14. Harley

FOURTEEN

HARLEY

Sunday was makeover day. I'd promised the girls we would go get their hair done and have mani-pedis the weekend before school started. I'd put it off on Saturday, taking the day to rest and catch up on work. Luckily, the salon in town was open on Sundays. So, here we were, three ladies on the town, ready to get pretty.

It had been a week since the showdown with Tate. He'd been good on his word and kept his distance, giving me time to process. There had been a lot to think about, and most of my thoughts surrounded when and how to tell the girls. Today was the day.

We all got trims and simple styles. I'd vetoed Jordyn's request for a crazy trendy haircut and Mariah's pleas for red streaks in her hair. The relaxing effect of the manicure and pedicure evaporated as soon as it was over. Anxiety, fear, and dread swirled in my chest as I paid and left a tip.

"You want to get lunch while we're out?" I asked the girls.

"Oh yeah. I'm starving," Jordyn exclaimed.

"There's a pizza place down the street. That okay?"

"That sounds good. We haven't had Colorado pizza yet. Do you think it'll be as good as New York?" Mariah asked.

I had a hard time not smiling. "I'm sure it'll be fine, but I doubt it. Let's go give it a try."

We walked in silence. It was an enjoyable day, but I still didn't know how to broach the subject with the girls. I had multiple ideas, some too silly, others too serious. By the time we got to the restaurant door, I had decided to be straight forward.

The scent of sourdough crust and tangy tomato sauce greeted us. The restaurant looked like a lot of the pizza places around Manhattan. I grinned at the little slice of home. The bell above the door jingled, and a small man with white hair, a mustache, and an olive complexion came out to greet us.

"Such lovely ladies. Hello, what can I do for you today? Pizza? Stromboli? Pasta?" His voice had a familiar lilt I couldn't place.

"Um, pizza," I said, smiling at him.

He tapped his ear and widened his eyes. "For the ladies? Anything. What can I put on the pie for you?"

I ordered our usual. "Half pepperoni and mushroom, half sausage and onion?"

"I will take care of it. Sit, sit. I'll bring you drinks."

"I'm sorry, your accent? Where are you from?" I asked, despite myself.

He patted his chest. "Born in Sicily, raised in Brooklyn from the age of six."

"Oh wow," Jordyn said. "We're from New York, too."

He looked pleased. "Fellow New Yorkers? For you? Free cannoli after lunch. Welcome. Let me get started for you."

We sat at a booth, surprised to have run into an Italian New Yorker who owned a pizza place in Lilly Valley, Colorado. It seemed like a sign. Like the universe was telling me: You're in a comfortable place that reminds you of home. Time to spill the beans .

I put my hands on the table, twisting my fingers together. My nerves had to be obvious on my face and in my body language. I took a breath and steadied myself. Jordyn and Mariah were looking at me with puzzled expressions.

"I have something really important I need to tell you about."

Mariah raised an eyebrow. "Okay?"

Taking a deep breath, I said, "I'm pregnant."

Jordyn and Mariah looked at me, their faces blank. They stared at me for several seconds before glancing at each other and smiling. The little buttheads thought I was lying? Surely not. Why would I lie about something like that?

"I really am."

Mariah grinned and shook her head. "Mom, we don't think you're lying, we just… kind of already suspected."

I jerked back. "What? How?"

Again, they exchanged a look before Mariah said, "You've been pretty sick. You've also been napping, like, a lot."

"Yeah, and you've had mood swings and stuff. Grumpier than usual. Crying more often. Like that commercial last night on T.V. had you sobbing," Jordyn said.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Well, it was sad."

"Mom," Jordyn said. "It was a commercial for dog food."

I pressed my lips together, not wanting to respond.

"Plus, you've been eating crazy stuff," Jordyn went on. "You were dipping corn chips into grape jelly the other day. Then you put hot sauce on that bowl of vanilla ice cream last night." She wrinkled her nose.

My cheeks flushed. I'd had the same weird cravings when I'd been pregnant with both of them. It was a little disconcerting that the girls had been so aware of my actions.

Mariah nodded toward my midsection. "The kicker was that we both could tell your belly was getting bigger. It all sort of fit together."

My embarrassment irritated me. So much for thinking I'd done a good job of hiding it. I was surprised that the girls didn't seem overly concerned. In my mind, it had been a foregone conclusion that they would have thought it was the end of the world. Now I realized I could breathe easier.

Mariah's smile faded away. "So, does this mean Luis will be coming around? Is he going to move out here?"

My heart lurched. This was why the girls hadn't brought up their fears. Not because they were worried about having a new sibling but because they were afraid of Luis. They assumed Luis was the father. Why wouldn't they? Jordyn also looked concerned. I needed to ease their fears.

"Luis is not part of this. You shouldn't be concerned about him. He doesn't know where we are, and he won't be part of this family. Ever."

They looked relieved at that. Just then, the little man running the restaurant brought out our sodas and our pizza, and we dug in, devouring the entire thing. It was indeed as good as New York pizza. Another delightful surprise to the day.

"Mom, I'll help. When I'm not in school, I'll do whatever you need to help with the baby," Mariah said.

"Me, too. I'd love to babysit," Jordyn said.

I smiled around a bite of pizza. "Thank you. I'm sure I'll need help, but I don't want you to let this rule your lives. It's my responsibility, but I do appreciate the offer, and I'm sure I'll take you both up on it at some point."

We walked out of the restaurant a while later, full and happy. The day seemed glorious now that my heavy secret was out in the open. It felt like a whole new day. My chest and shoulders felt much lighter now that the heavy weight had been removed. Things were looking up.

Lilly Valley was a small town, and usually quiet. Through my reverie, I heard murmurs of conversation ahead of us. I glanced past the girls who were walking ahead of me. A group of people were huddled around the side of the road near where our car was parked. Frowning, I pushed past the girls.

There were around twenty people standing around my car. They were blocking my view, so I couldn't see what was wrong. Panic flooded me. People wouldn't be huddled around a car if it only had a flat tire. Something else had to be wrong. Then the group parted, and I saw what they were gawking at.

I stopped dead, nearly stumbling as I looked at what had happened to my car. The windshield was smashed. All four side windows were gone, just chips of glass remained. All four tires had been slashed, and the car sat on its rims. Across the hood and side of the car, there were words spraypainted in red. WHORE. BITCH.

I covered my hand with my mouth. Luis had found us. Somehow, he'd tracked us all the way here. He was in this town, and he'd done this. In broad daylight. Why had no one stopped him? Had they watched and laughed, or were they too afraid to do anything? I was starting to shake when thick, strong arms wrapped around me. I jerked and screamed. Luis was grabbing me, trying to pull me into a car. I lashed out, trying to fight him off.

"Harley. Harley, stop. It's me. It's Tate."

His voice cut through my panic, and I looked up into his face. I collapsed into his arms, tears streaming down my face. The girls were behind him. I hated that they'd seen the graffiti on the smashed car.

"Let's get you out of here," Tate said. "Girls, follow me."

He put an arm around my shoulders and ushered me to his truck. Jordyn and Mariah hurried along behind us. I wanted to comfort my girls, but fear had a vice grip on my chest. Luis was dangerous. He was the reason we'd moved here. But I never expected him to follow us halfway across the country and vandalize my car. That was more than dangerous—it was psychotic.

The girls and I buckled ourselves in, and Tate pulled away from the scene. He was speaking, yelling instructions into the phone, but I was in too much of a haze to take in what he was saying. Even as dazed as I was, I was surprised by how happy and relieved I was that Tate had been there.

"Momma?" Jordyn asked in an uncharacteristically meek voice. "Did Luis find us?"

I couldn't answer. Simply couldn't get the words out. Mariah answered for me.

"Yeah, I think he did."

We got home, and Tate hustled us into our living room. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Before I could let myself believe Luis was outside, Tate opened the door, and three strange men walked in, each shaking Tate's hand as they stepped past him. I breathed a sigh of relief. Tate knew them. Mariah and Jordyn sat on either side of me.

Tate pointed at each new arrival. "This is Miles Kelly, a private investigator. That's Steffen James, security program developer, and Blayne Walker, our security analyst. These are the guys I work with. I trust them with my life, and so can you."

Miles sat down on the ottoman in front of me and looked me in the eyes, "Mrs. King, do you have any idea who might have done this to your car?"

"Luis. It was him. I know it," Jordyn said, her voice just a step away from a yell.

Miles glanced at Jordyn before his questioning gaze landed on me again. I took a breath and steadied myself.

"Luis is my ex. We dated for several months." I sent a sideways glance in the girls' directions. I didn't want to air my dirty laundry in front of them.

Tate seemed to read my mind and gestured to the girls. "Hey, guys, how about we get you into your rooms? Your mom needs to give Miles all the information she can. No need for you to be here for that."

For a moment, I thought they'd argue, but they stood and went upstairs. I let out a small, relieved breath. I loved my daughters, but there were some things they didn't need to know.

"Luis is my ex. A while back, I found out he was cheating on me. Had cheated on me multiple times with different women. When I broke things off, he started stalking me, texting me, showing up at the girls' school, always being visible. But it got more intense and scarier. I finally got a restraining order. That was when he had some associate approach me to threaten me and the girls if I didn't withdraw the order. That was the last straw. A friend of mine offered to rent me their house out here so I could get away from Luis. It looks like he found me..."

Miles glanced at the other men. "I think you're right about it being this Luis guy. If I had to guess, he hired his own investigators to track you down."

"Is it really that easy? I didn't tell him where we were going. Only my friends knew. They wouldn't have said anything."

Miles nodded. "Fifty years ago, a private investigator's job was much harder. Now? Even if you're extra careful, any PI worth a damn could track someone down. Really great when you're the one looking, not great when you're the one trying to run. He probably had a team pull up your medical records too. I'd say he knows about the baby, which might be what brought him out here."

My eyes widened, and I glanced from Miles to Tate. Tate didn't look ashamed or embarrassed. Miles shrugged. "Tate's not just my business partner, he's also my best friend."

Of course he would have told his friends that he may have knocked a woman up, and that she now lived across the street. I wasn't even mad. In fact, it was a relief not to have to go through the entire story with someone else.

Miles asked me more questions, but it was a struggle to focus with Tate walking all around the house and murmuring to Blayne. The two of them pointed at windows and doors, then at the ceiling. I narrowed my eyes when Blayne started marking spots around my house with a pencil.

Ignoring Miles, I called out, "What the hell are you guys doing?"

They turned around, their faces bearing twin expressions of surprise.

"Sorry, um, we were marking the best areas for the security system. Spots for alarms, heavy locks, cameras, motion detectors, the whole shebang," Blayne said.

I blinked. "That sounds really expensive, I can't afford that," I said, addressing Tate.

Tate shook his head and waved me off with a dismissive gesture of his hand. "Don't worry about it. You aren't paying for it."

"What? Tate, no. I can't let you pay for such an extravagant gift, or whatever you want to call this."

Tate sighed. "Harley, are you pregnant with my child or not?"

The room went quiet. Steff suddenly seemed to find something very interesting on my blank living room wall. Miles's eyes widened, and he dropped his head to stare at his shoes. Blayne, who stood next to Tate, looked like a deer caught in headlights.

When I said nothing, Tate continued. "Do you want to sleep easy knowing your home is safe and secure? That no one has pried a door or window open and is creeping down the hall to your bedroom? I know that's maybe an exaggeration, but isn't that what you want? To be totally safe? I can give you that, so let me."

I couldn't argue against that. I nodded and gave him a weak smile. The grin he shot me was dazzling, then he and Blayne went back to what they were doing.

Miles cleared his throat. "I'll be looking into the vandalism of your car. I'm sure the sheriff's department was already called and they have been out there and completed a report. I've had dealings with them, so I can get whatever info they may have."

The front doorbell rang, and I almost jumped off the couch. Steffen held up a hand. "It's okay. It's okay. It's our installation crew. We called them as soon as Tate let us know what was happening.."

My jaw dropped. "Already? This only happened thirty minutes ago."

Steffen shrugged nonchalantly. "Helps when you own the company. When the bosses call, other stuff gets dropped. Tate figured it would be best to install it ASAP."

A half dozen men filed into the small living room and started unboxing items, unrolling cables and wire, and pulling out drills and tool belts. It was overwhelming, and I was suddenly dizzy.

Miles took my hand. "Harley, you're gonna be fine." He gestured at Tate. "I've known this guy longer than almost anyone in my life. He won't let anything happen to you or your family."

His words seemed to break the inner dam I'd built up, and tears of gratitude slipped down my cheeks. I tried to utter the words thank you , but all that came out was a blubbering sigh.

Seemingly uncomfortable now that he was faced with a sobbing woman, Miles said, "Um, maybe you should lie down or something? A nap would be the best thing for you, I think."

I nodded and stood to go up to my room. Fearful and angry thoughts roamed freely in my mind. Luis had found us so quickly. We'd barely been able to get settled in, and he was already making our lives hell again. Only, this time it was worse. Back in New York, it had been subtle, vague. Terrifying but in a quiet, controlled way. This was more overt and aggressive.

As crazy as it was, I appreciated Tate's help, and I understood why he was doing it. It was only natural for him to want his unborn child to be safe. Was that all, though? I had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but my brain was too fried to entertain such thoughts. My bed looked like the most amazing thing I'd seen in my life. Not even bothering to take off my shoes, I collapsed onto it. The sounds of men working and talking downstairs drifted into the background, lulling me into sleep.