The Heart of a Girl (2) (5 page)

Chapter 7

             
The rest of the week went by quickly, and Harper and I settled into a new routine. Ms. Freeman dropped my assignments off on Tuesday and fortunately there weren’t very many. Since Harper wasn’t really on a set sleep schedule yet I did what I could whenever I could but she remained my top priority.

             
Adam still didn’t seem happy about the fact that a week of homeschooling hadn’t changed my mind, but he’d given up trying to convince me to go back to school. Hannah started on Wednesday and called me after to let me know nothing had changed and I was the luckiest person she knew.

             
Mason was supposed to leave on Friday but then Friday came and went and he didn’t. I didn’t know the details, but apparently Nora was still refusing to come back to Haven and my dad didn’t have a clue how to run Bella Vista on his own. I felt selfish and a guilty for being relieved by this. As happy as I was to finally have Hannah home, I didn’t think it made me any more ready to say goodbye to Mason.

             
Adam had a three day weekend and the Montgomery’s were throwing their annual Labor Day party and invited Hannah, Mason, and my dad. They knew all that I did about Nora leaving and refusing to come back and neither of them seemed any more surprised than I’d been. Julia made a remark that maybe this could be the start of a true reconciliation between my father and me, and Ned muttered something that sounded like “good riddance.” I still wasn’t sure how I felt about the situation.

             
Mason came over early Monday afternoon, looking more exhausted than I’d seen him all summer and maybe even a little depressed. He slumped into a chair at the kitchen table, head in hands. I sat across from him and reached for his hand. Harper was taking her nap in the nursery and Adam had gone over to help his dad get food ready to be grilled. Guests were already arriving and I could hear the sounds of them faintly through the front door and windows.

             
“What’s wrong?” I asked my older brother sympathetically. I was pretty sure whatever it was could be directly tied to the situation at Bella Vista.

             
“I’m staying,” Mason answered, surprising me.

             
“Staying?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”

             
He lifted his head up and looked me directly in the eye and I wasn’t really sure what emotion I saw in there. “I mean I’m staying indefinitely. I have no idea when I’m going to get back to Delaware.”

             
“Why?” I asked. “What about Cynthia? What about your job?”

             
Mason shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t told her yet but she’s probably already figured it out since Dad’s been home a week and I haven’t made plans to get home yet. And that job, I don’t care. I’ll tell Neil to go ahead and hire someone new to take over for me. I’ll just find something else once I go back. If I go back.” He sighed and closed his eyes.

             
“Mason, why are you doing this?” I asked. “Have you even thought about it?”

             
“No,” he admitted with a small laugh. “I haven’t really thought about it at all. But what else am I supposed to do? Dad doesn’t know the first thing about running Bella Vista. I can’t figure out, for the life of me how it’s managed to stay afloat with him as the owner for this long, unless Nora is more amazing than I ever gave her credit for.”

             
“It’s not your responsibility to make sure it stays open,” I reminded him gently. “This is Dad’s problem, Dad’s responsibility. He’ll figure it out.” The last part was close to a lie. Knowing my dad, he’d probably let it all fall apart or marry someone who could keep it running before he’d try to figure it out for himself. But that wasn’t what Mason needed to hear right now.

             
“I know Lainey, but I can’t just leave him hanging like this. I mean, I know he almost deserves it. He’s been a shitty dad all my life, if he’s even earned the title of Dad, but he’s still my father. And what about Hannah? I don’t know her all that well but she’s still family, and from what I’ve gathered this past week she’s hell-bent on never going back to live with her mom. So if Dad screws this up and loses the bed and breakfast, she’ll have nowhere to go. At least, nowhere half pleasant.”

             
I smiled, feeling pride overwhelm me. “You’re such a saint, Mason. But you don’t need to be. Really. Everything will figure itself out.”

             
“Thanks, but I’ve already made up my mind. I’m staying until Dad figures out what’s going on.”

             
“What about Cynthia?” I pressed, remembering back to just a week ago, how much Mason missed her then after just a few days. How were they going to manage a few weeks, even months? I couldn’t imagine Adam deciding to go somewhere for an indefinite amount of time, leaving me behind.

             
“She’ll understand,” he said. “She won’t like it, but she’ll understand. I’m going to try and get her down here for the next long weekend she gets and if I’m still here by Thanksgiving…” his voice trailed off but there was no need to finish his sentence. Thanksgiving was months away. If Mason really thought he was going to have to stay until then there was a chance he might never be able to go back.

             
“Okay well, I’m here if you need me. For anything.”  It seemed like the least I could do, even though I was sure he’d never ask for anything.

             
He smiled gratefully and nodded. “Yeah, I know, and I might just have to take you up on that offer sometime.”

             
“You’d better,” I said and left him in the kitchen while I went to wake and dress Harper.

             
Within half an hour we were in the Montgomery’s backyard, technically our front yard, sitting under the shade of umbrellas and eating the food Ned and Adam grilled. Sylvia was there even though she had the day off. She spotted us quickly and took a seat next to me after lifting Harper from her car seat.

             
“I’m surprised she’s not fussing,” Sylvia remarked with a smile. “Neither of my kids was ever fond of this kind of heat.”

             
“It’s been like this all summer, so I guess it’s all she really knows,” I said. “She’s in for a surprise when winter gets here, if it ever does.”

             
“Maybe she’ll take after Surrogate Grandma Sylvia and prefer summer,” Sylvia suggested with a wink. “She might turn out to be my little beach baby after all.”

             
“Next year,” I promised. “She’s too tiny to handle the beach right now.”

             
“I don’t blame you.”

             
The three of us kept up idle chit chat for the next hour or so until I was more stuffed than I’d be in a while and Harper became fussy, wanting to be fed and walked around. I left Sylvia and Mason at our table and began to walk around the yard, waving to some people I recognized and smiling at a few I didn’t. I’d texted Hannah about forty minutes earlier, but she said she’d decided not to come. That wasn’t likely her at all, but I didn’t press it. Something about Hannah had changed and I couldn’t really put my finger on it. It felt like some sort of sadness, but I couldn’t be sure. I hoped not.

             
I found Adam around the side of the house, leaning against it and laughing at something Brad was saying. Of course Brad was there. I didn’t know why I hadn’t expected it. I walked up beside them and smiled awkwardly.

             
“If it isn’t the old ball and chain,” Brad remarked, but smiled as if to hide the sarcasm his words held. I forced myself to smile back at him and refrained from sticking my tongue out. It was what Hannah would do in this situation, I was sure.

             
“Hi Brad,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t betray the annoyance I always felt when around him.

             
He nodded at me and then turned to the other guy standing with them, whom I hadn’t even noticed before.
Clay
, I thought. I was pretty sure that was his name. Clay, or whoever he was, smiled slightly at me and then followed Brad back towards the party.

             
Adam looked down at me, a small smile playing on his lips. “What are you up to?” He asked. “Besides chasing my friends away, I mean.”

             
“Nothing, just taking Harper for a little walk around the yard before she eats. I think she missed you.” I decided to ignore his comment.

             
He took her from my arms and kissed the top of her head, holding her to his chest so that her head could rest on his shoulder. One of her tiny hands rested against his chest, exactly over his heart and I almost wanted to cry at how appropriate that seemed. No matter what ever happened, Harper held our hearts.

             
Adam extended his free arm out to me and I stepped into his embrace, kissing the hand that rested over his heart and smiling to myself. My little family. As imperfect and untraditional as were might be, we were a family. And that was easily the best feeling in the world.

             
“Are you having fun?” Adam asked after a few minutes.

             
“Yeah, it’s just a little too hot.”

             
“Yeah, you’re not kidding.” He stepped away and used the arm that had been resting over my shoulders to brush sweat from his face. He kissed Harper again and handed her back to me. “I think I’d better get back to the grill. Dad wanted me to keep an eye on it so he could talk to some potential clients. I’ll come check back with you in a bit, okay?”

             
I nodded, swallowing my disappointment. As much as I cherished the moment we just shared, there was no denying those moments were becoming fewer and far between lately. But I was determined not to take it personally. This was Adam’s parent’s barbeque and of course he was supposed to help them run it. And of course he was going to spend time with his friends in between shifts at the grill. I had to remind myself that we lived together and that he provided for Harper and me almost completely. Even when I wasn’t getting his full and undivided attention, everything he did was for us.

             
I watched him head back over to the grill, slapping Brad on the shoulder as he did. Brad and Clay followed him, and I turned to Harper, who was watching all of them even more intently than I was.

             
“What do you say, Harper Grace? Want to go see if Uncle Mason feels up to feeding you?” She let out a giggle as if to reply, and I found my way back to the table where Mason was now sitting alone, watching the crowd with a look of amusement on his face.

             
“They sure know a lot of people,” he remarked when I sat down next to him. “I think half the town is here.”

             
“Yeah, they do,” I agreed.

             
“Who are those guys that are always hanging around Adam?”

             
“Brad and I think Clay. They work with him.”

             
“The one looks like an ass.”

             
“That would be Brad,” I said without looking up. “He isn’t my favorite.”

             
“I bet he makes you miss Nolan,” Mason grinned.

             
“Yeah,” I admitted with a laugh. “He does, actually.”

             
“Do you still hear from him?”

             
I shook my head. “ Nope. He went to California and that’s the last I heard. I’m sure classes are starting up for him soon if they haven’t already. He’ll probably be back this winter for break and all.”

             
“I wonder who Hannah’s love interest for this year will be, now that Nolan’s gone and I’m hitched.” Mason’s eyes sparkled with amusement as he spoke. Over the summer he’d heard all about Nolan and Hannah’s doomed romance and her crush on him before.

             
“I’m sure she’ll find someone,” I said, having no doubt.

             
“As long as it’s not Brad?”

             
“Yes, definitely as long as it’s not Brad.”

             
“She’s different than I expected,” he commented as I got one of Harper’s premade bottle out of the diaper bagged and handed it to him.

             
“Who, Harper?”

             
“No, Hannah.”

             
“How?” I handed Harper to him and she began to protest until she noticed she was about to be fed. Then she couldn’t be happier in Mason’s arms.

             
“I don’t know.  All the stories you told me about her, I was kind of expecting this vivacious, full of life girl that caused trouble but meant well, you know? And all she does is hide in her room.”

             
I frowned. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”