Harper
We get dressed in silence, but it’s not awkward.
It’s comfortable.
It’s sweet.
It’s us.
Once we’re dressed, Blake gives me a long hug. He just holds me for a little while, and that’s fine because I’m not sure what to say. I have so many feelings and emotions running through my head right now and I don’t know where to start.
I don’t even know where to begin.
“Why didn’t you come home?” I finally ask. “I need to know. You had so many chances to come back, Blake. Didn’t you at least want to talk to me, want to find out if what Craig said was true?”
“I was hurt,” he shakes his head. “I knew you didn’t end up getting married. I asked my mom about it at one point and she said you and Craig weren’t together, but I assumed you had split up. I thought you’d moved on.”
“I thought you didn’t want me.”
“I thought the same.”
“It seems like something out of a bad movie,” I scoff. “It’s like this weird twisted breakup that neither one of us wanted, but that we got, anyway.”
“I’m sorry about what happened between us,” he says.
“Where do we go from here, Blake?” I look at him. “Can things really go back to the way they were? That was so long ago. We were different people then. We were younger and full of hope. We had so many plans, so many ideas.”
“I don’t know if we can go back, Harper. You’re right. People change. We’ve both changed. I’ve been to hell and back again. I’ve been to war. I’ve seen my friends die. I’ve seen them wounded. I’ve seen them break. I’ve seen them lose everything. I’m a different man than the one who went away all those years ago. I’m not the same.”
“I’m not the same, either.” My heart sinks as I realize this thing between us really can’t happen. It can’t work. We’re not the same people who fell in love all those years ago. We’re not the same people who had those big dreams.
“But we can go forward,” he says.
“What?” I look up at him sharply.
Blake just shrugs. “I learned a lot in the military and even more once I got to Kansas City. I should have come back so many times. Instead, I was weak. It was easier to stay on my own, to not have to face you. It was easier not to have to face anyone in Raven, to be honest. I won’t be weak again, Harper. I’ll be the man you need. I won’t be perfect and I won’t be the man you needed when you were 18, but I’ll be the man you need now. I’ll be the man you need today.”
“What are you saying, Blake? Are you saying you want to date me?”
“I’m saying I want a shot, Harper McBride. I’m saying I want you to give me a second chance. I’ll fight for it. I’ll be good to you. I’ll treat you like the princess you are. I’ll worship the fucking ground you walk on, baby, because you deserve all of that and more.”
Of all the things Blake could have said, that wasn’t one of the things I expected. I don’t have time to answer, though, because just then there’s a knock at the office door and Craig Galinski walks in. He doesn’t even have time to say anything because Blake strides over and punches him right in the nose.
“What the hell?” Craig cries out, grabbing his bleeding face.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Blake asks. “You told me Harper was engaged. You stole the letters we wrote each other. Hell, you were probably the one making those harassing phone calls so she’d have to change her number. How close am I, Craig? How close am I?”
Craig’s eyes open wide and he looks from me to Blake and back again. Yeah, talk about a deer in the headlights. I think back to all the time I spent with Craig and I wonder how he could have done this. I wonder how he could have betrayed us in this way. I wonder how he could have cared so little for our friendship.
“It’s true?” I ask because there was still a little part of me that didn’t want to believe it. There was still a little part of me that wanted to think Craig was just misunderstood, that there was a logical explanation for everything that happened. Now I’m finally realizing there’s no explanation but reality.
“Because you never even looked twice at me,” Craig spits out. He glares at me with venom in his eyes. “I never stood a chance. I was the one who was always there for you, who always walked you to school, who always helped you with your homework. That was me, Harper. That was always me, but you never cared about that.”
I shake my head. “You’re remembering things a lot differently than me. After Blake graduated and joined the military, you and I had a whole year left of school. We had an entire year left to have fun and spend time together and just hang out, but it wasn’t enough for you.”
At the time, I didn’t realize he had a crush on me. Maybe it was me being naïve or maybe I was just a bad friend. I’m not sure.
“You only ever had eyes for him,” Craig says. “Even after years of working with you at different jobs in Raven, you still compared every guy you dated to him, and you never wanted to go out with me.”
“You’re my friend, Craig.”
“I was never your friend, Harper.”
“I think you should leave,” Blake steps up suddenly. “And I think you need to find a new job.”
“You can’t fire me,” Craig smirks at Blake. “You don’t own this place. Hell, even your old man doesn’t own this place, and Harper’s way too much of a pussy to fire anyone.” He looks at me like he knows me, like he’s in control of the situation. He looks at me like I’m going to nod and sigh and tell him to get back to work, and I realize that maybe Craig is right about me.
Maybe I have been weak.
Over the last few years, I haven’t been as strong as I should have been. I certainly haven’t been as brave. I haven’t been as bold or as outgoing or as fierce as I ought to have been.
Now, as the owner of this restaurant, I need to be strong. Now, more than ever, I need to be brave.
For the first time in a very long time, I need to stand up for myself and for my future.
So I take a step forward and punch Craig in the face.
“Fuck off,” I say. “You’re fired.”