Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “He had his chance to tell it, Auntie,” Harmony replied bluntly, looking toward the other woman. “Lots of chances. Whatever he had to share, he could have told me any time over the last month. He chose not to do it.”

  “Coulda been he had good reason to keep silent. Coulda been he was tryin’ to protect you,” Aunt Orla said with a wave of her aged hand. “You won’t know unless you ask. Think on it, darlin’. Don’t do anything hasty that you might regret. We’ve had way too many regrets in this family to add more if we can help it.”

  Harmony began to shake her head. “Auntie...”

  “Mark me, Harmony Pearl. I’ve looked in Jacob Stone’s eyes, child, and there were shadows swirling to be sure,” Orla shared with a stiff nod. “Any man that’s lived any length of time is going to have those, but I didn’t spot a speck of evil in his eyes. Saw a lot. Pain. Torment. Something eating at his soul. But no evil,” she noted firmly. “You think about all that before you try to cut the line loose.”

  “Aunt Orla, you don’t know what I found,” Harmony tried to justify herself. “He had files on me… on all of us,” she whispered, keeping her voice low so Heaven didn’t hear them. “Pictures, Auntie. Pictures he had to look hard to come by.”

  Pursing her lips, Aunt Orla tilted her head. “If’n he did, you might take a second to think on that. If he cares ‘bout you as much as I think he does, might be he had good reasons for that.”

  Harmony’s head pounded as she closed her eyes. “The thing is, I’ve had enough drama in my life, Aunt Orla. I want some peace. I’ve earned that. It wasn’t just the papers I found; there were guns, too. A lot of guns. And I’m not talking hunting rifles, either. I don’t know what to think,” she admitted, opening her eyes and staring at her aunt.

  “Then ask,” Aunt Orla directed sternly, propping one hand on an ample hip. “Neither your Momma or I raised you girls to be lily-livered cowards. Don’t bury your head in the sand, girl. You march right up to that mountain of a man and demand your answers. He’s the man I think he is, he’ll tell you.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” Harmony hedged, shrugging her shoulders as she moved to collect the ingredients to make her cookies. “I’ll think about it.”

  “You do that, child. You think long and hard.” Aunt Orla nodded, reaching for her sweater on the coatrack by the door. “And you tell Honor that I went on home. You all need me, you know where to find me,” she said, dropping a kiss on Heaven’s bent head before turning to leave, the child oblivious to the whispered conversation of the two adults.

  “Aunt Orla?” Harmony asked as her aunt reached the back door. Waiting until the elderly woman had turned her head, Harmony whispered, “You really believe he’s good?”

  “I really believe that he’s not as bad as you seem to think he is,” Aunt Orla replied evenly. “I also think he could be truly good with you.”

  And on that note, Harmony watched her aunt disappear out the door, her wise words ringing in her ears.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Hearing the back door open and close a few minutes as she worked on mixing the cookie dough in her metal bowl, Harmony smiled faintly. “What’d you forget, Aunt Orla? Your pocketbook? I bet it’s under the counter upfront.” Her aunt was constantly forgetting things. Her purse. Her coat. Her glasses. Usually, she forgot at least one thing per shift. It was a fairly standard occurrence and they all teased her about it.

  “Uhmmm…Momma? Who dat?” Harmony heard her daughter whisper in a nervous, slightly fearful voice that sounded nothing like her baby.

  Turning, Harmony saw her daughter first, her tiny finger pointed shyly toward the door. Spinning completely around to see the person her baby stared at, she gasped and began to fly toward her daughter.

  “Uh, Harmony,” Tanner Suarez chided, shaking his dark head as he casually pointed a gun at her. “I enjoyed watching your ass right where it was. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you at the table, long blonde hair flowing all around while you shook that ass. Now, you keep you and our girl quiet and this will be a quick conversation. You don’t, things…they turn ugly. You remember what ugly looks like, don’t you?”

  “Tanner,” Harmony whispered, her voice sounding strangled to her own ears. “What are you doing here?” she asked softly, keeping one eye on her curious child as he took a step toward them. “You can’t be here.”

  “Momma, who dat?” Heaven repeated, her eyes narrowing on the man in front of them. “He have a gun. Guns are bad,” she whispered, reaching a hand toward her mother.

  “Heaven, baby, stay where you are,” Harmony ordered her child calmly even though her heart threatened to erupt from her throat. This could not be happening. It was like she was trapped in a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from with the worst bogeyman ever. And her little girl was trapped between Tanner and the door. “This is a man that Momma used to know. That’s all, baby. Keep coloring.”

  “So, you lie to our child?” Tanner snorted, his eyes glittering with anger. “She doesn’t even know who I am, does she? Of course, she does not. You think that stupid piece of paper I signed could really keep me from knowing my kid? I’ve had someone watching you for years, mujer. There’s nothing you’ve done that I don’t know. From your stupid little diner to that new business you’ve opened, I know it all. Especially about la nina bonita de mi esposa.”

  “Tanner, don’t do this,” Harmony begged, her eyes darting around, looking for something, anything she could use as a weapon to protect her baby. “Whatever you’re here for, she’s innocent. If you’re angry, I’m the one you should target. Let me send Heaven out of here. She doesn’t need to hear this.”

  “Momma?” Heaven whimpered.

  “Shut the brat up, Harmony,” Tanner growled, glaring at Heaven. “She brings somebody in here and I won’t be happy. You remember what happens when I’m unhappy, don’t you?” he whispered sinisterly, lifting the gun to run the tip over her cheek.

  “Heaven, be quiet,” Harmony instructed her daughter with a shaking voice, keeping her eyes glued to Tanner. He was almost vibrating with rage, and she knew from experience, his venom could spew at them at any moment.

  “Tell her who I am,” Tanner demanded, narrowing his eyes on Harmony’s face.

  “No,” Harmony denied, shaking her head vehemently as she glared at the man who’d done his best to ruin her life and kill her. The only decent thing he’d ever done in his life was contribute a few strands of DNA so that she could have Heaven, and the bastard had done that accidently. He’d always been a lazy bastard; he’d just proven it when he refused to shrink wrap his dick before he stuck it inside her.

  “You don’t; I will,” he threatened with a cruel smile. “You know what? I think it would be better coming from me anyway.” Looking at a confused Heaven, he bent slightly toward the child, keeping the tip of his gun aimed at Harmony. “Yo soy tu papa, bambina. Es mi hija.”

  “Huh?” Heaven grunted, cocking her head as she stared at the man. “Momma, what he say?” she asked, her face perplexed as she stared at Harmony.

  Harmony shot her daughter a reassuring smile. Heaven had always been an intuitive child; she knew her little girl sensed danger – especially with Tanner waving his gun around at them. “Shhh… baby. Everything is going to be okay. Concentrate on your coloring, alright?” Focusing her attention on Tanner, Harmony pleaded, “Don’t do this, Tanner. She’s just a little girl. She’s got no idea what happened between us. She doesn’t even know you.”

  “Whose fault is that? You think I don’t know that little girls need their papas,” Tanner spat. “But you tried to rob me of that, didn’t you, bitch?”

  “Don’t call my mommy names!” Heaven yelled, slapping her tiny hands against her coloring book in a fit of anger. “You’re a big ole meanie weanie! Swears are curses and God hates curses.”

  “God also hates thieves, and that’s what tu madre is. A thief and a liar. I am your father, you little brat,” Tanner hissed, staring at his daughte
r with gleaming eyes. “Your puta of a mama stole you from me. Show me some fucking respect!”

  “No, I’m not!” Heaven argued, her hair flying as she shook her head, “I don’t got no daddy! The angels bringed me to Momma from Heaven! ‘Sides, I already picked my Daddy out, and he not gonna be you,” she yelled, jabbing her finger toward Tanner. “He gonna be Mr. Jake! I think you is a bully. A big bully.”

  “Heaven, hush, baby!” Harmony begged, her eyes watering as Tanner grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head back until she met his furious black eyes.

  “So, you’re spreading your legs for some pendejo, are you, Harmony?” he asked against her ear. “I hope you’re enjoying him. Lucky for you, I don’t give a shit. I only want what’s mine.”

  “Tanner, stop this,” Harmony hissed as she watched Heaven begin to hop off her stool. “Baby, stay still,” she cried out when Tanner lifted the gun toward her child.

  “I wanna go, Momma! I go now!” she sobbed, pointing toward the door. “Pwease, we go!”

  “Get control of that little snot nosed brat, Harmony,” Tanner hissed, yanking on her hair again.

  “Then let me go to her,” Harmony ground out, struggling against his unforgiving grip as she watched Heaven’s chest move rapidly up and down, tears coursing down her pale cheeks.

  “Then fuckin’ go and shut that little bitch the fuck up,” he growled, shoving her viciously toward her baby with a savage flick of his wrist.

  He pushed her so hard, Harmony fell on her floor in front of Heaven. Ignoring the shooting pain in her knees as she snatched her daughter against her, she felt her girl bury her face in the crook of her neck. “Shhh, baby, Momma’s got you,” she consoled her little girl, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing her tightly.

  “We go home, Momma. We go Jake’s house,” Heaven babbled, her arms like clinging vines as the squeezed Harmony’s neck.

  “Soon. I promise, baby, soon. But you’ve got to be quiet while Momma talks to this man.”

  “He not my daddy,” Heaven insisted, drawing back to stare at Harmony with wet eyes. “He never be my daddy.”

  “I know, sweetie, but you have to be quiet like a church mouse right now. This will be all over soon,” she whispered before twisting around to face Tanner. Scooting across the floor, she pushed her wiggling daughter into the corner between the refrigerator and industrial stove and shielded her with her body. Glaring at Tanner, she hissed, “Stop this, Tanner! You’re terrifying her!”

  “You might wanna pay attention to that. Right now, though, you’re the one that needs to be scared. I can see that you love my daughter a lot…”

  “She’s not your daughter. You have never been her father and you never will be,” she retorted, growing angrier. “Stop confusing her.”

  “I didn’t get a choice. You took her from me before she was even born. You sent your redneck goons and forced me out of my town. But I’m back now,” he snarled, reaching out his free hand to grab Harmony’s chin. “And now there is nothing you can do but sit in front of me and flinch.”

  “You’re still a bastard,” Harmony bit out, clamping her lips together to keep from screaming as he tightened his fingers on his face. His touch would leave a bruise. It always did before when he’d touched her.

  “Listen to how your mama talks to your father, hija,” Tanner sneered at Heaven. “You never did learn to respect or honor your husband, Harmony.”

  “Ex-husband,” Harmony spat automatically, pushing her hair off her face as she shifted on her knees. “You signed divorce papers. I have a restraining order, Tanner. You need to leave. Now. Go and I’ll forget I ever saw you. We won’t say a word,” she promised, willing to make a bargain with the Devil himself if it meant she got this animal away from her child.

  Squatting in front of Harmony, Tanner smirked. “Who says I want you to forget me, bonita? I want you to remember. If you remember and obey me, you might just get to live a long life with the daughter I helped you make. If you don’t,” he continued with a careless shrug, “All kinds of things could happen. To you,” he remarked dangerously, nuzzling her under her chin with the gun, “Or, to the little one cowering behind your back.” He nodded at Heaven over Harmony’s shoulder.

  “Don’t threaten her, Tanner,” Harmony replied, pushing her back against her daughter and forcing her deeper in the corner.

  “So protective. You love her,” he noted blandly. “It’s in your eyes, bonita. You’d die for her.”

  “In a heartbeat,” Harmony agreed quickly, nodding.

  “Do not worry. I wouldn’t kill you, Harmony. That would be too easy for you and I’d want to enjoy watching you suffer. I bet you would be inconsolable if she just disappeared?” he asked softly. “If one morning you got up and poof!” He snapped his fingers. “That fast. Your hija is gone. It could happen, you know. I know many powerful men now that could help me do this. You get up and she isn’t in her bed. You go to her school, and she is no longer at her desk. This tragedy happens every single day, I’ve heard. It would be so easy to take back what is mine.”

  “Tanner,” Harmony breathed, her stomach clenching at the obvious threat he made. “She’s just a baby. Only a little girl. Leave her alone. Leave us alone.”

  “You have a choice, Harmony. This should be an easy choice for you to make if you love this little one as much as you seem to do,” he commented with a chilling grin, his black eyes brutal as the bore into hers. “Very, very easy.”

  “What. Do. You. Want?” she asked, each word clipped as she felt her patience waning. Enough was enough already. This day sucked. She wanted to take her baby, find a bag of cookies and a nice deserted island in the middle of the ocean. She did not want to breathe her ex-husband’s rancid breath and listen to his sneering voice anymore. Those days were supposed to be over.

  His fingers tightened on her face once more and his eyes blazed with hatred. “I want what’s mine, but I’ll settle for that little piece of land that your grandmother left you. You see, I’m coming back, Harmony. And I find, that I need someplace to call home. Those overgrown acres will do nicely. You sign them over to me, and I’ll leave you and your daughter in peace. You don’t, and you will find your life become quite uncomfortable. I’ll demand access to our daughter. A father has rights, after all. It’s past time that I exert mine.”

  “No,” she denied, shaking her head furiously against Tanner’s rough hand. “You’re nothing to Heaven,” she hissed as her daughter whimpered behind her back.

  “You’re wrong. Either submit, or I’ll take her from you. Legally or another way, she will be gone,” he threatened, his accent growing thicker as he became angrier.

  “I can’t give you what I don’t have,” Harmony replied as his fingers pinched her face. “I don’t hold the deed to that land anymore, Tanner!” Gasping as his hand released her face only to draw back and backhand her, she felt the white hot sting of the slap radiating across her jaw.

  “Fucking puta!” he snarled, lifting his arm again to hit her.

  “Momma!!” Heaven sobbed behind her, her little girl voice clouded with terror.

  Harmony’s eyes widened as she saw the door to the kitchen swing open and Honor walk into the room.

  “Harmony, I know you told the girls that you wanted to be alone, but…” Honor halted abruptly as she spied her sister in the corner of the room and Tanner swung around to face her, pointing a gun directly at her.

  “Ah, the sweet sister is here. Don’t scream, Honor, or I’ll put bullets in all three of you,” he warned easily, gesturing for her to move toward him.

  “Tanner,” Honor whispered shakily. Shifting her gaze to where Harmony and Heaven were on the floor behind him, she whispered, “Are you both okay?”

  Nodding, Harmony swallowed, but her eyes didn’t leave Tanner. “We’re fine.”

  Lifting her chin, Honor turned her attention back to Tanner. “There are a roomful of people right outside that door,” she explained, keeping her voice calm
as she tilted her head toward the swinging door. “Some of those people are armed. You need to go, Tanner, before this turns uglier. Please,” she added softly.

  Harmony stiffened as she watched Tanner approach Honor, biting her lip when she saw her sister shudder. “Tanner, don’t hurt Honor,” she begged, beginning to inch forward on her knees. “You’re angry at me, remember? She’s got nothing to do with this!” There was no way in hell she was telling him that it was Honor she’d deeded that land over to in exchange for a percentage of the café. She’d happily die first.

  “Sweet, innocent Honor,” he crooned, lifting the gun to run it along the side of her face. “I think I missed you the most,” he leaned forward to whisper against her ear, inhaling deeply. “Mmmm… you still smell like a ripe peach, chica,” he breathed against her throat, darting a tongue out to lick her neck. “So much tastier than your sister.”

  Harmony watched Honor gasp, her sister’s face going completely pale as her eyes closed, her beautiful face clenching in revulsion and she suddenly realized what was happening... what exactly Tanner’s words were confirming. If she had any doubts at all, Honor’s low whimper confirmed all her fears. “You…” she heard Honor moan faintly. “Oh, God, it was y-you? Y-you were one of them,” she stuttered, lifting her hands to push violently at Tanner’s chest.

  Those words… those horrible, awful words sent Harmony surging to her feet. She didn’t care about the danger or the stupidity of her actions. The only focus her mind had was getting this animal away from her daughter and sister. “Get away from her, Tanner!” Harmony shrieked, reaching for one of the knives in the butcher block on the stove. Screaming as she lunched at him, she felt the knife connect with the arm not holding the gun.

  Tanner jerked violently from her as blood dripped down his arm. “Bitch!” He backhanded her with the gun and black dots danced in front of Harmony’s eyes, her vision swimming as she fell against the counter. Suddenly screams filled the kitchen. Hers, Heaven’s and Honor’s high shrieks brought people flooding into the kitchen.