Page 93 of Reckless

“Jenna is going to play in the pool with Ryder awhile. Poppy’s joining them. You want to head to the beach? Just me and you? If you’re done, that is,” he said.

He knew she was done. Harlow had been crying, but the heaviness that had been around her that morning had gone. There were still shadows in her gaze, but clearly, she and Richie had talked and worked through things. Otherwise, she’d be frantic to avoid everyone.

“There are so many steps, Miles. Going down will be peachy. But coming back is going to hurt.” Her tone was faux outrage, but there was a thread of truth in it too.

“It’ll be my workout for the day.”

“Okay.” She rustled through the pantry and held up an insulated tote bag and filled it with some juices, cheese, crackers, chocolate, and a container of the fruit leftover from breakfast. Then she added towels, sunscreen and pointed at everything. “I’ll let you carry it. We have nowhere to be until dinner. I’m wearing my bathing suit beneath this dress, so I just need to get my shoes and I’m ready. Get sunscreen on,” she told him as she plopped a wide brimmed hat onto her head.

About halfway down the steps, Miles agreed with Harlow’s joke about the climb back up. But he wasn’t going to complain because he had her all to himself. The little cove they headed to had beachgoers but nowhere near a crowd. Miles just went where she pointed and waited as she put out a big blanket to sit on.

Though he was dying to ask about the conversation, he forced himself to be patient and wait for her to tell him.

“Turns out Gloria wasn’t lying about everything in that video. My dad paid her a settlement of three million bucks to essentially take full custody of me,” she said at last.

Miles was grateful to be wearing dark sunglasses and a hat that hopefully hid some or most of his shock.

“He left her because of me. He denies it,” she said before Miles could speak. “But he said he noticed she was never affectionate with me. Never paid attention at all aside from the basics of clothing and feeding. I had a speech delay because of it.”

Cold washed through him at Harlow’s words. Gloria was a fucking monster.

“So he wanted out and wanted custody of me and my brothers. She handed me over, he said right there on the spot when he told her. But she said she’d fight him on my brothers. And take me just to punish him. He fought as hard as he could to be sure he got visitation and access, but he feels guilty, like he chose one child over the others.”

“He did.” Miles reached out to slide a fingertip down her cheek. A brief touch to comfort. “Baby, he looked at his children and saw that for two of the three, Gloria was a decent mother. They’d be safe with her. But you were absolutely not. He knew it and got you out. That’s what a parent is supposed to do. He wouldn’t have gotten full custody of you three anyway. He was a musician. On the road half the year. Having met Gloria and seen her in action these last months, I can say I believe she absolutely would have kept you from him just to be spiteful. He made the best choice he could for everyone given his circumstances. It’s not a perfect choice. But there weren’t perfect options. I’m certainly not going to be anything but grateful your father pulled you out of an abusive household.”

“He also said some stuff that leads me to believe what I’d suspected. She grew up in a strict household. One where all women were sluts. He said she always had negative reactions to other women. Even at the beach. Always covered me up too.”

“Fuck Gloria. Really, Harlow, she’s absolute poison to you and your life.”

“I told him about the stuff she used to say and do. I hurt him a lot. He blames himself for this situation. He doesn’t have a close relationship with two of his kids because of me.”

“Bullshit. You didn’t make Gloria into who she is. Sounds like she grew up that way. And you didn’t make Gloria abuse you to the point you had a speech delay.” The thought of it made him sick. That she was still abusing Harlow was not acceptable. At all. “She moved to another state and didn’t even tell your dad.Gloriais the reason they have a strained relationship with your father. And, let’s be real, your brothers are assholes. While I’m bummed your dad feels bad,theywatched you grow up and be treated differently and haven’t said boo about it. No, you can’t blame a kid for their parent’s behavior. But they aren’t kids. And they haven’t been for a long time. And they still treat you like shit.”

Her mouth wobbled a bit, and he regretted the vehemence he’d used. He meant everything he’d said, and it needed to be spoken out loud. But he knew she was upset, which pushed his buttons and made him upset. But his tone only made it worse.

He took her hand. “I shouldn’t have snarled that last bit at you. I know you’re overwhelmed right now. Relieved probably. But it’s years’ worth of stuff and you can’t process it as quickly as it was revealed.”

“He wants to have his attorney deal with this. In the divorce agreement, she wasn’t supposed to say anything about the payoff,” she told him, not addressing anything he’d said. She would be mulling it over, he knew. That’s how she dealt with the big stuff. He blurted, but she was more measured.

She felt more guilt about it though. And that had to stop.

“What do you want him to do?” Miles asked.

“If he does push back, she’ll use my brothers to hurt him. I hate that.”

“What do you want him to do about Gloria continuing to abuse you even though he paid a huge amount of money and spent your whole life trying to prevent that?” He couldn’t have cared less what her brothers thought or felt. But he thought his question to her was nicer than saying it how he really thought it.

“I don’t need an investigator any more at this point. Now I know the truth. But, Ben and my investigator said the more fuss you make with Gloria, the more attention she gets. My dad already had his lawyers respond to her cease and desist. Now he’s going to slap at her again. I’m worried about what she’ll do next. Selfishly, Miles, god, I just don’t want to have to deal with stories about me being a fame whore latching on to famous men for advancement. I don’t think my heart can take it.”

Miles realized that what his heart couldn’t take was watching the woman he loved being broken hearted over what a bunch of assholes who’d never buy her music anyway thought.

“So then what? Let her keep it up until it does get attention for whatever reason? Let her abuse you whenever she gets bored or whatever it is that strikes her fancy? Forever? Because she gave you away at two, which means she’s had twenty-four years not to be an asshole and she hasn’t made that decision yet.”

“What do you suggest then?” she asked, frustrated that he wasn’t going to support any plan that had her taking one moment’s worth of shit from Gloria.

“I suggest you let my lawyers step in and do exactly what I told Gloria I would do if she kept her bullshit up. First, she needs to be reminded she’s in breach of that divorce agreement. Then she needs to be informed in cold, hard, very concise terms that she needs to keep your name out of her mouth. If she wants to blather that she sold you, fine. Let the world know this bitch sold her fucking kid after neglecting her to the point it delayed her development. People want to threaten you with the facts when the facts make them look like a goddamn movie villain? Okay then.”

Harlow’s eyes were shaded behind her big sunglasses and most of her face was partially obscured by her hat, but she’d gone very still. She wasn’t angry, he knew—from experience—how her body language changed when she was pissed at him.

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