Page 85 of Cougar

“Knock, knock!” I call out as I push open Max’s office door.

Max is behind his desk, typing away on his laptop.

“Hey, Emerson,” Jessica greets from the sofa, where she’s seated beside Dylan.

“Where’s Willow?”

“She’s with Mom,” Max tells me. “What’s up?” He leans back in his chair, clasping his hands behind his head.

I move to sit in the empty chair in front of his desk and pull the paper from my purse. “I found this last night while I was helping unpack Harper’s things.” I hold out the paper and Max takes it.

“What the hell?” he exclaims. “Jess, come look at this.”

My sister-in-law stands and walks around Max’s desk to look over his shoulder. “That’s Cole’s patient information from Dr. Graham’s office.” She points to the top of the paper. “It’s from two years ago.”

Dylan bristles. “Fucking figures, another Cole Mackenzie groupie. Maybe we should hire all male servers from now on.”

“Dylan.” Max shoots him a “don’t be ridiculous” look as he passes the paper to Jessica. Standing, he heads for the door. “I’ll be right back,” he calls over his shoulder as he walks out closing the door behind him.

Jessica goes back over to sit beside Dylan. “What do you know about her?”

Dylan shrugs. “My first thought was she only wanted to work here because, like every other girl hired before her, she wants a piece of Cole. But she told me in her interview that she had a boyfriend. She didn’t seem all that impressed with him?”

A few minutes later, Max returns. “I told Amelia to send Harper to my office as soon as she gets in.”

* * *

There’s a soft knock on the door and Max calls out, “Come in.”

Harper walks in and immediately scans our faces. Her spine stiffens, and judging by the look on her face, she knows what’s coming. My stomach is in knots because no matter what happens, she’s still a teenager with nowhere to go.

“Have a seat, Harper.” Max gestures to the empty chair beside me.

Harper sits down and clasps her hands in her lap. The pale skin of her neck is covered with red splotches.

“I’m not really sure where to start,” Max says as he passes her the paper.

Harper takes it and scans for only a second before her shoulders sag in defeat and her bottom lip begins to tremble. I want nothing more than to pull this girl into my arms and protect her. But I have to protect my family first.

Harper lifts her head to meet Max’s stare. “This belonged to my sister,” she admits, her voice shaky. She turns her face to me. “I assume you found it in that journal?”

I narrow my eyes. “Actually, it was loose in the box, which is the only reason I even saw it. If it were tucked inside your journal, it would still be there. I don’t make a habit of snooping through people’s personal things.”

Harper nods and holds the paper out to Max. “It’s not what you think.”

“So you’renotstalking my brother,” Dylan chimes in sarcastically.

Harper turns in her seat to face Dylan. “No. I’m not.” She returns her attention to Max. “I’ll tell you everything if you’re willing to listen.”

Max motions for Jessica to take the chair behind his desk. Dylan moves to stand behind his mother.

Harper turns her face to me once again. “That journal you found last night originally belonged to my mother. But after she died, my sister got a hold of it. I didn’t even know it existed until after she died and I was packing up her room. That paper”—she gestures to the paper now lying on Max’s desk—“also belonged to my sister.”

“Who is your sister? And why does she have my son’s personal information?” Jessica asks with a frown.

Harper sucks in a deep breath, then blows it out. “My sister was Jaden Price. Willow’s mother.”

I gasp in shock and my eyes well up with tears. I certainly wasn’t expecting that.

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