Carried away by the emotional upheaval of her homecoming and the tumultuous last few weeks with Grant, Harley craved an outlet to vent her distress. Her mother was the perfect choice.
“Yet, you barely waited until he was in the ground before you ran off to Europe with Keith. That’s not exactly the picture of a loving wife.”
“What are you accusing me of?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious. You and Keith have been carrying on for a long time.” Harley frowned. “The only question is how long.”
Diamonds flashed as Ava waved away her daughter’s accusation. “Don’t be a chi
ld.”
“I’m not a child. I see what’s been going on.”
“Keith feels nothing but friendship for me,” her mother declared in dismissive tones. “He’s been married three times.”
“And you didn’t notice how similar each of his wives was to you?”
“You are being completely ridiculous.”
When her mother rolled her eyes, Harley realized there was no way Ava would come clean and admit any wrongdoing. Not a surprise for a woman who routinely criticized those around her and spent no time at all in self-reflection.
“I’m not being ridiculous,” Harley argued, even as she wondered why she was wasting her breath. For years, she’d felt guilty about leaving Royal just when her father needed her, but if he’d been able to speak, he never would’ve asked her to stick around. Especially given the toxic atmosphere between mother and daughter. “Even before Father had his stroke, you neglected him.”
“I didn’t come here today to be attacked by you.”
“Well you certainly didn’t come to have dinner with your family,” Harley countered. “So why did you come?”
“To warn you that this family cannot take any more scandals. If Grant Everett is Daniel’s father, give him whatever he wants when it comes to the boy. I won’t have the Wingate name dragged through the mud because of you.”
Harley felt as if she’d been slapped. “That’s not Grant’s style.”
“Don’t be so sure.” Ava arched her elegant eyebrows. “Men can play dirty when it comes to getting what they want.”
Harley’s entire body flushed with panic at the thought of losing her son, but she turned her mother’s warning back on her. “Maybe the men you know.”
How far would a man like Keith Cooper go to get what he wanted? Before Harley could give the matter any thought, her mother delivered one final punch.
“Don’t imagine for one minute that Grant won’t do whatever it takes to keep hold of his son. All I ask is you don’t do something stupid and stir up more trouble for the family.”
“I assure you that Grant and I are on the same page when it comes to Daniel.” But the minute she said it, she couldn’t help but wonder if it were true.
* * *
When Harley appeared on his doorstep after having dinner with her family, Grant took one look at her stormy expression and put his romantic inclinations on hold.
“How’d it go tonight?” he asked, taking both her hands in his and walking backward toward the living room.
Harley grimaced. “It went great until my mother showed up late and accompanied by Keith.” She’d spoken at length about the man and her suspicions about his relationship with her mother. “She knew it was supposed to be a family dinner. Why did she have to bring him?”
Keith had been her father’s best friend and since Trent Wingate’s first stroke had been advising her mother on the company, as well as more personal issues. Far from seeing the relationship as simple friendship, Harley had speculated that they’d been carrying on for years, possibly even before her father’s illness. Especially after Ava had spent a year in Europe with him not long after her husband’s death.
“He and her husband had been friends since college,” Grant pointed out. “Maybe she considers him family.”
“Ugh! Don’t even go there.” Harley was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn’t seem to notice that he’d coaxed her down the hall to the master bedroom. “I don’t like him. And I’ll certainly never think of him as part of the family.”
She stripped off her earrings and the simple gold bracelet that she’d donned as her only accessories to the floral dress crafted by the women of Zest. Sweeping her long brown hair aside, she presented her back to Grant so he could unfasten the zipper. Both of them took for granted the easy familiarity that had grown between them in recent days.
“Is it just Keith’s appearance tonight that has you all worked up?” he asked. Dispensing with the zipper, he cupped his hands over her shoulders and nuzzled her temple, hoping to redirect all that passion into something that would leave them both deliciously satiated. “Or is there something else?”