Harkham's Choice (Harkham's Series Book 2) (10 page)

“No, now.” Adam gripped her arm as if to yank her from her seat.

“Go get your laptop, Adam. I’d like to see, too,” his dad said.

Her eyes popped open, and her head lifted. “You do?”

“Of course.” His dad smiled at her. “I’m sure it’s very impressive.”

“But I’ve barely started working on it. There’s nothing fabulous about a first draft,” she said, swallowing around the tight feeling in her throat.

“First drafts are sometimes the most honest.” His dad looked at Adam. “Go get it. I’m sure Zach can put it on a thumb drive so we can see it on your laptop.”

“Already done.” Zach produced a thumb drive out of his pocket.

“This is the best Thanksgiving ever!” Adam popped up out of his seat and raced off.

Samara came back into the room with the napkins, and her eyes narrowed on Mari right away when she noticed her brother was missing. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing wrong at all,” their dad said, motioning for her to sit down.

She did and passed the stack of napkins to her right.

Adam came back all breathless but grinning wider than ever. He pushed his plate of food aside and set the laptop there in its place.

Samara gasped. “No computers at the dinner table!”

“Calm down. Dad and Adam want to see this,” Zach said, getting up, circling around Mari and inserting the thumb drive into the laptop.

They opened up the website Mari had brought the program from.

As soon as her invitation popped up, she was the one with the mouth popped open. It was gorgeous.

“This is unreal. Thank you, Zach!” she said. He’d added all sorts of intriguing embellishments. There were silver swirls around the edges, and he’d somehow softened their image and zeroed in on their faces. The wording was a little more proper, and the whole thing was almost magical-looking—unearthly like they were both angels, hovering in the clouds with nothing but their love for each other surrounding them.

“Cool, right? She did an awesome job,” Zach said.

“You’re the one that made it awesome.” She had no idea when she’d stood up, but she was hugging Zach.

Arms came around her and joined in on the hug. “Thank you!” Adam said. “Both of you. I love it!”

“This is magnificent work,” his dad said, taking the laptop into his space. “Really quite good.”

“You like it?” Mari squeaked out.

“Very much.” His dad motioned for them all to take a seat.

Zach smacked Adam on the back. “You’ve got a helluva girl. Make sure you keep her happy so she doesn’t leave.”

“I will.” Adam beamed at her.

“Can we eat now? That
is
why we’re here, isn’t it?” Samara said, tapping her fork on the edge of her plate.

“Wanna see, Sam?” Adam asked her, taking the laptop back from his father.

“Maybe later, if I can stomach it.” Samara kept her eyes on her dad, looking more than annoyed. She looked almost ashamed of him.

“Sounds good,” Mari said, even if it didn’t sound good at all. “Maybe we can listen to Adam’s newest music he’s created, too.”

Samara smiled. “And maybe we can focus on the holiday and stick to traditions . . . We play board games after dinner, and then we have pie. It’s not much, but it’s our family.”

“That’s great that you guys do that. Traditions are always inspiring to me. I wish I had more of them in my life growing up.” Mari smiled.

Samara grimaced. “Yes, well, we’re going to make sure we keep to ours, no matter who joins us for them.”

Mari kept quiet. Samara was threatened. It was in her voice, her posture, her words.

“The more the merrier, I say.” Zach held up his glass. “To Mari. She’s made this house a lot more fun.”

“Uh . . .” Mari was speechless.

They all toasted to her, though Samara barely spoke the words loud enough for anyone to hear.

Mari wanted to hide from Adam’s caustic sister, but instead, she added another toast. “To the Latham’s—a very loving, encouraging family I admire.”

“Lathams,” they all said louder, clinking their glasses together.

It seemed a little silly to toast with water, but it worked somehow.

From there, the conversation drifted to what they were all thankful for. When it got to her, all she could choke out was, “Adam. I’m thankful for his large, giving heart.”

“And I’m thankful you have hands and held mine when I met you, otherwise I’d still be lost.”

“And that, my friends, is what we call gaggy love,” Zach said, standing up, rubbing his belly. “Games, anyone?”

They all laughed and followed him out of the room.

Mari’s mind raced a little bit, but when Adam pulled her down to his side and had her sit cross-legged like him, she knew she belonged.

Didn’t matter what game they played. She could figure it out.

She was smart enough, and for once, she was loved and part of a positive tradition.

Chapter 6

Almost a whole month passed, and Samara barely spoke to Mari.

If Mari entered a common room, Samara would either read something on her phone, talk to somebody else in the room, or she’d leave altogether.

Mari tried to engage her a few different occasions, but after being snubbed so many times, she was too exhausted to try anymore.

Adam was sweet, as usual, and when he was in the room, he found a way to make it work, but when he wasn’t there, Samara became a whole different person. She almost went from tinkling fairy to snarling dragon.

It would’ve been impressive how she could be so two-faced, if it wasn’t so damn scary.

She hoped Samara would skip his basketball game today. It would make things more comfortable for Mari as she sat in the bleachers.

Mari was bouncing out of her seat so much, and her whole body was overreacting to everything—she probably looked like she was on drugs.

This was a huge deal. Adam was given permission by his dad, Dr. Harkham, and the coach to play basketball.

Zach was on the team, too, and would watch out for him.

She couldn’t imagine being more excited about anything else.

Adam couldn’t stop kissing her last night and asking repeatedly, “You’re gonna be there, right? I’ll be able to see you in the stands? You’ll watch me all the time?”

She’d smile, giggle and wiggle her hips under his crushing weight that she loved so much.

“Yes, sweetie. I’ll even bring binoculars,” she’d told him while lying comfortably in his bed. “Just so I can see every exhausted breath you take and every drop of sweat that rolls down your biceps.”

“Ewww! Gross.”

She giggled. “Binoculars aren’t gross.”

“I didn’t mean that.” He frowned. “And we don’t have any of those anyway. Binoculars, I mean—not arm sweat.”

She’d laughed so hard her stomach almost ached, but she kept it quiet so his dad wouldn’t wake up. “It was a joke. I’ll be in the front row. I won’t need them to see your gorgeous face. I’ll even wave at you every now and then so you’ll know I’m watching you and only you as intently as possible.”

“Good,” was his final remark before he had kissed her over and over again and asked the same thing once more.

It never bothered her—the repetition. How could it? All that enthusiasm was infectious.

He came out onto the court, waving at her and smiling like a kid about to enjoy the best carnival ride ever.

Her heart fluttered. He looked sexy in that outfit, all long, lean, toned legs. Her heart about burst when she saw Zach and him put an arm around each other as they moved to the bench.

She never would’ve thought she’d “awwww” at something, but she did. They were adorable.

Her hand even went over her heart.

The other team went to their area, and a few players from each team went to the sidelines and stretched.

Her eyes were so glued to Adam and Zach, messing around, smacking each other and trash talking, she failed to notice that Kendra wobbled to her side.

“Hi,” she said and plopped down next to Mari.

Mari ignored her.

“Oh, I see . . . It’s like
that
, is it?”

Mari cringed. “Ken, you reek of beer!”

“So?”

“
So
? You’re on school grounds.”

“I don’t care. It’s a night gwwwame,” Kendra slurred. “No one cayurzzz.”

Mari’s left hand that had been on her heart landed at her side on the edge of the bleacher so she could push away from Kendra. The smell was enough to make Mari want to seek a new seat several bleachers higher.

Kendra’s eyes flashed through the red swollenness. Had she been crying?

“I thought I kept seeing a rock on your finger during class, but I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me!” Kendra scooped Mari’s left hand up in hers and had the diamond two inches away from her eyes. “It’s not fair!”

She flung Mari’s hand away.

“You don’t even like Adam, so why do you care?” Mari frowned.

“I do like him. It’s not my fault he—”

“He
what
?” Mari said, her spine snapping straight. “He’s the sweetest man ever, and more talented than anybody I’ve ever known? Yeah, you would say that, wouldn’t you? You’re right—it’s not your fault. It’s not his either. Just . . . leave us alone!” She threw a look of disgust at Kendra.

“I can’t.” In a split second, Kendra turned green, almost doubled over, then quickly covered her mouth. Her cheeks puffed out as her lips pressed together. She made that retching sound that almost had Mari’s vision blurring.

Shit! Mari could see what was about to happen.

She wrapped an arm around Kendra, hauled her up and ran her behind the bleachers, forcing her to get in front of a large trashcan.

The minute they were there, Kendra spewed everywhere, including outside the receptacle.

On instinct, Mari held Kendra’s hair out of the way and rubbed her back.

It wasn’t until Kendra had complained in between bouts how much she hated vomiting that Mari realized the significance of this.

Somebody was throwing up, and it didn’t trigger Mari. Not. At. All.

Her whole face lit up, and her chest filled with warmth. This was huge . . . Was she really getting better?

She hadn’t smoked in weeks, and now
this
? Wow. Nothing to throw a parade over. Not really, but still . . . A big accomplishment for her.

A lightheaded sensation overcame Mari in a heartbeat, and then she realized why.

She turned, and Adam was right behind her, his hands on her.

“You okay?” he whispered.

Mari motioned to a bent-over Kendra.

Adam’s head jerked back in shock.

Mari only smiled at him. “She’s throwing up, and I’m fine.”

“Yes, you are.” He nodded and was smiling bigger than she was.

“Oh my God!” Mari blurted. “What are you doing back here? You’re supposed to be out there playing the game!”

“It’s fine. Coach said he’d keep me benched for this round so I could find out where you went. He knew I wouldn’t be able to play well and concentrate if I didn’t take care of you first.” He patted her back.

“Kendra, you want me to take you home?” Mari asked.

“No! Just leave me alone. This is your fault anyway,” Kendra garbled through the mess oozing out of her mouth.

Adam grabbed Mari away like Kendra’s words were a loaded weapon aimed at his girl.

“Find a way to get better. Hugs usually help,” Adam told Kendra and took Mari by the waist. He almost carried her out of there, his legs walking faster than hers could go.

He sat her on the players’ bench with him.

The coach gave them a strange look but kept quiet.

Adam held her hand until his name was called.

“I’m gonna go play now. You watch me, okay?”

“I will—I love you!” she said.

He hugged her real quick, said he loved her too, and jogged out to his waiting spot so he could rotate in.

His arms flexed and his body took off in a flash once it was time to run out onto the floor.

“Adam, right here, buddy!” Zach called after him when Adam got a hold of the ball.

Adam flashed her a mischievous grin over his shoulder, then passed it to his brother without any problems at all.

Her whole face trembled with emotion as she watched him decide to protect his brother, rather than guard the man on the opposing team he was supposed to.

So sweet.

“Go, Adam!” she called with her hands cupped around her mouth.

The basketball was released, and . . . 
swwwwaaaaaack
!

Someone tried to block it from going in, but Adam blocked their arms with his much longer reach.

The ball fell straight through the hoop, thanks to him.