognized Harlow at all. She’d thought Harlow was her sister Jane, who’d passed away many years ago. Harlow hadn’t known what to do, so she’d played along and pretended to be Aunt Jane. Anything to make her mother happy. If she could capture the moon from the sky and gift it to her, Harlow would do it. It was crystal clear to her that her mother was fading away from them and it hurt so much.
She wasn’t just emotional about her mother. Harlow was exhausted. Making the drive to Cape Cod and back, along with meeting with the care team and her mother, had worn her out both physically and emotionally. Malcolm had reamed her out for not telling him about the crisis until she was already at Bay Shore. Harlow and Malcolm were never on the outs, so it was an unsettling feeling to be on the receiving end of his anger and extreme displeasure.
“I don’t need you to protect me, Harlow. I’ve been dealing with this stuff my whole life,” Malcolm had shouted at her.
His words had been explosive. Harlow sniffed back raw emotion. She needed to hold it together so Nick wouldn’t see her losing it. Of all the people she hadn’t wanted to run into when she was weepy and super emotional! Nick was at the top of the list. She wiped the tears from her face just as Nick appeared at their table.
“I’ve been dreaming of this salted caramel macchiato all day,” Nick said as he sank down into the metal chair across from her before taking a long sip of his drink. He let out a sound of satisfaction. “Great table choice by the way.”
“I needed some sunshine today,” she said, her thoughts going back to her mother. Even a walk on the dunes with the sun shining down on them hadn’t been possible.
“Are you okay?” he asked, peering closely at her face. “No offense, but you don’t look all right.”
“I’m fine,” she said, blinking back tears. “This too shall pass.” But would it? Her mother’s condition was terminal and there was zero chance of improvement. And now she had to wonder if she’d irreparably damaged her relationship with Malcolm.
Nick placed his drink down and splayed his hands on the table. “Want to tell me about it? I’m a good listener.”
“Not really,” Harlow admitted. “It’s kind of heavy.”
“Are you sure? Why don’t I tell you something that I’m going through? Maybe that will make you more comfortable.”
Harlow shrugged. “Only share if you want to. It’s your choice.”
He let out a ragged sigh. “I just came off a rescue, only it turned into a recovery.”
“Recovery?” Harlow asked. “Does that mean the person didn’t make it?”
Nick nodded. “That’s the worst part of my job, which I actually really love. I always focus on the rescue, never allowing my mind to go to a negative space. So on the rare occasion that a rescue isn’t possible, it’s truly devastating. A real gut punch.”
“I’m so sorry, Nick,” Harlow said in a soft voice. She could hear the pain laced in his voice and see the hurt radiating from his eyes. He was a helper, one who rushed toward danger when others fled. In her eyes, he was a bona fide hero. “I wasn’t blowing you off by not responding to your messages,” Harlow said. “There was an emergency with my mother. I had to go out of town to deal with it.”Please don’t tear up. Please don’t tear up.
“Oh, no. I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, reaching out and touching Harlow’s hand. “How is she doing?”
“Not well. We lost our dad when we were kids, so she’s the only parent Malcolm and I have,” Harlow acknowledged. She quickly told him about her mother’s medical condition and how she’d kept it from her brother.
“Sounds as if you were trying to protect Malcolm,” Nick said, narrowing his gaze as he looked at her.
“Yes,” she said with a nod. “He’s taken so much of this on the chin in the last few years while I’ve been living in Seattle. For once, I wanted to carry the weight of it on my shoulders. At least for a little while.” Saying it out loud made her realize how wrong she’d been. All Malcolm wanted was for her to openly communicate with him at all times. She should have known better than to try to take matters into her own hands and withhold the truth.
