Page 6 of A Home for Harmony

Getting two more messages and an email in the past six weeks was annoying, but it’s not as if she ever let on to where her father’s lake home was or that she was living there now.

“So you didn’t freeze,” Erica said. “Look at you. Really, Harmony?”

“Don’t turn into Oscar again,” she said, pouting. “Tucker has been so good for you and now you’re going to lecture. You can’t tell me you’ve never left the house before, running a quick errand, and weren’t one hundred percent prepared.”

“You know who you’re talking to, don’t you?” Erica asked, turning to look at her sister in the car.

She laughed. “My bad. You would never run out to get creamer before you could have coffee in the morning because you wouldn’t have run out of it to begin with.”

Erica’s shoulders slumped under her wool jacket. Her sister even had boots on her feet instead of shoes.

Harmony had tossed on one of her brother’s old Yale sweatshirts he’d left behind, pulling it over her T-shirt and leggings. With her slippers doubling as outdoor shoes, she set off on what was supposed to be a quick ten-minute run to the convenience store for a carton of creamer.

“No,” Erica said. “I wouldn’t have. And if I were home more, I would have realized we were low, so I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “You’re getting laid. I’m not. I’m jealous. I wouldn’t take that away from you.”

Her sister giggled. Such a warm sound. “I should have come home last night, but planned on it today anyway since I’ve got work to do.”

Tucker lived on the same street about six houses down. Her sister was spending a few nights a week there and most of the weekends, but she came home daily to work unless she was in an office somewhere.

Like today.

“And we’ve got no creamer for coffee. Unless you want to stop at the store quickly.”

“We might as well if you’ve got time,” Erica said.

“I have nothing specific planned. Not with a client.”

Harmony did schedule work to do all the time. She was always busy, but it didn’t mean she had to work eight to four. Sometimes she worked later at night or early in the morning.

Being the boss with flexible hours had its perks.

“Then we’ll get what we need,” Erica said. “You’ll have to let me know.”

“Because you’re too busy getting porked to make a grocery list. And speaking of pork, can I tell you about the bacon I was with this morning?”

It was a running joke she had with Erica about hot guys being called bacon.

“Do tell,” Erica said. “The state police guy, the tow truck driver, or the mechanic at the garage?”

“Police,” she said. “Some prime aged sizzling going on there. At one point I was afraid I was going to giggle when I thought it’d be nice to be burned by some of his oil.”

Erica was almost roaring with laughter in the car. She loved her sister like this.

For so long her sister was grouchy, grumpy, and boring.

Not anymore.

This move to Mystic had been the best thing for both of them.

She was going to continue to think it while she figured out what to do about these darn annoying emails and messages that wouldn’t stop.

More than annoying since they disrupted her peace of mind. But nothing she could really make a big deal about either.

It was silly to get nervous with Micah walking to her car.

But he was a stranger.