Page 11 of Your Heart & Mine

"I'm going out to look at a property," Harper said shortly, looking for her purse in the wreckage. She would have to clean up the rest later.

Brenna's brow furrowed in confusion. "Property? You're thinking of buying property now while we're trying to figure out how to save this house?"

"It's not for me. I'm simply consulting for someone else."

"Who?" Brenna asked. None of this made any sense to her.

Harper paused and pulled her bottom lip into her mouth where her teeth caught it. She didn't want to say but she couldn't lie to her sister either. Finally, she blew out a pained breath and answered.

"Wyck. He asked me to give my opinion on a property he's thinking of buying for a rental." There, it was out.

"Wyck. Wyck Crockett."

It didn't come out as a question, but she answered anyway. "Yes, Wyck Crockett."

"Wyck Crockett. The one who abandoned you and broke your heart. That Wyck Crockett?"

"Yes, Brenna. How many Wyck Crocketts could there be?" Harper's tone turned defensive. "We're adults now and that was all a long time ago. This is just a professional courtesy."

Brenna was silent for a time, mulling over this revelation. She'd been very young when Wyck had been in their lives, but she clearly remembered how much pain her big sister had gone through with the loss of the baby, and of Wyck.

Harper was about to tell her sister that it was none of her business anyway when she heard tires on the gravel drive in front of the house. She glanced out the window and, sure enough, there was Wyck's black Range Rover.

She grabbed her purse from her bed where she'd finally unearthed it and practically ran for the steps. She didn't want anyone else coming to see who was picking her up. Though she was sure Brenna would be down spilling the beans before they got down the driveway.

"Gotta run," she said over her shoulder. "Just keep this between us, Brenna."

She said this with no real hope of it happening. This bit of news would be to rich not to share for her baby sister.

Harper flew off the porch and grabbed the handle to the passenger door as Wyck was getting out of the driver's side. He cocked his head at her in question.

"Let's go," Harper commanded. "We're burning daylight."

Wyck shook his head and climbed back in the car. "Sounds good to me," he said, putting the car in gear and heading back down the steep driveway.

They drove for several minutes before Wyck attempted to break the silence. "You look nice today."

"Thank you." Harper didn't look at him but continued to look out the window.

"I hope you like the place." Wyck tried again. "It's old and needs some fixing up, but it has a lot of charm."

"You probably should have brought Elizabeth then. She's the restoration expert." Harper began to chew a thumbnail.

Wyck frowned slightly. This was not going how he had planned. "Not really her cup of tea, I don't think. It's just a cute cabin. No real history behind it."

"Oh."

They drove in silence again until Wyck got to the turn off at Big Ridge Road. He continued up the winding, narrow road until he turned onto an unmarked gravel path. Harper frowned. She knew this road. It couldn't be. Her heartbeat started to kick up and her breathing grew faster the closer they got to the cabin. The little cabin in the mountain meadow she knew all too well.

"What are you doing, Wyck?" Her chest tightened as they pulled up to the pretty, little house. Sunlight dappled across the porch, determined to escape the trees that tried to block it, warming the place.

He turned and flashed a grin at her. "Can you believe it's for sale? Old doc Stanley finally passed, and his kids have no desire to come back to the mountains. C'mon, let's go look."

Harper sat frozen for several beats before slowly opening her door and following Wyck onto the rickety porch. He stuck a key in the lock and swung open the door with a loud creak of hinges. Harper reluctantly followed him in until they were standing in front of the wide picture windows in the living room. While saplings and overgrown vines mostly covered the view, Harper still remembered standing here looking over the valley from what she thought of as her secret hideaway in the woods.

The moments spooled out slowly as they stood there, each lost in their own memories of the place until Wyck finally spoke. “Doc Stanley's son, Johnny, and I had some good times out here, but that’s not what I remember most.” He paused and reached out, slowly winding his fingers in hers.

When she didn’t immediately pull away from his touch, he glanced toward her. Looking over his shoulder at the old leather couch that they stood in front of, his lips turned up at the corners. “What I remember most is you on this leather couch, your hair so long it draped over the edge like dripping honey and your eyes looking up at me with such trust.”

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