Page 84 of Relentless

June’s description of packed sardines was surprisingly accurate. The shop was packed with standing room only, and the door was being pushed ajar as the crowd of stranded young people pressed together to keep warm.

“Crew,” Harper exclaimed. Her voice held the renewed charm that had made her successful. “Could you be a dear and give me a hand out of the Jeep?”

“Um,” Crew stuttered, his eyes darting from Maeve to Oakleigh as if searching for a way out. Resigning himself to his fate, he gave Harper a nod. “Sure.”

Harper picked a piece of fuzz off her outfit distractedly.

“What a gentleman.”

Crew opened her door, and offered a hand as Harper stepped out of the lifted Jeep into the deep snow.

“You know, Crew,” she said. “We love athletes at Pacific Crest, you’ll have to come speak.” She looked at him from head to toe. “First, a new wardrobe — and a haircut, of course.”

“Sure thing, Mrs. Davenport,” he muttered, “I suppose?” Closing the door with a slam, he accompanied Harper into the packed coffee shop.

Maeve waited in the darkened backseat, patiently enduring the silence between them. Oakleigh leaned her head back on the headrest, finally lifting her eyes to meet Maeve’s in the reflection of the rearview mirror.

Oakleigh pulled her hand over her mouth and let out a choking sob, clenching her eyes shut as tears overflowed down her cheeks.

Maeve knew then that Oakleigh wouldn’t be accepting her mother’s generous offer.

“I’m sorry, Maeve,” she said, her voice thickened with regret.

Maeve took a deep breath, knowing she had a right to be frustrated with Oakleigh’s negligence. She also understood that Harper had used the unfortunate series of events to trigger a reaction in the young woman, driving a wedge between them.

It was yet another cruel tactic Harper had learned from their father, who would have never let an opportunity go to waste.

She hated when he would do it to her.

How could she do this to her own daughter?

Maeve knew that it was by grace alone she had been given the tools to break the cycle. Now she was determined to help Oakleigh do the same.

She gave Oakleigh’s shoulder a squeeze.

“I’m sorry, too.”

“No, I caused this,” Oakleigh quivered. She flung her hand at the chaotic crowd of fans now overflowing from the shop and onto the frozen street. “And then I treated you like —” she stammered, gulping for a breath of air.

“Oakleigh,” Maeve calmly reassured. “We’re going to move past this.”

Her feelings were hurt, but that wasn’t going to keep her from pouring compassion on the broken young woman.

“You and I are going to be just fine.”

Maeve pushed her door open and stepped from the lifted Jeep, her boots disappearing into the fresh powder. She met Oakleigh on the sidewalk, and pulled her into a firm hug.

“I push away everyone I love,” Oakleigh cried, burying her face in her gloved hands. “You —Paisley.”

It was no surprise that Oakleigh was thinking about her broken relationship with her little sister.

“We areokay,Oakleigh,“ Maeve affirmed. “Push all you want, but you couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.” She felt tears sting her eyes as she blinked them away before they could freeze to her cheeks. “So stop trying,” she chuckled.

Oakleigh shook her head, staring down at the snowy sidewalk. “How do you stay so strong?”

Maeve smiled. “I’m still a work in progress, too.”

“I’ll get there,” Oakleigh said, taking a deep sip of air and puffing her warm breath into the cold.

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