Page 31 of Reckless

“Come for dinner at our house on that Monday.”

That brightened her mood considerably. Unless Gloria would also be in attendance.

“Louis is coming too, bringing his boys.”

A heavy weight of the unspoken lay between them. Harlow had long ago given up expecting her brothers to understand the difference their mother had made between them her whole life. All they saw was that she got to go on tour with their father, that she went to a very good school and had regular contact with their stepmother and baby sister. To them it was on Harlow to patch it up. To Harlow, it shouldn’t be her job to make her mother, a grown woman, not be dreadful, distant, and cold as fuck.

Shehadasked. Shehadtried. More than once. But eventually, she just gave up. Because she had her own life to live and parents and other family who did love her and want her around. And because she had to protect her heart from the repeated attacks that always came from Gloria if she was in Harlow’s presence for more than two minutes.

So Harlow wasn’t going to ask her brother if their mother was coming to dinner. That would be up to her mother because she was done carrying that particular burden.

It still hurt. So she did her best to look on the bright side and be grateful for the mother she had in her aunt, who’d given up years of her life to help raise Harlow, and for her dad, who had always been there for her. Her brothers…well…she loved them both, but they lived in suburban Atlanta and she was on the west coast so they didn’t see each other very often. She wasn’t invited to family events on that side, not by her aunts or cousins or even her maternal grandparents. So it was when she was in Atlanta, or when they were in LA to do theme parks and they came to visit with their dad and she came down from Seattle.

“Perfect. Can’t wait to see you all. Should I bring anything?”

“No. Mindy has it all handled. Can you find the house okay?”

“Yes. I’ve got the address. I’ve been there before so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Hector laughed. “Okay, good.”

“Oh, and if you want, I can get you and Mindy and Louis tickets to one or both nights in Atlanta to see the show.” She hadn’t decided one way or the other as to whether she’d invite them, but as she’d just blurted it out, the choice was made, and she had to hope it worked out.

“I don’t think we can swing both shows around work and the kids, but the Tuesday night show would work. Thanks.”

She made a note on a pad of paper at the nearby desk.

“I’ll see you all for dinner that Monday then.”

“Great. Uh, you can bring someone to dinner with you, Mindy says. Or two if your bandmates want to come. But, we saw the pictures online so I’m guessing you have a boyfriend. He’s welcome.”

Pictures? Ugh. Harlow wasn’t the only one who’d seen the photos of them together apparently. “Thanks,” was all she said. She spoke to him a while longer before disconnecting and wandering back into her room.

All her friends stared at her when she came back. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, fine. I was just talking to my brother about seeing him next week when we’re in Atlanta.”

Nora’s eyebrows rose, but she said nothing. Harlow knew she would though, once they were alone.

“That’s nice. I didn’t know you had family in the south,” Maddie said. “How old are they?”

“They relocated with our mother back when I was like seven or so. Hector, the oldest, he’s got a wife and three kids. Two boys and a girl. Louis is divorced and he shares two sons with his ex. They’re co-parenting and it seems fairly successful. They’re thirty-one and twenty-nine. My brothers, not their kids.”

“I don’t have brothers, but I have male cousins and Miles is like a brother since our families are all so close. My dad has three brothers and they’re all married with kids so there are cousins all over the ranch where they all live. I love to hang out with them up in the farmhouse my grandparents built. They’ve spoiled us all terribly, thank goodness,” Maddie said with a laugh. “If you weren’t already hooked up with Miles, I’d totally introduce you to a few of them and they’d love me for it forever.”

Poppy snorted. “I think Miles is enough to handle without adding Hurley cousins to the mix. Also, I think he’s already called her. I don’t make the rules, Maddie.”

“Called her like she’s the front seat? Not that you’re biased,” Maddie said with a wink.

Harlow laughed.

Poppy snorted. “Ha. Iamtotally biased because Miles is amazing. He’s a great brother and I like the way he is when Harlow is around. Plus have you seen them together? It’s ridiculous how gorgeous they are.”

A blush heated Harlow’s cheeks at the praise. Maybe she’d ask Miles if he wanted to go to dinner with her at Hector and Mindy’s place. Or maybe that was stupid, and she should invite no one to be there to see if something went bad because Gloria showed up. But the kids would be there, and she seemed to love her grandsons, at least the few times she’d seen her mother with her nephews. Harlow hadn’t met her niece yet. She was only eighteen months old, and Harlow had sent presents and checked in on her health and life regularly even if at times she felt like a stranger in her own family.

It was sad that Hector had a daughter only slightly younger than their sister Ryder, but neither of her brothers had seemed that interested in a relationship with her. But damn it, she couldn’t take ownership of what her brothers, both grown people, did or thought. It wasn’t her job to raise her brothers into men who were caring and loyal to their family as a whole instead of just one person.

“What’s the plan today?” Harlow asked as she deliberately set that aside.

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