Red Lily

my daddy, or any blood kin I love the way I love you. So I want you to walk me down the aisle—so to speak—and give me to Harper. It would mean a lot to me.”

    His eyes went misty as he wrapped his arms around her. “That’s the sweetest thing,” he crooned. “The damnedest sweetest thing.”
    “Will you?”
    He drew back. “I would be honored.” Taking both her hands, he turned them over, kissed her palms. “Extremely.”
    “Whew. I thought you might think it was silly.”
    “Not even close. I’m so proud, and touched. And, honey, if you don’t go on now, I’m going to embarrass myself in front of my troops.”
    “Me, too.” She sniffled. “Okay. We’ll talk about all of it later on.” She crouched down to kiss Lily’s head, and was largely ignored. “You be good, baby girl.”
    “Hayley.” David drew a breath as she stopped at the door. “Your daddy? He’d be proud, too.”
    The best she could manage was a nod as she left him.
    She brushed away tears as she followed the voices in the parlor, then paused when she heard the temper in Harper’s.
    “I don’t like this idea, not one bit. And I like less the fact that the three of you were off plotting this on your own.”
    “We womenfolk,” Roz said with a sarcasm that dripped so heavy Hayley could feel its weight outside the room.
    “The fact that you are women isn’t any of my doing,” he shot back. “But the fact that my woman is pregnant is. I don’t take chances on this.”
    “All right, you have a valid point. But what do you intend to do with her for the next seven, eight months, honey?”
    “Protect her.”
    “You do make it hard to argue.”
    “Arguing isn’t going to help.” Mitch’s voice of reason cut between them. “We can discuss and debate, and we’re unlikely to be in full agreement on all points. But we do have to come to some decisions.”

    Hayley straightened her spine, and stepped into the room. “I’m sorry. Hard not to overhear. Harper, I was going to ask if we could go outside so I could talk to you, but I think what I have to say needs to be said here, to everyone.”
    “I’ve got some things to say you might rather hear in private.”
    She only smiled. “There’ll be plenty of time for you to yell at me in private. A lifetime of it. I know you kept it buttoned till now because of the kids. But I’d like you to hear me out before you say anything more.”
    She cleared her throat and moved farther into the room. “Earlier today, when I was alone, I was wondering how I’d gotten here. I’d never figured on moving away from where I grew up, having a couple of kids before I figured out where I really wanted to go, really wanted to do. Getting married, having babies, that was going to be later, after I’d made something of myself, had some fun. Here I am, living in another state. I’ve got a daughter not yet two and another baby on the way. I’m getting married. I’m working in a field I never thought about being in before. How’d I get here? What am I doing here?”
    “If you’re not happy—”
    “Please, just listen. I asked myself that. I’ve still got choices. There are always choices. So I asked myself, is this what I want, is this where I want to be, what I want to do? And it is. I love you. I didn’t know I had all this in me.”
    She kept her eyes on Harper’s, only on Harper’s and crossed her hands over her heart. “I didn’t know I could love a child the way I do Lily. I didn’t know I could love a man the way I love you. If I had every choice in the world, this is the one I’d pick. Being with you, with our children, in this place. Because you see that’s one more thing, Harper. I love this house, I love this place. As much as youdo. What it is, what it stands for, what it’ll be to our children, and theirs.”
    “I know. My mind traveled that same road. That’s why you’re the one for me.
    “I can’t walk away from here. Please don’t ask me to do that. I can’t walk away from this house, this family, the work I’ve come to love. The only way I can stay is to try to do this thing, to settle this. Right a wrong, or at least understand it. Maybe I was meant to. Maybe we found each other because we were meant to. I don’t know if I can do it if you’re not with me.” She scanned the room. “All of you.”
    Then she looked at Harper. “Be with me, Harper. Trust me to do what’s right. Trust us to do it.”
    He stepped to her, rested his brow on hers.