Page 27 of A Home for Harmony
“Thank you, Harmony. You’re a great sister. I’m not sure I would have gotten through the last year without you. I mean it.”
“Awwww,” she said. “The same. Can I confess something to you?”
There was no way she was going to keep her date hidden.
“Always,” Erica said. Her sister sipped her coffee and let out a little moan too. “I can’t tell you the little pleasures in life. Is this bad or what?”
“No,” she said. “It’s not bad to appreciate something small. That is part of life. Find the joy in things when you can.”
“I feel as if I’m learning that from you. Everyone should do those things.”
“I hope they do,” she said. It’s what she tried to have her message be. Look for the good even in the bad. Some people didn’t like that and thought it was fake, but it wasn’t.
She couldn’t help being who she was.
“What is it you want to confess to me?” Erica asked. “Do we have time to sit for this or should we get the food going?”
“I prepped a lot last night,” she said. “I was too excited to sit still so we don’t have as much to do.”
“Well then,” Erica said. “Now I’ve got to know.”
“I kissed some aged bacon last night,” she squealed and then did a tap dance on her toes around the kitchen. “Ouch, that hurt. I should have done that with slippers on. Let me get them.”
“Noooooo,” Erica said. “Come back here and explain that.”
Her sister’s voice was trailing as Harmony dashed up the stairs and slipped her feet into her UGG slippers and then ran back down.
“Sorry,” she said, grinning. “I got Chinese takeout last night.”
“What does that have to do with bacon? I’m assuming you’re talking about the officer that helped you two weeks ago.”
“Micah Barnes,” she said. “And he’s a captain. Remember that.”
“I’m sorry,” Erica said. “I’m confused and am never that confused. What am I missing?”
“He was there alone getting a takeout dinner too. We both had to wait and were talking, then he asked if I wanted to have dinner with him at his house.”
“You went to his house alone?” Erica asked, frowning. “Without telling anyone? Someone you just met?”
“Okay, Mom,” she said, crossing her eyes. “He’s an officer of the law. He is Luke’s superior and I know that because I brought it up to him. I was completely safe.” She hugged her arms to her body. “Oh man, did I feel safe.”
Erica laughed. “Fine, he passes muster on who he is. Tell me more.”
“We get in his house and I see a picture of his teenage daughter on the fireplace.”
Erica’s jaw dropped. “How old is he, exactly? You would have asked by that point.”
“I did,” she said. “He knew my age. He said he couldn’t get me out of his mind and had been looking into me, but isn’t on social media, so he only could see things on my YouTube channel. Guess he has an account there.”
“Most people do,” Erica said. “How do you feel knowing he was looking into you?”
“Ecstatic,” she said. “Because I did the same to him. He’s twelve years older than me. I think it bothers him more than me. He said the age gap between him and me is more than between me and Scarlet. That’s his daughter.”
Erica’s head went back and forth. “You think Tucker is old at thirty-five. So what are you thinking with Micah being thirty-eight?”
“I’ll admit if someone asked me a year ago if I was interested in dating a thirty-eight-year-old, I’d say no. But having been here a year and not having much luck with the opposite sex, I’ve realized I’ve got to be more open-minded. Maybe I need someone like him in my life who isn’t who I’d normally be drawn to.”
“What’s different about him other than his age?” Erica asked. “I need to hear this because I can tell by the smile on your face you’re pretty smitten.”
