Impulsion (Station 32 #1)(96)

“Good genes,” Silvia Grant said from Claire’s side. “Good genes are a marker for success, no doubt. Is that not so, Conrad?” He only answered by smiling.

Conrad raised his glass. “To Garrison Tatum, a man who is sure to outlive us all.”

Harley clasped her father’s arm. “I have to talk to you.”

He looked down at her, somewhat in shock, then tilted his head and gave her a warm smile, the kind of smile he would give her when she was little and crossed some major threshold.

Harley stepped back, asking him to come. Her mother reached for Harley. “Dear, we have guests,” she said with a bite in her near silent tone.

“They can wait,” Harley said, not bothering to even acknowledge the hold her mother thought she had over her.

All at once, Conrad said something, drawing her mother’s attention away from Garrison and giving Harley the vaguest chance of having this conversation with her father without an audience. Gently pulling his arm, she guided him behind the crowd to the far side of the room. She was aiming to take him outside, but he slowed his walk, urging her to do the same.

She turned, and even though her father stood before her, she could see Collin right behind him, his stare cautioning her as his own mother said something in his ear, clearly urging him to say or do something to turn the attention in the room to him.

“Are you all right, Harley?” Garrison said, furrowing his brow slightly.

Breaths were coming quick and short to Harley, and she heard every one of them leave her body, felt her heart thundering, that sensation of being in trouble drowning her.

“Daddy, I have to tell you something, and it’s not going to make you proud, and I’m sorry. I really am. I thought it was the best answer at the time, but I was wrong.”

Garrison reached for his daughter’s shoulder, leaned down so his eyes met hers. “I know you cheated, Harley. That is something you can overcome, though. This experience will never let you forget where you belong.”

“That’s just it, I didn’t cheat—”

Garrison lifted his hand on her shoulder to stop her words. “We could argue semantics all night, dear. And in the end, the fact will be that, at the very least, you cheated yourself out of time.” He lowered his arm to his side and stood up straighter. “You feel you have committed an infraction against me, which is false, but if you see fit to appease that, then all I ask is that you waste no more time. Never doubt your certainty. Never surrender in a fight for something you love. Need.”

Her eyes searched his, wondering what he knew and what he didn’t, if he truly understood what she was saying or if he was telling her that with Collin was where she was supposed to be. Under either of those possibilities, she sensed a test, him asking her to prove her emotions with actions.

Right then, Claire Tatum managed to break whatever focus Conrad had on the crowd and bring it back to Garrison. “Dear, you were already tragically late. I’m sure you and Harley will have several chances to speak tonight,” she said, putting a glass of wine in Garrison’s hand. “I do believe that Collin had a toast for you before we joined our other guests.”

The crowd began to shift, all facing Harley and her father. Collin cleared his throat as he took the few steps between him and Harley.

“Is that a fact?” Garrison said with a glance to Harley, who had squeezed his arm as if she had just witnessed a tragedy and needed her father to protect her.

In Harley’s mind, there was no telling which way this was going to go. Her stare was begging Collin just to blow this off, make up some speech wishing her father a happy birthday, not even try to take the blame for any of this. Without a doubt, Harley’s father knew she had been ‘cheating,’ or rather had been with Wyatt. There was no reason for Collin to take this hit when the blame was already squarely on Harley’s shoulders.

If Collin could just blow this off, alone with their family, Harley could take the blame for all of this, tell them all she loved Wyatt from first sight, that she and Collin never had a chance, that they were meant to be friends. Her mother’s reaction would be colder, more fierce in that small setting, but Harley didn’t care. She didn’t give a damn what she thought or did; Harley was going home the first chance she had, far from here.

Harley knew, though, what kind of man her father was. That he admired boldness. He would never doubt how she felt about Wyatt if she confessed that before everyone. If she confessed what would be a sin in the eyes of her mother’s inner circle.

That was it. That was the answer from day one: tell the truth. To state it with enough conviction that no one would be bold enough to doubt your words or even dare to cross them.

“Garrison. I assure you that my words will steal your attention,” Collin said. “You see, one of the first things I remember about meeting you was when you introduced me to Harley and you said, ‘I’d like you to meet my greatest accomplishment.’” People in the room started to laugh politely, as if they all had heard that at some point.

“Those words stayed with me. As Harley and I grew up, almost side by side at every event our mothers could think to take us to, a friendship was born.”

“A friendship that Collin was a saint in,” Harley said quickly, as if the words had been jerked out of her. “Always the gentleman. Always caring how I felt, wanting to know what I needed.”