Page 7 of Capture The Moment

Julia scoffed. “Seriously? You don’t notice that he’s a man?”

“Well, of course, but…”

Placing a hand on Harper’s shoulder, Julia said, “Sweetie. I know how much you loved Blake, and I know that you still miss him. But he would want you to move on. He would want you to be happy.”

It sounded so cliché, but she was probably right. Blake had never been one to ruminate over things for long. “Life’s too short to go around being miserable,” he used to say.

“But I am happy,” Harper insisted.

Julia shook her head. “You’re existing, but you’re not really happy.”

Harper didn’t bother denying it that time, because that’s exactly what she’d been doing since Blake had died—existing. “What’s up with you and Connor?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Connor O’Brien is nothing but a tease and a womanizer. He thinks he can charm the pants off any woman he meets, but that won’t work with me.”

“It seemed like it was working tonight,” Harper teased.

“Oh, he was laying it on thick, but I wasn’t buying it. He’ll have to work a lot harder than that to get into my knickers!”

Harper laughed. “Knickers?”

Julia shrugged. “I’ve been reading a lot of books by British authors lately.”

Harper shook her head. “Ok, well, as much as I’m enjoying this conversation, I’m freezing my knickers off! I’ll see you on Monday.” She started to walk away when Julia stopped her.

“What should I tell Will if he calls?”

Harper thought for a moment and then said, “Tell him that it was nice meeting him and I’ll look forward to seeing him again sometime.” It wasn’t overly encouraging, but it was the truth, and that was all she could offer at the moment.

Julia nodded, and if she was disappointed, she didn’t show it.

Later that night, Harper lay in bed and thought back on the evening. It would have been easy to say no to Julia about going out after work. After all, she’d been saying no to a lot of things since Blake’s death, so she had to give herself some credit for trying. And she had been enjoying Will’s company until Finn came along. For Julia to accuse her of not seeing Finn as a man was ridiculous. He was too big and masculine for her not to notice. Not to mention that dark, wavy hair that rivaled Patrick Dempsey’s and those mischievous blue eyes that seemed to see right through her. And for a man who had such strong, powerful, hands, he could be surprisingly gentle.

She shook herself to clear her train of thought. She shouldn’t be thinking about Finn’s hands while she was lying in bed. He’d been Blake’s best friend, and it was simply wrong to think of him in any other capacity. Besides, she was mad at him for acting all territorial with her at the pub. Despite what he thought, she didn’t need his protection, and certainly not from other men. She could handle herself, and she would make sure to tell him that the next time she saw him.

Turning onto her side, she hugged the extra pillow to her chest and sighed. “Why did you have to leave me, Blake?” And just like she’d done every night for the past year and a half, she fell asleep clutching his pillow and pretending it was him.