Falling for the Brother

Mason heard the question with pain in his heart. Saw, out of the corner of his eye, as Harper bent down to speak with her.

She’d been true to her word. Over the past three months he’d spent a lot of time with Brianna between jobs. Taking her out for dinner, just the two of them. Playing on the beach. He was getting to know his daughter and had never been more thankful for anything in his life.

Or known such truly happy moments.

He was Uncle Mason to her. But there was no doubt in his mind that she loved him.

He’d seen Harper, too, from a distance. Even when, like now, she was standing so close. They’d spoken. But only about Brianna.

Even after everything Bruce had done to him, to Harper, to both of them, he stood between them.

Just as his casket stood between the two sides of his life.

Bruce had walked a line between good and evil. Law and crime. One foot on each side.

He’d played them all. His families, his colleagues, his friends.

And there they all stood, crying real tears, because he was gone.

* * *

THE NIGHT THEY buried Bruce, Harper was restless. She’d put Brianna down in her old room, left just as it had always been, at her parents’ house. Brie had been spending every other Saturday night there since she was born and went to sleep with surprising ease.

“You want to talk?” Mom asked as Harper sighed, put down the book she’d been staring at and got up for a bottle of water. Her father turned down the sound on the news program he’d been watching.

“I think I’ll go for a walk,” she said, needing to be out with plants that, although they were infested by weeds every single year, still managed to thrive. To produce succulent fruit and vegetables that gave healthy life to the people who ate them. “Will you listen for Brie?”

“Of course,” her parents answered in unison. And then her mother added, “Keep your phone on.” Harper almost smiled when she heard her father telling her mother that Harper was perfectly capable of keeping herself safe. That they’d taught her well.

He’d probably gone on to remind her mom that Harper spent her life keeping others safe. That she was the one who dug up the weeds. Just as Harper had heard him do many times before.

She didn’t feel like that woman, and yet…tonight, she didn’t feel infested anymore, either. Her weed hadn’t been dug up. He’d been buried so deeply in the ground, he’d never see the light of day again. Or breathe fresh air.

She felt his presence, though. Which was why she’d needed to go to the fields. She didn’t stray far, stayed close enough to the house that the security lights her father had installed kept her on track. For three months, she’d been trying to shake what was left of Bruce’s infestation in her mind. In her heart. And yet…

The cucumbers were doing well. They were her favorite vegetable, and her parents had a banner crop that year. Weeds didn’t stop them from growing. They took nourishment away, but didn’t kill them.

Bruce hadn’t killed her, either. She was there. Alive. Living her life. Other than Brianna’s visits with Mason, which weren’t unlike her visits with her own father, Harper’s life had returned to the status quo with which she’d always been happy.

Status quo.

There it was again. When had she decided to settle for that? To be okay with just okay?

Mason seemed fine with it. He’d never asked her for more. Had done everything he’d said he was going to do. Paid child support. In fact, he’d paid four years of back support. He was faithful about the time he spent with his daughter.

And he asked nothing of Harper. Didn’t try to make suggestions where Brianna’s parenting was concerned. Or try anything else, either.

Bruce was gone and yet…he still lay there between them. A weed that hadn’t ever been picked. A weed that would always be part of their ground. The previous week, when Harper had submitted the forms to have Bruce’s name taken off Brianna’s birth certificate and have Mason’s added, he’d been grateful. She’d hoped for a hug. Or a look—one of those that said they were connected forever.

He’d thanked her for sharing Brianna with him, instead, calling the little girl back to the door so he could hug her goodbye.