Harper winced as the door clicked shut. Then she couldn’t move. She stood there, holding her bracelet as tears started to run down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she called out, feeling the need to repeat that sentiment, but when she got no response, she knew there was nothing she could do but go.

Tobias closed his eyes and leaned against the door, hoping that would be it—that Harper would leave and he’d never have to see her again. The self-talk he gave himself about not needing her or any other woman, about being careful to find someone next time who wouldn’t mind that he’d screwed up in the past—someone who’d made a few mistakes of her own—was far more effective when Harper wasn’t standing in front of him.

“Just go,” he whispered while waiting for the sound of her engine.

But that isn’t what he heard. He heard Uriah say, “Ms. Devlin? Can I have a word with you, please?”

Tobias tensed. What could Uriah possibly have to say to her?

He crossed to the window over the sink, where he could see what was going on. Uriah stood between Harper and her expensive Range Rover; he’d obviously cut her off as she approached her vehicle.

Now that Uriah had lowered his voice, however, Tobias couldn’t hear everything the old man said, but he could pick up a few words.

“Carl was wrong… Tobias is a fine man, not the kind of person you might think… If only you could look deeper than that, form your own opinion… I would be proud to have any daughter of mine marry him…”

It went on long enough that Tobias felt compelled to intervene. Taking a deep breath, he stalked out of the house and called Uriah’s name.

Both Uriah and Harper looked over at him. “Let it go,” he said. “Please.”

Uriah frowned, but when Tobias didn’t relent he threw up his hands and stepped aside, and Tobias supposed Harper went on her way. He wasn’t sure because he went right back in the house and turned the TV up so loud he couldn’t hear anything else.

Harper had been planning to leave on Friday, but Everly and Piper had been invited to a birthday party for a girl they’d met in school, and they’d begged her to stay one more day so they could attend.

Now that Harper had made the decision to return to Colorado before school started again, it was mentally tough to delay her departure. She had two full days of driving ahead of her, which meant even if they left on Friday they wouldn’t get home until Saturday night. And she’d been planning to use Sunday to get settled in.