one day he’ll find a way to tell them everything. In the meantime can’t you accept that he does love you? He dropped everything and came here the minute I contacted him. Isn’t that proof of how he feels?”
She wished it were, but it wasn’t. Not when the bottom line was that he would be walking out again and leaving her behind.
Fifteen
Laurie was inconsolable. By morning she had retreated into a bleak silence that tore Harlan Patrick’s soul in two. No matter what he said to her, no matter how he pleaded with her to make allowances for her father’s new circumstances, she saw only that she was being essentially abandoned all over again.
“But I’m not leaving,” he reminded her. “I’m right here.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “And I’m grateful. I really am.”
“I don’t want your gratitude, Laurie. I love you. This is where I want to be.”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head, her expression sad. “You want to be back in Texas, where you belong.”
Harlan Patrick sighed. “Okay, yes, I want to be at White Pines, but I want you and Amy Lynn with me. You’re the two people I love most in this world.”
But no matter what he said, it wasn’t enough. She had convinced herself that her father’s decision to keep her and his new family apart meant she was somehow unworthy of his love, that no man would ever be able to love her.
“Dammit, Laurie, can’t you see that he’s the one who’s losing here? This is costing him the love of a woman who’s beautiful, talented, generous and kindhearted. Blame him. Hell, hate him if you want, but don’t turn this back on yourself. Don’t start thinking that you’re the one who’s unlovable again. I’m here to tell you it’s not true. Doesn’t my opinion count for anything?”
She regarded him with eyes dulled by hurt. “Of course, but—”
“But I’m not your father,” he supplied, defeated.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, dammit!” He raked his hand through his hair and tried to think of some way to get through to her, some way to bring back her spirit. She should have been spitting mad now, not resigned, but nothing he could think of to say or do even touched her.
Two days later he was at his wit’s end. So was everyone else around her. She’d insisted Val cancel half a dozen interviews. Her concert performances had been lackluster, the reviews damning. She was dying inside and killing her career in the process. Watching her do it to herself was excruciating for Harlan Patrick.
“You have to do something,” Val said, blasting into Laurie’s hotel suite with a handful of clippings in her hand. “I just got off the phone with Nick. He’s getting rumblings about promoters wanting to back out of concert dates scheduled for the fall. She’s destroying herself.”
“I know,” he said quietly. “I can see it, but I have no idea what to do. I can’t get through to her. Other than when she’s with Amy Lynn, it’s as if she’s just going through the motions of living.”
“I’m scared for her,” Val said. “I’ve never seen her like this before, not even when she found out she was pregnant and refused to tell you about it. I know she felt very much alone then, but expecting your baby gave her a reason to keep going. Her whole focus was on Amy Lynn and her music. Now she’s about to lose her music, and it doesn’t even seem to matter to her.”
Harlan Patrick heard every word Val said, and an idea began to take shape in his mind. It was drastic and very, very risky. Laurie might never forgive him for it. In the end he could lose her; he could lose everything.
But if it worked, if it got her attention and made her start to live again, it would be worth it, he concluded.
“I know what I have to do,” he said finally.
“What?”
“Just leave it to me. It’ll be better if you don’t know ahead of time.” He clasped Val’s shoulders and leveled a look into her eyes. “Just remember that I am doing this for Laurie, not to hurt her, okay? Remember that.”
“Harlan Patrick,” she began worriedly.
“It’ll be fine,” he reassured her as he grabbed his bag and packed his belongings.
“You’re leaving?” she asked, clearly shocked.
He nodded. “I’m going back to Texas. Tell Laurie that and tell her she’ll be hearing from me any day now. Tell her I’ve had