Charlie and James took turns sneaking into the living room to check the score of the game.
As the action around the table died down, Joni, on Claire’s left, cleared her throat. “I just wanted to thank Harper and Luke for inviting me today. It’s been a hard few years, and it means so much that you still treat me like family. It’s good to be reminded of what’s really important in life, and you all have done that for me. So thank you for that. And Happy Thanksgiving!” She raised her wine glass.
Everyone raised their wine glasses. “To family,” Charlie said, winking at Harper.
“To family,” everyone echoed.
Aldo patted Harper on the back and winked at her. “Nice job, Harp,” he whispered.
She snuck a glance at Luke who was frowning into his empty glass.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
They decided to leave the dishes for later and run off some of the food with a friendly football game. As with all Garrison games, the friendly pick-up fun quickly turned into a skirmish.
Harper, Luke, Aldo, and Gloria squared off in the backyard against Ty, Sophie, and James while everyone else hunkered down in front of the TV to watch football or fall asleep.
After a few leisurely jogs down the “field,” Harper felt her spirits lift.
Safely out of Claire’s earshot, the siblings trash-talked playfully. James scored an early touchdown, and Luke criticized Harper’s defense. So on the next long bomb Ty threw, Harper was ready. She jumped on James’ back and hung on for dear life as he caught the ball.
With his free hand, James spun her around to his front and tossed her over his shoulder. He took off, unhindered by the extra weight, and didn’t stop until he was in the end zone next to Harper’s garden.
He spun her around in circles as she laughed.
“Oh my God, put me down or I’m going to barf on you,” she gasped.
Her feet no sooner hit the ground then Luke slammed into James like a runaway school bus. He shoved his younger brother back a pace.
“What the hell, man?” James shoved back. In the span of a second, they were on the ground wrestling.
“Luke!” Harper’s sharp tone did nothing to break it up.
Sophie smacked Ty in the chest. “What are you waiting for, Mr. Law and Order?” Get in there and break it up.”
“Soph, I just ate three plates of turkey. I can’t bend over.”
“For the love of —” Aldo charged into the fray and dragged Luke off of James. “Knock it off,” he ordered pushing Luke over to the patio. “Cool off before you make a bigger ass of yourself.”
“What’s your problem?” James looked more confused than pissed off.
Harper crossed her arms against the November chill. “He’s been drinking. A lot,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
Sophie shook her head. “You better find out before Mom catches wind of this. She’ll want to hook him up with a therapist next.”
“That’s way worse than a spanking,” Aldo said.
Harper sighed and crossed the yard to Luke. He was sitting on the picnic table examining a cut on the back of his right hand. He stared as a trickle of blood rolled off his hand onto the brick of the patio.
“Come on inside. I’ll clean that up for you,” she said, reaching for him.
He pulled back. “I can take care of it.”
Harper leaned in. “Don’t be an asshole. You’ve got two choices. You either go upstairs with me now to get this cleaned up, or I let Sophie tell your mom you just tried to tear your brother’s head off at Thanksgiving because his team was beating yours.”
“He had his hands all over you.”
“That’s bullshit and it’s not going to go over any better with Claire. Let’s go.”
The muscle in his jaw ticked, but he got up and followed her inside.
In their bathroom upstairs, she gently cleaned the cut with soap and water. “I can do this myself,” he grumbled.
Harper ignored him and taped a piece of gauze over the wound.
“What? So now you’re pissed at me?”
“Now? More like still,” she said coolly.
“What the hell do you have to be pissed about? You got everything you wanted.”
He stood up, towering over her. Hands on hips, Harper went toe to toe with him.
“I don’t know what is going on in that head of yours, but I’m guessing the beer and wine didn’t help. I’m pissed because once again you can’t be bothered to talk to me. What is going on with you? Is it coming home? Joni? Me? I’m not a freaking mind reader.” She poked him in the chest.
“You’re upset about something and it’s probably valid. But instead of talking to me about it, you just want to wallow in it and lash out. That’s what I’m pissed off about.”