One Mountain Away (38 page)

She followed him and set the coffee on the counter separating the living area from the kitchen. “I should never have said you couldn’t stand up to my mother. Your relationship was your business, and I’ll never know what really went on when I wasn’t there. As a kid, of course, I always wanted you on my side, but that’s the way a kid thinks. I’m sure Maddie wishes I would always agree with
her
about everything, too.”

He nodded, as if he was taking that in. “Then I can assume you also realize that you didn’t always see your mother as clearly as you think? That maybe the letter helped you see her a little differently?”

“I haven’t read the letter, and I hope you meant it when you said this is between my mother and me now, and you don’t want to be in the middle anymore.”

“I meant everything I said the other day, Taylor. Including my hope that you’re capable of forgiveness.” He held up his hand to stop her from continuing. “But I don’t want another argument. I’ve told you how I feel, and you’ve told me. The only person with no chance to be heard is your mother, and I hope someday she’ll be included, too. However, that’s up to you.”

“It has to be. I just hope…” She stopped, then decided to go on. “I hope she’s not going to come between us? Because, Dad, I feel manipulated. Here she gave
you
the letter—”

“A letter I suggested she write, Taylor. And giving it to me was nothing more than hope I could get it to you at the right moment. The mail’s not good about that. You can’t buy timing with a stamp.”

She knew better than to continue. She’d learned something new about her father. He had been so good to her that for years she had thought his love and patience were endless. But she had been wrong. He had limits, exactly the way everyone else did, and he had reached them.

If she followed that revelation to its natural conclusion, maybe Ethan really hadn’t been manipulated by her mother, as she had insisted. Perhaps he really had just been willing to overlook the bad parts of his marriage because he loved the good.

She couldn’t push the thought away.

“I don’t know what to think about all this,” she said, “but I do know I love you and don’t ever want to fight with you again.”

He didn’t embrace her, as she’d half expected. He smiled a little. “I hope there’s coffee to go with the bagels.”

“There is. The way you like it.”

“So tell me about Maddie.”

* * *

Harmony liked the way her new white blouse swished over the tops of her leggings-clad thighs, covering most of her hips. She liked the peekaboo panels of lace and the scooped neckline, and the fact that her expanding belly wasn’t visible. The blouse was a splurge, not a Biltmore Village boutique kind of splurge, but a consignment shop splurge, which was a lot more expensive than her usual Goodwill finds. She thought it was appropriate to wear something nicer tonight, since she and Davis were going out to dinner, and she was pretty sure he was going to give her the ring they had picked out last week.

Although she was supposed to be working, she’d switched her night off with one of the other servers, because tomorrow Davis was busy. He had joined a fantasy baseball league made up of other young professionals, and he claimed that missing Saturday’s beer bash with his new buddies was bad business. Davis was certain some of them would eventually become clients.

The time had arrived to introduce him to Charlotte. Before their engagement Harmony had always met him somewhere away from home. Now she was about to marry the man, and Charlotte was interested in meeting him, although the thought made her uneasy. She wasn’t sure why, at least not exactly. But she had a sneaking feeling Davis might be too impressed with her new living quarters and attempt to charm Charlotte, who might someday need a new accountant.

The thought gave her shivers.

A few minutes before he was due she went to look for Charlotte and found her in the bedroom closet, playing with the puppies. Velvet looked relieved to have someone else attract her brood’s attention, and she passed Harmony in the doorway, as if she planned to go for a quick stretch around the house. Harmony reminded herself to let the dog out before she left with Davis.

“I’m afraid it’s time to move them,” Charlotte said. “They need more space, and they’re so noisy at night it’s hard to sleep. I thought maybe the family room. I can put up two dog gates. What do you think?”

“I think you’re right. And it’ll be easy to take Velvet outside from there, and the puppies, too.”

Charlotte got slowly to her feet and brushed off her pants. “Maybe we can make the move tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

Charlotte led the way out, pulling the one gate they already had across the doorway to keep the puppies in. They began to yap in protest.

“I’ll let Velvet outside and put her back in if she’s willing to resume her maternal duties,” Harmony said. “Davis should be here soon.”

“Do you know where you’re going to dinner?”

“He said he was in the mood for barbecue.”

Charlotte couldn’t cover her surprise. “What do
you
eat at a barbeque restaurant?”

“Coleslaw. Beans, if there’s no pork in them. Barbecued tempeh, if I’m lucky.”

Charlotte didn’t have to say anything else. Harmony had been annoyed at Davis’s choice the moment she heard it, but she figured since he was paying, she really had no right to object. This was Asheville, where vegans were as common as azaleas, and there was always something she could eat on any menu.

Harmony found Velvet and took her outside. “They won’t be around forever,” she assured the dog. “And you’ll probably miss them once they’re gone.”

She wondered what would happen to Velvet once the puppies had been placed with puppy raisers. Without an explanation Charlotte had said she wouldn’t be able to keep the dog herself, although she would like to. Harmony wanted to keep Velvet, but when she’d mentioned the possibility to Davis, he’d said a flat no. Didn’t they already have enough on their plate, and weren’t they going to have enough new expenses and adjustments?

She was sure Marilla would find the dog a good home, but she hated the thought that gentle, beautiful Velvet would be living with strangers.

Back inside she let Velvet into the closet, where she was greeted with screeches of delight. By the time Harmony got back to the front of the house, Davis was just pulling into the driveway.

She ushered him inside before he knocked. He gave a low whistle, but not because she looked great—which she did—but because of the house. His gaze traveled over every feature. The staircase leading to the second floor, the dining room to the right, and the music room just beyond, with a baby grand no one ever played. He admired the art on the walls, even the ornate velvet drapes that always made Harmony think of Scarlett O’Hara and the dress she had made to impress the imprisoned Rhett Butler.

“Some place you landed,” he said. “Congratulations.”

Annoyance shot through her. “I had no idea what kind of house Charlotte lived in when I took her up on her invitation to spend that first night.”

He seemed to realize his mistake. “I didn’t mean it that way. But it
is
an amazing house.”

“Come meet Charlotte, then we can leave.” She couldn’t help herself. “And she
has
an accountant, maybe more than one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You can be your charming self for no reason other than showing off your excellent manners.”

Before Davis could reply, Charlotte came into the hallway. She extended her hand as Harmony made the introduction. “I understand you and Harmony are going to set a date for your wedding.”

Davis flashed his most congenial smile. “I hope to do that tonight.”

Harmony would have preferred “I hope
we
do that,” but she realized she was taking offense at everything Davis said or did. She had to rein herself in.

Davis and Charlotte chatted. She told him she knew the senior partners at his firm, who conducted some of Falconview’s business. He told her how much he liked what he could see of the house. She offered a tour, but he declined, saying he would love one another time.

In a few minutes Harmony was in the Acura beside him, driving toward the city. Clouds were moving in, and she was glad they’d left Charlotte’s when they had, to beat the approaching storm. “I thought for sure you’d take her up on the tour.”

“I knew all I needed to when I drove up. That house is worth at least a million, more likely two. And some of those antiques are priceless.”

Harmony thought they were priceless, too, but only because they belonged to the woman she had come to love like a mother. “You think like an accountant, Davis. I bet you were doing Charlotte’s taxes in your head.”

“I’d need a little more information.” He glanced at her. “You look great, by the way. New clothes?”

“New to me.” They chatted until they pulled up to a restaurant with a bright purple awning not far from Charlotte’s house.

The place was informal, but comfortable, with a sauce bar filled with interesting options, a wide-screen television and a menu with an entire section of vegetarian selections. Harmony began to relax.

“They’ve got great beer. What’ll you have?” Davis asked.

If Davis had accompanied her to either of her two clinic appointments, he would already know the answer. “I’ll have water with a slice of lemon,” she said. “Remember? I’m going to have your baby?”

A second passed before that registered. “I must have left my head somewhere else.”

He ordered a local brew for himself and the water for her, then they turned back to the menu. “Ribs are great here,” he said. He looked up and grinned. “But I know you won’t eat them. The vegetarian stuff looks good. I called ahead to be sure they had plenty of options.”

She smiled back and told herself that was good enough. When their drinks came, they ordered. She asked for a grilled veggie po’boy and a side salad, and Davis chose the ribs.

“I picked up something today,” he said, after their server had gone.

“A cold? Your mail?”

“A certain ring.” He patted his pocket.

Harmony was almost afraid to see it. She’d been in favor of something more unique to celebrate their engagement. She certainly hadn’t wanted a diamond. She wasn’t as political as some of her friends, but she knew that the way most diamonds were mined was unsavory, at best. She’d hoped for something mined right here in her adopted state. A ruby, perhaps, or even a garnet. But Davis had insisted a diamond was the most appropriate and had compromised by asking for one that was “responsibly sourced.” The jeweler had agreed, but he’d explained the diamond would be smaller and more expensive.

Even with that caveat, Harmony wasn’t anxious to wear the ring. She wasn’t quite sure why.

“Well, are you going to give it to me?” she asked.

“Here? No way. This isn’t the kind of place you give a girl a diamond she’s going to wear forever.”

Something about that sent a chill down Harmony’s spine. “Well, you chose the spot, Davis. Why choose a barbecue joint, then?”

“I told you, I want to announce our engagement at the country club dinner.”

“Announce it, sure, but I didn’t know you were going to give me the ring there, too.”

“Might as well, don’t you think? It’s as romantic as any place I know.”

“Romantic? Surrounded by your colleagues? The partners in the firm?”

“Crystal chandeliers. Soft music. Lobster—”

“I don’t eat lobster!”

“Then don’t eat it, I don’t care. I just think that’s the right place and the right moment to make our engagement official.”

She sat back, emotion roiling inside her, and despite her intent to hold it in, it escaped. “Well, you know what? I don’t. If you’re serious about this, then put the ring on my finger right now. Unless the pageantry and the witnesses are what it’s all about.”

His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m beginning to wonder if this engagement is all for show, Davis. Maybe the big reason you want to marry me is to impress everybody at your office and show them what a model citizen you are. Wife, house, car nearly paid off. The perfect guy to move up their career ladder.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. She couldn’t tell if he was mulling over what she’d said or trying to hold his temper.

“I’m bending over backward here,” he said. “Neither of us planned this baby. We used birth control, but it happened. So I’m trying to do what’s right. If I want to do it at the country club surrounded by people I like, then what’s the big deal? No, it won’t hurt my career if I get married. But how can that be a bad thing? Our life will be easier if we have money. Surely you’ve figured that out from your own experience.”

“I don’t want an easy life. I want a
happy
life. I want to marry a man I love, one who’s so excited to be with me he can’t wait to put the ring on my finger!”

“You’re hormonal.”

She couldn’t believe he’d said that. “I’m
what?
”

He backtracked. “You’re seeing plots where there aren’t any, Harmony. It’s understandable. This is huge for you, and I’m sorry if I’ve been insensitive.”

She waited for his hand to creep up to his pocket and pull out the ring, but it didn’t. He just smiled gently, as if that would be good enough.

“I want to be a lawyer,” she said. “I know I have a long way to go. A four-year college, law school, all while I’m raising a child. But I think I can do it.”

At the change of subject he looked like a man trying to climb a cliff with no handholds. “What?”

“How would you feel about being married to a professional, Davis? Someone with career aspirations? Someone who doesn’t give in every time a decision needs to be made? Somebody who’s busy and expects you to share in the housekeeping and child care?”

“I don’t see why we’re discussing this now. That’s way in the future.”

“How would you feel?” she repeated.

“Harmony, we can have a good life together, but I don’t see us being a two-career family, okay? At least not two professionals. I’m going to need support to get where I want to go, a wife who can take care of the basics for both of us. And I don’t see you as the career type. You love to cook and take care of people and make things with your hands. How does that add up to a career in law?”