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“Ash?”
I shook my head and stared at my sister. “You made it happen, Harper.”
“No, you made it happen,” she said slowly. “It was a joint project with the lab in Brazil. Sure, I get the privilege of heading up your science department, but you’ve built an empire of the brightest minds here, Asher. You built the puzzle piece by piece.”
“We’re going to be able to put the line out recreationally,” I said slowly.
“We are,” she said with a smile. “And we’ll be able to make sure that kids like Ally have the best protection when they get into bike accidents, or skiing accidents.”
“Or that high school and college football players can have fewer concussions,” I said, knowing that’s what had killed Nathan and Nixon Noble’s brother.
“Yeah, that too. And it’s affordable. Accessible.” Her smile was as bright as I’d ever seen.
Relief swept through me, easing the knot of tension I’d been carrying for years while we’d tried to figure this out. It had been years of testing, years of trial and error, years of trying to make this happen.
“You’re pretty amazing, Harper Thompson. Just in case no one’s told you that lately.”
“Oh, that’s the other thing.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on my desk. “July sixteenth.”
My brow furrowed. “July sixteenth,” I repeated.
“It’s way after any playoffs, and before the season starts up again, right?”
“Typically, that’s how the season goes, yes.” What the heck was she getting at?
“Good. Because that’s the day Nathan and I are getting married.” Somehow, her smile grew even brighter.
My jaw hit the ground.
She laughed. Then she took out her cell phone and snapped a picture. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you stunned before. This is great.”
“You’re going to marry him? Like actually marry him? Like…vows, rings, marriage license?” I asked, waiting for someone to walk in and tell me this was a practical joke.
“Vows, rings, license!” She nodded. “I might even wear a white dress, though let’s be honest, those virginal days have long since—”
“That’s enough.” I shook my head at her. “You’re serious. July sixteenth?”
“July sixteenth!”
I flew out of my chair and ran around my desk, yanking her out of her chair and into my arms for a hug. “I’m so fucking happy for you, Harper.”
“Thank you!” She hugged me back.
“What changed your mind?” I pulled back and sat on the edge of my desk, and she sank into the chair.
“I love him,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears.
“You’ve loved him for years.” My brow puckered. “And don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled for you. I’m so happy that I’ll pay for the whole damned wedding and the honeymoon. I’m just trying to understand what changed your mind.”
“It was a couple of things.” She tucked her feet under her in the wide, wing-backed chair.
Daisy had loved that chair. She’d spent hours in it, watching me, taking notes, and writing. The damned thing even still smelled like her.
“First, you asked, and it made me start thinking. Second, it’s really important to Nathan, and because I love him, I need to take that into consideration. But mostly…” She shifted in her seat. “Watching you lose Daisy has made me realize just how lucky I am to have Nathan, and how rare love is. And that’s what you do when you love someone, right? You spend the rest of your life with them. You make that promise.”
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.
“It had something to do with Mom, right?” she asked softly. “That blowup at Thanksgiving was awful.”
“I think that started it. But mostly, I think it was me.” The words tasted bitter.
“You?” Her gaze narrowed. “Were you an asshole?”
“No!” I put my hands up. “But I’m not sure I did enough to make sure she knew that she was perfect just the way she was, and when I bought that publishing imprint for her—”
Harper gasped. “You did what?”
“I bought an imprint,” I said quickly. “I mean, it’s Cross’s now, but that’s a long story.”
“You lost it in one of those stupid fucking poker games, didn’t you?”
“Okay, not so long of a story,” I muttered.
“She didn’t want to be traditionally published.” Harper raised her eyebrows at me. “She’s highly successful on her own.”
“Yeah, I got that by the end of the fight.” I grimaced. “And fuck…I don’t know.” I raked my hands over my hair in frustration. “I saw how upset Mom made her at dinner, and thought if she had her books in stores, then she wouldn’t have to defend herself.”
“Yeah, and if I owned your tech company, I wouldn’t have to defend my position as your head of science,” Harper countered, rolling her eyes. “If you cured world hunger, you wouldn’t have to defend how you spend your time to Mom.”
“I’m thirty-two years old, Harper. I don’t need to defend how I spend my time,” I snapped.
