Page 101 of Capture The Moment

“What people? The most important people already know.”

“Well, like Blake’s friends, some of whom are your friends too.”

They were holding hands, and Finn gave hers a squeeze. “If they’re my friends, then they’ll understand. We haven’t done anything wrong, Harper.”

She nodded even though she wasn’t completely convinced. Blake’s family seemed to be coming around to the idea of them being together, but she wasn’t certain that other people who’d known Blake would agree. And they still hadn’t told her parents or his.

“I was thinking that maybe we could have a party at the store, kind of a pre-opening celebration. We could invite our family and friends, and that way, they could see us together, see how we fit,” Finn said.

“That’s a good idea. Could I invite a few of my friends from the bookstore too?”

“Of course. Whoever you want.”

She glanced up at him. “How come you always know how to make me feel better?”

“It’s a gift.”

“I feel so lucky.”

“So do I.” And with that, he pulled her on top of him and peppered her face with kisses. They didn’t talk much after that, preferring to show each other without words how lucky they felt. But after their second round of lovemaking, when Finn had fallen asleep, Harper lay there, looking up at the ceiling, and counted her blessings.

When she’d spoken about luck, she hadn’t just been referring to the present. She’d been lucky in love twice now. First, with the man she’d married and now with his best friend. Two strong, charismatic men with generous hearts and kind souls. They were different in many ways, yet in the ways that mattered, they were very much the same.

She knew that she could count on Finn to be there for her just as he had been these past two years—steadfast and true. What she hadn’t counted on was falling head-over-heels in love with him. Glancing over at his sleeping form, she smiled and snuggled a little closer.

While she had no idea what the future held for them, she felt secure in his love, and that was enough for now.

A few weeks later, Harper was back at A New Chapter for another romance book club meeting. She’d recently taken up reading romance novels again ever since she’d confessed her love to Finn. At this meeting, instead of sitting silently in the back row like she had the first time, she found herself contributing to the lively discussion about the book they’d just read.

Kelly had posed the question: “Do you think you could love someone after discovering that they’d fathered a child with another woman?”

Harper had raised her hand. “Love isn’t always straightforward, and life is messy. But I think that if you really love someone, you can overcome just about any obstacle.”

“Here, here,” Mrs. Simmons said, doing a mini fist pump.

After the meeting, Harper lingered among the bookshelves until most of the participants had gone home. When it was just her, Emma, Kelly, and Mrs. Simmons left, she posed the question she’d been wanting to ask.

“I’d like to invite the three of you to a party,” she began.

“I love parties!” exclaimed Mrs. Simmons.

“You don’t even know what kind of party it is,” Kelly said, laughing.

“Doesn’t matter. If there’s lots of people and food, I’m in!”

After their laughter died down, Harper said, “Well, this party will have plenty of both. It’s a celebration for my boyfriend and his brothers. They’re opening a landscaping design store in Brandon, and I’d love it if you three would stop by.”

The first time she’d used the word “boyfriend,” it had sounded strange to her, but now she was getting used to it (even though the word didn’t seem strong enough to describe how she felt about Finn).

“I think I can speak for both of us when I say we’d love to come,” Emma said, gesturing to herself and Kelly.

After Harper gave them all the details, she left the store feeling strengthened by the love and support of her new friends—which is why she came crashing down a short while later, after she’d received a disturbing phone call from one of her older friends.

She and Finn had made a list of all the people they wanted to invite to their party, and then they’d split it between them. Harper had sent emails to a few of the couples that she and Blake had been friends with, and two of them had responded with enthusiastic yeses. So, when she answered the call from their friend Carrie, she wasn’t prepared for her response.

“Hey, Carrie,” Harper said. She’d been sitting on the couch, sorting through the day’s mail, when the call came.

“Hi. I got your evite, but I need to ask you something.”