Page 32 of Reckless

“Free play until four when we head to the venue,” Poppy said. “Want to go to Bourbon Street? Do some touristy stuff?”

“Yes! As long as we can go to Royal Street so I can check out the galleries. I’m looking for something for the walls in our bedroom,” Nora said.

Maddie cheered. “Yay! Let’s meet back here in forty-five? Then we can go out and have lunch and then be back in plenty of time.”

When Poppy and Maddie left, Nora closed the door and turned back to Harlow. “Isshegoing to be at this dinner?” Meaning Harlow’s mom.

“I don’t know. He said Mindy, his wife, was making dinner and that Louis would be there with his sons too. No mention of anyone else.”

Nora said, “I can see on your features that you’re not going to ask any of us because you think you have to face this on your own. But you don’t. And if she’s there, it will be awful. She won’t want to resist the chance to berate you and make you feel bad. You need someone at your side because your brothers are too weak when it comes to her. I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you.” She hugged Nora. “But you hate her and she knows it. Which is a nice thing for me because she deserves it. But it’ll be uncomfortable for you and everyone else. And honestly, I’ll be mortified if she starts something. At least if no one else is there I’ll be the only one embarrassed.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about! That woman is shit. She is terrible and awful, and I’d like to high five her face. She could be a good mother, support you, be proud of you, love you. That’s what mothers are supposed to do.Sheis unnatural.”

So relieved to have a friend like Nora, Harlow hugged her again. “Thank you. For right now I’m going alone. But I will think about everything you said.”

“Okay. I’m going to get dressed for the day. You do the same. Let’s day drink,” Nora called out as she went next door.

“I’ll need a nap if I do,” she muttered but that wasn’t really an argument against day drinking.

“You’re trying to steal my girl, Pop,” Miles groused at his sister when she returned that afternoon after she’d spent hours and hours with Harlow. But was he invited? No. Did he really want to be or was it about missing Harlow and feeling totally off balance because of it?

“She’s totally adorable, so I might if I wanted to, and she wasn’t all moon eyed over you. But I did steal her for the day, and we shopped, and day drank and bought art. I regret nothing. We even found a few funky clothing places where we picked up some used and new stuff. She’s fun. I’m getting to know her too. Mum and Dad will want to know details and I can tell them all positives. And you’re with her every night after the show. There’s enough Harlow Martin to go around.”

“I should go down there to see how she is,” he said.

“She’s napping. I told you there was day drinking. We’ll all see one another when we leave for the venue at four. Now I’m going to lay down awhile to rest up for tonight too.” She bent to kiss the top of his head and dropped a white bag full of fresh beignets into his lap.

“Those are from Harlow. We stopped for a snack to fortify ourselves and she got extras for you,” she called out as she left.

“Are you spying on me for Mum and Dad?” he called out but she either didn’t hear or wasn’t going to reply so he just growled to himself as he opened the bag and the scent of fried dough hit and made him feel better.

Still, he considered as he ate, making a huge mess with powdered sugar, it’d be better to have eaten these with Harlow.

And he said so when they got into the van just a few hours later to head to the arena. “Thanks for the beignets. I’ll probably be sorry later, but I ate them all in one sitting.”

She laughed. “I did too. Plus, I had a lot of rum. The nap has revitalized me. Now I’m ready for more food after the show is over. Everywhere is open late here, which is pretty flipping awesome.”

“Wait for me. I want to come too. I mean if you don’t already have other plans,” he amended.

Harlow nodded, clearly pleased. “Okay. There’s this restaurant we checked out earlier today and made reservations for tonight. Chef’s table because he’s some friend of your family?”

“Ah! Yeah. Two of my aunts are into art which is how Cora Silvera came into our lives. She runs a family gallery in Seattle. Her husband is a chef. That’s how Poppy must have gotten the name of the chef here.”

A group rather than just the two of them so he’d be sure to broach the subject of one-on-one time again more in advance of the next city. Until then he had to share her with her friends and his too.

He looked over to her as she listened to some stupid story Omar told them all for the dozenth time. But she hadn’t heard it before and the smile on her face said she enjoyed it and so that was nice.

Nice. Well. Whatever.

He wanted them to all get along. Because he liked it that they got her, that they understood why—beyond the obvious good looks—he liked her so much. If they could see why he dug her so much, they’d relax about the new relationship Harlow and Miles were building.

As Miles had taken a seat next to her in the back row, he took her hand and she leaned a little bit closer to him, squeezing his hand.

“Poppy said you all had a good day today.”

“We did. I had to let my aunt know I was having some stuff shipped to her house and that I’d pick it up after the tour ends.”

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