She knew it, even though she felt guilty for holding back that last, miniscule in the grand scheme of things, bit of trust.
Their meal was wonderful. After eating, Doug helped his father get his mother out to the lanai. Harper went into the kitchen to help Tina and Eileen with the dishes. They were talking when she heard a knock on the front door. She couldn’t see what was going on from the kitchen, but she heard Doug’s voice and another man’s voice. Then they disappeared as Doug apparently stepped outside. She heard the front door close.
She was putting away a baking dish in a cabinet when she glanced out the window that looked onto the street. She saw Doug talking with another, familiar-looking man, slightly shorter than him. Blond, probably blue eyes from the light cast to them. She watched as they talked for a moment, then hugged.
Then Harper realized he was the man she’d seen in one of the pictures in Doug’s room.
Tina, who’d stepped behind her, gasped before she whispered, “Oh, no.”
The other man reached up to his face and brushed his hands across his eyes. He’s crying. “Who is he?” Harper asked.
Her expression turned sad. “That’s Tate Gillis. Doug’s ex-boyfriend.”
Shock churned her gut. “What?”
“Doug’s ex. He’s bi.” She looked puzzled. “Didn’t he tell you? He broke up with him when he took the job. They were together for a couple of years. We all figured they’d settle down together. Doug told us he didn’t want to put Tate through the crazy schedule he’d have to work.” She sighed as she glanced out the window. “He was a real sweetie.” Then she seemed to remember who she was talking to. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. Tate got a promotion right after Doug got the job with you. He said he didn’t want to take Tate from that. They parted friends.”
Harper thought fast through the sudden flurry of emotions racing through her. “Oh, oh yeah. Right. Tate. Sorry, I…just couldn’t place the name at first.”
Tina turned back to the sink. Doug returned inside, but Tate sat in his car parked on the street, not moving, his head resting on the steering wheel.
Tina and Eileen walked out to the dining room to get more dirty dishes. Before she realized she was doing it, Harper quietly slipped out the side door and raced around to the front yard. She must have startled Tate, because he jumped when she tapped on his window.
He sat up and rolled the window down. Before he could speak, she took a business card from her pocket and pressed it into his hand. “Tomorrow, four o’clock, this address. Ask the receptionist for me, she’ll bring you to my office. You and I really need to talk about Doug. Please.”
Her heart racing, she didn’t give him time to refuse. She ran back to the house and made it into the kitchen before Tina and Eileen returned with another load of dishes and cutlery. When she glanced through the front window again, she saw Tate had driven away.
Already, her mind had formed a plan. She needed to get Doug out of town, and fast. This was too much for her to handle at once. Anger and guilt warred within her. He’d told her he was single. He’d damn sure never mentioned Tate.
Had he broken up with Tate out of greed, or sacrificed the love of his life to save his parents’ home?
Then again, he wasn’t the only one with secrets, although in retrospect hers now pinged a lot lower on the guilt scale than his.
Doug felt like he’d been sucker punched. He’d never expected Tate to show up.
He also didn’t expect the surge of emotions he felt upon seeing Tate. He wanted to pull him into his arms, kiss his tears away, and confess everything, even though he knew doing so would jeopardize everything he’d sacrificed so much for.
Not to mention he really had fallen in love with Harper. There was something so vulnerable about her buried deep behind the stone-and-iron façade she showed the world.
Then there was the pain in Tate’s eyes when Doug had opened the door and seen him standing there.
The feel of Tate’s arms around him as they hugged by the car.
“I wish I could tell you everything,” Doug had whispered, coming as close to breaking his agreement as he could, “but I can’t right now. I couldn’t let Mom and Dad lose their house. I’m so sorry I hurt you, but I had to do this for them.”
“Can we meet later and talk?” Tate had asked.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I don’t blame you for hating me.”
“I don’t hate you,” Tate softly said. “I love you. I’ll always love you. I just wish you could confide in me.”
Doug had wanted to walk away from the house, his parents, and even Harper. Just climb in Tate’s car and leave with him. Instead, he stepped out of Tate’s embrace. “I’ll always love you, too. I’m under a nondisclosure clause for a year. If I talk, I will lose my job and my parents will lose their house.”
Tate wiped his eyes. “I wish I could say I understand, but I don’t.”
Doug had returned to the house and forced himself not to stare out the front window. He walked out to the lanai, praying Tate would just leave, praying he didn’t knock again and force him to make a choice between the love of his life and the woman he realized he might possibly have a future with.
He hated himself. He had to be the most selfish bastard on the face of the planet.
I don’t deserve either of them.
Harper felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. After the dishes were finished, she excused herself to the bathroom, grabbing her purse on the way. There, she checked her blood sugar, took her meds, and read through her e-mail.
There was another message from the manager of the London office, needing her input on the impending deal there to acquire another local producer of aeronautics hardware in Manchester. She’d thought about going herself to handle it, but didn’t want to take the time away from dealing with the new Sebring plant.
Then it hit her. The answer to her problem, buying her time and getting Doug out of the Tampa office ASAP.
Harper tapped out a reply to the London office, then joined everyone else on the lanai. She put on her best fake smile despite feeling like her heart was breaking and hoped Doug would buy the act.
“Guess what?” she said to Doug, praying her voice sounded normal. “You get to break in your new passport tomorrow.”
He looked confused. “What?”
She held up her phone. “The Manchester deal? The London office needs some guidance over there. I’m sending you.”
“Me?”
Sarah looked impressed. “That’s incredible! I’m so proud of you, Doug.”
“Are you sure you want to send me?” he asked Harper.
“Yes. I know you can handle this. I have confidence in you.” She noticed he had yet to mention they’d had an unexpected visitor at the house, much less that it was Tate.
How many other secrets did Doug hold in his heart? And how could she trust him now when he told her he loved her?
Doug felt stunned. First Tate showing up, now this. “I don’t know if I’m ready to handle something that big on my own.”
“Of course you are. You’ll be working with our attorneys over there. I wouldn’t send you if I didn’t have confidence in you. Besides, I’m just an e-mail or phone call away.” She dropped the next bomb. “You’ll be over there for at least a month, possibly two. You should be home by the holidays, though. We’ll get you packed and get your ticket booked as soon as we get home.”