Chapter 16
“Your father killed someone?” Harper’s stomach tightened. If true, then Ed was worse than a garden variety drunk. “Why didn’t I hear about that?” No wonder Noah had been acting like a jerk to her and doing crazy stuff. He’d had serious family issues that he hadn’t shared with her.
Again, the whole trust thing.
“It happened in the thumb.” Michigan’s a peninsula shaped like a mitten. The thumb was, well, the thumb. “He and my uncle Charlie were cooking meth in Charlie’s pole barn. The lab exploded and Charlie was killed. After spending six months in a burn unit, and a few months in jail, dear old Dad was convicted of manslaughter and is serving thirty years.”
“That’s awful.” The story was hard to wrap her mind around. “Why was Ed convicted if they were both at fault?”
“Ed was the genius who lit a cigarette while mixing chemicals. We didn’t know where he was until his trial. Mom thought he’d left us and run off with some tramp. I didn’t want you to know. My family was already messed up without adding abandonment by Ed to the mix.”
“I would have understood.”
He rubbed her fingers. “Hell, I was eighteen. Teen boys don’t always think straight.”
“True.” Her own brother had gotten into a few scrapes, too. “Tell me the rest.”
“Charlie was a hermit and the family had long disowned him for his drinking and drugging. And Ed refused to contact us from the hospital. His lawyer hunted down my mom as a character witness. That’s how we found out.”
She did remember Ed smoked three packs a day, so the story made sense. Noah’s mom would crack open the windows even in the winter, so the second-hand smoke wouldn’t “kill them all.”
The tale also explained why Ed had been MIA for months. She’d suspected his relieved family didn’t bother trying to find him. This was far worse than a runaway husband.
Harper slid her hand out of his and made space between them. A whole lot of emotions welled. Anger was the biggest.
“The teen boy excuse aside, why didn’t you tell me this? You treated me like I’d done something wrong. You cheated on me and almost killed yourself on that old motorcycle of your father’s. I would have supported you, you know that.”
“That’s easy to say now, looking back.” He rose and went to lean against the dresser. “You think I wanted to involve you in this? I was barely eighteen and ‘that worthless Noah Slade’ was now head of the imploding Slade household. My father was a murderer and my family was facing a whole lot of crap once the news got out.”
“So you took away my choice?”
“Come on, Harper,” he snapped. “People already negatively judged you for dating me. I wasn’t about to make it worse.”
Pain burned her insides. “Dammit. I loved you.”
He looked away. “I know. That’s why you had to go.”
Harper didn’t realize she was crying until she felt dampness on her face. A simple conversation eleven years ago would have saved her a whole lot of misery.
Brushing her hand over her face, she walked over to him. There were so many more questions to ask, but she needed time to process this information before adding to the pile.
Noah was right. He’d had a load of crap to deal with. How would she have handled something like a murder rap had the killer been a member of her family?
“I want to punch you in the nose.”
“You should.”
She reached out, uncrossed his arms, and leaned against his chest. Hugging him tight, she listened to his heartbeat as he folded her in his strong arms.
“I’m sorry you had to deal with all that,” she said.
He kissed the top of her head. “You always were my biggest champion. I didn’t deserve you.”
Harper smiled. “True, but I loved you anyway, JD.” He’d always been a rebel so she occasionally called him JD for James Dean. It had been years since she’d thought of him that way. His nicknames after the breakup had been curse words.
Chuckling, Noah released and eased her back just enough to tilt her face up to meet his eyes. “I hope one day you’ll understand why I did what I did.”
“I’ll try. No guarantees.” Geez, he had amazing eyes. It was those eyes that hooked the seventeen-year-old Harper and wore her down when she vowed not to date him. However, it was his smile, not unlike the one he wore now, that she never could resist. That grin had gotten her out of her panties more times than she could count.
“I really want to kiss you,” he said deep and soft.
“I think you shouldn’t,” she said but it was too late. His mouth brushed over hers. Once. Twice. A half second later, before she could hope he had a condom handy, the doorbell rang and saved her from making a serious mistake.
“Dammit.” He lifted his head and released her. Chimes sounded again as the unwelcome visitor leaned on the bell. “I’m going to kill whoever that is.”
Harper followed him through the house. He jerked open the door. A familiar, but much older face, topping a long and lean body, brushed past him and came to a stop when he saw Harper.
“Now I know why it took you so long to answer.”
“Adam!” In a second, Noah’s younger brother had her scooped up in his arms and squeezed her tight. She laughed as her stomach protested. She hugged him back, then demanded, “Put me down before I barf all over you!”
He reluctantly complied. “Girl, Lori told me you were back, but I can’t believe I’ve found you with this old donkey’s ass. I thought you’d have traded way up by now.”
Adam had been fourteen when she’d left. He was four years younger that she and Noah, and two years younger than Lori.
Boy had he grown up and filled out nicely.
She glanced at Noah. “You can give a pup a shiny new toy, but it always favors a ratty old shoe.”
Noah frowned. She winked and turned back to Adam to take a bit of revenge. “Let me look at you. You are so grown up and handsome. I can see which brother got the best Slade genes.” If nothing else, from the old pictures she’d seen, Ed Slade had been a very handsome man before too much booze and cigarettes had ruined his looks.
The frown deepened. Noah’s eyes threatened her with bodily harm. “Clearly you need glasses.”
Adam grinned and put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “You’re wrong, Brother. Her taste in men is abysmal but her eyes are perfect.”
She laughed. “Twenty-twenty.”
Adam had been a sweet kid and she’d loved him like a little brother. Seeing him again made her realize that she’d missed him. Even after she and Noah solved the case and split up, she hoped to keep in touch with Adam.
Before she could take another breath, Adam steered her around and dragged her into the kitchen and to the table. “Sit and tell me what you’ve been up to for that last decade.”
She sat. “You mean, other than murdering my boss?”
He went to the fridge and dug out a water bottle. “I planned to start with your college and cheerleader years but I guess you can start with that.”
For the next half hour, she told him about the case. Then finished up with, “Noah is helping me out.”
Adam leaned back and encompassed them in a knowing look. “I’m not surprised. I don’t think he ever got over you.”
“Adam,” Noah warned. He received a bratty-little-brother-type grin for his effort.
“What? First love takes you by the balls and never lets go. Not really. And you two had it bad for each other.”
Harper’s gaze flicked to Noah. His face was unreadable.
Could he still be in love with her? It was highly unlikely. Yet, he had kissed her. There might be feelings beyond an obvious lingering attraction. She seriously hoped not.
“So, are you still racing Motocross?” she said abruptly. Adam laughed. She’d effectively changed the subject.
“Nope. I gave that up five years ago when I broke my collarbone. Now I tinker with cars.”
Noah grunted. “People send him their junky old muscle cars from all over the world. He gets paid a shit load of money to revamp the wrecks. His work’s been featured in every car magazine on the planet and he’s won a ton of awards.”
“Congratulations!” She was so happy for Adam. “Maybe he can turn my rental into a race car.”
Adam’s face took on a look of horror. “Are you talking about that hunk of junk in the driveway?”
“The same.” She snickered, shifted a glance to Noah, and caught him staring at her. From the heated and intense look in his blue eyes, he was both thinking about their too-brief kiss…and wondering what the older Harper looked like undressed.
Oh, boy.