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CHAPTER FOUR

HARLOW

T he smell of coffee hit me first as my eyes fluttered open. I stared up at the ceiling fan, momentarily forgetting where I was.

I groaned, throwing a hand over my eyes. I had trouble sleeping last night because my thoughts wouldn’t let me rest. I knew it was hard for him to have me here. It was hard for me, too.

I wanted to apologize for leaving him, but he was so upset that Molly dropped me off without a warning, so I didn’t want to make things worse.

I was curious, though. Would he soften up toward me, or continue hating everything about me being back here?

I squeezed my eyes shut, already knowing the answer to that question.

I had to remind myself not to get too comfortable staying in this house.

He made it perfectly clear that I wasn’t welcome.

There was a knock at the front door, so I picked up my phone to look at the time. Brooks’ heavy footsteps echoed throughout the house.

“Is she awake?” asked the soft, familiar voice.

“Not yet.” Brooks’ tone was hard. I could feel the tension seeping through the walls.

I threw the plaid quilt off my body, knowing I would eventually have to move from this spot and popped off the bed. I promised myself that I would be polite and not kill either one of them today.

The bedroom door creaked as I dragged my reluctant feet to the kitchen. I yawned and ran a hand through my hair, trying to tame the tangles.

“Good morning.” Molly’s voice was bright and cheerful as her husband stood beside her with a black duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

“You brought me clothes,”I said, my entire body filled with relief.

Molly’s eyes caught on what I was wearing.

“I can’t let you walk around town wearing Brooks’ flannel. People will get the wrong idea.”

Leave it to Molly to make things awkward.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. If I didn’t know any better, I would think she was enjoying this. “I just brought a few things to help get you through the next couple of days.”

“I appreciate it.” I wrapped my arms around myself, hoping that if I played nice with her husband, maybe he wouldn’t be such a jerk to me. “Hey, Finn.”

“Harlow,” was all he said, and he went back to crossing his arms. He looked at me like I was a bug he wanted to squish under his shoe.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why Molly’s husband hated me.I would always be the girl who broke his best friend’s heart, and he’d been carrying a grudge ever since.

Finn and I had only seen each other a handful of times over the years. Whenever we were in the same room, we kept our distance.He never said it to me outright, but I could tell he wasn’t a fan of mine.

“How did you sleep?” Molly asked, pulling a chair out for Finn to set the bag down. I didn’t miss the warning look she shot him or how he ignored it.

“Fine.”

Molly stepped closer. “So, what’s the plan?”

I glanced at Brooks, who stood over the stove, shirtless. He hadn’t said a word. Hadn’t moved. The tension was so damn thick I couldn’t wait to get out of here.

“I’m going to have my things sent overnight from New York. Would you mind giving me a ride to the lake house?”

Finn shoved his hands inside his pockets. “How do you plan on getting in without a key?”

“I was hoping one of you guys knew how to pick a lock, or I could always climb in through a window.”

“You’re going to break in?” Brooks asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I’m not breaking in if it’s my house. Besides, do you have a better idea?”

He held his hands up with a smirk. “Your house, your rules.”

“We can help.” Molly sat at the kitchen counter and tried to pretend that there wasn’t five years of bad blood simmering in this room.

“No, we can’t,” Finn announced, surprising us all. He was making it very clear that I wasn’t welcome in this town.

“Finn,” Molly scolded. “Stop with the attitude.”

He looked down at his shoes. “I don’t have an attitude. All I meant was we can’t leave Emma with my mom for too long. She has things to do today.”

I twisted my hands together, trying to mask the hurt that was impossible to ignore. No matter how much time has passed, Finn would never forgive me for what I did.

What made it sting even worse was that Finn was a nice guy. If an old lady needed help carrying groceries to her car, he didn’t hesitate. If a stranger were stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire, he would jump in to help without a second thought.

When it came to me, he would run me over without even attempting to hit the brakes. Okay, maybe not actually run me over, but he would take his sweet-ass time debating whether or not to stop.

The worst part was that I couldn’t blame him.Maybe that was why it bothered me so much.

Brooks set his coffee down. “You guys go take care of Emma. I got this.”

Finn raised an eyebrow. “You sure? You’ve been generous enough to let her stay here.”

“Finn, stop being rude.” Molly smacked her husband on the arm. “If he wants to help, let him help.”

He gazed down at his wife. “Don’t get snippy with me. Maybe if she didn’t burn every damn bridge she crossed, she’d have more people willing to help her.”

I knew my actions had consequences, but knowing how much Finn hated me, hit ten times harder.In spite of that, I still respected him. I always would.

“All right. I think that’s enough for today.” Brooks shocked me by stepping up to my side. “I appreciate your concern, Finn, but I’m a big boy; I can take it from here.”

Finn held his hands up and started heading toward the door. “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Brooks crossed his arms and let out a frustrated sigh.

Molly gave me a tight smile as she pulled me into her arms. “I’m sorry. I’ll talk to him. I promise.”

I squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t want to cause any more problems with your marriage. I appreciate the clothes. I’ll call later, after I get settled.”

Once she was gone, Brooks handed me a coffee mug. “Don’t take it personally. Give him a bit of time. He’ll come around.”

I laughed weakly. “Now, do you see why Molly brought me here? Could you imagine how he would be if I were under his roof instead of yours?”

His eyes thinned into slits. “You hurt a lot of people, Harlow. You can’t expect everyone in this town to forgive and forget so easily.” He turned to walk away. “I’m going to get dressed. Be ready to leave in thirty.”

I sighed once he was gone. If there was one thing I’d learned since I’ve been back, it is that running away all those years ago didn’t solve anything. It only made things much worse, and after yesterday, I was officially done running.

The second we pulled up to the lake house, I got out of Brooks’ truck and breathed in the crisp morning air. A sense of peace washed over me.

But that peace didn’t last.

Brooks was already walking to the front door when he stopped in his tracks. His gaze dropped to something on the porch.

“Uh, we have a problem.”

“What’s that?” I asked, hurrying to catch up to him.

He pointed to the ground, where a puddle of water was seeping out under the door.

He placed his hands on his hips and glanced around. “I think your pipes burst.”

I shook my head, fighting the urge to cry. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

He pointed to a puddle of water. “I’m dead serious.”

My stomach dropped. This couldn’t be happening.

“This isn’t good, is it?” I asked, defeat creeping into my voice. Everything that could possibly go wrong had gone wrong. I must have pissed somebody off in my former life.

Without uttering a word, he moved to the door and pulled out a paperclip and a small screwdriver.

I started pacing back and forth. I only needed one thing to go right. Just one thing.

After a few minutes, I heard the click, and the lock gave way. Brooks swung the door open. I clamped a hand over my mouth and took in the damage.

This was worse than I imagined.

Our feet sank into what was probably an inch of water, but it still felt like a swamp.

“Oh, my God.”

Brooks cursed and walked deeper into the house, trying to figure out where the water was coming from. I followed him, trying not to cry as I surveyed the damage.

The wood floors were ruined. The ceiling was coated with water spots and paint blisters, and the dining room wallpaper was peeling off the wall. The area rugs looked like little floating islands.

Once we reached the top of the stairs, we could hear exactly where the water was coming from.

Brooks pushed the door to the laundry room open and rushed over to turn off the valves connected to the two cut water hoses.

“Please tell me this was some freak accident.”

He pointed to the wall. “Hoses don’t magically split apart on their own.”

“Who would do this?”

“Well, let’s start with the obvious.”

I stared at him. “You think Baz did this?”

“Unless you pissed off someone else in the past twenty-four hours, I can’t think of anyone with a stronger motive.”

I swallowed hard, my gaze darting around the room. This wasn’t just a house with four walls. This was my mother’s home. It was all I had left of her, and now it was completely destroyed. I felt like someone ripped away the last bit of peace I could have.

“Now, what?”

Brooks crouched by the steel braided hoses again, running a hand along the length where they’d been cut. “We can call Tuck and file a report.” He stood and wiped his hands on his legs. “For now, you’ll have to find someplace else to stay.”

I followed him outside, pacing the front yard while he called his brother. The back of my eyes burned with tears. I couldn’t believe someone would actually do this.

Brooks slid his phone into his back pocket. “Tuck is on his way.”

“He’s the sheriff now, huh?”

“One of them,” he clarified. “Let’s take a look around and see what we have on our hands.”

We took our shoes off and rolled our pants up as we walked through the house. I found myself getting emotional. This was the one place where I always felt at peace. This was supposed to be my safe haven.