“What the hell are we doing here?” Cole asks when I pull into Randy’s Auto Repairs.
“Getting answers.” I curl my fingers into fists. “With these.”
“You’re going to get yourself into trouble,” Cole warns. “You know what this could mean for your career and sponsors, right?”
“Yup, but Harper is worth it.”
He grins at me. “Let’s do this then.”
18
Harper
The only good thing about washing Charlie down is that he shakes every few minutes and soaks my clothes, face and hair. Why is that good, you ask? Oh, just because it hides the tears free-falling down my cheeks. It’s been a couple of days since I found out the truth about Liam. Here I thought there was another side to the rule breaker. Thought he was just a soft and sensitive guy with a big heart, a guy who hid that side of himself and put on a show for the outside world—his fans. Was I really so wrong about him? Or when his sister said I was perfect for him, did it have more to do with cleaning up his image than the two of us really belonging together?
Ugh. I am so confused. My mind goes back to when Gavin and I had just gotten home, and I was carrying his duffle bag in from his sleepover, when I received a text from Violet, showing me the pictures of Liam with some girl wrapped around his waist. My first instinct wasn’t to run away. No, it was to get to the bottom of the matter. I mean, I’ve seen pictures of Liam with lots of women in the past, and I came to all kinds of conclusions about him, only to discover, after spending so much time with him, that you can’t judge a book by the cover.
You were wrong about him, Harper.
As that inner voice, one born from past hurts, pounds at me, my brain races, a part of me refusing to believe he’s a cheater or a liar. Refusing to believe Jeremy who showed up at the door right behind me, even though he shoved the proof in my face, then followed it with the video of us, which totally confused me. Why would anyone want to video us? There was nothing about Liam to suggest he was fooling around behind my back. Sure, he was disappearing for hours on end, and I had no idea where he was going, and he wasn’t offering up the information, but I trusted him.
You trusted before and look how that turned out.
But Liam’s not Gavin’s father, and he’s not Devon. I take a fast breath and finish hosing down Charlie as Gavin plays with his toy cars beside me. I had to bring him to work with me today. Both Violet and Emma were busy, and his sitter Tera was packing for college. A humorless laugh catches in my throat. I hadn’t needed anyone’s help in a long time, because Liam was always there to take Gavin for me.
My God, what have I done? If I hadn’t gotten involved with him, there’d be no embarrassing video of us, no reason for me to hang my head in shame, and Gavin would still have a big brother because I wouldn’t be afraid to face Liam every day, knowing he was just using me.
Honestly, I’m still not sure how someone captured us on video. Was someone from the media following my car to the mountains, stalking us? Or was Devon somehow involved? Unease creeps through my veins, because if he could make a buck off it, I wouldn’t put it past him. Maybe I should have told Liam that Devon showed up at his door, but the point is moot now. It’s over between us, and I’m responsible for hurting my son.
A group of teens walk past us, pointing and snickering, and my throat squeezes tight, my face warm with humiliation. More and more customers are coming into the store, but it’s not for their pets. No, it’s to see me. The online magazine Dirt might have blanked out all of our private parts when they aired the video, but they didn’t blank out my name, or what I did for a living. If Liam was using me, a struggling single mother and dog walker, to better his image, well, I guess that blew up in his face with the video.
“Mommy, are you crying?” Gavin asks.
I sniff and wipe my face. “No honey, Charlie just got me all wet.”
He runs his car over the floor. “I miss my Liam.”
The lump in my throat expands. “I know, Gavin. We can get you another big brother.”
He lifts his car up and slams it on the floor. “I don’t want another big brother. I want Liam.”
Me too, kiddo. Me too.
“I want to play with Brandon and Casey!” he loudly whines, and guilt moves through me. I wasn’t supposed to do anything to mess this up for my son, and I went ahead and did just that. He’s losing Brandon and Casey and all his new friends because of this mess.
“Harper, can I speak to you?” I glance up to find Jon Welsh, my boss, and the owner of the pet store, standing over me, and my heart sinks into my stomach when I take in the frown on his face.
“Sure, just let me finish with Charlie here.”
“That’s okay.” He snaps his fingers and Eric, almost sullenly, walks over. “Eric will finish up for you.”
Eric gives me an apologetic smile, and that’s when it occurs to me—I’m getting fired.
“Jon—” I begin, but he cuts me off.
“In my office please.” I reach
