Promising herself she wouldn’t argue with him no matter what he said, she quietly slipped back into her bedroom and closed the door so there was no chance of Karoline overhearing and then critiquing her side of the conversation. Everyone else was in the kitchen having pancakes for breakfast, which Terrance made every Saturday morning, and she wanted as much privacy as she could get.

“Hello?” She put some lift into her voice—which took considerable effort.

“Harper? How are you?”

Not good. She felt as though she’d been in a terrible car accident and was still stumbling around the scene, shocked by all the wreckage and unable to think clearly. But he didn’t want to hear her complaints. As he’d become more and more popular, she’d become less and less important to him. And the less important she became, the more she’d tried to get them back to where they once were—and the more that aggravated him. It was a terrible cycle. Revealing her pain and neediness, her complete and utter uncertainty on how to proceed from here, only chased him further away. “Great,” she lied. “And you?”

“Exhausted.” He sighed audibly. “This tour is really kicking my ass.”

“You put a lot into every show,” she said, and that was true. She admired his work ethic, the huge amount of energy he gave his fans. He was a phenomenal performer. “How are the girls?”

They missed their daddy. She almost said so. They wanted him back as much as she did. But, again, she refrained. He’d interpret that as criticism, and he wouldn’t call if all he got was a guilt trip. “Having a great time with their cousins,” she said instead.

“That’s good. Do they like their new school?”

It was an adjustment, just like everything else they were going through. Harper hated that she’d made them move, but she’d had no choice. Without the support of her sister, she was afraid she’d melt down entirely. “For the most part. When will you be back in the States?”

“Looks like it won’t be until mid-January.”

“Does that mean you added a new show or…”

“No, I have to do some promotional stuff for the label while I’m across the pond.”

“Right. Promotional stuff is important.”

There was a brief pause during which she cursed herself for sounding so mechanical and insincere and knew he’d picked up on it when he asked, “Are you being sarcastic?”

She cleared her throat. “No, not at all. It’s just…with Christmas coming up in a couple of weeks… I don’t know, I guess I’m thinking of how much Piper and Everly are hoping you’ll be back sooner than you planned, not later.”