Read Online A Forever Kind of Family by Brenda Harlen - Free Book Online
Authors: Brenda Harlen
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didn’t know you were planning a field trip to the ER today.” His tone was deliberately light but the look he sent his brother was full of concern.
“He’s fine,” Justin said. “Just a minor laceration that we closed up with Dermabond. It should heal up completely within a week.”
“When you get home, you’ll have to check his baby book to see if there’s a page for ‘First Trip to the Hospital,’” Ryan said to Harper.
She knew he was teasing—or she hoped he was. But his words unleashed a fresh wave of emotion—grief because this was only one of many firsts that her friend would not experience with her son, and guilt because, despite Justin’s reassurances to the contrary, she couldn’t help but feel responsible for Oliver’s ordeal.
This time when the tears filled her eyes, she couldn’t hold them back.
Ryan’s panicked gaze shifted from Harper to his brother.
“Why don’t I take Oliver to the cafeteria for the cookie he didn’t get earlier?” Justin suggested.
“Kee!” Oliver agreed.
The doctor lifted the baby from Harper’s arms and carried him out of the room.
She swiped at her tears, but her efforts were for naught.
“Do you want to tell me what this is about?” Ryan asked when they were alone in the exam room.
She shook her head and grabbed a tissue from the box on the counter as her tears continued to fall.
“You don’t want to tell me, or you can’t, because you can’t cry and talk at the same time?”
She nodded.
“Okay, then.” He hesitated for a moment, not certain how to console her—or even if she’d let him. But he reached out to circle her shoulders with his arms and draw her gently into his embrace. “Let it all out.”
She offered only a token resistance, then tucked her face into his shoulder and sobbed as if she’d lost her best friend.
And she had.
Melissa and Darren had died less than a month earlier, but in that time, Ryan hadn’t seen Harper shed a single tear. He couldn’t say with any degree of certainty that she hadn’t cried when she was alone, but he didn’t think she had. She’d seemed to focus instead on the practicalities of what needed to be done without giving in to any emotion. He’d thought she didn’t feel anything—obviously he’d been wrong. She’d just bottled it up inside, and now that the cork was out of the bottle, all of those emotions were pouring out.
When the storm of emotion finally subsided, he tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. They were still shimmering with moisture. Her lashes were wet and spiky, her cheeks streaked. Whatever makeup she’d put on that morning had been washed away—but she looked more real and more beautiful than he’d ever seen her, and it seemed not just natural but necessary to lower his head and kiss her.
Her breath caught when his lips brushed against hers, and she went completely still. But she didn’t pull away, so he let himself linger, savoring her flavor, slowly deepening the kiss. Her hands lifted to his shoulders, almost tentatively, as her lips parted to welcome the leisurely exploration of his tongue.
She tasted sweet and hot and tantalizingly familiar. He’d kissed her before—and a whole lot more. And although the one night they’d spent together had been more than four years earlier, the memories flooded his brain and his body, making him ache and yearn for her.
Harper had called that night a mistake. He thought that assessment was rather harsh. In his opinion, falling into bed with her the night of Darren and Melissa’s wedding had been an impulse—and probably one he should have resisted. But he couldn’t regret it. He regretted only that the closeness they’d shared that night had somehow created greater distance between them the next day.
Four years ago, they’d been acquaintances with mutual friends. Now they were living together, sharing not just a home but custody of a little boy who needed both of them. Which meant that he couldn’t afford to
“He’s fine,” Justin said. “Just a minor laceration that we closed up with Dermabond. It should heal up completely within a week.”
“When you get home, you’ll have to check his baby book to see if there’s a page for ‘First Trip to the Hospital,’” Ryan said to Harper.
She knew he was teasing—or she hoped he was. But his words unleashed a fresh wave of emotion—grief because this was only one of many firsts that her friend would not experience with her son, and guilt because, despite Justin’s reassurances to the contrary, she couldn’t help but feel responsible for Oliver’s ordeal.
This time when the tears filled her eyes, she couldn’t hold them back.
Ryan’s panicked gaze shifted from Harper to his brother.
“Why don’t I take Oliver to the cafeteria for the cookie he didn’t get earlier?” Justin suggested.
“Kee!” Oliver agreed.
The doctor lifted the baby from Harper’s arms and carried him out of the room.
She swiped at her tears, but her efforts were for naught.
“Do you want to tell me what this is about?” Ryan asked when they were alone in the exam room.
She shook her head and grabbed a tissue from the box on the counter as her tears continued to fall.
“You don’t want to tell me, or you can’t, because you can’t cry and talk at the same time?”
She nodded.
“Okay, then.” He hesitated for a moment, not certain how to console her—or even if she’d let him. But he reached out to circle her shoulders with his arms and draw her gently into his embrace. “Let it all out.”
She offered only a token resistance, then tucked her face into his shoulder and sobbed as if she’d lost her best friend.
And she had.
Melissa and Darren had died less than a month earlier, but in that time, Ryan hadn’t seen Harper shed a single tear. He couldn’t say with any degree of certainty that she hadn’t cried when she was alone, but he didn’t think she had. She’d seemed to focus instead on the practicalities of what needed to be done without giving in to any emotion. He’d thought she didn’t feel anything—obviously he’d been wrong. She’d just bottled it up inside, and now that the cork was out of the bottle, all of those emotions were pouring out.
When the storm of emotion finally subsided, he tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. They were still shimmering with moisture. Her lashes were wet and spiky, her cheeks streaked. Whatever makeup she’d put on that morning had been washed away—but she looked more real and more beautiful than he’d ever seen her, and it seemed not just natural but necessary to lower his head and kiss her.
Her breath caught when his lips brushed against hers, and she went completely still. But she didn’t pull away, so he let himself linger, savoring her flavor, slowly deepening the kiss. Her hands lifted to his shoulders, almost tentatively, as her lips parted to welcome the leisurely exploration of his tongue.
She tasted sweet and hot and tantalizingly familiar. He’d kissed her before—and a whole lot more. And although the one night they’d spent together had been more than four years earlier, the memories flooded his brain and his body, making him ache and yearn for her.
Harper had called that night a mistake. He thought that assessment was rather harsh. In his opinion, falling into bed with her the night of Darren and Melissa’s wedding had been an impulse—and probably one he should have resisted. But he couldn’t regret it. He regretted only that the closeness they’d shared that night had somehow created greater distance between them the next day.
Four years ago, they’d been acquaintances with mutual friends. Now they were living together, sharing not just a home but custody of a little boy who needed both of them. Which meant that he couldn’t afford to
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