Chapter 13
Harmony blinked back tears while she waited for the Kerrs to answer their front door, but she wouldn’t let herself break down over Aiken Dunlap. He was the one who said they couldn’t be together, so he could suffer the pain of rejecting her.
She had the rest of her life to find a man who didn’t play these stupid mind games. All this malarkey about wanting her and not being able to have her was just his manipulative way of telling her he didn’t want her the way she wanted him. He wanted to let her down easy so she wouldn’t have to face the fact that he never wanted her in the first place.
She knew enough from her disastrous experiences with men to know the signs. Her inner girlfriend patted her on the shoulder and said, “He’s just not that into you, honey. Have a drink and forget him.” Yeah. Forget him. Easy. She had a thousand more important things to do and think about than a man who wasn’t that into her.
Laird opened the door with his wet hair combed back from his face and a turquoise bollo tie around his neck. A bright smile broke across his face when he saw Harmony. He stood back, and light and warmth streamed through the door to welcome her into the house. That welcoming glow blasted Aiken Dunlap right out of her mind. He didn’t take that sense of perfect belonging with him when he withdrew out of her life. She still belonged here, now more than ever.
Laird shut the door behind her. Harmony looked around. “Where is everybody?”
“Celia is visiting her family over at Dodd Homestead, and the kids are all at their own houses. It’s just you and me.”
Harmony froze. “Celia won’t like that. She might get ideas.”
“Celia knows all about it. I had a long talk with her before I invited you over. I wouldn’t go behind Celia’s back, and I can assure you I don’t have any designs on you. I just wanted to see you again so we can talk in peace and quiet.” He waved toward the dinner table laid out with place settings for two. Steaming dishes piled high with food covered the table, and an uncorked bottle of wine sat to one side along with two crystal glasses.
Harmony didn’t move toward the table. “Maybe you should tell me now what it is you want to talk to me about.”
He moved toward the table. “Come and sit down and have something to eat first. We have plenty of time to talk about that later.”
“I don’t think so. If I’m going to sit down and have dinner with you alone in your house when your wife and family are away, I think I better know what this is all about. After you tell me, I’ll decide if I’m ready to have dinner with a strange man.”
He burst out laughing. “All right. I can see you aren’t going to budge until you get your way. I had hoped to save the heavy stuff for after we have a chance to break the ice, but if that’s the way you want it, I’ll show you now.”
He walked into his living room and sat down in the same leather chair. He picked up a battered black photo album from the side table and opened it on the coffee table. “You better come here so you can see. You won’t see it from over there.”
He turned the pages of the album without looking up. Harmony hesitated. What was he up to? Her curiosity got the better of her, and she went around to the couch where she sat the first time they talked.
He moved the album around in front of her. “You’re probably wondering why I took such an interest in you. Take a look. This is an old picture of my younger sister Scotia.”
Harmony couldn’t take her eyes off the young woman in the picture. It wasn’t faded enough to stop her seeing the resemblance. She could have been looking in the mirror, or at a picture of herself doctored to make it look old. Only Scotia’s hair style made it obvious the picture was old.
“You see? You look exactly like her. When I first walked into the room and saw you, I thought for just a second you were her. Then I remembered everything, and I thought I would die all over again. My sister Scotia killed herself a long time ago. She disappeared from our Homestead, and her body was never found.”
“How do you know she killed herself? How do you know she didn’t just run away?”
He withdrew a folded yellow paper from the album. “This is the note she left just before she left home to go do it. She tells exactly what she was going to do.”
“Does she say why she killed herself?”
“She didn’t say. She just said she couldn’t live with the pain and couldn’t face another day. When I found out about it, I left a good job at the Dodds to come back here and help my family. We all suffered from her loss, but we got through it in the end.”
“I don’t understand how I could look so much like your sister. I don’t know anything about her.”
“You told me you have no family in Iron Bark.”
“Not in Iron Bark or anywhere else in the world. My mother was my only relative and she died giving birth to me.”
“What was her name?”
“Her name was Penelope. Penelope McGillis. That’s about all I know about her.”
“When did she die?”
“She died the day I was born, and my birthday is August 25, 1993.”
He studied the letter. “Scotia dated this letter February 5, 1993, more than six months before. There couldn’t be any connection between them.”
Harmony and Laird studied the pictures and the letter, but neither of them said anything more. After a while, Laird slapped his hands down on his thighs. “So there you have it. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. You remind me of my sister. Now do you want to have dinner with me?”
Harmony grinned. “Sure.”
They sat down at the table, and Laird poured glasses of wine for them both. He lifted his glass to Harmony. “To you.”
She returned the toast. “To you.”
They drank their wine, and Laird served the food. Harmony observed him with new eyes. “So what did you tell Celia about meeting with me?”
“I told her the truth. I said you looked exactly like Scotia, and I wanted to know more about you to find out if you had any connection with her.”
“What connection could I have?”
“I don’t know. None of it makes any sense, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. Our people never leave Bruins’ Mountain. We marry within our own circle and keep everything and everybody close to home. If you were any relation of ours, we would know about it. That’s why you interested me so much.”
“Can you explain to me why your people keep so much to yourselves? Why are the young people forbidden to marry outsiders?”
He twirled his fork in his spaghetti and aimed it at her. “Is this going into your official report?”
“No. I’m done with official reports—at least I’m done with official reports on the Kerr family. I just wondered because Aiken told me.....”
“Aiken? Aiken Dunlap? Is that what this is all about?”
Harmony pushed her chicken back and forth on the plate. “Never mind.”
He leaned back in his chair. “I see how it is. You got your heart set on Aiken Dunlap, and you want to know why you two can’t get together. Is that it?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I wish I could explain it to you. I wish I could tell you why there’s no chance you could be related to my sister Scotia—no way on God’s green Earth. You’re a real nice girl, and I believe you mean all of us here on Bruins’ Mountain well, but I can’t tell you. Maybe someday you’ll understand. I can only hope you and Aiken put each other out of your minds as quickly as possible. That’s the kindest thing for everybody.”
“That’s what Aiken keeps saying.”
“He’s a smart kid. I guess he’s not really a kid anymore. He’s in line to take over his father’s business along with Boyd, and he’ll be looking for a mate one of these days. It will be a lot better for him if he takes a mate from one of our tribes. It would ruin him to fall for an outsider.”
“That’s what he keeps saying, but I can’t understand why. No one will explain it to me.”
Laird shoveled another dollop of mashed sweet potatoes onto her plate. “I’m sorry, but I won’t explain it to you, either. Now eat up. You need to strengthen yourself.”
“I swear, I think everyone on this mountain is trying to fatten me up for Christmas.”
“You’re skin and bones. I can believe you don’t have a mother.”
“Don’t joke about that.”
His smile evaporated. “I would never joke about that. I’m sorry to bring up a sore subject.”
“You told me all about your sister. Now I have a question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“Can you think of any reason why an outsider would feel especially drawn to this place and its people?”
“This place? What do you mean?”
Harmony swept her hand over the room. “All of it. This house, this land, the Peak, the Dunlaps—all of it. I never experienced anything like it. I feel like I belong here, like I don’t belong anywhere else. I felt it the first time I walked into this room. I can’t understand it. I feel connected to everyone and everything about the place. I even.....”
He waited for her to finish. “You even what?”
“You’re gonna laugh. It’s too crazy.”
“All right. Don’t tell me then.”
“Oh, shut up! You know I’m gonna tell you. I was walking in the woods. I found out later it was in Dunlap territory, but I didn’t know that at the time. I was looking around at the beauty of the forest, and I felt this surge of glorious belonging. The sunlight and the smells and everything made me feel like I was in heaven or something, and then this bear came out of the forest and walked right up to me. It let me touch it, and the light was glowing all around it like some kind of messenger from God. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”
“Not crazy.”
“When I told Aiken about it, he said he experienced something similar in the woods, that he feels connected to the Peak like that the same way. I don’t understand it.”
He watched her face and waited for her to finish.
“So?”
“So what?”
“Can you think of any reason why that should happen? Why would I feel like I belong here when everyone keeps telling me I’m an outsider?”
“It’s not because of your connection with Aiken, is it? Are you sure it’s not wishful thinking?”
“Maybe you’re right. No, it can’t be. I felt that way here, at your house, even before I knew anything about Aiken.”
“No, I can’t explain it, since you ask. Most people from Iron Bark think Bruins’ Peak is creepy and dangerous.”
“Well, I’m not most people from Iron Bark.”