“Then why the hell would you do that to Harper?”

“I didn’t do that to Harper! She was the one that built this whole pretend life—”

“Pretend?” Aldo spat out the word. “So she didn’t love you? She didn’t love us? She didn’t love this whole fucking town?”

“Of course she did.”

“Then why did you take that away from her? For Karen? For you?”

Luke dropped his hands to his hips and stared at the floor. He didn’t answer.

“It’s a completely different story if you didn’t love her, Luke. But if you love her and threw away that life that she built for both of you, you’re a fucking idiot.”

Silence reigned for a tick of the clock. “Of course I love her. How could I not?” His voice was gravel. “I just don’t know how to be with someone who isn’t Karen.”

Finally, the fuckhead was making some sense.

Aldo grabbed him in a bear hug and slapped him on the back. “You’re such a stupid asshole,” he said warmly.

“Learned it from watching you.”

Aldo released him but kept a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Do you know that Harp puts flowers on Karen’s grave every week?”

Luke blinked. “That’s Harper doing that?”

Aldo nodded. “You aren’t choosing between them or replacing Karen with Harp. You’re allowed to love them both. How do you think parents have more than one kid? They don’t only love the first one.”

“I just assumed that’s what my parents did,” Luke joked.

“No, if they would have stopped at one perfect child like mine did, then you’d be right. The human heart can love more than one person. You love your parents, don’t you?”

Luke nodded.

“Soph? Josh? James? Obviously you love me, otherwise you wouldn’t idolize the shit out of me. You have room. And just because you love someone else doesn’t mean you’re wiping the slate clean.”

Luke sighed out a breath. “Thanks, Moretta. Sometimes you’re not a complete idiot.”

“No need to be a dick.”

They shot the shit for another half hour, eating leftover cold pizza, Luke filling him in on the cooler fight and what he and Ty had discovered about Harper.

“So Harper’s ex-foster father, the one she put in prison for child abuse, used Glenn to get to her?” Aldo asked, crumpling his paper towel.

“It’s fucked up, man,” Luke sighed, absently rubbing the knuckles of his right hand. “But that bastard is never getting out, and he’s never getting near her again. Took care of it with Ty and another cop today.”