by Brenda Novak
“Yeah, but it didn’t come quite that far. Thank goodness. Scared the hell out of her, though.”
“What’d the owner of the car have to say?”
“What could she say? She was embarrassed and apologized profusely.”
Maddox started to straighten his desk in preparation for leaving. “Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?”
“No, I’d rather not put any more pressure on Jada, not with her brother in the hospital.” He also didn’t want to be too visible right now. It would be easy for his sister-in-law to blame him for the difficulties between her mother and her husband. “How is Atticus, by the way? Have you heard anything?”
“Jada called after lunch to say he’s doing better. If they don’t release him today, they’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Did they ever figure out if there was anything to worry about besides the bruise on his brain?”
“No, that’s it. Did you get to see him last night?”
“For a few minutes.”
“How’d that go?”
Tobias crossed his ankles. “He was drugged up, so I’m not sure he’ll remember, but it was...good.” He couldn’t help wondering if Jada’s brother would bring up the hiking thing again. If he didn’t, Tobias doubted he’d broach the subject again. Given the fact that Tobias was the reason Atticus couldn’t hike, maybe it would be too awkward. Or just too physically demanding. Tobias was a strong hiker, but he’d never attempted to carry another human being up such steep inclines.
“You didn’t run into Susan, did you?” Maddox asked with some chagrin.
“No. Saw her leave, though. Fortunately, she didn’t notice me as she walked out.”
“I try not to complain about her, but...”
“She’s still giving you a hard time?”
Maddox threw up his hands. “It’s not me I care about. She can treat me any way she wants. I hate what this is doing to Jada. Why is she forcing her daughter to choose between us? And why is she putting her granddaughter in such a difficult spot? Maya feels defensive and wary when she shouldn’t have to. Even Atticus has gotten over the past.”
“You wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for me. None of you. I’m sorry. I think about it all the time.”
Maddox waved his words away. “Don’t apologize. I don’t want an apology. And stop thinking about it. I’m just blowing off steam. Having Atticus in the hospital has brought it all to the forefront again, because it’s harder for Susan and me to avoid each other.”
“I wish you didn’t have to avoid each other.”
“It is what it is. There’s nothing more you can do.”
If only there was some way to atone. But he couldn’t restore what he’d taken.
With a sigh, Tobias got to his feet. “I’d better get going.”
“Wait a second.” Maddox stood, too. “How’re Carl and Uriah getting along?”
“Now that Carl doesn’t have a license and won’t be able to drive, he won’t be leaving anytime soon. I know that much.”
“Oh, joy. He’ll be at the orchard all the time.”
“Right. You know how that will go. He wasn’t at the house twenty-four hours before the first incident.”
“Shit.”
“And he’s starting to mess with me.”
Maddox grew more alert. “In what way?”
“Lurking by my place even though there’s no reason for him to be there. Making snide comments. That sort of thing.”
“He’s an absolute ass.”
“I’d love to teach him a lesson.”
An anxious look came over Maddox’s face. “But you won’t, right? You can’t touch him, Tob.”
“I know,” he grumbled. “I won’t.”
“Great.” He rubbed his temples. “So...on to more positive subjects. Tell me about Harper.”
What was positive about that? As far as Tobias was concerned, that was the most sensitive subject yet. “I already told you about her. There’s nothing going on there.”
Maddox peered more closely at him. “Why don’t I believe you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re not listening?”
“I saw how you reacted when you felt she was threatened by my presence. I swear you would’ve fought me for her sake.”
Tobias stretched his neck. “That’s an exaggeration. I was just being polite.”
“Sure you were,” he said with a laugh. “But I can see why. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
Tobias narrowed his eyes. “Is this a trap?”
His brother sobered. “A warning. You know how much I think of you. As far as I’m concerned, you should be able to have any woman you want.”
“Except someone like Harper?” Tobias could tell by Maddox’s tone where he was going with that statement.
Maddox winced but nodded. “Yeah, except someone like Harper. Trying to get her would be like...like wishing for the moon. And I don’t want to see you hurt. So, please, don’t set yourself up for that kind of disappointment.”
“I won’t.” He acted as though what he felt for Harper wasn’t any big deal. But after he’d said goodbye to his brother and was walking toward the parking lot, he couldn’t help checking his phone to see if he’d heard from her. He was so tempted to text her. He wanted to know how Axel had reacted to what he’d heard—if he’d been hard on her or if it had all blown over. He also wanted to know how Harper was feeling about what they’d done—if she regretted it.
He supposed he was even wondering if she wanted to do it again. Because he knew what he wanted. Whether it would ultimately run him into a brick wall or not, he’d take Harper back to bed in a heartbeat.
* * *
Carl was standing outside smoking pot when Tobias arrived home. Tobias would’ve ignored him—he preferred not to have any interaction with Carl—but Carl was once again loitering right outside Tobias’s door.
Feeling his muscles tense in aggravation as well as dislike, Tobias stepped out of his truck and shut the door a little harder than he’d intended.
“Bad day?” Carl blew the pungent smoke into the air.
Tobias had a funny feeling that Carl was being annoying on purpose. He knew that Tobias wouldn’t be happy to find him here. The orchard consisted of sixteen acres! There was no need for them to cross paths so often. Carl could go behind the garage or the barn, which was even farther away from the two houses, if he wanted to have a joint without his father seeing him.
“Not too bad,” Tobias replied with a shrug.
“You just come from work?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re a lucky man,” Carl said. “At least you can work.”
Tobias arched an eyebrow at him. “You’re saying you can’t?”
“Injured my back at my last job.” He smiled through the haze, giving Tobias the impression he didn’t really lament the injury. “I’m on disability.”
So that was how he’d been getting by. Public assistance also explained why Carl couldn’t quite manage on his own. Disability didn’t pay a great deal, not to people who weren’t earning much at the time they were injured.
“Where were you working when you got hurt?” Tobias expected him to say roofing or framing or some other occupation where back injuries were common. He was not expecting Carl to say what he did.
“At a gas station.”
“You hurt your back at a gas station?” Tobias didn’t bother hiding his skepticism.
Carl stared at his joint for a few seconds before letting the smoke curl out through his nose. “Yup. Freak accident. Slipped while mopping the floor. My back hasn’t been the same since.”
Tobias was willing to bet there’d been no accident—at least not one from which Carl hadn’t fully recovered. But he wasn’t in the best of moods. Maybe he was painting Carl
as even more of a scam artist and loser than he was.
“That’s unfortunate.” Tobias gestured toward his door. “Do you mind?”
Instead of stepping aside, Carl took another hit of his joint. “Look, there’s no reason you and I have to be enemies.”
Where was this coming from? Carl hadn’t minded becoming enemies when he’d told Tobias to find another place to live. “As long as you don’t get in my way, we won’t have any problems,” Tobias said.
Instead of getting angry, Carl studied him dispassionately. The marijuana seemed to have mellowed his usually caustic personality. “Okay, I admit we got off on the wrong foot. But I’m not the asshole you think I am.” He gestured toward the house. “Why don’t we go inside and share this? Relax, have some fun, get to know each other? Hanging out with you has got to beat hanging out with my old man.”
Tobias wanted to say that he much preferred Uriah. He wasn’t going to spend time alone with Carl. He had no interest in becoming friends with someone like him. But if he could find a way to get along with Carl, living on the same property would be far more pleasant for them both. It would be easier on Uriah, too. “I don’t smoke,” he said.
“Aw, come on. What’s a little weed between friends?”
Tobias had learned his lesson. Other than the occasional beer or glass of wine, he didn’t get involved with anything that altered his state of mind. Nowadays, he only got high on exercise and nature. “I said I’m not interested.”
“What the hell? What kind of prick are you?”
Tobias’s phone went off, creating just enough of a diversion to harness his impulse to slug the guy.
Still, Carl must’ve seen the look in his eyes because he scurried out of the way, allowing Tobias to stalk into his house and slam the door without responding.
Although his phone continued to ring, Tobias needed time to rein in his temper, so he ignored it at first. Then when he tried to silence the ringer, he saw that it was Atticus.
Because he thought Atticus might need something, Tobias answered despite his reluctance to talk to anyone—let alone Jada’s brother—after his most recent encounter with Carl. “’Lo?”
“Hey.”
“What’s going on?” Tobias asked. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
“Good. Are they going to release you today?”
“That’s what my doctor’s saying.”
“When? Do you need a ride home?”
“No. My mother will pick me up.”
“So...” Tobias grappled for something else to say. “How long will it take to get your truck fixed?”
“Don’t know yet. Shouldn’t take too long, but I haven’t had a chance to deal with any of that yet.”
“Of course not. Is there anything I can do to help? Call the repair shop or—”
“No. I’ve got it.”
There was an awkward silence before Atticus continued, “I was just wondering...”
Tobias could tell Atticus was having a difficult time stating the reason he’d called.
“Last night when you were here...”
“Yes...”
“Were you saying something about...about the two of us going hiking in Yosemite, or did I dream that?”
“I mentioned it. Are you interested?” Torn between hoping he’d have the opportunity to do something special for Atticus and fearing he wouldn’t be capable of pulling it off even if they were both committed to it, he held his breath.
“I am, but...how would we manage, considering... Well, considering? I mean, you’d have to carry me the whole way. Do you realize how difficult that would be, even with a carrier?”
Tobias almost admitted that he was worried, too. It would take a lot of training on his part. Even then, there was no guarantee he’d be strong enough. But he didn’t want to confess that to Atticus. “I haven’t been able to find the video you mentioned—the one with the man carrying the disabled person. But...was he anywhere close to your size?”
“That’s hard to say. He looked like it. I’ll find it so I can show you, and you can judge for yourself.”
“Okay.”
“If we decide it’s feasible, when would you like to go?”
“The weather should be about perfect on your birthday.”
No response.
“Atticus? You still there?”
“Yeah. I’m imagining hiking Yosemite for my birthday. I’d like that,” he said, his voice turning dreamy. “I think I’d like that a lot.”
“So would I,” Tobias said.
“Something to plan for.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Tobias stared at his phone long after he’d disconnected. He would have to forget all his concerns and start training. Carrying Atticus up Half Dome would require every bit of energy, strength, resilience and willpower he could muster.
But he was grateful to have something so challenging to concentrate on. Then maybe he’d be too tired and preoccupied to think about Harper.
12
On Tuesday, Harper drove to LA so she could go to Disneyland with her girls. Karoline had been shocked to hear that she was coming, but Harper had insisted she no longer needed time alone, that she was set on her new path and preferred not to miss out on this opportunity to build such great family memories. She was afraid she’d go back to Tobias’s house if she didn’t take up her responsibilities as a mother. She found herself thinking about him all the time—almost obsessively so, which shocked her. They’d only spent a couple of days together. It wasn’t as if she knew him well.
Occasionally she also found herself thinking about how different this trip would be if Axel were with them. She missed having a complete family, missed the safety, security and peace of mind it afforded. She’d told him he could keep his money and she’d earn her own, but it wasn’t entirely clear how she was going to do that. It’d been a number of years since she’d been part of the workforce.
Still, she didn’t reach out to him. Something had changed in that bedroom with Tobias. She couldn’t name what, but it had put some much-needed distance between her and her ex-husband.
Maybe it was the embarrassment she felt about what he’d heard via that pocket dial. Or maybe it was that the encounter had shown her other possibilities. The rest of her life didn’t have to be nothing but doom and gloom because Axel had decided to opt out of their marriage.
Tobias had provided a glimmer of hope, she decided. He’d shown her that Axel wasn’t the only desirable man in the world.
Ironically, once she stopped calling her ex-husband, he started calling her—and not just to get her banking info. It got to the point that she silenced her phone and began ignoring him. She had to. She wouldn’t have any chance of maintaining her resolve and starting over if she didn’t.
After three calls in a row that she sent straight to voice mail—partly because she needed emotional distance and partly because she was afraid he’d start in on what he’d heard that day—he texted her an angry message for not picking up. Really? We can’t even talk anymore? What the hell is going on with you? Have you lost your mind?
Planning to deal with him later, she put her phone back in her purse, but while they were walking through Adventureland, she saw her sister answer a call and felt anxious. She hadn’t told Karoline about Tobias. She was hoping Karoline wouldn’t have to know.
But what if Axel, frustrated by her lack of response, had turned to calling her sister?
As Karoline moved away from them when they got in line for the Indiana Jones exhibit, Harper felt her stomach sink. You’d better not be tattling on me, she thought, but when her sister glanced back at her with a hint of surprise on her face, Harper knew what was going on.
“Damn it, Axel,” she muttered to herself.
“What’d you say, Mommy?” Everl
y was so excited about the ride she couldn’t keep from hopping and twirling.
Supremely conscious of her sister talking on the phone ten yards away, Harper pulled her coat tighter. Southern California never got too cold, but it was chilly today. “Nothing.”
“Aren’t you coming with us, Aunt Karoline?” Piper called out.
Karoline didn’t respond. She was too deep in conversation.
Terrance answered for her, “She’s not much for the rougher rides. We’ll let her off the hook on this one, okay?”
When they reached the front of the line, Karoline was still on the phone but waved for them to go on without her.
Harper kept her smile firmly in place for the sake of her girls, her nieces and her brother-in-law, and pretended to enjoy herself as they loaded up and then careened around in the cart, but her stomach was in knots when she got off, and it had nothing to do with the ride.
Karoline was off the phone and waiting for them as they emerged.
“How was it?” she asked Piper, who ran ahead of them.
“It was awesome!” Piper turned around to face Harper as she, Everly, Terrance and the twins caught up. “Can we go again?”
“We have a FastPass for Space Mountain. Let’s go there first,” Terrance suggested.
As they started off, Karoline caught Harper’s arm. “I have to go to the bathroom. Harper and I will meet you at the exit when you get off.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Everly, in particular, seemed to be enjoying the fact that Harper was acting more like herself than she had since Axel moved out.
Harper exchanged a look with Karoline. She didn’t see why there had to be any big rush to explain what’d happened with Tobias, but she knew her sister. If Karoline was upset, her shock would only turn to anger if Harper put it off. “I’m betting you’ll want to ride it more than once. I’ll go the next time, okay, honey?”
Reluctantly, Everly let go of her hand and Harper waved as the small group rushed off.
Once they were gone, Karoline didn’t even turn toward the restrooms. “What happened after we left LA?” she asked.
How much had Axel told her?
