Everybody Knows (Sunnyside #1) (25 page)

The sad story about Zach’s past just about broke
Harper’s heart and went a long way to explaining the man he’d become. A caring
doctor, everyone’s guardian, moral compass, upstanding, reliable. A loving man
who chose to keep his distance. One who chose to leave the people who loved him
the most, including Harper. Before they left him.

She tried to understand, even if she did disagree.

But what did she know about love? Maybe she was
just kidding herself. Her father had never loved her. Like Zach, he
acknowledged the relationship between them in private, but never publicly. Very
few people knew the esteemed doctor was her father.

Her fiancé hadn’t loved her. He didn’t get her all
hot and bothered or enjoy the physical part of their relationship like Zach
did. He didn’t tell her she was beautiful. He didn’t make her smile. On the
other hand, like Zach, he didn’t love her. Neither one of them wanted her love.

Looking at it in that light, she was really just a
commodity to all three men.

Zach tapped on the Mayor’s
door. Mick’s plate was already pretty full. Zach hated to add to the burden,
but the time had come. “You got a minute?”

“For you? Always.” Mick turned away from his
computer and moved some papers to the corner of his desk. “Just going over the
figures for the library project. Harper is doing a fantastic job.”

“She really is.” Zach’s spirits lifted, taking pride
in his secret girlfriend’s abilities. Maybe she would be all right here after
he left. Having the mayor on her side would go a long way in gaining
acceptance. “Without having much knowledge of the town, she figured out who was
behind the destruction of the building, found a way to deal with Bennie, and
recovered a bundle of money from Whitherford and McMahon. She’s selected a
fabulous staff. People I might not even have thought of or considered.”

He scratched his head, amazed at her insight. “And
the programs? Not just beneficial to the students, but something for everyone.
Did you know she’s thinking of having a yoga class in the reading room before
the library opens and starting a book exchange out at the retirement home?
Myrna says she doesn’t know why she didn’t think of that years ago.”

“You don’t have to sell me.” The Mayor leaned back
and crossed his arms. “But I didn’t realize you were such a big fan.”

“Well, sure.” Maybe he’d been a little too enthusiastic.
“I kind of took her under my wing when she arrived. We both lived in Chicago,
we’re about the same age, and I introduced her around. She’s smart, nice, and
funny.” Damn, he couldn’t seem to stop. “If people give her a chance, they’ll
really like her. They let her uptown appearance fool them into thinking she’s
something she’s not.”

“No one can deny she’s a looker, but Claire agrees
with your assessment. She and Cassie are very fond of Harper, and I value their
opinions.” The Mayor cleared his throat. “That isn’t going to become a problem,
is it? You and her? If someone overstepped, she could make a case against us.”

Zach had revealed more than he intended. “When
have you ever had to worry about me overstepping?”

“Never.” Mick admitted. “But I’ve never seen you
so taken with anyone before. And now that I think about it, you’d be a good
fit. But you’ve been with Kate for a while now, and there could be other
issues. I don’t want anyone hurt. You or her.”

“When you hear my reason for coming in to see you
today, you’ll see you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Leaning forward, Mick reached for a legal pad and
pen, ready to make notes if he needed to. “What is it? Now you’ve got me
curious.”

No way to sugarcoat it. He got right to the big
announcement. Dragging it out wouldn’t make it any easier, but it kind of felt
like that moment right before he had to give a patient bad news about their
health. “My contract was up with the town in September, and I don’t intend to
continue as the town doctor.”

The mayor expelled a weary sigh. “Since you
weren’t in a big hurry to renegotiate the contract, I was afraid that might
happen. I don’t blame you for wanting to see what else is out there, but if
it’s about money…”

Zach held up his hand to forestall an offer. “It’s
not. You and the town have already been too good to me. I wouldn’t hold you up
for more money than you can afford. It’s just that I’ve been isolated here my
whole life. I’d like the opportunity to broaden my horizons as a doctor and a
human being. I want to see how I handle myself out in the real world where I’m
an unknown. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Nodding, Mick reached for a water bottle. “No one
admires you more than I do, but I’ve always known you cast too big of a shadow
for this little town. I hoped you’d be content to stay, but I suspected you’d
feel the need to leave. I’ll miss you as a friend, a doctor, and a town leader.
I hope you’ll give us enough time to replace you. What are you going to do
next? A big practice in Chicago or St. Louis?”

“Maybe down the line, but for now, I want to give
Doctors Without Borders a try. I don’t have an assignment yet, but the
paperwork’s all done, and they’ll call me with a date and destination in the
next few weeks.”

“They’ll be lucky to have you, but that’s not
permanent, is it?”

“Not yet, but my life has been planned out for me
for so long, I don’t want to commit to anything right away.”

“Our loss is their gain. I don’t know how we’ll
replace you.” He jotted a note on his yellow pad.

Finally, he’d be able to give the man something to
smile about. “You don’t have to look too far. Josh’s residency is over in a few
months, and he’s interested in taking over for me, if you’re interested in
having him on-board.”

“Josh, huh? Terrific idea. We’ll have to do a
formal interview, but ask him to come see me as soon as he can. I was hoping we
could have you and him both for a while, but life moves on. Things change,
whether we want them to or not.”

“That they do.” Both men stood, and Mick grabbed
Zach’s shoulders for a hug. And just like that, the burdens of a lifetime slid
off his shoulders. “Thanks for not giving me a hard time. Your generosity is
more than I deserve.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll do what I can to
smooth your way out of town. Other people might not be as lenient.”

Sunnyside buzzed with the news of Zach’s departure
before the day was over. Probably before he even crossed the street after
leaving Mick’s office.

Harper was relieved that at least one of his
secrets was out in the open. But now, his time and movements were even more
restricted than before. Everyone wanted to see him, spend time with him,
harangue, reminisce, encourage, or otherwise command his attention one last
time. Despite his objections, about four different factions banded together to
plan a huge farewell party. The first disagreement broke out over where it
should be held.

They couldn’t have it at the high school, the
library, or the town hall because they were town property and alcohol beverages
weren’t allowed. Few other places were big enough for the blowout they had
planned.

Finally, Bert Marshall came up with the idea to
have it at the barn Liam had renovated into a fitness facility. Nearly
complete, the workout equipment hadn’t been installed, and it wasn’t open to
the public yet. The ladies could bring all the dishes they thought were Zach’s
favorites and decorate the place to their heart’s content. As the town’s most
affluent citizen, Bert offered to foot the bill for everything else. A date was
decided upon and preparations commenced.

A week before the big event, Harper retreated to
her office and closed the door, hoping to escape the barrage of sly comments
and questioning glances. In no time, her cell phone rang. She didn’t want to
talk to anyone about what she planned to bring, wear, or contribute to the
party, so she checked the caller ID. Her sister. Good. That should be safe.

“Harper.” Fee’s voice over the phone sounded
tense. Harper braced herself for whatever bad news her sister intended to
share. “That asshole Blaine called me today.”

“Blaine? What did he want?” She wouldn’t put
anything past her stupid ex-fiancé.

“He has some pictures, and he’s trying to
blackmail me. You. Us.”

“What kind of pictures?” It wouldn’t be good if he
had naked nudes of either one of them, but Fiona was a model and not shy about
having her body on display. And Harper had been engaged to the scumbucket. No
one would be surprised to learn she’d been naked in his presence.

“Pictures of us doing drugs.”

The idea was so outrageous, she almost laughed.
“That can’t be true. I don’t do drugs. Do you? Tell me the truth.”

“God, no. I’ve seen drugs ruin too many musicians
and a lot of models over the years. I played around with them when I was
teenager, but when Dad found out, he set me straight real fast.”

“How?”

“Don’t you remember? He explained the dangers, and
then he bribed me with a Lamborghini to stay away from the stuff. He said he’d
buy anything I wanted rather than have to pay for rehab.”

“That sounds like him.” Harper chuckled over
Wexley’s parenting style. It might not be advocated in any child development
books, but he had a way of getting even the strong-willed Fiona to stay in
line. “So, if it’s not me and it’s not you, what does Blaine have he can use
against us?”

“It’s us all right.”

Harper’s head buzzed, creating a white noise that
distracted her from thinking clearly. “Explain.”

“Remember that party you went to with me in Cannes
last year when Marcus was getting wasted after he’d been dropped from the Maxim
photo-shoot?”

“Vaguely.”

“We were trying to talk him out of there, and he
passed you that bong?”

“Oh, Lord, yes.” She clapped her hand to her
forehead. “Blaine was there, wasn’t he? With his ever-present camera. Taking
photos that make it look like the bong was mine, I guess.”

“That’s when he was still trying to hang on to
you. So, he didn’t do anything with the pictures at the time. But now, you
won’t see him, won’t marry him, and won’t help him with his career.
And
he’s pretty deeply in debt.”

“What’s he done to get in debt? He was making
damned good money all last year.”

“He’s no stranger to some pretty expensive habits,
but I also heard he made some bad investments after you left him. Somehow, in
his mind, that means you’re responsible for his poor judgment.”

“Well, that’s his problem. I hope you told him to
get lost.”

“I did, and he knows those pictures won’t hurt me
that much, but it’s you he’s targeting.”

Harper’s stomach started to churn. “I can cause
him more trouble than he can cause me.”

“Can you? ‘Cause I’m thinking your Sunnyside
friends won’t take too kindly to pictures of you on the Internet getting high
and wild. Which I think is the caption he plans to use. High and Wilde.”

“Well, isn’t he clever? The bastard.”

“And it gets worse.”

“How?”

“He’s going to involve our fathers.”

“Are you kidding me? My
father
! I don’t have a relationship with my father! And your father
could squash Blaine like a bug.”

“Right, but you told Blaine about your
estrangement when you were with him. He said he thinks the good doctor will pay
up to keep your picture off the front page of the tabloids and to continue to
keep your relationship with him under wraps. And he thinks Dad will want to
protect me.”

“Why would any tabloid want to run pictures of me?
I’m a librarian, for God’s sake!”

“Hell-oo? I
am
in the pictures with you, and Prince Harry is there in the background,
too.”

“Well, holy crapola! Blaine doesn’t care who he
ruins, does he? Is he trying to blackmail the Prince, too?”

“He probably doesn’t have the balls to take it
that far. I’m sorry. I probably didn’t handle it well as I should have.”

“What would have been a good way to handle a
blackmail threat? How much did he want from you?”

“Half a million or help in getting him a couple of
top shoots.”

“That’s ridiculous! What did you tell him?”

“I told him to go screw himself.”

“Hah! Good one, but I guess he’s not going to do
that.”

“He said he’d rather screw me and get the money,
too. Like either one of those things will ever happen. And he won’t be able to
screw anyone if he tries to involve Dad. The Rock God’s a formidable force when
he wants to be.”

Wexley at his most intimidating would result in
Blaine wetting himself. “I’d almost like to see that confrontation.”

A timely tap on the door gave her a good excuse to
end the call. Daxina stuck her head inside. “The new computers have arrived.
Want to come down and make sure we got everything we ordered?”

“I’ll be right there.” She’d put the potential
problem of Blaine on hold for the moment. Nothing she could do about him until
he let her in on what he was up to.