“I accept the idea of the wedding.” Sort of. “It’s the location I object to.”
Harlow stared at her blankly. “The backyard? We’ve talked about this a million times.”
“It’s complicated.”
“How?”
“Per the divorce, I got to keep the house, as long as I paid for it. The mortgage and upkeep. But only until six months after Austin turns eighteen. Then I either sell the house or buy out your father. Austin turned eighteen two months ago.”
Harlow’s look of concern faded. “Then buy out Dad and keep the house.”
“I don’t have that kind of money. I’d have to refinance, and I don’t want to.” Robyn didn’t mention how she’d never wanted to buy it in the first place. “It would be very expensive. Pretty much everything I have would be tied up in the house. That’s a scary place for me to be, financially.”
“But you have to.” Harlow stared at her. “Mom, I want to get married at the house. In the backyard. It’s what we’ve talked about forever.”
“When you were a little girl.” A thousand lifetimes ago.
“No, now. It’s what I want, and Kip’s totally into it. You can’t sell. Why would you even consider it?” Her gaze narrowed. “This is about moving in with Jase, isn’t it?”
“This has nothing to do with him.” Of that she was sure.
“Then why make such a big deal about this? Get some line of credit or something. The house is worth a lot. After the wedding, you can list it.” She shoved her phone in her pocket. “I can’t believe you’d sell the house without warning me or anything. That’s so selfish. I’m your only daughter. This is the only wedding we’re going to plan together, and you don’t even want me to have it at the house.”
Tears filled her eyes. “How could you?”
With that, Harlow ran out of the apartment, slamming the front door. Robyn stood in the silence, knowing the fight was far from over and dreading what would be the next of many, many rounds.
* * *
Harlow finished typing up the notes from her call with a client who wanted to charter a full-day sail. The two kids under the age of five might be a problem, she thought. Depending on whether they were prone to motion sickness. Adults generally knew if they could handle the movement, but kids could go either way.
Still, an eight-hour sail would be fun, especially if Austin wanted to crew. She glanced at the clock and knew he would be docking anytime now. She would ask him when he was back. She picked up her phone. Still no text from her mother, which surprised her. Why hadn’t she heard something? An apology or an offer to talk?
She shook her head. Her mom was being ridiculous. For years, she and her mom had talked about her getting married there. They’d joked about an after-the-reception pool party. They’d agreed on a valet service to handle the cars.
Harlow had always planned on getting married at the house, and now her mom wanted to sell the place out from under her?
“Don’t think about that right now,” she murmured. Crying at work was never a good idea. She sucked in a breath and turned her attention to her email. She’d barely opened the first one when Zafina, Kip’s twin sister, walked into the office.
Like Kip, Zafina was tall, with dark hair and eyes. She was assistant manager at a local waterfront restaurant. Harlow hadn’t gotten to know her as well as she would like but figured there was plenty of time.
“Hi,” she said, circling the desk. “You’re a surprise. Were we supposed to meet about something?”
Zafina frowned. “No. I’m here to see Cord.”
Her dad? That made no sense. “Why?”
Just then her father walked out of his office. “Zafina!”
There was something in the way he said the name. Something that—
Before Harlow could figure out what was going on, Zafina stepped into her father’s embrace, and then they kissed. On the mouth! As if they were—
“Dad?”
Cord kept his arm around Zafina. “What?”
The obvious explanation kept forming, then slipping away, because it was impossible to consider. He couldn’t. They couldn’t. Only it seemed...
“You’re dating?”
Zafina gave Cord a hurt look. “You said you’d told her.”
“I said I was going to. It’s no big deal.” Her father grinned. “Zafina and I are a thing. Isn’t it great?”
Harlow stared at them, trying to understand. Since the divorce, her father had dated a lot of younger women. Harlow figured that after nearly twenty years of marriage, he wanted to play the field. But this was different. And hard to grasp.
“You’re dating my fiancé’s sister and you didn’t tell me?”
“Don’t make it sound like that, kiddo.”
“But you kept it a secret.” And it was gross, but she didn’t say that.
“We wanted to be sure it was the real thing.”
No. No way. The real thing? What did that even mean?
Zafina stepped toward her. “I know this is a surprise, but I like your father very much. He’s a good man, and we’re happy.”
Like as in like? No. Just no. “There’s a big age difference.”
“Hey,” Cord said with a laugh. “I’m not that old.”
“It’s twenty years.”
“I’m fine with it,” Zafina told her.
Harlow was not. “But you’re Kip’s sister, and Kip and I are engaged. And now you’re dating my dad?”
Zafina smiled. “Isn’t it great?”
Not really.
“We’re grabbing drinks and an early dinner,” Cord said.
For one heart-stopping second, Harlow had the horrifying thought that he was going to invite her and Kip to join them—like a double date. Fortunately, all he said was, “You’ll lock up for the night?”
“I will. Not a problem.” She faked a smile. “You kids have fun.”
They left. Harlow stood by her desk, trying to understand what had just happened. Her father was dating her fiancé’s twin sister. And it was “the real thing.”
No, she thought again. This was bad, and she couldn’t even mentally articulate why. Her brain simply couldn’t grasp the information.
Deciding ignoring what she couldn’t understand would work, at least in the short term, she started checking on the boats. She made sure the cabins were locked and the lines secured. Just as she reached the last boat, the final charter for the day made its way into the marina. Austin stood on the bow, ready to jump onto the finger pier to tie off. Harlow waved him back, then caught the line.