Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters) (37 page)

“Can we call him?”
Heaven asked as her mother pulled her through the doorway, pausing to help her
take her coat off.  “He could tell me story on da phone, Momma.”

“No, Heaven,”
Harmony denied huskily, her voice thick with tears.  “We’re not calling him,”
she whispered, keeping her eyes glued to the pink buttons on her daughter’s
coat.  If she looked into those questioning eyes of Heaven’s, she’d dissolve
and she knew it.  “It’s just going to be you and me tonight, okay?”

“O-kay,” Heaven
muttered begrudgingly. 

Peeling the coat
off Heaven’s shoulders, Harmony pressed her lips together.  “Go get settled at
the baking table, baby.  I feel a cookie attack coming on.  I’m thinking double
chocolate chunk.  What do you think?  I’ll get your coloring books and you can
keep me company while I mix them up.  Aunt Orla?” she called to her Aunt where
she stood watching them silently by the stove.  “Could you grab Heaven’s Barbie
coloring book?”

“Yay!” Heaven
jumped up and down, clapping before running to her metal stool at the table in
the center of the room.  “Cookies
and
coloring!”

“Come on, peanut.”
Aunt Orla offered, shooting Harmony an understanding small smile as she held
out her hand to Heaven.  “Let’s go find those books in the office.”  

Rising back to her
feet, she met the concerned gazes of two of her sisters, both standing against
the wall and watching her carefully.  “I’m fine, guys,” she assured them
softly. 

“You are
not
fine,” Patience snorted, shaking her head.  “I know this because I’m not fine. 
I’m pissed.  I’m homicidal.  I’m soooo not fine.”

“I will be and so
will you,” Harmony declared shortly, shaking her head as she straightened her
shoulders.   “Listen, I’m not the first woman ever to be made a fool of by a
man, and I’m sure I won’t be the last.  I just need a little time to come to
grips with the fact that I should be banned from choosing a man.  Somehow, I
managed to nearly hook my wagon to a second total loser.  My taste sucks.  But,
hey, at least I found out about this one before I had a kid with him or he
could beat the ever lovin’ shit out of me.  That’s a bright side, right?” she
asked sarcastically.

“Honey,” Faith
murmured, moving closer.  “Maybe Zeke is right.  Maybe you should call Jake and
see….”

“Jake and I are
over
,
Faith.  We’re
done!
” Harmony bit out, her voice lifting.  Grimacing as
she realized how loudly she’d spoken, she darted a look toward the office. 
Thankfully, Heaven was still absorbed in looking through her coloring books. 
Taking a deep breath, she turned back to her sisters and reminded herself that
they were not the enemy here.  Both Cain and Abel had been smart enough to get
the hell out of the kitchen, but she knew her baby sisters were made of sterner
stuff.  “Look, right now, I just wanna eat all the cookies I can stuff in my
mouth and be with my kid while I figure out a way to explain to her that Jake
is no longer gonna be a part of our future.  That’s all I can handle right now. 
I love you both, but I need a few minutes to get my head on straight, okay? 
You can both get that, right?”

“We got it, sis,
but I reserve the right to rip Jacob Stone’s nine inches off and shove it down
his throat if I see him,” Patience grumbled, her eyes promising fiery
retribution.

“If he’s guilty,”
Faith quickly added.

Staring at the most
forgiving of the sisters, Harmony took Faith’s hand.  “I’m not you.  I can’t
just get past things.  At the very least, Jake deceived me.  He allowed me
think he was something he wasn’t.  Sin by omission is still
sin
.  And
that may only be the tip of the iceberg.  I don’t want a man that could lie so
easily anywhere near me or my daughter.”

“But Zeke said
there were reasons,” Faith began to argue, tightening her fingers on
Harmony’s.  “Shouldn’t you at least…”

“Faith,” Patience
interrupted, seeing the tremble begin in Harmony’s lower lip, “That’s enough. 
Harmony has gotta do what she thinks is best for her and our niece.  Our job is
to support whatever that is.  End of story,” she stated firmly, touching
Faith’s arm.  “Let’s give the woman the time she needs to make those choices.  Although,”
she noted, offering Harmony a cruel smile, “You say the word, and I’ll get his
dick mounted for you above the fireplace at home.”

“Thank you,”
Harmony said softly, letting go of Faith’s hand as her two sisters walked out
of the kitchen, the door swinging closed behind them.  Walking to the window
above the counter that offered a view into the restaurant, she pulled it down
quickly.  She certainly didn’t need the prying eyes of Paradise studying her
every move.  Not this afternoon.

Smiling when her
daughter ran back out of the office, crayons in one hand and coloring book in
the other, she sighed.  Life went on.  She had Heaven, a stake in the café, and
a brand new event planning business.  She didn’t need a fucking man in her
life.  Certainly not one as deceptive as Jacob Stone.

“Harmony?” she
heard her Aunt Orla call.  “You gonna be okay, sugar?” the elderly woman asked,
her aged voice almost unbearably kind, pulling tears to her eyes.

“I will be,
Auntie.”  She tried to smile convincingly at the woman that had welcomed her
back into their family after Tanner had done his best to tear it apart.  She
owed this woman respect and knew she needed to hear her out.  After all, Aunt
Orla had sacrificed a lot to finish raising her sisters when their Momma and Daddy
died. “I just…” she trailed off, swallowing hard.

“I don’t know what
happened with you and that man,” the old woman said softly, “But, Harmony,
girl, that boy didn’t have the look of a man here to do harm when he gazed on
you and Heaven.  I saw the opposite.  I don’t think there’s much he wouldn’t do
for you.  Don’t know what his story is, but I figure, it might be worth
listening to.”

“He had his chance
to tell it, Auntie,” Harmony replied bluntly, looking toward the other woman. 
“Lots of chances.  Whatever he had to share, he could have told me any time
over the last month.  He chose not to do it.”

“Coulda been he had
good reason to keep silent.  Coulda been he was tryin’ to protect you,” Aunt
Orla said with a wave of her aged hand.  “You won’t know unless you ask.  Think
on it, darlin’.  Don’t do anything hasty that you might regret.  We’ve had way
too many regrets in this family to add more if we can help it.”

Harmony began to
shake her head.  “Auntie...”

“Mark me, Harmony
Pearl.  I’ve looked in Jacob Stone’s eyes, child, and there were shadows
swirling to be sure,” Orla shared with a stiff nod.  “Any man that’s lived any
length of time is going to have those, but I didn’t spot a speck of evil in his
eyes.  Saw a lot.  Pain.  Torment.  Something eating at his soul.  But no
evil,” she noted firmly.  “You think about all that before you try to cut the
line loose.”

“Aunt Orla, you
don’t know what I found,” Harmony tried to justify herself.  “He had files on
me… on all of us,” she whispered, keeping her voice low so Heaven didn’t hear
them.  “Pictures, Auntie.  Pictures he had to look hard to come by.”

Pursing her lips,
Aunt Orla tilted her head.  “If’n he did, you might take a second to think on
that.  If he cares ‘bout you as much as I think he does, might be he had good
reasons for that.”

Harmony’s head
pounded as she closed her eyes.  “The thing is, I’ve had enough drama in my
life, Aunt Orla.  I want some peace.  I’ve earned that.  It wasn’t just the
papers I found; there were guns, too.  A
lot
of guns.  And I’m not
talking hunting rifles, either.  I don’t know what to think,” she admitted,
opening her eyes and staring at her aunt. 

“Then ask,” Aunt
Orla directed sternly, propping one hand on an ample hip.  “Neither your Momma
or I raised you girls to be lily-livered cowards.  Don’t bury your head in the
sand, girl.  You march right up to that mountain of a man and demand your
answers.  He’s the man I think he is, he’ll tell you.”

“I don’t know. 
Maybe,” Harmony hedged, shrugging her shoulders as she moved to collect the
ingredients to make her cookies.  “I’ll think about it.”

“You do that,
child.  You think long and hard.” Aunt Orla nodded, reaching for her sweater on
the coatrack by the door.  “And you tell Honor that I went on home.  You all need
me, you know where to find me,” she said, dropping a kiss on Heaven’s bent head
before turning to leave, the child oblivious to the whispered conversation of
the two adults.

“Aunt Orla?”
Harmony asked as her aunt reached the back door.   Waiting until the elderly
woman had turned her head, Harmony whispered, “You really believe he’s good?”

“I really believe
that he’s not as bad as you seem to think he is,” Aunt Orla replied evenly.  “I
also think he could be truly
good
with
you
.”

And on that note,
Harmony watched her aunt disappear out the door, her wise words ringing in her
ears.

Hearing the back
door open and close a few minutes as she worked on mixing the cookie dough in
her metal bowl, Harmony smiled faintly.  “What’d you forget, Aunt Orla?  Your
pocketbook?  I bet it’s under the counter upfront.”  Her aunt was constantly
forgetting things.  Her purse.  Her coat.  Her glasses.  Usually, she forgot at
least one thing per shift.  It was a fairly standard occurrence and they all
teased her about it.

“Uhmmm…Momma?  Who
dat?” Harmony heard her daughter whisper in a nervous, slightly fearful voice
that sounded nothing like her baby.

Turning, Harmony
saw her daughter first, her tiny finger pointed shyly toward the door. 
Spinning completely around to see the person her baby stared at, she gasped and
began to fly toward her daughter.

“Uh, Harmony,”
Tanner Suarez chided, shaking his dark head as he casually pointed a gun at
her.  “I enjoyed watching your ass right where it was.  It’s been a long time
since I’ve seen you at the table, long blonde hair flowing all around while you
shook that ass.  Now, you keep you and our girl quiet and this will be a quick
conversation.  You don’t, things…they turn ugly.  You remember what ugly looks
like, don’t you?”

“Tanner,” Harmony
whispered, her voice sounding strangled to her own ears.  “What are you doing
here?” she asked softly, keeping one eye on her curious child as he took a step
toward them.  “You can’t be here.”

“Momma,
who
dat?” Heaven repeated, her eyes narrowing on the man in front of them.  “He
have a gun.  Guns are
bad
,” she whispered, reaching a hand toward her
mother.

“Heaven, baby, stay
where you are,” Harmony ordered her child calmly even though her heart
threatened to erupt from her throat.  This could
not
be happening.  It
was like she was trapped in a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from with the
worst bogeyman
ever
.  And her little girl was trapped between Tanner and
the door.  “This is a man that Momma used to know.  That’s all, baby.  Keep
coloring.”

“So, you lie to our
child?” Tanner snorted, his eyes glittering with anger.  “She doesn’t even know
who I am, does she?  Of course, she does not.  You think that stupid piece of
paper I signed could really keep me from knowing my kid?  I’ve had someone
watching you for years, mujer.  There’s nothing you’ve done that I don’t know. 
From your stupid little diner to that new business you’ve opened, I know it
all.
 
Especially about la nina bonita de mi esposa.”

“Tanner, don’t do
this,” Harmony begged, her eyes darting around, looking for something, anything
she could use as a weapon to protect her baby.  “Whatever you’re here for,
she’s innocent.  If you’re angry, I’m the one you should target.  Let me send
Heaven out of here.  She doesn’t need to hear this.”

“Momma?” Heaven
whimpered.

“Shut the brat up,
Harmony,” Tanner growled, glaring at Heaven.  “She brings somebody in here and
I won’t be happy.  You remember what happens when I’m unhappy, don’t you?” he
whispered sinisterly, lifting the gun to run the tip over her cheek. 

“Heaven, be quiet,”
Harmony instructed her daughter with a shaking voice, keeping her eyes glued to
Tanner.  He was almost vibrating with rage, and she knew from experience, his
venom could spew at them at any moment.

“Tell her who I
am,” Tanner demanded, narrowing his eyes on Harmony’s face.

“No,” Harmony
denied, shaking her head vehemently as she glared at the man who’d done his
best to ruin her life and kill her.  The only decent thing he’d ever done in
his life was contribute a few strands of DNA so that she could have Heaven, and
the bastard had done that accidently.  He’d always been a lazy bastard; he’d
just proven it when he refused to shrink wrap his dick before he stuck it
inside her.

“You don’t; I
will,” he threatened with a cruel smile.  “You know what?  I think it would be
better coming from me anyway.”  Looking at a confused Heaven, he bent slightly
toward the child, keeping the tip of his gun aimed at Harmony.  “Yo soy tu
papa, bambina.  Es mi hija.”

“Huh?” Heaven
grunted, cocking her head as she stared at the man.  “Momma, what he say?” she
asked, her face perplexed as she stared at Harmony.