6. Harley

SIX

HARLEY

The girls and I did a full tour of the food stalls and got something at nearly every stall. We made our way back to our picnic blanket, our arms laden with every kind of food and drink imaginable. The pregnancy cravings were kicking in big time. Usually, I would never splurge on food like this, but everything looked so damned good.

As we arranged everything on our blanket, Jordyn leaned back against the massive stuffed dog Tate had won for her. My mind slipped back to the baby. I still hadn't told the girls I was pregnant, but the first trimester was over. I hadn't started showing until the fifth month with both of them, so I still had some time. Even with that, I had decided to tell the girls soon, just to get it out in the open. That would be a relief, but I had to think of Tate.

He'd eventually notice I was pregnant. Sooner or later, it would be evident. Would he even care enough to do the math? He'd have to put two and two together. Would he ask about it? Would he ignore it? I had so many questions, but I had no one to confide in or talk to.

I had a doctor's appointment soon, and then I'd have a better idea of the conception date. Luis and I had been having trouble before I found out he was a cheating bastard. We hadn't had sex in about three weeks before I spent the night with Tate. The dates were pretty close, and there was no way for me to know for sure who the father was until that appointment. Already, I'd resigned myself to raising the baby alone. Luis was a psycho, and Tate seemed aloof and distant toward me.

I stared down at the Cuban sandwich I'd ordered earlier and picked at the bread. Lost in my own thoughts, I didn't even notice the people setting up blankets and chairs around us. When I took a bite of my sandwich, I glanced over and saw a young woman struggling with a lawn chair, cooler, thermos, and blanket. She could barely move as she tried to set her chair next to our blanket.

Quickly putting my sandwich aside, I stood, and said, "Can I help?"

She looked at me with obvious relief. "Oh God. Yes, please."

I laughed and took the cooler and thermos from her. It freed her hands enough that she could put the chair down. She sighed, and her shoulders slumped dramatically.

"Thanks. I was about to die." She extended her hand. "My name is Emily."

Shaking the offered hand, I replied, "Harley, nice to meet you." I gestured to the girls. "These are my daughters, Jordyn and Mariah."

The girls went full teenager and barely looked up from their food to nod. I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Kids, right? Are you from Lilly Valley?"

Emily opened her lawn chair and sat down, then said, "Not really. I got here a few days ago. I came to help move my grandma into a nursing home. I'm the only grandchild and wanted to be here for her. Between getting her moved in and starting the process of cleaning out her house and listing it to sell…" She shrugged. "Today has been my first break in almost a week."

Settling back down on the blanket, I took another bite of my sandwich and started chatting with her. It was nice talking to someone else who was new in town. I asked her about her grandma, where she was from, and the usual things. She didn't go into detail. It may have been a sore subject. Our conversation flowed, and it was almost like we'd known each other forever. It was so nice to have someone to talk to.

"Harley, how did you and your two girls there end up in a small town like this?" Emily asked.

"I needed a change of pace. We're from New York City, and a friend of mine had a house down here that he rarely ever used. He offered it to us, and we jumped at the chance."

"Wow. That's a hell of a culture shock."

I shrugged. "To say the least."

"Have you met anyone since you've been here? Any tall, dark, and handsome men in this one-horse town?"

That subject was not something I wanted to get into, so I skirted around it.

It went on like that for an hour. Emily seemed really interested in my life, the girls, who my new neighbors were. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed talking to an adult. My work was digital and kind of isolated. The girls were… the girls. And my closest neighbor was a complicated mess. It felt good to spend time with someone who really wanted to know about me. Thankfully, I stopped myself from unloading every tiny detail on her, even though it seemed like Emily wanted nothing more than to hear about it. Before the music started, we made plans to hang out later in the week.

The first massive boom of the fireworks ended our conversation. I settled in with the girls, watching as colors arced across the sky and the echoing explosions bounced around the valley. The first few minutes were exciting, but I had a nagging sensation that someone was watching me. It was the same sensation I got when Luis was stalking me, and I could feel his eyes on me before I could see him. For a moment, I was terrified that Luis had found us. Was he here?

Glancing away from the show in the sky, I looked around the crowd. I wasn't sure I would see anyone, and I hoped to hell I wouldn't see Luis. I glanced about, hoping to see security or police in case I did see Luis. Instead, off in the distance, I saw Tate. He was standing by a T-shirt display, staring right at me. Our eyes locked, and the look on his face was the most intense expression I'd ever seen in my life. It was as if he was trying to look directly into my soul. Involuntarily, I shivered, and tore my gaze away from him. It was pretty obvious he still wasn't a fan of me being in town. The rest of the show went by in a blur, with me barely watching the fireworks. Instead, I thought about that thousand-yard stare he'd given me.

Later, after saying bye to Emily, the girls and I loaded up our things and headed for the car. As I put the blanket in the trunk, I noticed Tate walking toward me. My stomach lurched at the sight of him. It made no sense why he seemed to be so angry at me. I'd done nothing to cause him to react this way. Our last interactions had been calm, cordial, and almost friendly. What had happened between the meeting at the food stalls and the start of the fireworks?

I called out to the girls. "Get in the car, guys. I'll be there in a second."

He made it plain by the way he was moving that he was coming to talk to me, and I didn't want that to happen near my kids. Stepping away from the car and moving out into the parking lot, I met him. He still looked upset but also confused and more frazzled than I'd ever seen him. Even when he'd found a half-naked pop star in his house at three a.m., he'd had a quiet control that had seemed rock steady. Now, he had the air of someone on the verge of a panic attack.

He stepped up to me, and without preamble, he asked, "What are you?"

Frowning, I said, "A woman? A mother? What kind of question is that?"

Tate winced and shook his head. He looked at the pavement, and had some weird kind of solo conversation with himself. Was he crazy? He mumbled something about being human, but I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying.

He stopped whispering to himself and looked at me. "I don't trust you."

The words caught me off guard. They hurt me, and they pissed me off.

"Oh, you've made that very clear." I sneered. "I know you think your dick is some kind of fucking wonder drug, but it wasn't good enough to make me uproot my whole life and my kids' lives for the chance to sit on it again. Get that shit out of your head right now, once and for all. Get over yourself. Our move here was for the safety of me and my kids. That's it. That is, one hundred percent, the only reason. If you dislike me that much, then keep doing what you've been doing. Ignoring me and disappearing. You seem to be really good at both."

My heart hammered in my chest. I couldn't remember ever being so pissed. My mind played out scenarios where I kicked him in the balls or slapped his face. Anger was making me say things I would never have otherwise. Though, for some reason, along with the anger, there was an undercurrent of heat that I couldn't suppress. I've never been so angry, but somehow I also had feelings for him. Not quite sexual tension, but it was close. It only made me angrier with myself. It was a dangerous game to play.

Something ominous seemed to bubble up within Tate. It wasn't visible, but it was like an aura or a mood that I could sense. It was intimidating, and I had the weirdest feeling that I wasn't looking at a man but some beast. Something deep and dark lurked just below the surface.

Calming myself, I reminded him what he'd said before. "Remember when you said your life shouldn't touch ours? Well, it goes both ways. I don't want our life touching yours, either."

I whirled around and practically sprinted to the car. I got in, locked the doors, and pulled out of the parking lot without looking back. I didn't speak to the girls; I just drove. The girls could obviously tell I was in no mood to chat or even talk because when we got home, they said goodnight and went straight to bed without me asking. That made me feel like shit, too. I'd turned a fun day and evening into a tense, weird night. Great, really fantastic.

An hour later, I lay in bed, unable to sleep. As I absently rubbed my stomach, I realized my pillow was soaked with my tears. I hadn't even noticed I was crying. I rolled over and buried my face into my bed. I really couldn't have picked two worse people to be the father of my child.