Page 72 of Capture The Moment

Chapter 17

It turned out that Finn’s sibling wasn’t the only one who needed help. Harper’s younger sister, McKayla, called her the next day in tears.

“Can you come over? I really need someone to talk to,” she asked in between sobs.

“Of course. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

McKayla answered the door in baggy sweats, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She’d stopped crying, but there were mascara tracks on both cheeks that she hadn’t bothered to wipe off.

McKayla was five years younger than Harper, and Harper had been like a second mom to her. Her sister had always been a magnet for trouble, and she’d often called on Harper for help. Some things never change.

“Sit down and let me wipe off your face,” Harper directed before she disappeared into the bathroom. She came back out with some makeup wipes and began cleaning off McKayla’s face like she was six years old. When Harper had finished, she said, “Ok. Now. Tell me what happened.”

“I got fired.” And then McKayla burst into tears all over again.

Harper wrapped her arms around her sister and held on tight until her tears subsided. She almost said, “What did you do this time?” but she bit her tongue. McKayla had lost her previous job due to a billing error she’d made at an accounting firm that had cost them their best client.

“Tell me what happened,” Harper repeated.

Sitting cross-legged on the couch, McKayla looked like a teenager, and while Harper had compassion for her, she also wished that her sister would grow up and become more responsible. Still, she loved McKayla, and she’d do whatever she could to help.

“It wasn’t all my fault—it was his idea.”

“Whose idea?”

“Jackson’s.”

“Wait a minute. Isn’t that the guy you were dating?”

“Yes. Was.”

Harper sighed. “Go on.”

“Jackson came to the office to pick me up for lunch, and I gave him a tour of the place.”

“And?”

“And it was quiet because most of the employees had already gone to lunch, so Jackson had this idea that we should…”

Harper motioned impatiently for McKayla to continue.

“That we should have sex on the conference room table.”

Harper’s eyes practically popped out of her head. “And you said yes?” McKayla had held her current job for less than six months, and Harper couldn’t believe that she’d been so reckless.

“Well, I didn’t think we’d get caught! I locked the door, or at least, I thought I did.”

Harper stared at her for a few beats, amazed that she and McKayla had come out of the same womb. “Who caught you?”

Looking down at her hands, where she’d chipped off most of her red fingernail polish, McKayla said, “My boss. Turns out the lock on the door was broken, and I had no idea. He fired me on the spot.”

“No surprise there,” Harper muttered.

“And that’s not even the worse part!”

Eyes bulging, Harper said, “There’s more?”

“After I gathered my things and left, Jackson was waiting for me in the parking lot—to tell me we shouldn’t see each other anymore.” She started to tear up again but managed to continue. “He said that being around me always gets him into trouble.”