Rescuing Harlow by Aubree Valentine

Chapter 12

Harlow took a deep breath and unlocked the winery doors. She spent an entire week avoiding her family outside of her brief encounter with her mom.

In that time, she set up a meeting with a lawyer and financial advisor like Zane suggested. The lawyer was able to see her within two days and filled her in on all the ins and outs of her trust, the house and what would happen over the next few weeks when she turned twenty-two. The financial advisor on the other hand was booked out a few weeks, leaving her with some time to think over her options and see what his advice may be.

None of that helped prepare her for facing her own family again though. There were so many decisions, so many things that she still hadn’t figured out and the hurt that came with knowing the truth was still fresh.

Luckily, Scarlett was handling the first vineyard tour which gave Harlow a solid forty-five minutes to herself, in what she considered her element. This place had always had a way of soothing her soul.

She flipped on the lights then opened each blind on the windows to let the sunlight flow as the earthy smell of the wine shop seeped into her soul.

“Well, look who decided to show up today…” Scarlett’s voice startled her.

“Lettie,” Harlow gasped with a hand over her heart. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” Scarlett laughed nervously. “Actually, I wanted to catch you before the tour started, just to apologize. For not reaching out all last week and for being a complete bitch at dinner. I’m really sorry. I’ve been really critical of Zane lately, too. It’s not fair.”

“Apology accepted. I appreciate you making the effort to talk to me about it. I think there’s some more we need to talk about, too. Not so much about us, but about me.”

“If it’s about the whole, Dad isn’t your dad thing, I already know. Doesn’t change the fact that you’re my sister,” Scarlett looked at her watch. “I really have to go before I’m late. We can catch up later, I promise.”

“Love you!”

“I love you, too, Sissy,” Scarlett called over her shoulder.

Well, that went better than expected, Harlow thought to herself.

She floated around the store a little lighter on her feet as she ran through her mental checklist. Satisfied that everything was in place and ready for patrons, Harlow plopped down on the stool behind the register and scrolled through her phone while she waited.

A text from Zane buzzed through a little after nine a.m.

Zane: How’s it going so far? Thinking of you.

Harlow: Saw my sister so far. She apologized. And said she already knows about Dad/Landry. So that’s promising. No sign of Mom or Dad yet but that’s not unusual.

Zane: Good. I’m glad it hasn’t been so bad. I’m here if you need me.

Harlow: I love you.

Zane: Love you too, pretty girl.

She was still smiling to herself as the first vineyard tour made their way into the storefront and started exploring all their bottled wines.

It was closer to closing time before she ran into her dad. Harlow braced herself for more of his anger when he stepped into the back office where she was locking up the transaction receipts for the day.

“Harlow.”

“Hi.”

“Your mother said she told you about him…about Landry.”

It was damn near impossible to get a read on his mood, so Harlow did her best to play it cool. “She did.”

“I guess you’re all set for life now. You won’t be needing us anymore.”

“What? Is that what you think? That I don’t need you, or mom, for that matter?”

“Why would you? You’ve that boy Zane. A baby on the way. A house and a trust fund. What could you possibly need from us?”

“Oh, I don’t know. My family? Love. Support. That’s what I need from you. I need you to accept that I’m having a baby. Your grandchild. And that I’m in love with Zane.”

“My grandchild? From a child that’s not even my blood?”

Harlow swallowed back the tears that wanted to fall. She would not let him make her cry. This time.

“A child that you have claimed as your own for twenty-some years. A child that you kept secrets from. A child that has loved you and still loves your stubborn, asshole self. Why? Because you’re the only Goddamn father I’ve ever known! You’re the father that raised me. Wasn’t it your idea to keep all this quiet? Pretend that Landry didn’t exist because you thought it would hurt me? Newsflash, it still fucking hurts, but there’s a big piece of me that gets why you and mom did it. But I will not stand here and let you put me down or disown me suddenly because I finally know the truth. That’s not what I want.”

“Is that what you want?” Mila joined their conversation and pointed a finger right at her husband. “Because the man I married back then, the man who set up all hours of the night with my child while she cried when she was teething or had a belly ache. The man that sat through every dance recital. Who taught our girls everything there is to know about wine? He would never turn his back on his daughter. Not Harlow and not Scarlett.”

“Mom, it’s okay. You don’t have to keep defending him,” Harlow tried to settle her mom.

“Ooh, I’m not defending him. I’m letting him know he better think long and hard about what it is he wants because if he is walking away from you, then he’s walking away from me too. I will not live the rest of my life with someone who is so bitter and cold that I barely recognize him.”

Never had there been a moment in Harlow’s life when she wanted to applaud her mother more than she did right now.

“Maybe, you two should really be the ones talking right now,” Harlow slowly backed out of the room. “I’ll be staying at Zane’s from here on out. Daddy, if you decide this is the life you want, you know where to find me. But I meant what I said, I need your respect and support. I won’t settle for anything less.”

Trusting that her parents would be in the office for at least a little longer, Harlow stopped by the house long enough to gather up more of her belongings before she made the short trek to Zane’s. At this point, there wasn’t much left in her childhood bedroom for her anyway but if she really was staying, then she needed more clothes and some other essentials.

Zane was still at work when she came in, so she had time to sort through what she’d thrown in her bag and put it all away. She was sure he’d notice that his closet was extra full, but she could guarantee that he wouldn’t mind.