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“God help me,” I whispered as I grabbed my clothes and practically ran out of the bathroom.
Chapter 14
Taking It Slow
Preston
After stopping by Harmony’s place so she could pack a small bag, we headed out of Boston and to my parents’ house.
“So you grew up out here, huh?” Harmony said as a few curls whipped around her face. She had insisted we drive with the windows down. It was an unusually warm day for November in New England. Sixty-five degrees and Harmony acted like it was a heat wave.
Sticking her hand out the window, she took everything in. Harmony gave me a sweet smile.
“Yes, I did.”
“Did you like growing up in a small town?”
Letting out a laugh, I nodded. “Yeah. There wasn’t a whole lot to do so we got in trouble a lot.”
Smiling, she kept her eyes on me as she asked, “What kind of trouble?”
Taking a quick peek at her, I shook my head. “Oh no. You’ll pump me for information, then my parents will pump you for any dirt that you have on me. This is a no-win situation for me.”
Laughing, Harmony dropped her head back against the headrest of the car. “I promise not to divulge any stories that you tell me.”
Reaching my hand over to her, I held out my pinky. “Pinky swear?”
Giggling, Harmony wrapped her pinky around mine. Shit. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the way her touch makes my stomach drop. I’ve never had that happen with any girl I’ve ever dated.
“I pinky swear.”
Taking in a deep breath, I slowly blew it out. “Well, once we cut the tail off of a skunk and threw it up under the seats of the school bus.”
“Gross! That had to have smelled terrible.”
Smiling, I nodded. “Yep. It did. It was my brother Weston’s idea. We all got kicked off the bus for the rest of the year. My mother was pissed because she had to take us to school and pick us up after.”
Shaking her head, Harmony laughed. “Tell me another one.”
I loved seeing Harmony smile. She seemed so relaxed and carefree. Like an almost twenty-one-year-old should act. Her eyes were beginning to get the light back in them and I was surprised by how much I wanted to make that happen.
“Let’s see. There was the time I talked my brother Finn into scaling down the wall of an old well.”
Harmony sat up. “You did not!”
Laughing, I nodded. “Yep. We tied a rope around him and Wes and I eased him down into the well.”
“Preston, what if it would have collapsed?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “I don’t know. I guess we would have dealt with it. It was pretty stupid, thinking back on it.”
Punching my shoulder, Harmony said, “Ya think? My gosh, your poor mother. You boys must have worried her sick.”
“Thinking back to all the shit my brothers and I did, we probably were the reason our mother went gray early.”
Pulling down the driveway to the house, I noticed Harmony had been rubbing her hands up and down her pant legs.
“Are you nervous, Harmony?”
Nodding, she turned to me with the sweetest smile I’d ever seen. “I know it’s stupid. I’ve never been over to any other family for their holiday dinner. Well, besides Trey’s family. Before Trey, I usually spent the holidays with Berti.”
Pulling up and parking behind my father’s truck, I turned to her and asked, “Who’s Berti?”
“Our maid. She was more like my mother than my own mother.”
My heart physically hurt for Harmony. “You spent the holidays with the maid?”
Nodding, she whispered, “Yep.” Then she smiled. “Well, when Jake was still home he would take me somewhere to eat. He had a credit card in my parents’ name so he would take Berti and me out to eat. It was fun. Once he left for college, I was alone. Until I met Trey.” Harmony glanced out the window and stared like she was deep in thought. “Sometimes I wonder if Trey wasn’t just a substitute for Jake. Someone who was there for me when I needed him.” Looking back at me, she gave me a weak smile. “That’s terrible to say, isn’t it?”
“Did you not love him?”
Her eyes lost that light and turned dark and sad again as she chewed on her lip. “I loved him, but I wasn’t in love with him, if that makes sense. I know he felt the same.” Letting out a gruff laugh, she shook her head. “He cheated on me, so yeah, I’m not even sure he loved me at all.”
Reaching over, I took Harmony’s hand in mine. “He loved you, Harmony.”
Smiling weakly, her eyes filled with tears. “We only got married because of TJ. We actually had broken up before I found out I was pregnant. I knew Trey wasn’t the one, and with us going off to college I wanted to start fresh.”
