by Debbie Mason
Delaney pursed her lips at Julia, probably ticked that she’d interrupted her pitch to the Hartes. It was Thanksgiving for goodness’ sake. She’d assumed Delaney would give her campaigning a rest in deference to the holiday. Then again, the statuesque blonde lived and breathed her job. For that matter, so did Hazel.
“I’ll give Paul a hand,” Delaney said with a flick of her stylishly cut blond hair. Julia studied how the light from the chandelier caught in the warm and cool shades that swung across the back of Delaney’s little black dress. It would be the perfect style for Julia’s heroine from Warrior’s Touch, Gillian Connolly. Hmm, maybe Julia shouldn’t be casting workaholic aspersions Delaney and Hazel’s way after all.
Byron winked at her. “Always happy to spend time with you, love.”
Julia rolled her eyes. She no longer took Byron’s flirtations seriously. He wasn’t interested in her. However, Hazel, who hadn’t seen him in action, was looking at him in a whole new light.
Julia was just about to take care of that by mentioning Byron’s girlfriend, Lexi, when Maggie joined them and asked, “How are you? No bruises or scrapes from your fall?”
“What fall?” Byron and Hazel asked at almost the same time with the same level of concern. Which earned the reporter another considering look from Hazel. Gah.
“It was nothing. Just—” Julia began, only to be cut off by Maggie.
“Miller and Aidan thought Julia was a burglar and—”
“Are you kidding me? Aidan Gallagher took you down… again?”
Julia really wished Poppy hadn’t said that. Last summer she’d convinced the Hartes to keep the incident at the beach out of the paper and hadn’t mentioned it to Hazel. “Of course he didn’t. Miller was just happy to see me.”
Hazel frowned. “Wait, what do you mean again, Poppy?”
Julia opened her mouth, about to suggest they get the rest of the food on the table, when Poppy decided to reveal photographic evidence of the incident. Scrolling through her phone, Poppy found what she was looking for and held it up for Hazel. Maggie leaned in to have a look too. Both women’s eyes went wide, and they gasped.
Really? Could her day get any worse?
As if in answer, a smooth, low-pitched voice asked from behind her, “What are you all looking at?”
Julia whipped around. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Here, let me help you with that.” She went to take the platter of turkey from Paul.
A hand pressed to her chest, a distraught Hazel said, “I don’t understand. Why would Aidan rip off your mermaid costume and leave you stark naked for everyone to see, Julia?”
“It was an accident. Aidan thought I was a shark.” She’d been trying out her costume, swimming under water to get into character for her performance later that day. Like Julia once had, Millie the Mermaid, the character she’d created, didn’t feel like she fit in at home or at her school for fishes. Millie was very popular with the children in town, who undoubtedly felt the same at one time or… Wait a second.
“Poppy, please tell me you don’t have naked pictures of me on your phone,” Julia said, horrified. She’d been wearing a Lady Godiva wig that day and had been positive it had covered all her bits. Sweet Caroline, she hoped it had.
“As if. You can’t see anything. But it’s obvious you are. Aidan’s holding up your bikini bottom and your costume.”
A grim-faced Paul placed the turkey platter on the table and then gestured for Poppy’s phone. Which she immediately handed over.
“You know, Julia, if Aidan’s harassing you again, all you have to do is tell the chief.” Poppy looked at Paul. “He thought she was a burglar and took her down at Maggie’s this morning.”
If Julia hadn’t already been thinking Poppy had an ax to grind against Aidan, she would be now. Her friend had thrown him under the bus and then drove over him for good measure.
“What are you talking about, Poppy? He didn’t take me down. He didn’t do anything wrong. He was just being a good neighbor and looking out for Maggie.” She could tell by the expressions on Paul’s and Poppy’s faces that they didn’t believe her.
The distraught sob of twenty minutes ago was back and warbling in her throat, and Aidan was once again the culprit. There was no help for it—she was going to have to go on another date with Paul.
* * *
As Aidan leaned against the bar at Greystone Manor, he took in the morose expressions on his brothers’ faces. He’d worried needlessly about getting grief over Ella Rose not showing for Thanksgiving. His brothers felt sorry for him.
It was his own fault, he supposed. He shouldn’t have told his sisters-in-law how much he’d been looking forward to having his little girl for the long weekend. But it was hard to hold out against them. They got their jollies ganging up on him and trying to get him to talk about his feelings.
“Knock it off with the long faces. You’ll upset Grams and your wives, and I don’t want to have to deal with the four of them. Five of them,” he corrected himself. Half the time, Lexi, the ex-wife of his oldest brother, Griffin, was a bigger pain than his three sisters-in-law and grandmother combined.
“You don’t have to pretend with us. We know how tough this is on you. We’re here for you, bro. Let it out.”
He stared at his dark-haired, blue-eyed baby brother. A firefighter like their dad, Liam was married to Sophie, who managed the manor. They had an eight-year-old daughter, Mia, and a newborn baby boy. Ronan Jr. was five weeks old. Maybe lack of sleep was having an adverse effect on his brother.
But before Aidan had a chance to ask Liam what he meant by let it out, and he sure as hell hoped it didn’t mean what he thought it did, his second youngest brother, Finn, a family physician, who also had dark hair and blue eyes, gave Aidan’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “I feel for you, brother. In your place, I don’t know what I’d do. All I can say is you’re handling it better than I would.” Finn looked away, cleared his throat, and then took a swig of his beer.
Aidan narrowed his eyes. Did Finn just… tear up? What was he smoking? Of course he didn’t. Then again, his brother had nearly lost his wife, Olivia, a couple of months ago, so Aidan supposed he might be more emotional than usual. And he was a new, adoptive father to seven-year-old George and had a baby on the way. Still…
“Yeah, man, Finn and Liam are right,” Griffin said, brushing his light brown hair from his blue eyes. A former Navy SEAL, Aidan’s oldest brother was now with the Coast Guard. At least Aidan didn’t have to worry about Griffin getting emotional. He was tough as they come. He’d endured a lot over the years. But he was now happily remarried to Ava and saw Gabriel, his baby boy with Lexi, every day.
Ah hell, Aidan thought, when it looked like Griffin might be tearing up too. “Okay, you know what? You guys are ticking me off. What did you do with my brothers?”
Griffin frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re all so… emotional. Next thing I know, you’ll be telling me I’ll feel better if I get in touch with my feelings and have a good cry.”
“You don’t have to pull your tough-guy act with us. We know that under that grumpy, snarly exterior is a guy who’s missing his little girl. We get it, bro. We’re on your side. If you need us to have a come-to-Jesus moment with Harper, we’re there,” Liam said.
“Yeah, just give us the word. Whatever you need from us, you’ve got,” Finn said, clinking his beer first to Aidan’s and then to his other brothers’ bottles.
That was more like it. These were the brothers he knew and loved. “Appreciate it. But for now I’m staying the course. I’m not giving in to Harper’s demands.”
“What demands?” Griffin asked. “You never said anything about demands, just that she reneged on the original agreement.”
“Well, she did. Unless I agree to supervised visitation, as in Harper has to be with us at all times, and that means her spending Thanksgiving with me and Ella Rose, I can’t see my daughter. It’s a ploy. She wants to get back together, and s
he’s using Ella Rose as a pawn.”
“I totally called it at GG’s funeral. It was obvious Harper was still hung up on you back then. I told her I saw through her act. Mike did too. You should talk to him,” Liam said. Their cousin Mike had been an assistant district attorney before becoming an FBI agent.
“I did. And both Mike and my lawyer say the same thing. It’s hard to fight her because she has a solid reputation as a psychiatrist. She’s well known and has connections in family court.” Aidan gave them the short version of what Mike and his lawyer had said. The long version was even more infuriating and depressing.
“She’s not the only one with connections. Say the word and I’ll get Liv involved,” Finn offered.
A wealthy Boston socialite, Finn’s wife, Olivia, had plenty of clout. “I appreciate the offer. I’m hoping Harper will relent once she realizes she can’t manipulate me by using our daughter. She loves Ella Rose, so I’ve gotta believe she’ll eventually come around.” What he didn’t tell his brothers was that he was worried Ella Rose didn’t care whether she saw him or not. Their relationship had changed after his last undercover assignment. It was like she didn’t know or love him anymore.
“You should just ask… Maybe it’s Harper,” Liam said when Aidan’s cell phone rang.
He was thinking the same thing. Hoping she’d finally seen the light. He dug in his jeans pocket for his cell phone.
Finn grinned and held up his phone. “It’s Julia Landon. She just texted me for his number. Didn’t think you’d mind.”
“What does she want?” Aidan muttered, disappointment a heavy weight in his chest.
Liam waggled his eyebrows. “Julia Landon, eh?”
“You been holding out on us, bro?” Griffin asked.
“You might want to keep it down. If Grams finds out he’s talking to Julia…” Finn trailed off, chuckling as he brought the beer bottle to his mouth.
Aidan gave them a one-finger salute as he walked across the slate floor and took the call. “Gallagher.”
“Is that how you always answer your phone? It’s a little off-putting, you know.”
He would have recognized her voice even if Finn hadn’t told him who it was—sweet and clear with a subtle hint of her Texan roots. “Sorry. What can I do for you?”
“And that was so much better,” she murmured and then said, “I, um, just wanted to warn you not to pick up your phone if the chief calls.”
Aidan bowed his head and pulled in a frustrated breath through his nostrils. “Great. Thanks for the warning. But here’s the thing. It wouldn’t have been necessary if you didn’t go running to your boyfriend to tell on me.”
This day was getting better by the minute. He should have stayed in bed. An icy wind swirled around him as he reached the massive stone fireplace. He looked toward the stairs leading to the entryway, surprised to find the heavy doors shut. He moved closer to the crackling fire to warm up.
“I didn’t, but he’s, um, not only upset about this morning. It’s about the mermaid incident. At the beach last August?”
As if he could forget. He no longer needed the fire to keep him warm. The memory of Julia that day was heating him up just fine. He moved to the brown leather wingback chair and took a seat.
Something yowled.
“Jesus!” He jumped up and looked back. He’d sat on Simon, a black cat who’d arrived at the manor just before Aidan’s great-grandmother Colleen had died. “Sorry, buddy. No hard feelings.”
“That’s okay. I knew it wasn’t intentional. I tried to explain to Paul, but he was—”
Aidan pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to Simon.”
“Oh, I see. Okay then. I’ll let you go. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. I’m sure Paul will cool down by tomorrow…” Her voice trailed off at the sound of raised voices in the background, and then she continued. “For sure by next week. Sorry I interrupted your Thanksgiving. Enjoy your day with your daughter.”
“My ex didn’t let me have her,” he said without thinking. Then winced when he realized what he’d done. “Anyway, thanks for the—”
“Wait! What do you mean she won’t let you have your daughter? You have an agreement. You were supposed to have her all weekend.”
His Spidey sense went off. This was exactly what he kept talking about to his family. She shouldn’t know or be interested in this kind of stuff. “How do you know that?”
“Olivia, of course. It’s not some big secret, is it?”
“No, but… It doesn’t matter. Enjoy your—”
“No, that’s not true. It matters very much. To you and to your daughter.”
“You’re right, it does matter to me. A lot. But according to my ex, it doesn’t matter to my little girl. She doesn’t want to see me unless her mother’s there. She makes it sound like Ella Rose is afraid of me.” He heard her breathing over the line. “Whatever you want to say, just say it.”
“Well, from what Olivia told me, your last assignment kept you away from your daughter for months. And it sounded like your split from your ex was contentious…”
“So…”
“Don’t let your feelings toward Harper keep you away from your little girl, Aidan. You need to spend time with her so she’s comfortable with you again. Who knows what she thinks or what her mother tells her when you don’t visit. And when you’re not with her, call her. Call her every day and let her know just how much you love her.”
He’d never thought of calling Ella Rose. He supposed because he still thought of her as a baby. “Thanks, that’s a good idea. I’ll do that. I’ll call her.”
“And spend Thanksgiving with her?”
“I don’t want to give Harper the wrong idea. Today’s our anniversary. She wants to get back together. She’s using my daughter to get to me.”
“So, let her. At least you’ll be able to spend time with your little girl. Just be open and honest with your daughter. Bring her flowers. Jasper has a beautiful Thanksgiving arrangement on the pedestal table in the entrance. And take some of the s’more cupcakes Theo made yesterday,” she said, making a humming sound in her throat.
The soft, sexy sound was turning him on, and he shifted uncomfortably on his feet.
“They’re to die for,” she continued, adding, “Oh, oh, and make sure to take some of the carrot cupcakes with caramel and cream cheese frosting too. Give one to your ex. She’ll forgive you for everything.”
Her enthusiasm made him want to laugh. He didn’t, but it was there, just below the surface. Quite the feat considering how he’d been feeling only moments before. And he realized Julia had done what no one else had been able to. She’d shown him another way to look at the situation. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Yay!” she cheered as if she’d just won the lottery. At the sound of someone calling her name, she whispered, “I have to go. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your little girl.”
Her over-the-top reaction gave him pause. She was acting like she had a vested interest in this. Or maybe his brothers were right and he had major trust issues. Not everyone had an agenda. “Thanks, Julia. You enjoy yours too.”
With his boss, who would probably fire him tomorrow.
Chapter Five
Aidan turned in to the gravel drive of the home he’d once shared with his wife and daughter in Newton, Massachusetts, a white Colonial that he was still making payments on. Harper didn’t want Ella Rose uprooted, and neither did he. But something had to give. Between paying the mortgage and child support, it wouldn’t be easy to find a nice place in Harmony Harbor that he could afford. If he had only himself to worry about, he’d settle for a bachelor apartment or a shack in the woods. He wasn’t fussy.
But he wanted Ella Rose to have a room of her own and a backyard to play in. Then again, the way things were going, he might grow old in his childhood home on Breakwater Way. Just him, his dad, and Miller. Great. He was already nervous, and now he
was depressing himself.
He released his seat belt and reached for the cupcakes and the flowers Jasper had wrapped up for him. The old guy had been as happy as the rest of the family that Aidan was spending Thanksgiving with Ella Rose. Which made sense since the old man had been around so long that Aidan and his brothers thought of him as family, something of an honorary great-uncle.
In reality, he’d been their great-grandmother’s right-hand man and confidant. And just like GG, Jasper hadn’t exactly been a Harper fan. A week before he’d gotten married, the old man had warned Aidan that he was making a mistake. Aidan thought he was making another one today. Only this time Jasper and the rest of the family hadn’t warned him to stay away.
Enough with the stalling, he told himself. If he sat there much longer, Harper would call the cops. She wouldn’t recognize his wheels. He’d traded in his Dodge Ram for a secondhand four-door black sedan. He missed the Ram, but not as much as he missed his daughter. Harper had given him grief for taking Ella Rose in the truck. It didn’t seem like he could do anything right in his ex’s eyes or his daughter’s.
At the sound of an incoming text, he pulled out his phone and gave his head a slight shake as he read. Hey there! Julia here! Just checking to see how it’s going with your little girl Did she *heart* the flowers and cupcakes??
So, she was as excitable in her text messages as on the phone. Now he had to figure out if she was like that with everyone or just with him. If it was only him, he had a problem. Because it meant that he was now in the crosshairs of his family’s stalker. For a brief moment, he considered not responding.
Not engaging was the first thing he’d recommend to anyone dealing with a stalker. The only problem with that was she’d made him feel better for a few minutes back at the manor. Maybe she could calm the anxious churning in his gut. Because ever since he’d called Harper to tell her he was coming, he’d had a feeling today was a turning point, a do-or-die moment.
