The Negotiator (Harbor City 1)

“Pretty much.” Her dad winked at Clover. “Hey, pumpkin.”

She sniffled despite knowing tears were the last thing he’d want to see right now. “Hi, Dad.”

“I’d get up and give you a hug, but I’m afraid your mom would crack me upside the head for moving any more than necessary.”

“Good Lord, Phillip.” Her mom threw up her hands in frustration. “I thought you were having a heart attack. You do have a history you know.”

He gave a little shrug. “It’s just angina.”

“Which means no more sneaking cigarettes, and you’re gonna start eating better so your blood pressure doesn’t go out of whack again,” her mom said. “And if you can’t calm down, no more games on TV.”

“Jesus, just take away all the things worth living for, why don’t you?” her dad groused, but the deep worry lines between his eyes showed that he’d been almost as scared as her mom.

“I’ll still be here,” her mom snapped.

Phillip glanced over at his wife and any trace of anxiety slid away. “As long as that’s the case, I guess I can suffer through without the rest.”

“Well you’d better because I can’t live without you.” Her mom wiped away another black-tinged tear and gave her dad a quick kiss on the cheek before straightening and looking back at Sawyer who was hanging back in the doorway. “And is that your mystery fiancé hiding in the doorway? Come on in. I know we’re not at our best right now, but we promise not to bite you.”

“I’d get that in writing, if I were you,” her dad said with a grin.

Sawyer walked over, and there was a manly handshake from her dad—well, as manly as he could make it considering he was lying in a hospital bed wearing a gown that didn’t close all the way in the back—and a hug from her mom. That’s when her younger brother Bobby came in, a coffee cup in one hand and a half-eaten bag of Corn Nuts in the other. She’d barely had time to introduce him to Sawyer when a nurse came in, announced visiting hours were over, and hustled them out of the room and into the hall.

“Well, we might as well head home,” her mom said as they rode the elevator down. “You two will be staying with us, of course. Now we can finally have that family lunch that hasn’t fit into your busy schedules.”

Clover’s conscience jabbed her right in the heart. If they left without staying for lunch, it would hurt everyone. If they stayed and she had to lie to her family’s face about the non-existent wedding planning, it would hurt everyone. Jesus. It was just supposed to be a fun adventure that would get her some financial freedom. It wasn’t supposed to get so damn complicated.

“Family lunch?” Sawyer asked while she stood there silent like an idiot.

“Oh yes, it’s a family tradition, and I won’t take no

for an answer,” her mom said. “Plus, if you’re there, it will distract Phillip from the fact that I’m hiding the remote to the TV as soon as we get home.”

Oh God. There was no getting out of this for her, but she couldn’t force Sawyer to go through with it. He’d already done enough. The smart thing was to get him out of Sparksville before her family got attached and walking away from him became even more complicated.

…

Sawyer kept a car and a half’s distance between the rental and Mrs. Lee’s back bumper as he followed her through downtown Sparksville. After years of having Linus drive him around, it was nice to get behind the wheel again and feel the motor purr—even if it was an anemic four cylinder. In the passenger seat, Clover was twisting the hem of her Keep It Weird hoodie around her fingers and gnawing her bottom lip. He wished like hell that he knew what to do right now, but he hadn’t planned out past getting her here. The details—as usual—were lost to him.

They made it through the second stoplight and past The Sugar Palace Donut House before she broke the silence. “I really appreciate everything, but you don’t have to stay. We can tell my mom a work emergency came up.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing when they’ve invited us to the family lunch?” He left the part about her not even bothering to ask him to himself because he couldn’t understand why that bugged him. It just did.

Her cheeks turned pink enough to be visible in the light coming in from the street lamps. “Yes.”

“Why?” There it was. That twisted squeeze of his lungs, the annoyance bubbling up. Not that he cared. After all, their relationship was just a sham. It wasn’t real. Whether he met her family or not didn’t matter.

Keep telling yourself that, Carlyle.

“Lying to them on the phone is one thing,” she said, a slight tremble coming through in her voice. “Doing it face-to-face is something else, especially after what just happened with my dad.”

“I understand.” In half a breath, he was back in the hospital room with his father; the beeping of the heart monitor had been so loud before it went silent. “When my dad died three years ago, it was a massive heart attack that came right out of the blue. It’s why sidetracking my mom’s campaign to marry me off has been so difficult. She took my dad’s death hard. I mean we all did, but Mom lost herself for a while. I guess Hudson and I got used to dealing with her with kid gloves.”

Clover reached out and put her hand on his leg. “I’m so sorry.”

They’d taken turns talking her into going out to lunch, into seeing her friends again, and into rejoining the events and charities she’d always been a part of. She’d fought. The woman was as stubborn as anyone he’d ever known, but she’d made it to the other side so it had been worth it. She was definitely back to her old fighting weight.

“Thanks, but since you’ve met Helene Carlyle you know she’s a tough old bird—don’t you ever tell her that I called her that. What happened to your dad, it’s made me realize just how far she’s come from the dark days. It’s probably past time that Hudson and I reined in the whole treat her like she’s made of glass thing.”