Ryan
After our coffee stop at a drive through, I took Harper back to the lake. In the morning sun, defrosting from the coolness of the day, we walked along the shoreline, talking and laughing while finishing our coffees.
I saw the loneliness and sadness in her eyes last night and I had decided to keep her distracted for the day today. The grass beneath our shoes crunched from the frost, the morning fog still visible on the lake, barely, but still there.
I saw how Harper played with her blue scarf, tugging at it as she spoke to me, how she told me about herself.
I liked the fact that she was comfortable with me and I liked having her as my friend. It has been a long time since I actually made time to have friends, disconnecting myself from many people years ago.
I watched her intently as she described something to me about her past, who she was as a young adult.
The stories she told me about her life before Willow, her spending time with her friends, smiling widely at the memories as they resurfaced.
I didn't realise it but I was smiling too, watching her talk and laugh. I chuckled at a story about her and a friend of hers, sneaking out off a club through a window to stop some creep hitting on her friend and ditching the crowd she was with for the night, both walking down the main clubbing street of the capital till they found a shop open, selling ice cream and sitting on the footpath, eating them.
"There we were, both wearing skimpy dresses, high heels, immaculate makeup, sitting on the footpath eating ice cream like a couple of ten year olds." Harper laughed as we followed the shoreline.
"These past few weeks have taught me something valuable though." She said softly, a small and loving smile on her face.
"And what is that?"
"I've made many choices that I regret. And you helped me see that last night. We all make mistakes. But we learn. Maybe not the first time or the second. Hell, in my case it was the... eighth time. But out of everything I've done, I can't regret meeting Connor."
I frowned at her words, unsure on what she was getting at.
"I just can't regret it. He gave me my Willow." Then she turned to me. "Is that wrong to say? That I don't regret marrying my ex because he gave me my daughter?"
I relaxed and grinned. "No." I shook my head and saw how she relaxed as well.
Harper nudged at me, using her shoulder, a mischevious smile on her lips as she peeked up at me.
We kept walking, following the water meeting the sandy grass areas, in a comfortable silence.
Harper looked at peace as she looked around her, taking in the scenery. "Ryan? I really need to thank you."
"Whatever for?" I asked lazily.
"For everything. You have helped me so much more than you think." But Harper didn't say anything else.
I have noticed these past couple of weeks that Harper is happier, mainly since Willow started coming with her. Harper has only been working for three or four weeks now, but it feels a lot longer than that.
I felt a hand tug my arm and gazed over to Harper. "What's that over there?" She asked, pointing in the distance.
"The dam wall and the hydro power pump. About another kilometre away, the water and property is fenced off, letting every one know not to go there for safety reasons."
"Oh. So it is a dam?"
"Yes." I answered as we stopped walking and Harper looked back to where we started.
"Wow, we wondered off pretty far." She muttered before sitting down at a nearby tree.
I followed her, sitting on the grass as she sat upright, taking in the scene. "It's beautiful." Came her soft voice and I found myself smiling again, looking at her.
"Yes, it is."
"Thank you for the distraction." Harper told me, turning to me. "I really appreciate it."
"You don't need to thank me."
Harper smiled again, a genuine happy one that made her look younger. She moved closer to me, her legs under her as she looked up at me.
"Tell me something about you." She insisted at me, her eyes wide as she waited patiently.
I chuckled at her soft begging. "What do you want to know?"
Harper shrugged as she thought about it. "I don't know. Anything. What adventures did you get up to when you were eighteen? Where you a troublemaker? A heartbreaker? A party boy?" She teased at me, a grin on her lips as she bit down on her bottom lip.
I suppressed the emotional groan that wanted to come up.
"Don't you dare say that you concentrated on work."
I laughed and shook my head. "I'm surprised you haven't used the internet to find out." I told her, waiting for her reaction.
"That's one way, but then that will tell me things about you that you may not want me to know. I believe you will tell me if you want to." Came her reply before she grinned again. "Besides, I'm not a stalker."
I laughed at her saying that phrase, feeling content in the moment.
"So, are you going to tell me a story or two?" Harper asked, blinking her eyes at me.
*
We sat under that tree for a good hour, me telling Harper of my days when I thought I was invincible. She listened with rapt attention, laughing at the funny bits, her eyes lighting up.
When we finally got back to the car, our stomachs were growling and we went to a small coffee house, getting lunch.
We ate our sandwiches and icy cold drinks, despite the weather, laughing at each other's misfortunes of bad luck and bad timings.
I told Harper of the time I was twenty two, I went boating and how the boat capsized, we were stranded for two days on an upside down catamaran.
She told me of how Willow had the fire brigade come out to rescue her at her daycare when she was three, getting stuck in the fence. It was a terrible experience for her.
We stayed at the cafe for an hour before I drove her back home, only because Harper said she preferred to wear her joggers when standing and cooking and working.
"I'll see you in an hour anyway." Harper told me, leaning down through the open window of the passenger side.
"I know." I shrugged. "I could have given you a lift home later tonight."
"Thanks for today, Ryan. I had a great time." Harper told me. "I really enjoyed myself. Plus I have all this material on you to maybe blackmail you for a pay rise." She laughed, making me grin. "I'll see you soon." Then she tapped the top of my car, standing upright and going to her front door, digging through her bag, looking for her keys.
I waited till she was inside before driving away, a wide smile on my face as I thought back to today. It wasn't anything exciting but it was a great day. We spent most of the day talking, telling each other of our pasts, memories we both thought we have forgotten.
I drove home, completely happy, content plus a whole new feeling going through me. The first thing I did, however, was check on Liz.
Olivia was here already, making a fresh pot of tea for her and Liz as I went up the stairs.
Liz was sitting in her chair, trying to shuffle the cards, getting ready for her and Olivia's card game.
"Hi, Aunt Liz." I smiled widely at her, giving her a kiss on her cheek and taking the cards of her, shuffling them for her.
"Ryan! What a surprise, dear." Liz laughed as she placed her hands on her lap. "Tell me, Ry. How is the family? How is your wife and child?"
I looked up at Liz and instead of trying to correct her, I smiled widely at her, happy in my moment. "They are fantastic, Aunt Liz."
Harper
After dinner, Ryan and I continued talking like we were old friends that haven't seen each other in months instead of an hour and a bit. It was well after eight when I realised the time, not actually concerned. I didn't have Willow to drag to the car and Ryan and I were having a good time, just chatting.
But as nine rolled around, I called it quits, heading to my car, feeling tired. Hopefully, when I get home, my body will go straight to sleep and not stress about anything.
Willow rang again, said she was having fun and how Connor was teaching her how to fish and they all had a huge game of basketball.
Yet again I was surprised that Connor was putting in the effort but I was so happy that Willow was having fun. She still had Sunday night to go yet before returning home and I was torn about it.
Because as much as I loved that she was having fun and Connor spending time with her, I couldn't wait till she got back home.
I unlocked my car and slid my key in to the ignition. I prayed it would go because it was giving me a hard time earlier today to come to work.
I had to give the car credit though. It tried so hard to turn over, to get that engine revving, but it was a no go zone.
Slamming my hands on the steering wheel, I took a deep breathe.
"Oh flipping fudge nuggets!" I yelled, kicking the foot pedals and getting out, walking back to the estate.
I knocked on the door, unsure if it has been locked already and turned the handle as the door opened.
The lights in the kitchen were off, but the wall lamps in the hallway were still on and I stepped towards Ryan's study.
I gave a gentle tap on the door before opening it to find the room dark.
Feeling around for a light switch, I turned it on to see that the room was empty. Turning the light off, I went to the stairs, unsure on my decision.
I didn't want to search every room looking for Ryan, but I didn't want to yell his name out either, in case I woke Liz up. Instead, I dug in to my bag and took out my phone, going through my phone book till I found Ryan's name.
He gave me his mobile number the other day, in case I needed to ring him personally and I never really had a need to, till now.
The phone rang and after a couple rings, Ryan picked up. He still sounded cheerful.
"Hey. What's up? You aren't driving and talking are you?"
I smiled faintly. "No. I haven't left. Where are you?"
"Uh, in my, bedroom. Why?" I could hear through the phone, a door opening and before I knew it, Ryan was at the top of the stairs, coming down, his hand holding his phone against his ear. Obviously, he was dressed for bed because, well, he wasn't exactly dressed. All he had on were a cotton pair of boxers.
That was it. The rest was a suit.
His birthday suit that is.
I gulped, my hand that held my phone slowly went down.
"What's wrong, Harper?" He asked, concerned.
"Uh," I breathed out pointing to outside. "I was wondering, if you could give me a jump. A boost! Oh god. I mean, crap. My car. Yeah. Can you jumpstart my car."