Rescuing Harlow by Aubree Valentine
Chapter 19
Harlow waddled into the small restaurant where Mickie invited her to meet for lunch and looked around. She spotted the woman waving to her at a table near the back of the restaurant. Harlow waved back and headed in her direction.
“Hi.”
“Harlow,” Mickie stood and welcomed her with a hug. “I’m so glad we could meet up. How are you?”
“Good. I’m good,” Harlow rubbed her ever growing belly. “Do you mind if I leave my purse here and run to the ladies’ room really quick? I’m afraid I’ve reached that stage where my bladder is a trampoline and all that.”
“Of course, go. Can I order you a drink a while?”
“Unsweet tea would be great.”
“You’ve got it.”
Mickie sat back down while Harlow went to the restroom.
There was a glass of tea waiting for her when Harlow returned.
“This place is cute. I haven’t been here before. I mean, not that I’ve been to many places in San Antonio yet. With Zane working long hours and not many friends in the area and all that,” Harlow rambled while she pursued the menu.
“I used to come here all the time,” her voice trailed off, “with my sister.”
“Oh?”
“I met Cruz for the first time here, too. One of the last times I had lunch with my sister.”
“Your sister, she’s…”
“She passed away. During Cruz’s undercover op. Ironic, huh?”
She was not going to cry at lunch. No matter the hormones or the sadness that lingered in the other woman’s eyes. “That’s a lot.”
“It is. The thing is, Cruz tried to save her but Angel, she couldn’t see what was right in front of her face. I inserted myself right in the middle of it and nearly blew an entire mission to take down the Hermanos Rojos MC.”
“Wow,” Harlow looked at the other woman in shock.
“Shit. I’m sorry. That’s probably not the best introduction, right?”
Harlow let out a nervous laugh. “I’ve witnessed worse. Sounds to me like you’ve got a really good understanding of this whole FBI gig though. Like a front row seat.”
“For what it’s worth, that’s not the way I’d recommend going about learning,” Mickie admitted.
She understood what the other woman meant. Harlow had zero plans to throw herself into the action just to get answers. “Does Cruz talk about it? Zane says it’s mostly training right now but that’s all he really tells me.”
Mickie shrugged. “Sometimes. There are a lot of things he can’t tell me. And there are always things he won’t tell me. We just have to trust them. And trust their training.”
“That’s what Zane keeps telling me. I feel like there should be a wives club. Or a support group for us, you know?”
“Well, I don’t know about one sanctioned by the FBI, but Cruz - he has this group of friends, more like family, if I’m being honest. And they all have girlfriends or wives. They’re loud and overwhelming when they’re all together, but it’s the closest thing we’ve got.”
Their waiter arrived and took Harlow and Mickie’s lunch order. “Can I get you ladies anything else?”
Mickie looked to Harlow
“We’re good for now. Thank you,” she answered.
“Anyway. I think my real point to all of this is, don’t take it too personally when Zane doesn’t talk to you about his day at work.”
“Noted.” Harlow smiled and sipped her tea.
“How’s the puppy doing? That proposal was literally the sweetest thing.”
“Bailey is great. She’s super protective of her human sibling already. A little hyper but we’ve got a nice yard for her to run around in. Zane walks her most of the time but she’s so great on the leash that I can walk her once a day or so too.”
“Aww. That’s great. She’s totally adorable. I’m sure Cruz would lose his mind if we got a dog.”
“Believe it or not, I was completely surprised when he walked around that corner with her. Danielle, my soon to be sister-in-law, works for an animal rescue. The first time I asked her about a dog, Zane was not on board.”
“Hmm. Seems you may be the persuasive type,” Mickie joked. “I like it.”
“Nah. Zane’s more the type that just needs time to come around to things.”
“I know that type well.”
When their server returned with their food, the two women continued talking and getting to know one another. Mickie reminded Harlow a lot of Scarlett. Determined. Said what was on her mind but also had a tender heart that sometimes got them hurt.
“You know. If you’re up for dessert, there is this adorable pop-up bakery I spotted about a block away. I looked them up when I got here, and they’ve got a little bit of everything. What do you think?” Mickie asked after they paid their check.
“Ooo. Dessert. That sounds awesome,” Harlow stood and stretched her back. “The weather’s great too, up for a walk?”
“Let’s do it.”
The two women left the restaurant, completely unaware of the stranger that had been keeping tabs on them all afternoon.
