Page 5 of Broken Pieces

Chapter Three

Raelynn

Easton left for work an hour ago. We spent the morning together. He made me breakfast and helped me unpack the few things I had. We didn’t talk about him at all, but I know he is hiding something from me.

There are female touches all over the house, vases of flowers and picture frames of us as kids I knew Easton never kept around. I snoop into his bedroom, my parents’ old room, and sure enough, find women’s clothes taking up half the space.

When I left in December, he was heartbroken over some girl leaving, so I find it hard to believe he already moved on. I walk into his old bedroom and stop in my tracks. It’s being turned into a nursery. What the fuck?

I hear a key in the front door and then a woman yells hello. I quietly close the bedroom door behind me and make my way to the staircase. The blonde women I saw at the diner is taking her coat off and hanging it by the door. I have no idea what to say. I vaguely remember her as the woman I saw when I first came back here, but I was so high then I can’t be sure.

“Raelynn?” she shouts as she turns toward the staircase looking into the living room. Well, her very pregnant belly answers the nursery question.

“Hi,” I squeak. God, I sound like a pansy. It’s like I came back here and reverted to my high school self, shy and introverted. When I left this place, I found my voice, I felt on top of the world, a girl who knew who she was. But now I don’t know who I am.

She looks up the staircase toward me and I finally stop staring at her and make my way down the stairs. She holds her hand out to me, “I’m Harper, your brother’s girlfriend.”

“And soon-to-be mother of his child?” Well, maybe I didn’t lose my entire voice because that did come out a little harsh.

Harper doesn’t seem fazed by my disrespect. “Yep! Our baby is due in a little over a month!”

“Hmm.” Wow, I sound like a bitch.

“Look, I know you don’t know me at all. We met for about five minutes last November and probably not in the best of ways. But I know your brother and I know how he was when it came to trusting people and I am sure you’re the same way. Hell, your sister is too. But do know I love your brother with every piece of my soul and I wouldn’t wrong him. Or you. So please don’t think of me as some broad who just stepped on in and took over his life by getting knocked up.”

Okay, maybe she isn’t just some extremely gorgeous dumb blonde. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. I ju—”

“Yes, you did. You’re a Calloway. That’s just how you come across. Rude is second nature to you.”

Damn this woman. I can see why my brother loves her.

“Now I came home early from work because my feet hurt. And Easton told me to watch after you. But you’re not a child, so I’m not here to babysit. However, your brother was kind enough to let you stay here after all the shit you’ve put him through, so it would be nice if you helped with dinner.”

“Umm, okay,” is all I get out before she continues.

“You don’t have to be nice to me. Hell, I don’t care if you like me or not. But you need to be respectful to your brother or else I can guarantee you won’t be living here.” And with that, she waddles off to the kitchen.

* * *

Cooking dinner with Harper wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. She’s actually funny and I can see why my brother is so smitten with her. When he got home from work, I saw the way he looked at her. I don’t think he ever looked at his ex-wife that way. And when he kissed Harper’s stomach, I had to walk away because the intimacy between them hurt too much.

I tried to have a glass of wine at dinner, but Easton practically slapped my hand away from the bar in the dining room. He said something to Harper about clearing out the bar while I’m here and she gave him a death stare. I walked away at that point. I didn’t want to be the cause of their fighting.

That’s how I ended up out here in my treehouse from when I was a kid. I loved this place. It was my escape from my parents before they died, then my escape from Easton when he took over as a parent, and then from the world when I lost Tyler. I guess it’s my new escape now. I don’t know what it is I am escaping though.

My past?

Logan?

I think hard as I stare up at the stars through the skylight East helped install when I was in high school. Maybe I am trying to escape from myself.