If You Only Knew (Harper Falls Book 3) (9 page)

The trouble was his mind was blank. As a rule, finding ways
to manipulate a situation to his liking was a breeze. He didn’t think it was
egotistical to know his strengths, or to use them whenever necessary.

First, he was a Harper. The name had clout, especially in
this part of the world. It was also his very last resort, one he never used.
Never. He couldn’t get away from who he was; it was in his DNA. He loved his
father. But when it came to getting what he wanted, Drew refused to fall back
on family reputation and money.

Second, he was a good-looking guy. Nature had been kind. He
had a strong, healthy body and a face women liked. A lot.

Third, and probably the most important, he liked people. His
charm wasn’t manufactured or practiced. It was as natural as breathing. When he
met someone for the first time, he looked them in the eye. His smile was warm
and he listened.

Sounded simple, but it amazed him how many people didn’t.
Oh, they shook their heads, mouthed the right words. But they didn’t always
hear what was being said. Because he was interested, Drew did.

Tyler Jones interested him. So he started simply. He started
by looking her in those amazing gray eyes, and he smiled. The best part of all?
The thing that made his day? She smiled back.

“MOM. ANYBODY HOME?”

Tyler let herself into her mother’s kitchen. The back door
was unlocked. Nothing new there. It was a small town. Safe for the most part.
Anita Jones had never gotten into the habit of keeping people out. It had
always been the ones already in the house that caused her pain.

Things happened though. The last few months had seen Jack
stabbed, Dani almost killed, and the rest of them on edge to the point of brand
new security systems all around. If she could have talked her mother into
locking her doors during the day, she would have. Tyler knew she would have
been wasting her breath.

“Tyler? Honey, is that you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m in the laundry room folding clothes. There are
warm muffins by the stove and the coffee is fresh. I’ll be out in a
minute.”

She took a plate from the cupboard along with a mug. Pale
blue with delicate white roses painted on the border, the dishes originally
belonged to Great-Grandmother Snyder. Depending on who told the story, they
either came from the old country, packed on her husband’s back as they trekked
across snow-covered mountains to freedom. Or they were purchased in Macy’s
housewares department just after she married a nice country lawyer and settled
down to raise five children.

Great-Grandmother enjoyed her sherry. After a few, her stories
grew more and more elaborate. Tyler never met the woman, but she wished she
had. The lady had style.

Blueberry muffins, her favorite. Tyler took in the scent,
enjoying the aroma of cinnamon streusel. After pouring herself some coffee, she
took a seat at the kitchen table.

Little had changed in this room. When she was a little girl,
the walls were stark white. Her father dictated those things just as he did
everything else. Martin Jones didn’t like color, so Anita kept things as plain
and simple as possible.

She could still remember the blowup after her mother had
dared to let Tyler paint her room cherry red. You would have thought the world
was coming to an end. Her father never entered that room, never looked inside.
The only reason he found out was the same way he found out everything — M.J.
Her oldest brother was the family snitch. Martin couldn’t be bothered to pay
attention to his family yet he wanted things done his way. He paid M.J. a few
bucks a week to keep him informed. It was the perfect arrangement for both men.
Martin made sure things ran to his liking, M.J. got away with murder because he
never reported his own misdeeds.

After her husband’s death, Anita maintained the same level
of rigid perfectionism. Until recently. Tyler didn’t know why her mother
suddenly painted the kitchen walls a cheery buttercup yellow. Or what prompted
the change of drapes in the window from starched white to a pale blue that
perfectly complimented the new walls.

Not big changes, not for most people. For Anita Jones, they
were monumental.

“I’m sorry, baby. That took longer than I
expected.”

Her mother entered the kitchen toting a basket filled with
freshly laundered clothes. Men’s clothes. Unless she had taken a lover,
something Tyler would thoroughly approve of, she was back to waiting hand and
foot on M.J. and Kyle. Of that, Tyler had major objections.

She stood and took the basket from her mother, kissing the
woman on her cheek. She smelled of vanilla. Tyler breathed in the scent. It
comforted, felt like home. Lord, how she loved her mother. That was why it
broke her heart when the woman let every man in her life treat her like dirt.
She never stood up to her husband. With her sons, she carried on the warped
tradition. They dictated, she served.

“M.J. and Kyle have moved back in?”

“It’s only until they start their new jobs over at
Myles Wilburn’s new feed store. Right now, they’re between paychecks.”

You couldn’t be between something you never had. Her
brothers worked only when absolutely necessary. Neither held down a steady job.
They sponged off friends and their mother. No one made them accountable.

The worst was when their father died. The insurance payout
had been modest by some measures. For Anita Jones, it was more money than she
had ever seen. With smart planning, it was enough to give her a good life with
no financial worries. Or would have been if she hadn’t let M.J. steal most of
it. Too late, Tyler found out that her mother granted him access to her bank
accounts. He convinced her it made sense, in case of emergency.

The only thing that stopped him from draining every penny
was his greed. He grew tired of taking a bit here and a bit more there. When he
tried to take out the remaining balance in one lump sum, the bank called Anita.
Anita called Tyler. M.J. was lucky he got away with being shouted down in front
of the bank. If Anita and a security guard hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have
walked away. He would have crawled, bloody and bruised.

M.J. never liked her. After she nixed his
“windfall” and humiliated him in front of a fair amount of Harper
Falls, his dislike had morphed into barely disguised hatred. Not that it
stopped him from hitting her up for money now and then. Tyler imagined he
enjoyed stealing from her. It didn’t add up to much. Yet as far as she was
concerned, anything was too much.

After all that, their mother forgave him, welcomed him back
into her home. Tyler wondered how she could do it. Surely even a mother’s love
had its limits. Anita’s seemed to be limitless.

Tyler kept waiting for the day M.J and Kyle ran out of
options. That seemed unlikely, though. As long as their mother took them in,
fed them, did their laundry, neither brother was forced to grow up.

It drove Tyler crazy. How many times had she pleaded with
her mother to cut them loose? It always ended the same way. Her mother close to
tears and Tyler with a huge knot of guilt in her stomach. This time she kept
her mouth shut. The boys would move on eventually. Tyler just hoped it was
sooner than later.

“You are such a good girl,” Anita said when Tyler
pushed her into a chair and poured her cup of coffee.

“I’ll bet you’ve been on your feet all morning. Take a
minute. Visit with me.”

“I could use a minute. The Halloween party at the
senior center is coming up and I have so much baking to do. Then November will
be here. Where has the year gone?”

“They say the older you get, the faster time passes. I
can attest to that.”

“Oh, yes. My ancient daughter.”

Anita laughed. It was a lovely sound, light and carefree.
Tyler hadn’t heard it enough when she was growing up. It made her mother look
younger. She no longer looked older than her years. Today there was a sparkle
about her that Tyler had never seen. Something was different.

“You colored your hair.”

Anita lifted a hand to the newly lightened strands.

“Is it too much? Your brothers didn’t notice until
Marcy Dodd stopped by and commented. They think I look ridiculous. Should I
change it back?”

Tyler felt her blood simmer. Damn her brothers for undermining
Anita’s self-confidence. She looked amazing and she needed to know it.

“The color suits you perfectly, Mom. It is exactly what
I would have picked for you. Did you have it done here in town or did you go to
Spokane?”

Anita’s smile returned, bigger than before.

“I went to that new place next to the hardware
store.”

“
Permanently Awesome
?”

“That’s the one. Carol Anne Wiggert recommended it. She
had all that long hair cut off. I swear, Tyler, you wouldn’t recognize her. I
thought I needed a change and walked in one day, just to make an appointment.
Well, they had a sudden cancellation and fit me right in.”

Good
, Tyler thought. Given time to think about it,
Anita might have chickened out.

“You should see the place, Tyler. So pretty. Not at all
like most beauty parlors. I felt like I was in one of those fancy salons you
see on TV. I was sure it would be too expensive. But you know what? They were
having a Grand Opening special. Half off. How could I walk away from
that?”

“No one in their right mind would.”

“And there’s something else.” Anita hesitated.
“They need a manicurist. Just part-time to start. You know I do nails at
the senior center. And my friends sometimes come over when they want something
special done. I thought, well, maybe I could… It’s a stupid idea. Never
mind.”

“You should apply, Mom. You love doing nails. Why
shouldn’t you get paid for it?”

“I’ve never worked outside the home. Having somebody
relying on me to be there on time and do a good job. No, I’m not capable.”

“You listen to me.” Tyler took her mother’s hand
and looked her straight in the eye. Gray eyes, so like her own. But they had a
timidity Tyler’s never had. Sadness that broke a daughter’s heart.

“You have taken care of this family for most of your
life. Seventeen when you married. You deserve something for yourself. As for
not being capable? You’d be doing the owner of that salon a favor if you chose
to work there. I don’t know a more loyal, hardworking, conscientious person.
Only a fool would let you get away.”

“Oh, Tyler.” Tears filled Anita’s eyes. “I
love you, baby.”

Tyler laid her cheek against her mother’s and breathed in
vanilla.

“I love you too.”

“HOW’S THAT HEAD feeling?”

Drew winced. It was the third time Jack had asked him that
particular question. Correction. Yelled it. And then laughed like a demented
hyena at Drew’s inevitable reaction. He was better than he had been at seven
o’clock. He woke up with a splitting headache and tongue with more fuzz than
the lint trap in a communal clothes dryer.

An hourly dose of aspirin and gallons of water took his
pounding head down to a dull roar. He was about to hit the underground swimming
pool to knock out the rest of the cobwebs. Seeing where he was headed and
figuring it was his last shot at tormenting his friend, Jack gave him one last
jab.

“That stopped being funny two hours ago.”

Jack sauntered in through the open office door. They rarely
closed themselves off, wandering in and out during the day. Alex was out running
obstacle course drills with twenty bodyguards who had arrived early for
weeklong training. Before Jack’s old high school buddy arrived, the job was
split between the two partners. Not his favorite thing to do; this morning his
head would have exploded just thinking about it. He liked Alex, he was now a
good friend. At the moment, he loved the guy.

“It’s still a knee-slapper.” Jack took the seat
opposite Drew, his big body filling out the chair.

“Not,” Drew mumbled.

“If the circumstances were reversed, you would be all
over me.”

“You don’t get hangovers.”

“Don’t hate me because I have an awesome
metabolism.”

“Need I remind you what happens when you drink too
much?”

Jack had the grace to wince. Overindulging in alcohol made
the normally sensible man highly susceptible to suggestion. Nothing dangerous
or illegal. In college, it resulted in a tattoo on his shoulder. The last time,
and he swore it
was
the last time, he made a bet that he could stay
celibate for a month. It had been stupid and juvenile. The upside? Rose. Any
amount of booze and stupid bets was worth that.

“I’m a happy and contented man. I see it as my duty to
remind you why you aren’t.”

“How is yelling until my ears ring reminding me?”

“Why did you get drunk?”

“I had my reasons.”

“Fine, we won’t mention any names. By the way, did I
mention Rose, Dani, and
Tyler
are planning a big Thanksgiving
celebration?”

“Thanks for not saying her name.”

Jack smiled, this time with a big dose of sympathy.

“Rose asked me to knock some sense into your head. Remind
me to do that after it’s back to normal.”

“Why?”

He had been on Rose’s, and Dani’s, shit list for a long
time. Understandable. He broke the heart of their best friend. Why wouldn’t
they hate him? Lately, he thought he saw a bit of a thawing. They didn’t glare
or shoot imaginary daggers into his genitalia. Apparently, something he had
done had pissed off Jack’s fiancée. He had no idea what it was.

“The ladies have decided it’s time for you to spill
your guts.”

“Spill my…?”

“You know what I’m talking about. Ten years, asshole.
Tyler deserves some answers. Stop stewing; stop drinking. Stop trying to kill
yourself in those idiotic races.”