Page 19 of Redeeming Harmony

“Okay. Love you.”

“Love you too, pinky-pie.”

* * *

Harper kickedoff her shoes and hung her jacket in the closet before locking the front door. “Dad?”

“In the kitchen.”

She joined her father in the kitchen, smiling tentatively at him. He sat at the table, his iPad in front of him and a beer in one hand. She slid into the chair beside him, feeling as guilty as she did the time she was sixteen and her father caught her sneaking Jonathan Wideman out of her room.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” she said.

He pushed his iPad away and said, “Am I the one you should be apologizing to?”

“I won’t apologize to him,” she said, her temper flaring already. “You can be disappointed in me all you want, but I won’t say sorry to him.”

“Harper, I’m not disappointed in you,” he said. “I’m more… surprised, I guess. You don’t even know Nathan. What on earth do you have to fight with him about?”

“What do I have to fight with him… Dad, he’s forcing you into retirement.”

“Sweetheart, you know that’s not true. We’ve had this conversation twice before. No one is forcing me into retirement, and besides, I’ll still be working at the clinic for Nathan. It’s way too busy for one vet to handle on his own. Hell, he really should look at hiring a third vet.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Harper said. “You’ll be workingfor Nathan. At the clinic that you started. It’s busy because of you and how hard you’ve worked. And you’re just going to hand it over to some guy you don’t even know. An outsider, Dad.”

“You were never one to judge a person just because they weren’t from Harmony Falls,” Warren said. “Why now?”

“Because he’s taking your dream away from you, your life’s work.” Harper’s voice cracked, and she couldn’t stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks.

Her father’s face softened, and he took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Don’t cry, poppet.”

Her father’s childhood nickname for her made her cry harder. Warren stood and grabbed the tissues and a glass of water. She wiped her face and blew her nose as her father waited patiently. She sipped at the water and took her dad’s hand again. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry.” He smiled at her. “You know crying doesn’t upset me.”

That was the understatement of the decade. If crying had upset her father, his marriage to her mother wouldn’t have lasted. Of course, that might have been better for him.

Trying hard not to cry again, Harper said, “Please help me understand why you suddenly hate being a vet.”

“Well, now you’re just being dramatic,” Warren said with a slight grin.

“I come by it honestly,” she said.

His smile faded. “You’re not the same as her, poppet.”

She didn’t reply, and he squeezed her hand again. “I don’t hate being a vet, Harper. I love it and always will. But I’m not getting any younger -”

“You’re not old,” Harper said fiercely. “Stop thinking that you are.”

“I’m not getting any younger,” he repeated patiently. “I don’t want to care for a sick animal all night then work a full day at the clinic. Or drive out to a farm in the middle of a night to help a cow give birth, or work six days a week, fourteen hours a day. I’m tired of that life, Harper.”

He took a swallow of beer and sat back in his chair. “Nathan is an amazing vet. He really is. Three months after I hired him, he started doing the emergency calls and overnights at the clinic, and it made me realize that as much as I love this job, it is sucking the life out of me. I’ve spent nearly thirty years on my career, and I’m fulfilled by what I’ve accomplished with it. Now I want to concentrate on something else. I want to travel, I want to sleep in on a Saturday morning, I want to spend more time with you and my friends, maybe even… go on a few dates.”

His sidelong glance made Harper smile. “Dad, I would love it if you dated someone.”

He didn’t reply, but the tension eased in his shoulders. She ran her fingers over the scars on his knuckles. “I understand what you’re saying, I do, but why do you have to sell the clinic? You could do all of those things without selling. Especially if Nathan is willing to do most of the emergency calls and take on more responsibilities.”

“You’re right,” he admitted, “but, sweetheart, I want to sell. I’m tired of running the clinic, tired of being the one in charge. I want to enjoy the time I have left with my friends and loved ones, not on the thousands of tasks that come with owning your own business.”

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