Page 48 of The Usual Family Mayhem

An inevitable result of our tangled families and confusing relationship. Jackson’s life and mine had crashed and ricocheted off each other since the day we met. Still, this time Harlan acted more hostile than usual when he saw me. He could usually hide his distaste, or at least stay out of my path.

“Your dad thinks I’m a bad influence.” And he might not be wrong about that.

“That’s not new.”

Not a surprise but not what I thought he’d say either. “Rude.”

“I don’t feel that way. He’s... well, he forms opinions of people and then getting him to shift is tough.”

Okay, but that didn’t fully explain Harlan’s rabid reaction to seeing me near Jackson. “That’s his loss because I’m lovely.”

Jackson’s fingers brushed over mine and I felt the touch down to my knees. No guy ever made my insides shake... except for him.

He rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. “You are.”

The gesture stole my breath. I tried to inhale, exhale, and nothing. Somehow I forced out a few words. “I didn’t expect an agreement.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “It surprised me, too.”

“Admit it. You like me.” I tried to keep my tone light and carefree, but I really needed him to say it.

“That’s not new either.”

Oh...

He winked before he pulled his hand away. “We should eat before the food gets cold.”

I’d forgotten about the food.

No one made me forget about food. Ever.

The rest of dinner fell into an easy back-and-forth. We joked and drank. Ate then bickered over the best dessert pie. The clear answer was coconut cream. His vote for traditional apple pie showed misplaced dessert priorities. Politician or not, he needed to work on that.

It wasn’t until I got back to Gram’s house about two hours later that I realized we’d never talked about dead husbands or worked on my self-created work pitch disaster.

If that was a date, it was a good one. And I was in deep shit.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I filled Gram and Celia in on Harlan’s political aspirations for Jackson the next morning over peach scones. We sat in the formal dining room, sipping our preferred morning beverages, and neither of them showed even a twinge of surprise about my intel.

“You knew.” My real complaint was that they knew and didn’t tell me. We talked at least every Sunday and texted nearly every day and they never dropped this big piece of juicy gossip.

“Of course, dear.” Gram sounded surprised that I was surprised.

Celia sipped on her coffee. “Harlan hasn’t been subtle. He’s been all over Jackson, trying to wear down his resistance while building him up as a possible candidate to potential financial backers across the state.”

Gram responded with her famouspfft. “He’s also been working Celia to get her to side with him and put additional pressure on Jackson.”

“That’s not...” Celia sighed. “Okay, it’s true, but Harlan hasn’t been successful. I support Jackson and whatever he wants to do. I’d prefer his goal not be politics, but that has to be his choice.”

“That’s why Harlan has been sneaking in here and buggingyou.” An interesting and annoying tactic, so exactly what I’d expect from Harlan.

Gram shot me her confidence-destroying I’m-on-to-you grandma look. “You thinkhe’sthe one sneaking around here?”

An unexpected shot across the bow. Gram had been holding that in and now she launched it when I had nowhere to hide.

Do not take the bait. Do not take the bait. Do not...“Are you saying I have been?”

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