Shooting the Moon by Brenda Novak Page A

in town? See if—”
    “Why? What good would it do?” he broke in. “If you bring Brandon into this, you’ll only upset him.”
    Lauren didn’t say anything. She hated confrontations and avoided them whenever possible, especially with her father. But somehow it felt dishonest not to tell Brandon that his father had some interest in knowing him.
    “Lauren?” her father said when she didn’t speak.
    “I’m here.”
    “I love Brandon, honey. You know how much.”
    Lauren couldn’t help responding to the softening in his voice. “I don’t doubt that.”
    “If Audra had listened to me in the first place, this wouldn’t be happening. She’d still be with us. But she wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t let me do what I knew was best for her.”
    Was Lauren making the same mistake? Was she undermining her father when she should be supporting him? The thought that she might be doing just that seemed to shed new light on everything.
    “Okay,” she finally said. “I won’t mention Harley to Brandon, and I’ll tell Harley to stay away. But what do I do if he won’t take no for an answer? What if he won’t leave us alone?”
    “Then we’ll get a restraining order against him until this can go to court. But don’t worry. It won’t get that far. The boy I remember from ten years ago wasn’t the kind to stick around long enough to fight for anything. Do you think things are any different now?”
    Yes! She thought things were significantly different. Harley wasn’t a man who’d allow himself to be bullied or intimidated or denied. Not by Quentin Worthington or his fortune. How Lauren knew that, she couldn’t exactly say. It had something to do with Harley’s bearing and demeanor. At the same time, it was only a hunch and she could be wrong, so she hesitated to state her opinion too strongly.
    “He’s a little more determined than he used to be,” she said.
    “Then we’ll be just as determined. He’s not going to threaten my family’s well-being a second time.”
    “Right. I understand.”
    “Where is he now?”
    “I believe he’s staying with an old friend of his.” In fact, she knew he was. He’d said so last night. He’d even given her the number.
    “Well, if he comes around again, you send him packing. If he won’t leave, call the police.”
    “Okay,” Lauren said, but her heart sank as she contemplated facing Harley and telling him she’d changed her mind. She felt sorry for him, for what he’d lost, even if it was largely due to his own poor judgment.
    “I wish we were there to help you. Do you think your mom and I should come home?”
    Deep down Lauren wished they would. She wanted Quentin to deal with the situation so she wouldn’t haveto. Let him sift the rights from the wrongs, make the tough decisions—and accept the responsibility.
    What a cop-out, she thought, cringing at her cowardice. She was nearly thirty years old. It was time she took charge instead of expecting her parents to handle everything.
    “Don’t cut your trip short yet,” she said. “Let’s wait and see how things go. Maybe after I talk to him he’ll just…go home.” Yeah, right!
    “Okay. But promise you’ll call us after you talk to him.”
    “I will.”
    “I love you, honey.”
    “I love you, too, Dad.”
    “Here, your mother wants to say hello.”
     
    H ARLEY SAT on the edge of a bed consisting of two mattresses and a cheap set of rails in Tank’s spare room, waiting anxiously for the sun to rise. He was surrounded by boxes filled with who knew what—leftovers from Tank’s marriage, probably, belongings that held too many memories to unpack—staring at empty walls and a dirty window with a broken blind. But he could’ve been sitting behind home plate at the World Series and it wouldn’t have made any difference. He would still have been thinking of Brandon.
    He was going to meet his son today. Harley had envisioned coming face to face with him hundreds, even thousands of times, but he’d