Page 115 of Seeing Harper

“And you’re not going to tell him.”

Summer placed another bite in her mouth and silently shook her head.

“You’re cold.”

Summer smiled at her Uncle Travis as she started chewing.

Travis just shook his head as he hurried to the gate to let himself into Maia and Riley’s yard, casting a glance back over his shoulder at Summer a couple of times as he went.

The last time he looked back, she smiled exaggeratedly with her mouth open and waved at him.

~~~

Maia was sitting in her living room, sipping a frozen caramel latte when she heard the chimes at her front gate letting her know that someone had pulled in. She leaned forward so she could see out of the windows on her far right and smiled, knowing that Libby had arrived.

Libby wasted no time entering the entry code and getting up to the house, then up the stairs to Maia’s porch. She tapped on the door as she opened it. “Maia!”

“Girl, I’m right here. Why are you shouting?” Maia said from her recliner which faced the entry way of her home.

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know if you were upstairs or something. You’re sure you’ve seen Harper? She’s okay?”

“I have. She was pretty upset, but I think she’s okay. I even gave her my truck to leave in and I wouldn’t have done that if I thought she was too upset to drive. I’d have made her wait until you got here.”

Libby let out a tired sigh. “Thank you so much.” She let her shoulders drop and dragged her feet over toward Maia, dropping into the chair beside her. She looked at Maia’s drink as Maia sipped, then at the identical drink sitting on the side table between the two chairs. “Whose is that one?”

Maia grinned at her. “Yours, my dear.”

Libby grabbed it and sipped several mouthfuls through the straw sticking out of it. When she took a break to breathe, she leaned her head back against the chair she sat in. “God, I love you. Thank you so much.”

“Stop thanking me.”

“Oh, this isn’t for Harper, this is for making me a caramel frappe.”

“Would you expect any less?”

“Not usually. But I haven’t been around much in the last several weeks.”

“Fighting battles you shouldn’t have to fight…”

Libby nodded.

“He’s lucky you're his mate and not me, because I’d have gelded him if he tried to force his life onto my daughter.”

“It almost came to that. But after I finally stopped trying to walk the role of peacemaker, and told him what I really thought, and left to go stay with Renata and Basilio just like Harper had already done, I think he realized that castration might be next without me having to threaten it. At the very least, I know he realized that no matter what I feel for him, he’s quickly chipping away at it by the way he treats my daughter. I won’t stand for it.”

“Harper gave me enough information to make sure I understood, but I think she felt bad talking about the home situation without the two of you here to defend yourselves.”

Libby nodded again as she sipped her drink. “I have nothing to hide. Travis is a wonderful male, loyal, protective, loving… but he’s also got an ego and a stubbornness that I’ve never seen on anybody else. And I should have said something sooner, but I kept hoping they’d work it out. But Harper stopped trying, and Travis started manipulating. I didn’t realize to what extent until Harper got home from the trade show and went straight to Renata and Basilio’s house. She even had Summer sitting in her car with the engine running when they arrived, so instead of coming inside, Harper just grabbed her bags and got in Summer’s car and off they went.”

The back door opened and closed just as the alarm on the side gate chimed to let them know someone was coming through the gate.

“What about this business associate she told me about? Despite everything that played into her melt down, that is the one that causes me the most concern,” Maia said.

“Me, too. And I don’t know what it’s going to take to make me set it aside, but in all honesty, I don’t think Travis thought he did more than arrange a business meeting and an escort — a normal friendly one — for her time spent in Utah, while thinking, who knows? Maybe they’ll hit it off, too. He really liked the young man. And once he stopped trying to brush Harper’s concerns aside, and really saw what had happened, what was happening, the protective Travis surged to the forefront.”

“Did the man assault her?” Maia asked.

“Assault who? What man?” Riley asked, walking into the living room wearing muddy wading boots and stinking of fish guts.