Their flight arrived in Atlanta in the late afternoon, and it was a silent agreement that they would not be staying at Gran's house. They would head straight home. When Luke dropped her off at her apartment he had thanked her for going and said he would see her at work on Monday. It had been four days since they had had it out, and she had refused to consider a relationship between them. Luke had been right, their friendship was not what it had been. There was an unspoken stress between the two of them. They acted like it wasn't there, but they both knew it was.

They had revealed to one another that they loved each other. Harper had said she didn't want him, and he had accepted it and not mentioned it again, but she couldn't go back. She was aware of his every move, his every breath, whenever they were together.

Harper had expected some kind of comment or lecture from Gran, but she had been completely mute on the subject, and Harper had wondered what Luke had said to her to make her give-up her matchmaking attempts.

After her arrival home, the rest of the weekend passed slowly, and she was glad when Monday rolled around, and she was able to go back to work. What she needed was her routine. The sooner life could go back to the way it had been the sooner she could forget about Luke's kisses.

As she entered the office she was greeted by everyone with a cheerful welcome and informed that there was a meeting in half an hour. As soon as she sat down at her desk and fired up her computer her father entered her office and closed her door. He never closed the door when he talked to her.

"How was your trip?" he asked as he walked to the window that looked out over the parking lot.

"It was fun, I was able to spend time with the family while I was there," she assured him.

He nodded. "You'll come to dinner soon and tell us all about it?"

"Sure," she said, thinking it odd that he didn't want to hear more about it now. "Is everything alright?" she asked at his continued silence.

"Richard Davies," he said, finally turning to look at her.

Harper froze, what had Mindy done now? "What about him?"

Her father looked at her with disappointment. "I had high hopes for you and Luke, the entire family did. And, even knowing that it might not ever work out between the two of you, we still hoped you would find someone..."

Harper's heart sank as she realized that Mindy had done exactly what Luke had said she would, despite Harper telling her that there was no way she would ever cover for her.

"Dad, I think there's been a misunderstanding."

"No, there's no misunderstanding," his voice had risen. "Your sister has explained everything, and I will not allow it!" His face was turning red as his blood pressure rose.

"What exactly had Mindy explained?" Harper asked, trying tying to keep her voice as calm as possible.

"That you went behind the family's backs and decided to have a relationship with that scum." He was full out yelling now.

"She said that?" Harper sunk into her chair looking at her irate father as he looked at her with such disappointment. It was the same disappointment she had expected to see if she and Luke had decided to have a relationship. What had he just said, they had had high hopes for her and Luke? She couldn't win, she was always bound to disappoint even when she did nothing wrong. It was her oldest fear, and this wasn't the first time she had seen the same look of disappointment on her father's face that she was now seeing.

"She told me everything," Troy looked at her, waiting for her to say something.

"And if I told you it was all a lie, that Mindy made up and that none of it was true?"

Her father's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "Why on earth would she lie? Why would she do that to you, to the family?"

"Maybe she's the one having the relationship with him?" Harper suggested.

"Are you saying that she is?" He looked even more upset, but Harper wouldn't back down.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying, she and Richard have been seeing each other for awhile now, and she was too scared to tell you. I had gone to lunch with her that day that George attacked me to try to convince her to tell you." Harper stood as she talked, meeting her father's eyes directly.

"Funny, she said the same thing about you, word for word. So tell me, who should I believe? Especially when George was insisting that you were the one having an affair with Davies too." He was yelling again.

"So your going to believe a drunk's word over mine!" Harper yelled back.

"No, a drunk's word and your sister's."

Harper stood up and started to pack her things. She was leaving, she wouldn't stay and take the abuse. The irony of the situation was not lost on her. She had been afraid that her and Luke's relationship would destroy the family, but in the end her sister's lie about a non-existing relationship was going to do that very thing.

"You're not going anywhere. There's a meeting in five minutes and you will be there. You need to hear all about the repercussions of your actions." He pulled open her door and charged down the hall as Harper sunk back into her chair.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked. He had appeared from nowhere and had knelt down in front of her, taking her cold hands in his, and looking at her pale face.

"Everything," Harper said, looking at their linked hands. "I'm done Luke. As of today, I won't be working here anymore."

Luke looked shocked. "Is this your decision?"

"In part, but I'm pretty sure I'm about to get fired."

"Why?"

"Everyone in the conference room now!" her father roared from the hallway.

Luke stood and held out his hand for Harper, and she, being the coward that she was, took it for support.

They were the last to enter the room and sat down in the back. There were a few people who noted their linked hands and nudged each other. However, Harper's pale and strained face looked anything but happily in love.

"Quiet!" her father roared. Troy Sinclair in a temper was a sight to behold, and his anger was something that Harper had long been afraid of. "Some of you may remember Brooks George."

A murmur ran through the room.

"Brooks George was the one who attacked Harper a few weeks ago. Some of you may remember that he sued us for wrongful termination a few years back and the case was dismissed. Well, he has re-opened the case in light of new evidence that his lawyer may have been swayed against him by someone in this company."

"She didn't?" Luke hissed in her ear. "I thought you told her she couldn't, that you wouldn't play along?"

"Oh, I told her in no uncertain terms that I was out of it," Harper whispered back.

"She did it anyway?" Luke's eyes widened.

"Yes," Harper's voice broke and she stood, unable to bear the betrayal any longer.

Luke grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Tell him the truth!" he hissed.

"Harper sit down! You're the reason we're in this mess!" her father barked. "Luke, please keep your thoughts to yourself!"

Harper watched Luke turn red in anger. She was used to her father talking to her like that, but Luke wasn't. Harper quickly sat down and grabbed Luke's hand. "Please!" Her eyes met his eyes and he looked away from her and back at her father. She watched the muscle in his jaw tick as he ground his teeth together.

"No one is to talk about anything having to do with Brooks George to anybody, not even each other. If someone tries to ask you questions you decline to answer. There will be depositions, and that will be the time to share what you know. Harper will be taking an indefinite leave of absence until this is all cleared up."

Harper's body jerked at the public way her father had just fired her, and she fought back the tears.

"Now everyone back to work, time is money and your all wasting both!" Troy turned and walked past everyone, not bothering to look or talk to anyone.

Everyone looked at Harper who remained glued to her chair as they all left the room. Most of them were more curious then angry. When the last one had left Luke rose and closed the door.

"You have to tell him the truth!" Luke insisted.

"I tried! He said that he believed Mindy and George over me." Harper shrugged, feeling beaten.

"I'll tell him the truth!"

"Go ahead, he won't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Because he's made up his mind. He's done this to me before. There is no fighting it. I only have to weather it."

"How can you give up!"

"I'm tired Luke!" she shouted. "I'm tired of trying to please everyone, of being the perfect daughter. Especially, when I try so hard and something like this happens and everything I have done is forgotten. Go, talk to him by all means. Tell him what you know. I'm sure Davies will say the same thing and it will come out in the depositions that it is all false, but it won't matter, I won't get an apology. I'll only get an order to return to work."

Harper rose and walked to the door. "It's probably a mixed blessing, I'll take the chance to figure out what I want to do, who I really am when I'm not trying to be the perfect daughter."

Luke reached out and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over the delicate veins there. "And us, will you think about us?"

Harper closed her eyes in relief. He hadn't given up.

"Yes, I promise, but right now I need a best friend, someone on my side. Will you be that for me?"

"I always have been and I always will be." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"Will you come over for dinner tonight so we can talk about it all?"

"I'll be there Miss Priss, and I'll bring your unnamed pup. We can think of a name for him."

She smiled at him, nodding. She turned abruptly and walked away before she said more than she should.

Luke stood with her as she collected her stuff, he helped her clean out her office and then carried the box down the hall. Her father's door was closed and she didn't stop. No one said a word to her.

As she drove away from the office she felt lighter than she had in a very long time.

There was a certain freedom in failure. The worst had happened, now she could focus on starting on something new. Something she wanted to do, knowing she didn't have to risk the disappointment of her father.