Page 2 of A Home for Harmony

Sorry, Mom. I’m not as much of an airhead as you think I am and I’m done with you always making me feel as if I can’t succeed.

Popping a chip into her mouth, she crunched loudly and giggled. She did it on purpose, even though no one was around to hear her.

Working remotely had its perks and its downfalls.

She was pretty lonely. So much so, she learned how to make herself laugh.

Not that she’d ever admit it, but she didn’t have many real-life close friends. Most of her connections lived online. She loved the interaction, but it wasn’t the same as picking up the phone and asking someone to grab dinner.

She pulled her email up and scrolled through what she had to address first.

When she got halfway down the list, she stopped chewing, her eyes glued to the screen, the arrow on her mouse hovering over the name she was positive wasn’t real. Just like half those “friends” she had online. Not a lot of them were authentic, she was guessing.

This name, though it changed often, she knew in her gut who it was. Even if she didn’t knowwhoit was.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, clicked on the mouse to open the email and read:Have you missed me, Harmony? I haven’t seen you around lately. Have you moved? Why won’t you reply to me?

Oh God, why wouldn’t it stop?

1

SERIOUS STUBBORNNESS

Six Weeks Later

Micah Barnes shovedhis travel mug under the one-cup coffee maker and hit the button, then grabbed his small lunch cooler off the counter and opened the fridge to figure out what to pack for the day.

Long gone were the days he picked up food on the road. He was in the office pushing more paperwork since being promoted to captain six months ago.

He’d wanted to get closer to home anyway, and it benefited him as a two for one in his eyes.

He tossed in a container of leftover goulash he’d made last night, some protein bars, and an apple. A nice mature boring lunch.

Just like all the guys under him busted his ass about.

That or the fact he rarely laughed, let alone smiled.

Who the hell cared? He was at work and not there to make friends but to catch criminals.

His gun in the holster on his shoulder, he grabbed his jacket, put it on, then threw his phone in the pocket of his pants.Snatching up his filled lunch bag, he picked up his travel mug and put the top on.

Good, his routine was so boring even to him.

But he was out the door happy to have his fifteen-minute drive to work over the hour before.

When he saw a car pulled over on the side of the road, he went behind it to see what was going on.

The roads were slick from an early morning snow shower that was half melted, half frozen.

As he approached the window, he caught sight of a young woman inside, shaking her head with a tight, polite smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. He could see the nerves written all over her face.

Smart since he was a stranger.

Though he was in uniform, his jacket covered most of it, and she wouldn't have known. He pulled out his badge and held it up. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled and opened her door. With the car off, rolling down the window hadn’t been an option.

She didn’t open the door wide though, as if she could slam it fast if she wanted.

“Hi,” she said. Her voice was light, her facial expression not so much. “The tow truck is on the way. My car just died.”