Page 28 of A Home for Harmony (Blossoms #16)

COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SIDE

“ S o you’re dating Harmony James,” Luke Remington said the next morning while standing in his doorway.

He’d gotten here early as he always did. Luke was back from patrol and doing paperwork and came in to see him.

“It didn’t take long for the news to travel,” Micah said. “Did you hear it from Ivy or Brooks?”

“Brooks and Ivy know?” Luke asked. “Damn. Not sure how they found out over me. I found out from my wife. Daisy called Heather last night after you guys had dinner. I have to say I’m shocked Daisy hadn’t told her before, but girls have those codes too and guess Harmony didn’t know if you wanted it out or not. ”

“I wasn’t hiding anything, but it’s not my style to talk about it.”

“Just like now,” Luke said, grinning.

He shrugged. “Are you going to be a chick and want to know information? Brooks and Ivy saw Harmony and me out to dinner on Saturday and came over to sit with us.”

“Shit,” Luke said. “Not only dating, but mingling with the staff.”

“I’m not that much of a dick, am I?” he asked. Micah always felt others misunderstood him.

“Nope,” Luke said. “Never that, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful. You know how it goes with the upper management. That’s you now.”

He knew. He’d worked his way up and kept his nose clean.

He knew he’d advance in his career. He wouldn’t always be on patrol and didn’t want to be an investigator. He wanted to lead.

“It is,” he said. “But you’ve got something to say, so say it.”

“I don’t know Harmony all that well,” Luke said. “Only from a few times Daisy had a party and we were all there. But she’s sweet. Wholesome. I guess pure might be a good word, even though it sounds stupid.”

“That’s her,” he said. “Not me. And that is where you’re going with this?”

“No,” Luke said. “Or maybe. It’s not me either.

Where I came from and what I’ve done in my life.

I didn’t think I was good enough for Heather.

She has a lot of the same qualities as Harmony at the root.

She’s sweet and the girl next door. If she knew me before I was an adult, she would have run in the other direction. ”

Micah didn’t know anything about Luke’s background as a child and it wasn’t his business to know. He was more concerned about him as an adult. “She’s not running now,” he said.

“No. It was the luckiest day of my life she gave me a chance and I still didn’t think I was worthy of her. I didn’t think I deserved her, but I was wrong.”

Some thoughts he’d had in his head too.

“I think we all are harder on ourselves than others,” he said.

“I agree with that,” Luke said. “For what it’s worth, because I know you don’t care about other people’s approval, I think if anyone gives you a hard time about the age difference, just tell them to fuck off.”

“I’m not sure I’d do that,” he said. Though he appreciated the support.

He’d said those things previously, but now, in his position, he was a bit more diplomatic about what he said and did in the public and to whom.

“I know you won’t,” Luke said. “But it’s no one’s business. Age is a number.”

“Her age doesn’t bother me,” he lied. Though he was getting to a better place in his mind with that.

He saw her interaction with her family yesterday and, though she was silly a few times, it was only with those she was close to.

There were a lot of serious intelligent conversations about her career.

Her family supported what she did. He expected her father, who was the most serious person he’d ever met, to not be supportive of his daughter having a career online, but that wasn’t the case.

He learned more than she’d told him about it. She talked about her business plan and goals and he saw a completely different side of her.

He’d never thought she was immature, but she was definitely more mature businesswise when she had that hat on. She knew what she wanted and how to do it and exhibited a confidence like he’d never seen before.

Was it right for him to think that part of her job was just frivolously taking pictures and silly videos?

“I hope you sound more convincing when other people bring it up,” Luke said, smirking. “I’m sure you know in a small town like this, it’s going to happen.”

“It is what it is,” he said. It was no different from the talk when Trinda got pregnant and they had a fast wedding.

Or when they divorced.

It was what small towns do best. Know everyone else’s business.

“That’s right,” Luke said and went back to his desk to get work done.

Micah looked at his watch and saw it was too early to call his parents with the time zone, but he was going to make the call today and sent them a text to reach out asking when they were around.

There was no reason he couldn’t let them know about Harmony. If he waited too long, his daughter would do it for him, he was positive.

It was three hours later when his phone rang and he saw it was his mother calling, so he got up and shut his door to answer.

“Morning,” he said.

“What’s going on?” his mother asked. “You never text that early and ask if we are around to talk. Is everything okay with Scarlet?”

“Everything is fine,” he said. He should have started the text off saying that so that he didn’t worry them. “I wanted to let you know I was seeing someone.”

“Oh,” his mother said. “I can’t remember the last time you told us you were dating someone.”

“It’s more than dating.” He wanted to at least get that out there. “Scarlet has met her.”

“Wow,” his mother said. “Good for you, Micah. It’s about damn time. Tell us about her.”

This was where things could get tricky, but he might as well be honest.

“Her name is Harmony.”

“That’s a pretty name,” his mother said.

“She’s a pretty girl. Woman,” he corrected. “She’s younger than me. I might as well start there.”

“Okay,” his mother said. “How much younger?”

“Twelve years,” he said, wincing.

“I thought you were going to say she was in college or something,” his mother said, laughing.

“Not that far out of it,” he said. “Actually, she’ll be twenty-seven in a few weeks.”

“That’s pretty far out of college,” his mother said. “What does she do?”

“She owns her own business.”

“Sounds smart and mature, considering you seem nervous about her age. I guess I should ask how long you’ve been dating and how you met.”

He told his mother everything, including Harmony’s online presence to prevent her from being surprised later. “Scarlet knows how I feel about the whole influencer rage, but Harmony isn’t like that.”

At least he was trying to convince himself there was a difference now.

“If she was like that,” his mother said, “then she wouldn’t have gotten this close to you and would not have met your daughter.

And you’re not fooling me saying that Scarlet surprised you by coming home one day.

You wanted to be caught as an easy way to let her know what was going on in your life. You did that as a kid too.”

He snorted. “Maybe. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up. I thought she’d be upset, but she loves Harmony.”

“Do you love Harmony?” his mother asked.

There was no reason to lie. “I do. It feels odd. Different.”

“Different from what you felt for Trinda?” his mother asked.

“Yeah. It’s not the same and I don’t need a lecture that it shouldn’t be since that didn’t last.”

“I’m not sure you really loved Trinda, but you did the right thing. I think you got too much pressure from her parents and your father. Maybe everyone should have stepped back and let you figure it out on your own.”

It was the first his mother had said that. “You were right there with Dad.”

“And looking back, I believe we were wrong. I never thought you two were right for each other. You were too far apart.”

“Some might say that about Harmony and me,” he said.

“That’s why you called,” his mother said. “Because you’re beating yourself up over this and your failed marriage. Which we all can say was doomed from the start. You can only fight for so long before something gives.”

“I’m the one who gave.”

“You call it giving up,” his mother said. “I call it being mature enough to save you all the pain coming. Notice how two people can view the same actions differently?”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“There is no reason to compare the two unless you think they are alike.”

“Not even close,” he said. “Aside from the age, the mentality of her generation is different. Though her parents are divorced, she had a strong family foundation, despite a strained relationship with her mother. Her relationship with her father seems to be improving.”

“Tell me about that relationship because it will bother you,” his mother said. “Family has always been everything to you.”

“It’s a weird relationship,” he said. “Her mother’s remarried. She’s close to her mother in the fact they spend holidays together and talk, but it sounds like her mother is very judgmental of Harmony and her choices in life.”

“Oh boy,” his mother said. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“Not bad choices,” he said. “Just not the ones her mother would make. Her father was detached when she was younger.” He explained what he’d been told and why. “I didn’t see it this weekend.”

Though Andrew James was serious, you could see he cared for his children. He listened to them, he probably smiled more than Micah did, and he was excited to be a grandfather.

“You met her family this weekend?”

“Her sister, Erica, and Erica’s fiancé. She lives with Erica and always has.

They are extremely close. Theo is the oldest and he’s married.

There was another close relationship. The siblings seemed to have stuck together through the parents’ issues.

Her father just appeared to be an old school doctor with a high level of responsibility and not much of a personality. ”

“Sounds like my son,” his mother said, laughing. “Maybe that is what Harmony sees in you.”

He wanted to be insulted until it hit him.

He was serious. He didn’t laugh much. Didn’t have a big personality with many people. And his career had high levels of responsibility and stress.

Jesus, did Harmony have a Daddy complex?

She said she didn’t, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Or could it be why she got along with him so well, because she’d dealt with this growing up?

He was more confused than ever.

“I have no idea,” he said. “But we get along good and things are going well.”

“All wonderful things to hear,” his mother said. “I can’t wait to meet her. Maybe we’ll come home earlier than we planned, but we’ll find a place to stay.”

“No,” he said. “That is crazy. You can stay at the house like you always do. Harmony has a house.”

“That she lives in with her sister,” his mother said.

“It’s not like that. It’s a big house. It’s her father’s second home they share. Erica will move into Tucker’s house soon which is on the same street.”

“Funny that she’ll have family on the same street the same as you do. What does she think of that situation?”

“We haven’t talked much about it,” he said. “She knows we co-parent Scarlet and share a few holidays together. If anything, she’s good with it. She’s more concerned with who I am than what I did or had in the past.”

“Then it sounds like you should follow her lead on this,” his mother said.