Page 26 of Redeeming Harmony

Kira burst into laughter as Addie said, “Very funny. Spill it, Harper.”

Harper sighed and wiped at the condensation on her glass. “My life is a mess right now. My emotions are all over the place, and I’m acting like a fucking crazy person. Worse - I’m acting like my mother.”

“You aren’t,” Addie said. “Honey, you’re not like your mom.”

“I was thinking about my fight with Nathan, where I went off on him and accused him of a bunch of shit that I had no idea was true or not. I yelled at him and called him a pompous butt biscuit, and -”

Kira snickered. “Oh God, you’ve always had the best insults, I swear.”

“Thanks, but this time it wasn’t warranted. But I didn’t even care, you know? I let my emotions get the better of me, went charging in, and made a fool of myself. It’s the same thing my mother would have done.”

“Oh honey,” Addie said before rubbing her back. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself.”

“I’m not,” Harper said. “My worst fear is treating the person I love the way my mom treated my dad. I don’t want my partner staying with me out of obligation like my dad did with my mom.”

“You’ve never treated previous boyfriends like that,” Kira said.

“No, but we all know it could happen. My mom got worse as she got older,” Harper said.

“You don’t have to be perfect in a relationship,” Addie said.

“I know,” Harper said. “But right now, as much as I’d like to find the one, I’m too messed up. Too scared that I’ll be horrible to them. And with everything else that’s going wrong in my life, it’s better if I stay single.”

The three of them lapsed into silence. Determined not to let her self-pity get the better of her, Harper said, “But that doesn’t mean I’m opposed to going to the Hitching Post tonight and finding a cowboy to ride just for fun.”

Kira laughed and held out her fist for Harper to bump. “Well then, let’s go find you a cowboy.”

* * *

“To Nathan.For making his dream of sticking his hand up a cow’s ass every day come true.” Lucas held up his beer bottle, and Nathan and the others tapped their bottles against his before drinking.

“To be fair, I was sticking my hand into cows before I bought the clinic,” Nathan said.

“Stop ruining my beautiful and heartfelt toast, Nathan,” Lucas said with a grin.

Someone bumped into Nathan’s back, and he turned, smiling at the pretty brunette holding a beer bottle.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, placing one hand on his arm and smiling up at him. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“No problem,” he said. “It’s busy in here tonight.”

The woman glanced around the bar, taking in the crowd of people who stood nearly hip to hip, holding drinks and chatting animatedly. Although Nathan doubted they could hear very much. The country music blaring throughout the bar was meant to invite people to dance, not talk.

The woman said something, and he leaned down to hear her better. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m Rebecca,” she said with another flirtatious smile.

“Nathan.” He shook her free hand, not failing to notice how she let her hand linger in his.

“I need to get back to my friends,” Rebecca pointed to a group of women crowded around one of the tables about ten feet away, “but if you’d like to join us, I’d love that.”

She put her hand on his arm again, and he stared at it before saying, “Oh, uh, thanks, but I’m here celebrating with my friends.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you had one quick drink with my friends and me.” Rebecca hit him with the perfect pout.

“Maybe another time,” he said.

The fake pout disappeared to be replaced by confusion. She studied herself before glancing up at him with anare you seriously turning me downlook. When he didn’t say anything, she gave him a cool smile and walked away.

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