Page 2 of The Vet's Unconditional Love
"I do," said Tanya.
"You haven't even finished what you have yet," said Alana.
"I know, but it's so good.Dad's going to love this."
"Do you think so?"Harper asked.
"I know so," said Alana."He loves chicken, and I think he'll like the polenta too."
Tanya pushed at a caper with her fork."I was going to leave these little things, but I got one by accident and it's tasty.I think Dad will love them too."
"I'm glad you tried them," Harper told her."They're what gives the piccata that something extra, don't you think?"
It was good to sit with them while they ate, even though it made her heart ache a little.Being around them always did.She couldn't help wondering what her own life might have been like if things had turned out differently.
She pushed to her feet when she heard the front door open, and Emmett called out, "Hey, I'm home."
"Hey, Dad, we're in the kitchen," Alana called."Harper made dinner.You need to come try it.It's amazing."
Harper heard his footsteps in the hallway and reached for her purse.As much as she enjoyed being around him, she did her best to leave before he got back.Tonight, she'd cut it too fine.
When he appeared in the doorway, her heart skittered in her chest the way it always did when she saw him.It still caught her off guard every time.Sure, he was a good-looking man — broad-shouldered, his hair mostly silver now, with that rugged look about him that she wouldn't have given a second glance back in New York.It was only since she'd moved here to Montana and met ruggedness in the flesh that she'd discovered just how much it did for her.And in Emmett's case, rugged meant sexy.She might never say that out loud — except maybe to Shelley — but she wouldn't deny it either.
He gave her a nod as he came in.He looked exhausted — not just tired, but the kind of worn out that came from too many long days stacked on top of each other with no let-up.She felt a pang of something she had no business feeling.
"Since you're home early, you could eat with the girls.I'll make you up a plate, if you like."
"Yeah, Dad, you need to try it," Tanya chimed in, already pushing her chair back."Come sit down.And you have to have the bread, too."She stared guiltily at the last piece on the plate."I nearly ate it all, but I think there's more."
"Sit down and finish your dinner," Emmett told her.
The table went quiet.Tanya dropped her head, and something tightened in Harper's chest at the sight of it.
"That's kind of you, Harper."He turned to her, his voice carefully even."I appreciate you making dinner like this.But you've already done too much.I can get mine."
She turned away for a moment, closed her eyes, pressed her lips together.Then she turned back and did what she always did — wrapped what she actually wanted to say in a grin and said it anyway.
"Papa Bear's home now, ladies."She grinned at the girls, even though it cost her a little."He can take care of everything by himself.I'll be on my way — I'll see you after school on Thursday."
The girls sensed the tension and just nodded.Neither of them reached for their forks.
Emmett scowled, and she felt her own temper rise to meet his.
"What?There's no need to get mad at me.I offered to make you a plate because in my world, that's what you do when someone comes home from work tired."She glanced at the girls — at Tanya still looking at her lap — and felt the words coming before she could stop them."I forgot that in your world, your ability to handle everything alone is more important to you than—" Another glance "—anything or anyone else."
She walked out, furious at herself.That was always her problem.She knew when to stop.She just never did.
She knew he was following but didn't turn around until she reached the front door.When she had her hand on it, she faced him and made herself hold his gaze.
"You can't be mad at me; everything I said was true."
His eyebrows drew together, two deep lines forming between them.He looked furious — and then something shifted in his expression, something she couldn't quite read, and it stopped her cold.Because it hit her all at once what she'd actually done.He owned his self-reliance, always had — his friends knew it, he knew it, and he'd never pretended otherwise.But he considered himself and the girls to be a unit.A team.And with what she'd just said — with that glance at Tanya sitting with her head down — she hadn't just called him out.She'd drawn a line between them, put herself and the girls on one side of it and left him standing alone on the other.
He opened his mouth.
"Anyway, I really have to go."She kept her voice light."I'll drop the girls off on Thursday.See you then."
She was out the door before he could find words, pulling it shut behind her and crossing to her truck without looking back.Her hands weren't quite steady as she started the engine.
