“If this is true...if my father blackmailed you to break up with me...then how can you stand to even look at me?”
“None of this was your fault, Savannah. Hell, you didn’t even know.”
“Still, my father was the one—”
“Your father, not you.” He still held her hand. Keeping his eyes on hers, he brought it to his mouth. “Never you,” he said, and kissed it.
Her heart fluttered. Two factions warred within her. How could she believe her father was the man Harlan described? The man who had raised her and loved her all her life wasn’t a bad man. Yet, Savannah had believed she had no illusions about her father. She’d known from childhood that he was autocratic, overbearing, and manipulative. But not bad...not evil. She knew he loved her, but how had he convinced himself that blackmail was a viable option? How had he convinced himself that he had the right to completely change her life? And completely ruin Harlan’s if he went against him?
“I need to hear this from him.”
“To what purpose? He’ll either deny it, in which case you’ll wonder which of us is lying, or he’ll tell you what he did and that he doesn’t regret it. My bet is the first one.”
“How do you know he doesn’t regret it? Maybe he had a change of heart.”
“Trust me. He hasn’t changed his mind.”
It dawned on her why he was so adamantly sure. “You’ve seen him, haven’t you? Since you came back?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted me to fire you. I said no, by the way.”
“He asked you to fire me? I can’t believe he did that.” Why should that surprise her after the other revelations?
“I wouldn’t say asked. It was more like demanded.”
“He’s still trying to run my life. Even after Phillip, he still thinks he knows what’s best for me.”
“Who’s Phillip?”
“My ex-husband. The man my father thought was perfect for me.” She laughed without humor. “The marriage was a disaster, almost from the start.”
“It happens. So was mine.”
At any other time she would have asked to know more. But not now. “All that’s beside the point.” Harlan still held her hand. Did she believe him? If she didn’t why hadn’t she jerked her hand out of his? Why she wasn’t coming to her father’s defense?
Her heart sank. Because she believed Harlan. Because it was perfectly plausible that Randall Taylor had blackmailed Harlan into breaking up with her. That would have been bad enough by itself. But to threaten Harlan’s family...was beyond the pale.
Harlan hadn’t said anything. He simply watched her, probably reading every thought going through her mind, every emotion showing in her face. “I don’t want to believe you.”
“I know. I can understand that.”
“But I do.”
“It’s a lot to take in. I know it hurts, and that’s the last thing I wanted to do. Again.” He let go of her hand and stood up, pacing away a few steps.
She buried her face in both hands. “Oh, God.” Blinking back tears, she raised her head and looked at him. “How could he do something so...underhanded?”
“He’s a powerful man who’s used to getting his way. He did whatever was necessary to drive a wedge between us.”
“A wedge? Try a gulf.”
He shrugged as if in agreement. “When I came back I didn’t intend to tell you. It was fourteen years ago. We were kids then. We’ve both moved on.”
“What made you change your mind?”
