Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly
Chapter One
“Addie, this is really bad timing.”
“It’s fine, Mom. Honestly.”
Her mother brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “It was bad timing when the wedding was happening and it’s even worse now. I should stay. You know what? I’m going to stay.”
Addison smiled at her mother. “You’re not staying. We are literally at the airport and your flight leaves in three hours.”
“It’s not the time to be leaving you. Your father will understand.”
Addison glanced at her father. He was standing at a kiosk a few feet away, purchasing two neck pillows. He waved at her before shuffling forward in the line.
“Dad’s work trip is six weeks long. You’ll miss him like crazy. Besides, you retired early for a reason, remember? You wanted to go with Dad on his work trips.”
“I know, but…” her mother touched Addie’s hair again, the auburn colour the exact same shade as her own, “you’re my baby and you’re hurting.”
“I’m fine,” Addie said.
“Honey.” Her mother’s look of exasperation was kind of sweet. “Your fiancé cheated on you. You’re not fine. And it’s okay that you’re not. Gosh, I hate Harrison for what he did to you. I’m so glad that Daniel broke his nose.”
“Daniel almost went to jail for breaking his nose,” Addison said. “You would have been forking out bail money for your son.”
“Totally worth it,” her mother said. “Harrison is the jerk here, honey. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“Spend lots of time with Gracie and Kira, okay? Don’t lock yourself away for the entire summer vacation in your apartment watching bad reality television and knitting Harrison voodoo dolls.”
“I won’t,” Addison said with a small smile.
“Maybe you should go and visit Harper in New York. She’s your best friend and she -”
“I was just there, Mom. You know that. Besides, she has her own stuff going on and doesn’t need me moping around her apartment.”
“So, instead you’re gonna mope around your own apartment? What if you’ve gone feral by the time your father and I return from Tokyo?”
Addison laughed so hard that a short woman with ‘Hawaii or Bust’ written across her t-shirt stared at them as she walked past.
“I’m not gonna go feral, Mom. I promise.”
Her mother smoothed her fingers across the neckline of Addie’s t-shirt, studying the empty space where pearls usually graced Addie’s neck. “Sweetie, you wore jeans and a t-shirt to drive us to the airport. You’re not even wearing makeup. Honestly, you’re halfway to being feral already.”
“I know I’m your mom and I’m old, but will you humour me and take some advice?”
“Yes,” Addie said.
Her mother glanced over at her father still in line at the kiosk. “The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. Go find yourself a nice boy and sex him up, sweetheart. Nothing serious, just some casual banging. You’ll forget all about that nasty dickface Harrison.”
Addison’s jaw dropped. She’d never once heard her mother say a swear word and hearing dickface come out of her mother’s mouth was more shocking than her suggestion that Addison should do some ‘casual banging’.
“Did you just say dickface?” Addison said.
Her mother laughed. “Just promise me you’ll think about it. Casual sex is a good thing.”
“You married Daddy right out of high school. How do you know that casual sex is a good thing?” Addison said.
“I read a lot. It’ll be good for you, honey. And it’ll give the town gossips something else to gossip about.”
Addison winced. Directly after she’d caught Harrison cheating and they’d broken up, there’d been a period of time where it seemed like she wouldn’t be the talk of the town. It had lulled her into a false sense of security.
She rubbed at her suddenly throbbing temples. What an idiot she’d been to think she could avoid being the town’s hottest gossip topic.
She chewed at the inside of her cheek. Once she’d returned from New York and realized that the gossip had started, she’d been very tempted to take Kira’s advice and accidentally spill the beans about Harrison’s penchant for wearing a dog collar and being spanked, but in the end she couldn’t do it.
Not because she felt any kind of lingering love for Harrison – that ship had sailed after the shock of seeing him cheating with his legal assistant had worn off. No, she’d kept her mouth shut purely for one reason – she was ashamed. Harrison had straight up told her she sucked in bed and that