EVERYONE IS QUIET. I look at the front door where Harp vanished from my eyes. I'm angry, but more than that I'm suffering because Harp is suffering. I want to disembowel the guy who said she wasn't a looker, who called her damaged goods. Anyone who sees Harp has to see how beautiful she is.
Everything I've said, done and waited for comes boiling down to this moment. I get up and Matt grips my arm but before I can say anything Am beats me to it. "Let him go."
Matt looks over at her and she stares at him with an unwavering confidence. Elise walks in cradling her son and gives Matt a sympathetic look. "He's who she needs."
He stares me down, nods then let's go. I look at both Am and Elise in gratitude. I stop at the woman I've called my second mother more times than I can count. My mind flashes with memories of how much Momma Collins had adored her little girl, how she would take Harp to every softball game and cheer her head off, how she would read Harp her favorite stories, and how she beamed with pride while holding out Harp for me to cradle when she was a newborn.
Why did she become like this? What happened?
I crouch down next to her chair with my eyes stuck to the floor. "I'm insanely in love with your daughter."
The woman with the shocking, heartbroken eyes stares down at me and swallows as her tears freefall. "What?"
My eyes slowly connect with hers. "I love Harp and I won't tolerate anyone, not even her own mother, saying those things to her. I need you to understand that right now because if you don't I'll make sure we don't come for these dinners anymore."
I get up and turn to her a little. "I know if Harp catches wind of this that she'll very possibly end up castrating me but still I'd rather have that than her have to sit through something like this again. I'll make sure she's too distracted to even realize we missed them."
Matt chokes on his food and start coughing like a mad man.
Yep I said that to my future mother-in-law.
Her eyes widen. and I see fear, true fear. But I don't have time to feel bad.
I leave.
Knowing exactly where Harp will be, I jog towards the old baseball field her dad used to play with her at. I see that flaming copper hair blazing in the night as she smashes balls to the outfield. When I get closer I see her leg is trembling. I run up and stop the bat's swing before it makes contact, letting the ball thud against the hard dirt.
"Easy there, Firecracker. You've pushed your leg passed its limit."
She tries yanking the bat out of my grasp. "What do you want Owen?" My grip is steady and she barely moves it making her frustrations grow. "I came out here to be alone."
"You can't possibly believe what that moron or your mom said." My voice is stern and she takes a harsh swallow.
"Please."
The sorrow laced in her voice hurts me to the point I've reverted back to my seventeen-year-old self. Helpless and not knowing how to comfort her. At the time I made stupid jokes and got her to laugh, but I know it won't help this time.
"I chased after his car." My fist clenches the bat as she holds it lifelessly. "I sat on the steps while he packed his bags with Matt holding me as we both listened to mom beg him to stay. When dad's hand touched the door handle Matt left me and ran up stairs. He blasted his music so loud it shook the whole house." She gives a dead laugh. "Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. I've never been able to listen to that song since."
I try taking the bat away from her but she still holds on. I watch her arm muscles tense as she's continues staring out into the night as if she's watching her dad's car leave all over again. "I ran so hard thinking that maybe if he saw me in his rearview mirror chasing after him so desperately then he would stay. I didn't even stop when his car finally disappeared, I just changed my direction. I came here. The bat and balls we had left from earlier that day were still around. I had no idea that was his way of saying goodbye."
Tears are streaming down her face and I take the bravest steps I have ever made. I'm so close to her that her shoulder hits my chest every time she breathes. She chokes back when she tries to speak then gives herself a few seconds. "All I wanted was to be alone and hit to my heart's content but then you came with pity in your eyes." She grips the bat and hides her face from me, "I hated seeing all those faces, no matter where I went I got those eyes staring at me. I was the girl he didn't want. That's all anyone saw me as." She allows me to rest my head on hers. "So why would anyone else want me? Now, I'm not just broken inside, but out too."
"No, you're not," I whisper, "You had healed from your dad, I saw it, but what you went through... sometimes circumstances reopen old wounds, even ones that have healed. I know you'll get through this because you're strong."
"Not anymore!" She shouts and again tries to rip the bat out of my grasp but I hold strong.
"Harp, you have always had this uncanny ability to take whatever bricks life or people threw at you and catch them like you do in softball. Yeah, at times you'd miss, but you'd always pick it back up and push through, get tougher."
"Just stop Owen!" She cries out in pain, "I can't do it anymore. I'm different now, ever since the explosion and losing..." She can't speak their names and I see the torment in her eyes as she steps back, still holding the bat... and still not looking at me.
"Then let me do it for you."
Her body freezes and her breathing is heavy. "You left me just like him, how can I trust you?"
I grit my teeth and lose my patience. I tug on the bat and it easily falls out of her hands. I hoist her up and her back collides with the fence and I trap her with my body. I clench my teeth as my arms reach out and my hands grip the fence because she feels so good flush against me. "This is what I wanted to do to you when you came out of your little red car and stomped over to me."
I pause and stare her down, even though her eyes are glued to my chest pressing against hers. "You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I couldn't stop looking at you, teasing and wanting you. I wanted to pin you against my car and kiss you until I stole every bit of oxygen out of you." A deep chuckle vibrates in my chest as I remember that dumb pool party back in high school. "I wanted to do it back when we were arguing at the stupid pool party. The idea of one of my moron friends getting the chance to feel you up made me so angry I thought I was going to lose it." I dig my face into her hair until my lips touch her ear making her stiffen. "All I could think about when you yelled at me was shutting you up by sticking my tongue down your throat."
I move back so my eyes can stare her down. "Look Harp, I don't regret going away to college and living in Alabama. I needed to grow up and mature. I do regret not keeping in touch with you, but God... I was a scared kid who realized he was in love with his best friend's sister and like your mom I thought I was doing what was right for you and I'm sorry for that but I'm here now."
Her face reddens and she licks her lips dangerously, but then her shocked face morphs into an angry one. "No! You can't spoon feed me lies to make me feel better. You have no right!" She yells and points a finger to my chest. "I've been in love with you since middle school, middle school. You can't stand there and tell me you cared about me back then. There was no way, you were constantly dating around and never looked my way."
I slide my hand through her locks cupping the back of her head and she sucks in a sharp breath as my mouth slides up her neck . "I am and was, but I was young and stupid. I had no idea how deeply I cared about you until I was under a broken-down church holding a little girl's hand wondering if I was going to die without ever seeing my best friend's gorgeous freckled faced sister again."
She tries to cut me off but my gravely voice stops her. "All it took was you kissing me to give me all the ammunition I needed."
Her brows pinch together and she turns away from me whispering, "I think what you may feel for me is pity, not love."
Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, this woman.
My arms fall away from her and I swiped my hand down my face in frustration because I suck at this. I know what Harp is doing. She's scared and pushing me away. It's how she copes.
Well not this time Firecracker.
"Look at me Harp!" I hold out my arms and shout so loud I'm sure I caught the attention of the whole neighborhood behind the little baseball field. Her faces morphs into panic as people start poking their heads out to see what's going on and she shushes me heatedly. "Because I am about to scream at the top of my lungs and let everyone know just exactly how I see you, to get you to understand that I am crazy, insanely and hopelessly in love with you."
"Look at me Owen," She hisses at me as she pushes her hand up and down the side of her body. "I'm nothing like the women you've dated. There's no way..."
"You're sexy as hell!" I bellow out as my chest expands. "Do you know how much I want you every single time I lay my eyes on you. How incredibly beautiful you are. Gosh, Harp all the guys you went on dates with were most likely intimidated because you're so confident and know what you want." I grip her chin until her eyes have nowhere to look but mine. "But you can't see that because your father failed you and put a scar in you that makes you blind to how you are so much more than you think." Her face reddens and my eyes desperately bore into hers because I need to her to understand this. "But I won't. I will spend the rest of my life showing you how beautiful, strong and amazing you are, to the point every single insecurity you or anyone has set in you fades. I will work tirelessly to make you see that you're the most determined, stubborn and confident woman I know and that no one can compare to you."
She starts whipping her hands up and down as if to quiet me down while looking around to see people trying to listen in but I don't stop. "I'm yours Harper Collins, whether you have me or not, every single piece of me is yours and I want you so much I physically can't stand it anymore. I--."
She cups her hands around my mouth and there's silence for a few seconds as she glares at me, but then that wicked daring smile of hers graces that beautiful freckled face. "Are you sure you're up for the challenge? I've heard I'm quite a firecracker."
I step into her my chest bumping into hers as I pull her into me making her gasp. "I know I am."
I put my forehead against hers and breath her in as our breaths mingle. She grips my wrists as if chaining me to her. "Are you going to kiss me now?"
"Only if you promise me one thing?" I whisper out huskily.
"Anything."
"Let me pick you up so you give your leg the break it needs."
"Deal," she answers with a gorgeous smile that I can't see but feel on my lips into the depths of my bones.
I tug her to me and cover her mouth with mine in a burning need that's settled right into the pit of my stomach . As soon as her lips move with mine that gut-wrenching desire only grows, which is something I've never felt before in my life. I groan. My body a thousand degrees from her warm lips and...
I can't have enough of her.
My hands run from her cheeks, down her neck, along her slender shoulders, down her spine and up her arms. It's like I have to trace every single speck of her, every curve, divot until my hands have imprinted on her completely.
I pull away only to go back for more because her plush lips have this addictive bittersweet apricot taste to them I can't refuse. She gives a perfect little moan that's so unlike her it makes the fire inside of me roar and all my deepest thoughts to whisper on her lips between each kiss.
"I'll take you out on a date you'll actually enjoy."
I swiftly pick her up and her legs wrap around me. "I'll make you forget about any man who came before me." I state boldly, as each breathy promise I give her is sealed between our fervent kisses.
I stop and deeply whisper the last thing to her. "But most of all. I'll buy you a freaking cat in the hat mug every year for your birthday."
She laughs brushing her lips against mine. "I told you already, I only want that one."
I chuckle, "Don't care. I need you to know how far I'm willing to go for you, but I do have a very selfish request to make if I'm going to do all those things for you."
The corner of her lips lift so beautifully. "There always is with you."
I feel the muscles on my face become tense and serious. "Tell me I'm it for you, that you're mine."
Her expression melts as her fingers gently trace my jaw and cheeks. "I always have been Owen."
Her arms circle around my neck and her fingers dig into my hair. I let out a soft groan and claim her mouth hard this time with urgency. "Thank God." I growl out.
I continue to hold her and she fits so perfectly in my arms. We move in synch with our lips and all I can sense is her. Every movement of her against me, every longing sigh deep within her that reverberates in me and every purposeful movement of her hands and fingers sends me straight to heaven. Her scent overwhelms me and her taste fastens me to her.
She pulls away from me and holds my face with her hands "I love you Owen."
Our breaths are heavy and I kiss the spot between her ear and jaw. "I love you Firecracker."
I swing her until she's cradled in my arms and I take her over to the bench setting her down crouching in front of her. "Matt's going to flip."
"Nah, he's past that now."
Her eyes widen as realization dawns on her. "That's why you two were fighting?!"
I grin wickedly at her tracing my thumb up her perfect thigh, making her shiver. "It's still going to take him some getting used to though, specially since now I don't have to keep my hands off you."
She smacks my hand playfully. "Hey now you don't get free reign."
I lean over her and start moving my mouth down her throat. "You sure about that."
She whimpers and I pull away slightly to see heat swirling in her eyes. I grip her thigh making her bite down on that tasty lip of hers. "Second order of business babe." I squeeze it a little tighter and whisper darkly. "The mayor's son. Give me his name."
She quirks a bold red brow. "No way is that happening."
"Fine. I'll google it."
She rolls her eyes. "And what do you plan on doing? You may end up having to arrest me for breaking his nose."
"As pleasing as putting you in cuffs sounds, that's not going to happen."
She smacks my shoulder hard making me wince. My woman is strong. "I don't need your overprotection involved in this relationship."
I laugh. "Sorry but that comes wrapped up in this glorious piece of man." I stand up and take my phone out of my back pocket. "Now, do I need to google his name or are you going to tell me?"
A/N: This was a hard one to edit. So much has been building up to this point and I hope it didn't disappoint. How do you all think Owen did? Let me know in the comments.
~ Living Red