He blanched. “Robyn, you’re taking this all wrong. Or maybe it’s me. I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m sorry. I’ve hurt your feelings. Please, can we start over?”
She picked up her bag. “We can, Jase. We can go back to the moment when we met. It was at Mindy’s store. Do you remember? Let’s go back to when you asked me to lunch. This time, I’m going to say no and then pretend we never met.”
She rose and walked out, more grateful than she could say that she’d driven herself. She handed her ticket to the valet, asked him to hurry, then waited for her car. Jase didn’t walk outside. A good thing, considering that by the time she got into her car, she was already crying.
seven
HARLOW HOSED DOWN the sailboat, washing the salt water from the deck. The familiar chore allowed her to get lost in her thoughts, which was usually okay, just not today.
She missed her mom. She’d stopped by the house a couple of times, but her mother hadn’t been home. Texting was the obvious solution, but somehow that felt like surrendering. She knew Kip would tell her that communicating with her own parent shouldn’t be measured as a win or a loss. While in theory, she agreed with him, the need to stand strong, to be the one in the right, was impossible to ignore. Which left her feeling sad and lonely.
She and Enid had planned to hang out the previous evening, but her friend had picked up another shift at the restaurant, leaving Harlow with no one to help her through the multiple crises in her life. In her head, she knew her BFF had to save money for medical school, but her heart felt unloved.
Harlow turned off the water and coiled the hose. She checked that the sailboat was ready for the next charter and the door to the cabin was locked before heading back to the office, where she would face yet another email from the lawyer helping her with the kayak company purchase. At some point she was going to have to pin down her father so they could move forward. But he was being elusive, and she wasn’t up to fighting. Not today.
She scanned her emails, added a couple more charters to her calendar, then wandered into her father’s office. He was typing, but looked up and smiled when he saw her.
“How’d it go today?” he asked.
“Good. They enjoyed themselves and want to book an overnight for next week.”
“I like that.”
She slid into the chair on the visitor side of his desk and tried to see her father as a stranger would. Cord was forty-six, but he looked younger. He was fit, tanned, with an easy smile. She guessed he was good-looking. The dad-factor made it hard to judge. He always had a girlfriend, most of them a lot younger, which hadn’t bothered her until he’d started dating Kip’s twin.
“How’s it going with Zafina?” she asked.
He frowned. “Why would you ask?”
“I don’t know. I just wondered. You two met when? At my graduation party?”
“No. We met when I had dinner with Kip’s parents back in March. She was there.”
Harlow grinned. “That must have been awkward, Leah and Zafina at the same dinner. They don’t seem as if they’d like each other.”
“I didn’t take Leah. It was just the four of us. Zafina and I hit it off. After Kip’s parents left the restaurant, we went to the bar and made a night of it.” He smiled. “And that was all she wrote.”
“Wait, what? You started dating Zafina in March?”
He nodded, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet on his desk. “That’s nearly four months with her. I hadn’t realized.” He grinned. “That might be a personal best.”
“But you didn’t break up with Leah until the end of April. I remember because she called me crying about it. She wanted me to change your mind. As if.” She stared at him. “Wait. You were cheating on Leah with Zafina?”
Her father’s expression turned smug. “I like to keep my options open.”
“Dad, that’s awful.”
How could he? Good men didn’t cheat. Only losers did. Her dad was a decent guy—she’d always believed that. He was her father.
“Hey.” His feet slammed to the floor. “Don’t look at me like you’re disappointed.”
“I am disappointed. I may not like all your girlfriends, but you should at least treat them like human beings. It’s bad enough that you’re dating my fiancé’s sister, but now this? I don’t understand. Is this who you really are?”
She had more she wanted to say, but before she could get her mad on, Austin stuck his head in the office.
“Dad, we have an appointment.”
Cord looked at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve asked for some time to talk to you. You’re always busy, so you said to make an appointment. I did. For now.” He pointed to the computer. “It’s on your calendar.”
Cord brushed him off with a wave of his hand. “This isn’t a good time.”
Harlow stood. “I’m out of here. You two go ahead.”
Austin stepped into the room, but Cord shook his head. “No. I’m not doing this now. I have to go.”
To cheat on Zafina, too? But Harlow only thought the question.
Her father tucked his cell phone into his shirt pocket and grabbed his sunglasses. “Harlow, lock up before you go. Austin, we’ll talk another time.”
With that he headed out of the building. Harlow watched him go, feeling awful about what she’d just learned.
“He’s being especially jerky today,” she said.
“I got that. What were you talking about?”
“He admitted he cheated on Leah with Zafina. For like two months. I can’t accept that. Our dad’s not supposed to be like that.”
Her brother shrugged. “Yet he is.”
“Why are you so calm? This is disgusting and upsetting and a lot of other words I can’t remember right now. My stomach hurts, and I want to hit him. Where’s your emotion in this?”
“You’re surprised by him.”
There was something in the way Austin spoke—as if he were the older sibling, waiting for her to catch up.
“So you knew?”
“Not the specifics, but Dad’s not the faithful type.”
“Since when?”
Austin turned away. “Since he got his freedom.” He walked out of the room. “See you tomorrow.”
“Austin, wait. What do you know that I don’t?”