Chapter 5

April showers brought May flowers, but on this late March Saturday, the Thornton family decided to take advantage of the rare sunshine and go out on the lake that made Fair Haven famous.

Normally Harrison enjoyed these outings: the sun, the lake, the boat, his family. Being the eldest of six siblings meant a raucous, energetic family life throughout his childhood and adolescence. Although half of his siblings—Mark, the third eldest, and the twins, Lizzie and Seth (fourth and fifth eldest, respectively)—were too far away to join most outings these days, Harrison still liked to have a beer with Caleb and catch up with the youngest of the family, Jubilee.

Today, though, he knew he was getting grilled. Their mom and the matriarch of the Thornton clan, Lisa Thornton, had gotten wind of Harrison dating Sara Flannigan and the resulting fight that had broken out at The Fainting Goat. To say that was she upset would be an understatement.

Harrison watched as Lisa pursed her lips in that way that signaled she was upset. Their dad, Dave, manned the boat as they made their way to the middle of the lake. Fair Haven was one of a number of towns in Washington that sat on or near one of the many lakes that created the Puget Sound. The sun shone down in spectacular fashion, the water now a glittering collection of reflective sunlight, while in the distance, you could see the snow capped mountains.

“She’s pissed, you know,” Caleb said. The brothers lounged on the deck, drinking beers and eating their mom’s famous bean dip. “She heard about the fight from Teresa Anderson, of all people.”

“Aw, fuck. That’s just what I need in my life—gossiping busybodies like Teresa.”

Caleb grinned. “It’s your own fault. You really thought you could date one of the Flannigan girls without anyone freaking out? You’ve overset the world order. You’ve gone against convention. You’ll have to fight to the death to defend your honor—”

Harrison glared at his younger brother. “Shut up, Caleb.”

He refused to apologize for taking Sara out. He didn’t care that her family was from “the wrong side of the tracks,” like this was 1915 or something. He didn’t care that her mom had been a notorious alcoholic, and he didn’t care that she’d married young and had a kid. Those things just gave her character. What did he want with some young chick whose most pressing issue was that she couldn’t afford the latest Louis Vuitton bag?

Lisa took that moment to place another bag of chips next to the collection she’d already started for her sons. With her white-blond hair and bright blue eyes, Lisa Thornton managed to remain stunningly beautiful into her sixties. She had an icy kind of beauty that intimidated anyone who didn’t really know her, but she was extremely devoted to her husband and children. She was the proverbial Tiger Mom—even when all of her children were already adults. She’d told Harrison that the day she wasn’t involved in her kids’ lives was the day they put her in the ground.

“Caleb, did you put on sunscreen?” she asked with a frown. “You remember the last time you got so sunburned.”

Caleb made a face. “Mom, I’m fine. It’s March.”

“Do you think that matters? Let me go get the bottle from your father. You’re both so stubborn about this.” She glanced at Harrison, and he almost squirmed underneath her disapproving gaze.

Almost. He wasn’t exactly some dumb kid anymore. He held Lisa’s stare; she was the first one to break it.

Caleb whistled as Lisa walked away. “You are in such trouble. She might write you out of her will.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I am. The perfect, oldest Thornton son, doing something our parents don’t like? I’m making a scrapbook of it.”

Harrison gazed out onto the lake. He wished Sara would’ve come along, but he’d understood her decision to decline the invitation. Besides, she had a young son to care for.

Her absence didn’t stop Harrison from going over that kiss over and over again, committing it to memory for all eternity. It had been a kiss that had kept him up at night the past week, a kiss that had touched something deep inside himself that he wasn’t sure he wanted to consider.

He did, however, greatly consider getting Sara Flannigan into his bed as soon as possible.

“You’re making a scrapbook? Of what?”

Jubilee, the baby of the family, bounced into the chair opposite her brothers. With her long, dark hair and light green eyes, she was already considered a beauty. At twenty-three, she’d only recently gotten her own place, although she was struggling to find employment despite her best efforts. Jubilee had been diagnosed with leukemia at the age of five, and as a result, the entire family had sheltered her. She’d suffered from various ailments, including the leukemia returning when she was thirteen. Now, though, she was healthy and thriving, albeit still sheltered.

Harrison had a difficult time imagining his baby sister as an adult. They’d had to rally around her to keep her alive for so many years that he knew it was difficult for all of them—especially his parents—to recognize that she was now a young woman.

“I’m making a scrapbook to document all of the bad things Harrison is doing to piss off our parents,” Caleb responded.

Jubilee smiled. “I heard you took out Sara Flannigan. How was it? Do you like her?”

“Like I’m answering that question so you can go tell Mom,” Harrison said in a wry tone.

“I would not! Now that I have my own place, Mom leaves me alone.”

“She stops by every week, Jubi,” Caleb said gently.

A slight flush crawled up Jubilee’s cheeks. Harrison cut his brother a mean look. Don’t upset her, he thought.

“Hey, I’m just teasing. You’re doing really well. We’re all happy to see you move out and get your own place. I know Mom didn’t want you to.” Caleb raised his beer like he was toasting her.

“You’re taking care of yourself?” Harrison couldn’t help but ask. Jubilee’s leukemia had been the reason he’d decided to pursue medicine in the first place, and he knew all too well the statistics in regards to childhood cancers. Jubilee was healthy now, but would that last?

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dad. I’m fine. Don’t hover. You’re worse than Mom.”

Caleb laughed while Harrison gave him the finger.

“What are you doing? Harrison, stop making such an obscene gesture. I swear, did none of you grow up? Were you raised by wolves? Here, Caleb, use this sunscreen before you’re a tomato.” Lisa sat down across from them, crossing her legs at the ankles. “How is it that none of you are married yet? I ask you that. I’ll be dead and gone by the time you get married, and I’ll never get to meet my grandchildren…”

All three Thornton kids rolled their eyes in unison. Lisa was always pestering them about marriage and grandkids—Harrison especially. At the ripe old age of thirty-four, Lisa had despaired of him ever marrying.

In a vision that stunned him, he saw Sara in a white dress, walking down the aisle. Toward him.

His heart pounded so hard that he didn’t hear Lisa ask him something.

What was that about? he wondered.

“Harrison, are you listening to me?”

He turned toward Lisa to see her frowning at him. “What?”

“Really. You’re the worst of all. Going on dates with women like her and getting into brawls. It’s enough to make a mother lose her mind.”

Jubilee patted Lisa on the knee. “Don’t worry, Mom. You have five other kids to make you proud.”

Caleb snorted, but it became a cough when Harrison kicked him.

“I just don’t see why you would take out a woman like Sara Flannigan,” Lisa complained. “She’s no good for you, Harrison. Why, you got into a fight with someone on your first date! Do you think that’s normal?”

Harrison gritted his teeth. “Devin Yates is an asshole and I’m glad I punched him. He deserved it, for what he called Sara.”

He hadn’t told his family what Devin had said, although he had a feeling that if they hadn’t heard from someone else, they would eventually. That was what happened in a town of this size: no secrets were ever kept secrets for long. He didn’t want to humiliate Sara further by telling other people the horrible names Devin had called her.

Lisa’s eyes widened. “Language! And if this is how you behave when you’re with her… I have to say, your father and I won’t support you in this, Harrison.”

Harrison had had enough. He said in a low voice, “I don’t need your approval, Mother. I’m a grown man. Who I date is none of your concern. I would highly recommend that you keep your nose out of my business.”

Lisa looked like she wanted to argue, but instead, she rose from her chair and went to find Dave. Silence reigned for a moment, and Harrison wondered if his siblings agreed with Lisa.

“Shit,” Caleb finally said, whistling. “I’ve never seen you get this worked up over a woman.”

“And I think it’s great,” Jubilee interrupted. “If you like her, you should date her. Don’t listen to Mom. You know how she is. She’s just protective.”

Harrison smiled at his little sister. “You’d think she’d be more understanding.”

“You’d think that.” Caleb tipped back his beer. “But maybe she’s just afraid of the same thing happening to you.”

It made a twisted kind of sense, Harrison thought. Lisa Thornton had come from the infamous Harrison clan, and Dave Thornton had flouted convention and family approval when he’d married Lisa. Harrison’s paternal grandparents had shunned them for over a decade. Lisa had faced all manner of discrimination, and more than likely, none of them had any idea the scope of how bad it had been.

Harrison’s anger at his mother remained, but it lost its edge. He blew out a breath. “I should go talk to her.”

“Let her calm down. Dad will pull her away from the ledge.” Caleb rifled around in the nearby cooler for another beer. “You guys want anything?”

Jubilee took a beer, which raised eyebrows. She raised her chin. “I’m legal!”

“That’s not the issue,” Harrison said. “We just thought you hated beer.”

“Well, I’m branching out. Trying new things.” Opening the beer, she slugged the drink so quickly that she ended up coughing. Harrison patted her on the back.

Jubilee eventually left to find their parents, leaving Harrison and Caleb to themselves. They sat in silence as they watched the sun move across the sky, the breeze getting colder as the day passed. Harrison almost commented that Caleb should’ve used that sunscreen, as his nose was already red. But maybe that was the eternal struggle of parents: they could advise and cajole and command and punish until the end of time, but they couldn’t make their children into the exact image they thought was best no matter how hard they tried.

“Do you really like her?” Caleb asked. He didn’t have to clarify who.

Harrison tipped his head back in the chair. “Yeah, I do.”

Caleb didn’t respond for a few moments. Finally: “Then you should date her. Even though I think you’re insane, you know. The Flannigan girls are dangerous.”

Harrison didn’t correct his brother. The Flannigans were dangerous, but not in the way Caleb had meant.

Sara placed the bowl of salad on the kitchen table and began to serve James. He made a face at the mounting pile of lettuce on his plate, but he’d learned that complaining only caused him to have to eat more vegetables.

“James, eat some salad first, then lasagna. And don’t make that face.” Sara began to serve Ruth, but Ruth took the bowl from her to serve herself.

It had been a week since her date with Harrison Thornton. When she’d come home with red eyes and tear-streaked makeup, Ruth had demanded that she tell her what had happened. Although Sara had assured her mother that she hadn’t cried over Harrison, Ruth hadn’t been particularly convinced.

It was ironic, really, that the parent that hadn’t even known about Sara’s ordeals in high school was suddenly trying to protect her as an adult. Sara swallowed the acidic replies that she wanted to say to her mother, replies that Megan would’ve thrown at Ruth without even considering the repercussions.

Sara hadn’t told Megan what had happened. She didn’t need her sister blowing things out of proportion. Besides, it was over, and Sara could focus on Harrison.

Harrison. They texted daily, flirty notes that sent her heart pounding. And that kiss! She’d never forget that kiss. She’d never been kissed like that—like she was the reason for a man to breathe. A kiss that had gone all the way to her toes and lodged in her very soul.

“Mom, can I have a breadstick?” James’s puppy-dog eyes were so pathetic that Sara couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sure—but just one to start! You’ll get so full on bread you won’t eat the rest of your dinner.”

He ripped into a breadstick with the energy only a six-year-old boy could manage. Ruth ate her dinner in silence, except for the occasional glances she sent her daughter. Ruth thought that Sara should stop this thing with Harrison, because the Thorntons were “never up to anything good.”

Why was everyone determined to see them parted? Sara didn’t get it. It was like some bad melodrama, which only gave her more of a reason to continue dating him. Not to mention that she couldn’t stop thinking about him, or dreaming about him, or—

“Are you going to see him again?” Ruth stabbed a piece of lettuce.

“Who are you going to see?” James asked.

Sara rubbed her temples. “Nobody you need to worry about, sweetheart.” Turning to Ruth, she added, “And yes, I am. We already discussed this.”

Ruth harrumphed. Pouring herself a glass of water, she looked like she wanted to say something else. Sara glared at her, gesturing at James. Don’t do this in front of him, she thought. The last thing she needed was to explain this whole thing to her son.

James finished and asked to be excused. Sara agreed, telling him that he could watch TV for an hour before bed.

Now alone with Ruth, Sara stared at her plate and couldn’t find the energy to finish her food. But out of sheer stubbornness, she ate another bite of lasagna. And another. She wasn’t going to avoid living her life just because other people didn’t approve of everything she did.

“You really think this is going to go anywhere?” Ruth asked in a low voice. “That a Thornton is going to take one of us seriously?”

Sara clenched her jaw. “So you’re saying I’m not good enough for him?”

“No, the opposite. He’s not good enough for you. I know those Thorntons: they think they rule the town, and that everyone has to do what they say. Even if this boy of yours is a good egg, his parents sure as hell aren’t. They’ll make your life hell just because they can.”

Sara drank the rest of her water. She was practically vibrating with anger—not only at Ruth, but at the circumstances. She did know how the Thorntons operated, and she knew that they wouldn’t rally around someone like her. They’d turn up their noses, citing the past, saying that she wasn’t good enough for their precious son.

“I don’t care what they think,” Sara finally said. At Ruth’s look, she said in a firm voice, “I don’t. We’re adults. He doesn’t care about my family”—at that, Ruth flinched—“and I don’t care about his. We’re only dating, anyway. We aren’t secretly betrothed. Everyone needs to calm down.”

“I agree, but I’m just trying to keep you safe. I don’t want to see you hurt. I know what Kyle did to you—”

At that, Sara held up a hand. She did not need to talk about her failed marriage right now. “Just stop, okay? Stop trying to make up for my childhood by being overbearing now. It’s not going to work.”

The words fell from her lips before she could stop them, and she instantly regretted them. Ruth turned pale. Her lips thin, she stood and picked up the plates to carry to the kitchen.

Sara slumped in her chair. Way to go, Sara. Ruth would be pissed at her for days, even if what she’d said was the truth. She loved her mother—she did—but there was still a world of hurt they’d never worked through.

Sara considered apologizing now, but hearing Ruth bang pots and pans in the kitchen, she decided she’d wait until her mother wasn’t so angry. Getting up, she carried the rest of the dirty dishes to the sink, setting them without a word for Ruth to wash. They had a deal: Sara cooked and Ruth did the dishes. This time, she didn’t even look at Sara.

Fine, if she wanted to act that way, Sara would let her. She went to the living room, where James was laughing at some cartoon. Sitting on the couch, she pulled him into her arms and smelled his little boy scent: sweat and soap. She loved that scent. He snuggled into her arms, all elbows and warmth, and she said a little prayer of thanks that she got to hold him like this after everything they’d been through.