Work of Art (19 page)

And just then my phone rang.
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see it was Brandon, although a tiny part of me hoped it might be Ryan, and I was kicking myself for wanting that.

“
Speak of the devil,” I said before picking up my phone. “Hey Brandon.”

“Dude, you’re bailing on me?”

Oh Jesus.
What did Ryan do, call him immediately after I left the bar? Freaking gossipy little girls.

“What are you guys, like fourteen?”
I asked him.

“What?”

“Well, obviously Ryan called you to tell you all about how I told him off, which is why you’re calling me.”

“Ye
ah, I am. What the hell, Harper?! You told me you’d go with me. I don’t want to go alone, seriously. His family hates me.”

So Ryan really had called him immediately after I’d left. Had I gotten under his skin too?

“Well, they hate me more.”

“I corrupted their son,” he defended. “I had him screwing all the wrong girls for three years!”

“Yeah, well I was the whore who seduced him and got pregnant to trap him,” I countered and heard Kelly gasp from beside me.

She knew how closed off I was, especially about my past, so I think she was fairly shocked that I’d told a veritable stranger
my story, but in my defense, I hadn’t told Brandon. Ryan had told him.

I waved my hand to shush her when she started asking questions.

“Fine, you win, but either way, you have to go to that wedding with me, Harper. Please,” Brandon begged.

“I already told Ryan I wasn’t going, and I’m sure he doesn’t want me there after how I treated him.”

“On the contrary. He wants you there.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“It doesn’t matter. Do this for me. Come on, for as long as we’ve known each other, have I ever let you down?”

I laughed. “Brandon, I’ve known you for a week.”

“Answer the question, Harper. Have I ever let you down?”

“No. In the week I’ve known you, you’ve never let me down. But it doesn’t mean I want to go to the wedding.”

“Why not? This isn’t about his family. Screw them. We’ll just get wasted and pretend they don’t exist. Why don’t you want to go?”

“Because I just don’t.
Brandon, it’s weird. He was my boyfriend.”

I imagined him rolling his eyes
as he said, “In high school. Who gives a shit about that. And besides, this is not about Ryan, it’s about me and the fact that I need someone to keep me in line because I will probably try to either stop the wedding to save my friend or clock his bitchy, stuck-up sister and his arrogant, asshole father if left alone to my own devices.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t mind clocking Lisa myself if given the chance,” I told him. “She’s part demon, I’m convinced.”

“Shit, she’s not part. She’s full demon,” he said, and then he paused. “Do you really not want to see my boy again? Because if that’s the case, if you really can’t get past all that shit from over a decade ago, I won’t make you go to the wedding. I want you to go, but I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

I sighed. As much as I didn’t want to go, I sort of did. A part of me wanted to show Ryan’s family that the little whore they hated so much grew up and made something of
herself. And I was damn proud of what I’d accomplished.

And the fact that his mother didn’t want me there sort of made me want to go even more. But then there was Ryan and the fact that as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I wanted to get to know him as an adult, as the man he’d become.
I wasn’t sure I’d been fair to him at the bar. I’d let my emotions and my fear control my actions, and I was probably way out of line.

“I’ll go,” I finally said.

“Yes,” Brandon cheered. “Thank you. You rock, BF, and I will totally hug you when I see you in a few weeks.”

I rolled my eyes. “I think you missed your calling in life. You should have been a lawyer.”

“Nah,” he said, “I should have been a male escort. I would have been good at that.”

“Don’t you do that now and just not get paid for it?”

He laughed a big, raucous laugh. “Yeah, and speaking of that, I need to get back to the hot little honey I was working on at the bar before Ry called me. She’s bi-sexual, and I am so overdue for a threesome.”

“Wear a condom,” I encouraged, and he laughed.

“Sweetheart, I always do. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the phone and turned to face Kelly who was watching my face with amusement.

“What?”

She smiled. “Nothing. I just think it’s cool that you made a new friend.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said a little confused and a little annoyed with her comment.

“Stop it. You know what I’m talking about, and I think it’s good that you let Brandon in. He sounds fun, and he made you smile. I like seeing my Harper smile,” she said in a goofy voice.

I cheesed up a grin for her as she got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen.

“Can we order Chinese? I’m starving,” I ask, as I stretched out my legs in front of me.

“One step ahead of you,
babycakes,” she said, holding up the stack of menus she and Devin kept in a drawer in the kitchen.

“Love you.
Bless you. You’re amazing.”

“I know,” she said casually.

* * *

I went home later that night, exhausted and frustrated and so torn up inside. Of course reliving a dark past will do that to you.

Dropping my bag by the front door, I kicked off my boots and went and sat in the window seat in my living room. The city extended beyond me, and I found myself looking at the buildings around me wondering if Ryan lived in any of them. I imagined him going home to his, no doubt, fancy apartment where his perfect fiancé, who hadn’t tried to ruin his life at eighteen, probably made him homemade meals and kissed him sweetly and told him how she couldn’t wait to have his babies.

And I wondered then if he ever thought about me and his son that he gave up. I wondered if he regretted any of it, if he looked back now and wished he hadn’t been so rash, if he thought about what he’d been giving up that day when he’d sent me the letter waving his rights.

Would he think about that when his future wife got pregnant? Would he think, this isn’t my first child, or did he pretend like the baby we made wasn’t really his?

The Ryan I knew wouldn’t do that, but then again, the Ryan I knew also wouldn’t have left me high and dry and pregnant, and he had. It just goes to show, you never
really know anyone, and trust is a hard commodity to build. Especially when you’ve been burned by someone you thought you could trust.

But it didn’t stop the fact that I was thinking about him that night, and I was remembering when it had been good between us and how much he’d loved me.

Thirteen Years Earlier

“What are you doing, man?” Hammond Thompson asked Ryan just loudly enough so I could hear.

I hadn’t wanted to go to the party. I hated these kids,
and they were never nice to me anymore, but Ryan had spent two weeks hiding out with me, so I figured I owed him. I’d agreed to go to the party of one of his friends only after he promised they’d be nice to me.

“What do you mean?” Ryan asked, pulling me against his side and pressing his lips to my temple.

I watched Hammond’s eyes narrow as he observed the scene in front of him, and I knew what he was thinking.

“Dude, you’re here with Harper Connelly,” Hammond stage-whispered, and I rolled my eyes. I was literally standing right there.

“Yeah, so,” Ryan said, his hackles rising as he prepared to defend me.

We both knew what would happen when we went public. I’d been prepared for it, because I’d been receiving the brunt of their bullying and name-cal
ling for a month. I was so over it.

“So she’s a gold digger, man. Her father cleaned
out three mil from my dad. That’s not cool. He had to dip into my trust fund. Hell, I probably bought her that sweater she’s wearing.”

“Back off, Hammond,” Ryan said briskly, hugging me closer to his side. “Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that.”

I looked over at him in surprise. We’d only been dating for two weeks, and I knew how I felt about him, but I had no idea we were labeling things yet. His overture made my mouth turn up at the corners.

“Your
girlfriend? What are you stupid?” Hammond sneered.

Ryan stood straig
hter at that jab. “I’m not going to tell you again, Hammond, back the fuck away, and leave us alone, or I’ll level you.”

Hammond just laughed. “Carson, I’ve known you since the fifth grade, and you’ve never fought anyone in your life.”

Then, before I realized what was happening, Ryan’s fist flew out and connected with Hammond’s jaw, and Hammond was flat on his back in a second.

“There’s a
first time for everything, asshole,” Ryan said, stepping over Hammond’s prone body. Then he turned back to look at him. “And spread the word. Anyone who talks shit about her will have to answer to me.”

I followed him
as he walked away in a huff, afraid not to, as Hammond struggled to gain his wits about him again. Anger was radiating off of Ryan as he stormed into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator, yanking open the freezer door and wincing in pain.

“What’s wrong?” I was instantly by his side as he cradled his hand. “Here, let me,” I said, nudging him to the side so I could reach past him.

I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and a towel that was hanging over the handle of the stove, wrapped the freezing cold ice pack in the towel and took Ryan’s hand in mind. Gently, I placed the cold compress over his reddening skin and held it there.

I looked up after a few seconds to see
him gazing at me in wonder.

“What?” I asked, not sure what he
was so in awe of.

“You’re incredible. I love you.”

My eyes went wide. “You what?”

He chuckled as if his brain just realized what his mouth
had said, but he didn’t seem to care. He pulled the ice off his hand, wrapped his arms around me, pulled me close and kissed me like we were saying goodbye. But then he pulled back and looked at me.

“I love you,” he said gently. Then he kissed my nose.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I wasn’t ready to say it back, that was for sure. “Um, wow,” I said instead, and he chuckled again.

“I wasn’t expecting you to say it back. Take your time, say it when you’re ready, but just know that I’ll take down anyone who has anything negative to say about you. I mean it. No one talks to my girlfriend that way.”

“Thank you,” I told him, as I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly to me. “You’re so special to me, Ryan Carson.”

“And one day soon, you’ll love me,” he said confidently.

And I knew he was right. Just as he had been when he told me he would kiss me at the end of our first date, he was right about me loving him. And a few weeks later, I told him just that.

Ryan never had to defend me again after that , since word spread about his attack on Hammond, but it didn’t matter, because when you’re loved by someone like I was loved by Ryan Carson, digs from small-minded people don’t really register with you.

He loved me so deeply and so much that I never expected him to hurt me. But he did, and because of that, I was jaded against men. I had been guarded around them ever since, and I didn’t let relationships go on for longer than a few months. I didn’t want anyone getting attached to me, because I wouldn’t get attached to them.

Ryan had broken me, and I wasn’t sure I was even fixable.

Chapter Fifteen

Harper

I felt like banging the phone down, but
Paulie was standing in my doorway, so I needed to maintain my composure. I didn’t sensor myself much around my employees since, after all, this was a tattoo parlor, but I also didn’t want them to see me emotional. And I was emotional right at that moment.

I took a deep breath.

“Hey Paulie,” I said, turning to face him.

“Gracie said you wanted to see me?”

I nodded. “Yeah, come on in,” I said, gesturing to one of the two armchairs in my private room/office. He sat down and looked at me expectantly. “I need you to be in charge for a few days – again. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I have to go back out to Boston. There are some issues with my mother’s estate, and the lawyers need me to sign some papers. I know it’s last minute, but I sort of just want to put this behind me.”

I probably sounded like one of the most detached human beings on the planet, but
Paulie knew my mother and I hadn’t ever gotten along, so he either got it or he didn’t feel the need to press for details. And that was probably why I trusted him over anyone else.