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“Look, you can sit here feeling sorry for yourself, but it’s not going to get you anywhere,” Moira says. “You need to get your head out of your backside and go apologize to her. See if there’s any possible way that she’d want to see where things would go if you two gave it a real shot. In the future, I mean. After her divorce is final.”
Shaking my head, I quietly tell her, “No way. We could never make it work. It’s best if I accept that now and not open my life to a world of pain.”
“Loving someone does that, idiot. The whole point is to trust somebody enough to be vulnerable with them.”
“That’s not how I roll, Moira, and you know it.”
“Fine, take the coward’s way out.” Moira stands up to collect our dishes. “Go back to the same lonely life you’ve always had.”
“I like that life,” I tell her, watching as she stalks to the back door and yanks it open.
“Good night, jackass.”
She’s inside with the door shut before I answer, “I’ll have you know I was happy on my own.” As I stand up and walk down the steps, I add in a whisper, “It didn’t hurt as much.”
Chapter35
Harper
Dear Readers,
Word on the street is that Miss Harper has decided to play hardball. And really, who could blame her? She’s reached out to Madame Gloria Woodsworth, divorce lawyer to the stars, to ask her for representation in the big showdown.
For those who don’t know, Gloria handled all of Jenny from the Block’s divorces, Jen from Bennifer 2, and our dear “Friend” Jennifer when she and Brad parted ways.
If I were Brett, I’d be shaking in my Calvin Klein undies, because when Gloria comes for you, you are screwed. And not in a pleasant date-night sense, either. We’re talking a prison shower and Brett just dropped the soap.
Miss Harper has made her decision and has finally cracked the whip like I knew she could.
Go, girl!
Today’s dishes are officially done!
Ferris Biltmore
* * *
We don’t try to hide on our way out of town. There’s no point. Instead, we keep Liam and Lily inside while we make a big show of packing all our things into the trunk of Ethan’s rental. Then, we whisk the kids into the backseat, careful to shield them from the cameras. The windows have a dark tint, so once we’re safely inside, no one will be able to get a good picture.
We’re leaving to draw the media away from the lodge. As hurt as I am by what Digger said, he’s not wrong. This is my mess to clean up. Evacuating Gamble is just my first step. I don’t want Grandpa Jack and Evie to have to deal with the paparazzi climbing around in the shrubbery for the next few days.
Liam and Lily have been non-stop complaining that their vacation got cut short. Lily’s devastated that she didn’t get a chance to flip pancakes with Digger, and Liam is sporting that worried look that breaks my heart. He knows I’m not telling him something, and even though he’s too wise to ask me about it in front of his sister, I know I’ll be facing a lot of questions from him when we’re alone.
The crappiest part is that I can’t tell them why we’re leaving without them learning more than they should. Protecting a man who’s actively trying to hurt you is the absolute worst.
As soon as we get on the private jet, I let the kids play on their iPad. With their headphones in place, they won’t hear the grown-ups talking. But just to be sure, I’ve got them snuggled into comfy chairs near the front of the plane so I can see if one of them wanders back here.
Ethan called a friend of his who’s a high-powered divorce attorney. Since we’ve got a thirty-minute delay before the plane can take off, we’re going to make good use of that time. Gloria Woodsworth is going to walk us through the next steps.
“Harper, how are you holding up?” my new attorney asks me after Ethan makes introductions.
“I’m all right. I feel like a complete idiot about the video that got leaked though,” I tell her.
“A judge won’t care. It’s not like it was a full-on sex tape.” She sounds so confident, I almost feel better. “Trust me,thoseare hard to come back from. Unless of course, you’re Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton. But still—ew.”
“That stupid kiss was the only thing that happened,” I say.
“Honestly, it’s none of my business. Ethan has filled me in on Brett’s … transgressions. The judge will carea lotabout his repeat offender status, so it really puts you in a power position. Having sex with the nanny while the children were playing nearby was a huge misstep. Leaving them alone to go to the bar—unforgivable. That’s your ace in the hole.”
