Page 102 of Capture The Moment

“Sure,” Harper replied, assuming Carrie was going to ask if she could help in some way.

“Are you and Finn…together?”

Carrie was the first person who’d asked her that since Nina, and Harper hadn’t been expecting it. She’d figured that everyone would find out at the party and she wouldn’t be confronted directly.

“Yes,” Harper replied. And after a long silence ensued, she added, “We were planning on telling people at the party.”

“I’m sorry, Harper, but Dave and I won’t be coming,” Carrie said abruptly.

“Oh. That’s ok. I understand if you’re busy.”

“It’s not that.”

Harper had been trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but then reality came crashing down.

“I can’t in good conscience come to the party knowing that you and Finn are a couple. And honestly, I don’t know how you could do this. He was Blake’s best friend.”

Harper was stunned. So far, they’d received nothing but positive responses from the people they’d invited, and now she’d come up against something she’d feared all along. But instead of cowering under Carrie’s scathing words, she sat up straighter on the couch and steeled herself.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Carrie. But if you know Finn and me at all, you’d understand that this wasn’t something either of us entered into lightly. We both loved Blake, and we always will.”

“If you loved him, you would never be able to do this to him. I don’t think Blake would have approved of you having the hots for his best friend.”

Gripping the phone tightly, Harper closed her eyes and searched for something to say. But it turned out she didn’t have to.

“Goodbye, Harper,” Carrie said and disconnected.

Harper was still sitting there holding the phone when she heard the key in her front door, followed by Finn’s voice.

“Hi, honey. I’m home,” he called teasingly.

They’d recently exchanged housekeys, and even though they hadn’t talked about getting together that evening, she wasn’t surprised at all that he was there. Instead of getting up to greet him, she called, “In the living room.”

“Hey. How was book club?” he asked as he sauntered into the room. But when he saw her expression, he instantly sat down and drew her into his arms. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Daisy, as if sensing that her master was now in good hands, hopped off the couch and trotted away.

“I just got off the phone with Carrie,” Harper said.

“And?”

“And she and Dave won’t be coming to the party.”

“So, she’s the first one to decline. No big deal.”

“It’s why she declined that I’m upset about.” After Harper relayed the conversation, she sat back and sighed. “I told you this might happen.”

“She’s one person, Harper. It doesn’t matter.”

“But even if other people don’t say it, they might be thinking the same thing.”

“So what. We don’t owe anybody an explanation,” he said, his voice rising with frustration.

She wanted to be as strong and secure as he was, but it wasn’t as easy for her. She still experienced moments of guilt, especially when she was directly confronted like she had been with Blake’s family and now Carrie.

Averting her eyes, she said, “Sometimes, I wish that we could just move away and start over where nobody knows us. Just you, me, and the dogs.”

Cupping her face in his hands, he forced her to look up at him. “We can’t hide from the world, Harper. Besides, this is where our family and friends live. I don’t think you’d be happy somewhere else.”