Page 37 of SEAL's Harmony
Harmony followed them over to the couch but hadn’t sat down. Her cheeks paled and her eyes darted around the room like she was looking for a way to escape. Ry knew she didn’t want to talk about her father, but he didn’t realize it would bring her this much anxiety.
“How about you pick a movie? They’re all in the center drawer of the console table. I’m sure you’re ready to unwind after the day you had, and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
“I like that idea. Relaxing to a movie sounds great,” Harmony replied, as the strain around her lips eased and she smiled.
She had a hard time picking one, but mostly because they were all action movies. Not a chick flick in the pile, and Ry made a mental note to order some on Amazon. When she finally decided, she surprised him again with her choice, picking the first Bourne movie.
“Do you know what this is about?” he asked as he popped it into the Blu-ray player.
“Yes, I read all the books. It was the one thing I had control over,” Harmony answered.
Ry wondered if she even realized how much that one sentence told him about her life back in Iowa. The need to ask her about her father was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. The sheer amount of patience it took to not bug her about it would shock the shit out of Josh.
Whiskey moved to Harmony’s side of the couch, and Ry laughed. His dog knew a soft touch when he met one. Sure enough, as soon as he flashed his big puppy dog eyes, Harmony melted.
“Do you have some kind of signal before Whiskey can have some popcorn?”
“Nope, no rules. He can have it anytime. More times than not, he’ll jump onto my lap if I make him wait too long. Looks like he gave up on me and is trying his luck with you.”
Harmony giggled. “I can give him some?”
“Sure. You can put a handful on the floor or toss them at him. He’s great at catching.”
“Cool,” she said, then took a handful out of the bowl and tossed one at Whiskey. “Oh, you’re right. He is fantastic at this,” she remarked as she tossed kernel after kernel at the dog. He caught every one of them, even when she’d toss it high into the air.
This Harmony, the relaxed and smiling version, enchanted Ry. The movie was long forgotten as she continued to play with the dog. Ry delighted in her enjoyment, as did the grateful and soon to be overstuffed canine.
“Did you have a dog when you were young?” It was an innocent question and just popped out of Ry’s mouth while he watched her toss the puffed corn and Whiskey jump and run all over the room to catch them. It was also the perfect way to get her to talk about her life in Iowa—maybe.
“Nope, no dog. My father was very strict. There were no pets allowed. When I was five or six, I won a goldfish at the local fair. I was so excited, even though I knew that he probably wouldn’t let me keep it. Sure enough, as soon as he saw it, he took the bag from me and flushed it down the toilet.”
“You’re kidding?” Anger and sympathy for the five-year-old Harmony gutted him. If the man had been there, he’d have put him in a world of pain. He couldn’t imagine the heartlessness of her father.
“I wish. But nope, and then he punished me.”
“Your father sounds like a real asshole. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how he could have treated you liked that, baby. No wonder you moved here.” Ry’s heart ached for her. He had to fight the desire to pull her onto his lap and kiss away the pain reflected on her face. Growing up in that house must have been a living hell.
“He isn’t the most pleasant person,” she admitted. She and Whiskey finished the popcorn, and the dog finally laid himself down in his bed. Ry had been lucky to get a couple of handfuls out of the bowl before it all went into the dog’s belly. With a sigh, Harmony leaned against the other arm of the couch and wrapped her arms around her bent knees.
“No, it doesn’t sound like it. You never mention your mother. Was she afraid to stand up to him?” Ry didn’t want to push her, but he couldn’t help himself when she gave him the opening.
“Well, more like the opposite. She left him and me. One day, she was just gone. I was pretty young. I used to wonder if that’s why my father was so mean. But I think he was probably always this way, and that’s why she left. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive her for not taking me with her, though.”
“Damn, I wouldn’t either. What kind of mother leaves a young child with someone like that?”
“Exactly. I used to pray every night when I went to bed that she’d come back to get me, but it never happened.”
“Did you try to find her when you got older?”
“I never thought about it. Besides, I would’ve had to do it behind my father’s back, and if he found out, it wouldn’t have been pretty. Maybe if I’d married Jim, but it turned out he wasn’t any better.”
“What happened with Jim?” Ry asked, unable to help himself. It amazed him she’d turned out so sweet and caring after her childhood, and he was sure he didn’t know the half of it.
Harmony turned her head to look at him and quirked one of her perfectly arched eyebrows. “I guess you’ve gotten me to talk about this, anyway, huh?”
“We don’t have to. I didn’t mean to push you.”
“You didn’t, not really. And about my ex, Jim? Hmm. I might have met him once at a party, but my dad picked him out for me. Insisted it was time for me to get married. I’m not sure what my father had to promise him to agree, but I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. In the end, it wasn’t enough, since a week before the wedding he ran off with a woman from his office.”
