Page 138 of Shortcake
Conrad blinked, an expression of shock haunting his face before relief finally crumpled his features.
Forgetting all about Elijah, he rushed to Harper, capturing her in his arms and crushing her in a hug. “Oh my God,” he muttered over and over, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Bending, he cupped her face gently, tears falling down his cheeks. “Don’t do that ever again, Harper! Imeanit. You can have time to yourself. Space to figure stuff out. But you can’t run away again. Ever!”
She sniffed, crying into her dad’s arms. “I wasn’t running away. At least, not in the permanent sense. I just wanted to get out of that house for a bit to think without someone following me.”
“You should have told me that you were going out.”
“I know, I’m sorry!” Harper sobbed.
“I’m sorry, too,” Conrad said, crushing her in another hug. “For everything. I’m sorry that your mother surprised you like she did. I’m sorry that I let so much fall through the cracks when Grandma was dying. And I’m so sorry for not telling you about Addy and me. It wasn’t Addy’s fault. She wanted to tell you as soon as we realized that we were serious about each other. But I kept screwing it up and finding reasons not to tell you when Ishouldhave.”
“You’re right. You should have told me. And I shouldn’t have left without telling you or Addy where I was going.”
I watched them reunite from several feet away. It didn’t feel like my place to interject. It didn’t feel right. Harper and I had had our moment. It was time for her and Conrad to figure stuff out.
I walked over to where Elijah was still handcuffed, Warren standing beside him with a hand clamped around the dragon tattoo on his bicep. “Are you okay?” I asked Elijah quietly. “What the hell happened?”
“Your boyfriend is an asshole. He completely lost his temper—”
“Dad,” Adam snapped from somewhere behind me. “Hewasn’t the asshole. He was just trying to find his daughter. You sucker-punchedhim!”
I blinked in surprise at Elijah. “You punched Conrad? Why would you do that?”
“Yeah, Elijah,” Conrad said, crossing over to us, his arm still protectively around Harper. “Care to tell the groupwhyyou punched me?” He scrubbed his free hand over the red welt blooming at his jaw and it was the first time I noticed the little cut on his bottom lip.
“It’s been a stressful day,” Elijah muttered, then clanked his handcuffed wrists. “Am I being charged with something, or can I go?”
Warren looked to Conrad for the answer and Conrad waved a hand flippantly at Elijah. “Let him go. I’m not pressing charges. Adam, wouldyoulike to stay for dinner?”
Harper’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Conrad gave a little nod of his head and nudged his daughter toward Adam. “He’s a good kid, Turkey. He was worried sick with you missing.”
“You were?” she asked, blinking up at Adam.
“Yeah,” he said sheepishly. But the admiration in his eyes betrayed his seemingly too-cool-for-school shrug.
“Why don’t you two go inside and pick out somewhere to order takeout from?”
They ran inside, hand in hand as Warren unlocked the handcuffs on Elijah’s wrists. “You however are not invited,” Conrad snapped. “Now get off my property. I’ll drive Adam home after dinner. And he’ll be there by his curfew, you have my word.”
Elijah looked at Conrad, hatred seeping from his pores, then at me. “He’ll never choose you over his daughter, you know that, right?”
A surprised laugh huffed out of me. “Idoknow that. It’s one of the things I love about him.”
“I’m not going to stand in the way of our kids having a good relationship,” Conrad barked. “And you better not either. But I’m not going to ask again. Getoffmy property.”
Palms up, Elijah backed toward his car, got in, and drove away.
“What was tha—” Before I could finish asking about what happened, Conrad cut me off by crossing to Warren.
“Deputy, thank you for coming by and helping. You’re free to go.”
With a nod and a quick glance in my direction, Warren took off next, leaving just me and Conrad standing in the yard.
I sighed and reached out, lacing my fingers into his before curling into his body, looking up and pressing a kiss to his scruffed jaw. “Longest day of my life,” I sighed.
