A Forever Kind of Family

by Brenda Harlen

  “Now I must get back to the kitchen to make sure your crema catalana is absolutely fabulous.”

  “I guess we’re having dessert,” Ryan said as the other man walked away.

  “I really don’t think I can eat another bite and stay in this dress.”

  Her husband smiled. “Then let’s take the crema catalana home and get you out of it.”

  So they did, and he did, and a long while later, they fell asleep together.

  * * *

  On Father’s Day, they made another trek to the cemetery with Oliver. This second visit was, thankfully, a little less emotional than the first. Ryan’s relationship with Harper had undergone some significant changes in the interim, and he knew their friends would be happy for both of them and pleased that they were committed to raising Oliver as a family.

  Later that day, they went to his parents’ house for the traditional Father’s Day barbecue. His mother presided over the grill, basting and turning pieces of chicken and racks of ribs. She’d also made mashed potatoes, baked beans and steamed corn. Harper contributed a green salad, dinner rolls and a Rocky Road cheesecake that she picked up from The Sweet Spot for dessert.

  After the food had been devoured and the dishes cleared away, Ryan and Harper were packing up Oliver’s scattered toys when Coco went tearing across the lawn, barking like the watchdog she aspired to be, halting only when she ran out of leash.

  Glancing up, he saw a young woman standing on the path, just out of the dog’s reach. Something about her niggled at the back of Ryan’s mind.

  Twentysomething. Long straight dark hair, blue eyes. A little mole at the corner of her mouth. That was how Nathan had described the woman who’d been asking about a scholarship program that Garrett Furniture didn’t have.

  Nina or Nora...something like that. He’d forgotten her name. Truthfully, he’d forgotten about that entire conversation until now.

  Now that same woman was here, and the delicious meal he’d recently enjoyed churned in his stomach. Especially when his mother drew in a breath, and his father went perfectly still.

  Justin was the first to move. He met her in the middle of the yard. “Can I help you?”

  “I’m looking for John Garrett.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s Father’s Day.” She folded her arms over her chest and faced him—all of them—her tone as defiant as her posture. “I’m here to see my father.”

  * * *

  It was more than an hour later before Harper and Ryan left his parents’ house. Nora Reardon—who turned out to be John’s illegitimate daughter from a long-ago affair—hadn’t stayed long. Just long enough to make her claim and unleash chaos.

  They didn’t talk about it on the way home. Harper could tell that Ryan was upset and she suspected that he needed some time to absorb everything he’d learned.

  It wasn’t until Oliver was settled and Coco was curled up beneath his crib that she finally asked him if he was okay.

  “I’ll let you know when my head stops spinning.”

  She reached for his hand, squeezed gently.

  “I just never expected...anything like this,” he admitted. “I always thought my parents had one of those rare committed relationships. They’ve been married forty-four years—I looked to them as an example of how to do things right. And I knew that when I got married, I wanted a partnership like theirs. Now I find out it’s a sham.”

  “It’s not,” Harper told him. “As your mother explained it, they went through a rough patch, but they got through it. And they’re still together now because they love each other.”

  “My father cheated on my mother.” The words were blunt, but she heard the hurt and anger in his voice.

  She nodded, unwilling to defend his father’s infidelity. On the other hand, she had to give John credit for being honest about his actions—and the repercussions—and to both of Ryan’s parents for making the effort to save their marriage notwithstanding the affair. Unlike her own parents, who were always so quick and eager to throw in the towel, divorcing and remarrying almost on a whim.

  “I don’t know the details of how or why—and I don’t want to know,” she assured him. “All I’m going to say is that your mother’s obviously forgiven him, so maybe you can, too.”

  “She’s known about his affair for more than twenty years, and she never said a word about it to any of us.”

  “Why would she?”

  He scowled at that.

  “It wasn’t about you or Justin or Braden,” she said gently.

  “How about my half sister?” he challenged. “Was it about her?”

  She suspected that he might have been able to forgive his father the indiscretion if it had been only that—a long-ago fling that was over and forgotten. But the knowledge that John had fathered another child was, understandably, giving him more difficulty.

  “Your mother didn’t know about her—and neither did your father until very recently.”

  “And he still didn’t say a word.”

  “I’m sure it was a shock to him, too,” she explained. “He probably needed some time to sort out his own feelings before he could talk about it.”

  Ryan was obviously struggling to do the same. “I can’t get my head around the fact that I have a sister.”

  “You must be a little curious about her.”

  “I am. And I feel guilty about being curious.”

  “Because of your mom,” she guessed.

  “Yeah.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to believe it—I never would have suspected that my father was capable of such a thing. And he keeps saying ‘It was a long time ago,’ as if that makes it okay, but all it tells me is that I was only a few years older than Oliver is right now when my dad was screwing around on my mom.”

  She didn’t know what to say, how to make everything okay for him. Because she hadn’t grown up with even the illusion of parents who were happily married, she didn’t know what it was like to have it taken away. “I was three when my mom found out my dad was sleeping with his costar,” she confided to him now.

  He seemed startled by this revelation. “You remember that?”

  “No—but my mom likes to remind me of the fact every time she’s mad at my dad.”

  “Is that why they split?”

  She nodded. “But then they got back together again...and split up again.” And while she didn’t like airing dirty laundry in public—her parents did enough of that—Ryan was hardly “public” and she thought he might appreciate the focus being shifted away from his own family, at least for a minute. “And in between their three weddings and two divorces, there have been numerous other affairs—probably on both sides. Of course, because my father is moderately famous, every one of his indiscretions was front-page news for the tabloids.”

  “That must have sucked.”

  “I lost my best friend in seventh grade when her mom slept with my dad.”

  He winced. “How did you find out about that affair?”

  “My mother told me.”

  Ryan looked horrified. “Does your mother have no sense of boundaries?”

  “None,” she confirmed.

  “It’s a wonder that you even considered getting married,” he noted.

  “I did it for Oliver.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  Something in his tone made her feel as if she’d somehow added to his burden, which was the opposite of her intention.

  “Maybe we should talk about something else,” he suggested.

  “Sure,” she agreed. “But not talking about this isn’t going to stop you thinking about it.”

  “I’m pretty sure that kissing you would stop me from thinking about it,” he said, drawing her into his arms. “In fact, I’m pretty sure that kissing you would stop me from thinking about everything else.”

  She lifted her arms to his shoulders. “Then let’s see what we can do to—”

  The ringing of the telephone interrupted what she was saying.
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  “Ignore it,” he suggested.

  She wanted to, but a quick glance at the display revealed their lawyer’s name.

  “It’s Shelly,” she told him.

  He let her go.

  “I’m sorry to intrude on your weekend,” Shelly said when Harper picked up the receiver. “But I just got a call from Justice Falconi’s clerk. He had another trial scheduled to start Monday morning but the parties reached a settlement, so we’re up.”

  “Monday,” she echoed, looking over at Ryan, a new kind of tension seeping into the room.

  “Tomorrow,” Shelly confirmed. “Ten a.m.”

  * * *

  Ten days later, Harper sat at a table beside Ryan with Shelly on the other side of him. Aubrey and Jeremy were on the other side of the courtroom with their attorney. As they waited for the judge, Harper was torn between relief that the whole ordeal was almost over and panic that a final decision was imminent. She and Ryan had done everything they could to convince the judge that it was in Oliver’s best interests to remain with the guardians his parents had chosen for him. She fervently hoped their everything was enough. If they failed, they could lose custody of him forever.

  At two o’clock, the clerk ordered all to rise and Justice Falconi swept into the courtroom to take his seat upon the dais.

  Beneath the table, Ryan reached over and took one of her hands, linking their fingers together. She appreciated his efforts at reassurance, especially because his hands were as unsteady as her own, proving that he was as nervous as she was.

  She glanced over her shoulder to confirm that Oliver was still sitting contentedly with Ryan’s mother and father. The little boy had recently learned to say “Ga-ma” and Ellen Garrett was over the moon. Harper knew she’d be as devastated as anyone if the judge ruled against them. In only a few minutes, the small courtroom had started to fill as more of Ryan’s family members came into the gallery to hear the judge’s ruling: David and Jane, Thomas and Susan, Daniel, Kenna and Jacob, Nate and Allison, Andrew and Rachel, Tristyn, and even Justin—likely straight from the hospital, considering the scrubs that he wore. It was an impressive show of support and family solidarity, and Harper was incredibly grateful to all of them.

  Looking across the courtroom at the other table, she saw that Aubrey had her head down and was chewing on a thumbnail while Jeremy stared straight ahead, his expression unreadable. Harper wasn’t sure how she felt—definitely scared and frustrated that they couldn’t have worked out some kind of arrangement to avoid this nasty custody battle. She would have been happy to welcome Darren’s sister and her husband into their nephew’s life—in fact, she and Ryan had done so. She wasn’t sure that Aubrey and Jeremy would extend the same courtesy if the judge ruled in their favor—and Harper felt sick at the possibility that they could be cut right out of Oliver’s life.

  Unshed tears burned her eyes and clogged her throat as the judge’s voice droned in the background. She tried to focus on his words as he recited the basic facts of the case and summarized the evidence presented, but her heart hurt and her thoughts were jumbled.

  Ryan’s fingers tightened on hers, focusing her attention back on the proceedings as Justice Falconi paused to sip from a glass of water.

  He set the glass down again. “After careful consideration of the evidence presented by all parties, including the report and testimony of the minor child’s guardian ad litem, who recommended that an orphaned child should be placed with family if at all possible, it is apparent to me that the child is in the care of his family. The respondents have proved that they are committed to his well-being and best interests and that their affection is not dependent on blood ties but is the result of a bond that has been building and strengthening since the birth of the child.

  “I therefore confirm the interim order of Justice Burchell and hereby grant full physical and legal custody of the minor child, Oliver Darren Cannon, to the respondents, Ryan Garrett and Harper Ross-Garrett.”

  Harper looked past Ryan to their attorney, as if for confirmation that she’d heard the judge correctly. Shelly confirmed her unspoken question with a short nod, her attention focused on the judge, who was still speaking.

  “In addition, I find that this application was if not frivolous, at least ill-advised, and I order the applicants, Jeremy Renforth and Aubrey Renforth, to pay the costs of the respondents in this matter.”

  Shelly stood up to thank the judge for his ruling. Opposing counsel did the same while Jeremy Renforth consoled his wife, who was sobbing.

  The clerk commanded all to rise and Justice Falconi stood up. Out of the corner of her eye, Harper saw Ellen kiss the top of Oliver’s head and John put his arms around both of them, hugging them tight. Somehow sensing the importance of the occasion, Oliver clapped his hands together, causing the judge to pause to look out into the gallery. The stern-faced man smiled at the little boy, then nodded and continued to his chambers.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that alarm going off at four forty-five a.m.,” Ryan grumbled as Harper reached out to silence the beeping.

  She brushed her lips to his lightly. “Go back to sleep.”

  The words were barely out of her mouth when she realized that he already had. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the same option.

  Their schedules being what they were, it was only on weekends that they were able to linger in bed together—and then only if Oliver decided to sleep in a little. But after today’s show, Coffee Time with Caroline was going on hiatus, which meant no 5:00 a.m. alarm for two full glorious weeks.

  She peeked in on Oliver, as she did every morning, and smiled when she saw him sleeping peacefully. There was evidence of both Melissa and Darren in the little boy they’d made together, and she found comfort in the knowledge that they lived on through their son.

  Harper was a wife and a mother now—two titles that six months earlier she could not have imagined being applied to her. She would always regret that it had taken the loss of two of her best friends to get her to where she was now, but she loved her life with Ryan and Oliver. She loved being part of Ryan’s family and the family that they’d built around Oliver.

  She still wanted to make executive producer someday, but it wasn’t the entire focus of her life anymore. For so long, she’d fixated on her career because it was the only thing she had. Now she had a husband and a child, and she looked forward to every day with both of them.

  After the show, Harper was finalizing some details for their first week back after the holiday when Diya poked her head around the corner.

  “Call for you on line one.”

  It wasn’t the words but the excitement in her assistant’s voice that made Harper ask, “Who is it?”

  “Annette Grantham.”

  The name sounded familiar but she wasn’t sure why.

  Diya filled in the blanks for her. “Senior vice president of development at WMBT.”

  Harper picked up the receiver. Her assistant, obviously understanding the potential significance of the call, gave her two thumbs-up and closed the door.

  She pressed line one. “Harper Ross. Garrett,” she added, wondering how long it would take for her to get used to the new name.

  “Harper—it’s Annette Grantham from WMBT in Florida.”

  She twisted the phone cord around her hand. “What can I do for you, Ms. Grantham?”

  “Come to the station for an interview,” she said bluntly. “We’re losing Jay Corrigan to Sunrise in Seattle and I don’t have anyone here who can step into his shoes. I think you can.”

  “I’m...flattered,” she said, because it sounded less obsequious than flabbergasted or ecstatic—both of which were equally true.

  “Don’t be,” Annette said. “I’m not in the business of stroking egos. I have contacts in television all across the country, and I consider Adam McCready a personal friend. This phone call could jeopardize that friendship if I succeed in luring you away, but that’s a
chance I have to take. Are you interested?”

  “I’m interested,” Harper confirmed.

  “When can you get here?”

  “As of Monday, we’re on hiatus for two weeks—”

  “Monday works,” the producer said. “Why don’t we say ten a.m.?”

  Her head was spinning. She had to talk to Ryan. She had to talk to Adam. She knew that going to Miami for an interview wasn’t a guarantee of anything, regardless of what Ms. Grantham thought she knew or wanted, but this was the opportunity Harper had been working for and there was no way she was going to turn it down.

  “I’ll be there,” she confirmed.

  * * *

  Harper went directly to Garrett Furniture when she left the studio. It seemed strange to think that she’d never been to her husband’s office—but she’d never before had a reason to seek him out there. But the news about her interview in Miami was bubbling up inside her, refusing to wait until he got home.

  She gave her name at reception—this time remembering to add Garrett—and the young woman at the desk gave directions to his office, explaining that Ryan’s secretary had just gone out on lunch, so she could go right in.

  His name was on the door and the L-shaped desk was offset from the opening. He was working at his computer, set up on the wall side, so he didn’t see her until she was standing in front of his desk. He glanced up, a surprised—and partly guilty—smile creasing his face.

  “Hard at work, I see,” she noted, her gaze shifting to the picturesque beach scene that filled his monitor—a young couple embracing on a beach of white sand contrasted by crystal clear turquoise water.

  “Now you’ve ruined the surprise,” he told her.

  “What surprise?”

  “Our honeymoon.”

  She was stunned, sincerely touched and more than a little scared. Because like the wearing of his mother’s veil had made her a real bride, the promise of a honeymoon seemed to make their marriage more real.

  “Since we didn’t know what was happening with the custody hearing when we got married, we didn’t have a chance to get away,” he explained. “Now that that situation is finally settled, I thought we could take a few days.”