Ten years after Jake broke up with Scarlett to pursue country music, she shows up in his home... with a daughter. Jake has never forgotten his first love and believes he's been given a second chance. After learning Harmony is his daughter, an accident provides Jake with an opportunity to spend more time with Scarlett and the daughter he didn't know he had. But Scarlett doesn't trust the man who broke her heart. Not once but twice.
Midnight Blue has a twist on the secret child trope. While Jake doesn't know about Harmony, Scarlett has tried to tell him. She believes he knows about Harmony and chose not to be part of his daughter's life.
The friendships the band members have with each other and the way they welcome others into their fold is one of my favorite parts of this book that continues through the series. I also loved adding the song lyrics for the band for Midnight Blue (and one more song) in the pages.
The lessons she’d scrimped to pay for showed as Harmony strummed her new guitar and lost herself in the music. Scarlett settled into her chair next to her daughter and lifted another bite of cake to her lips, smiling as the song came to an end.
“Play another.” Levi’s request got no resistance from the birthday girl.
Harmony’s soprano rang out clear and high before the song registered. Scarlett darted a glance at Jake, who aimed an accusing glare her way. He wouldn’t cause a scene over her teaching Harmony that particular song, would he?
The first time Harmony had asked about her daddy, Scarlett wanted to give her something to hold on to. A piece of the man she loved. No matter how much pain pinched her heart every time her daughter asked her to sing the song again or sang it to herself in a voice filled with longing, she could not regret sharing it with her.
Unaware of the storm brewing around her, Harmony closed her eyes as she led into the chorus. “When the morning comes and the storm blows through, I’ll be waiting. Watching over you. When life disappoints, and you can’t help but cry, let the rain of my love get you by.”
Scarlett blinked back tears at the broken promises and years of loneliness those lyrics represented.
A fierce scowl marred Jake’s face. “Where’d you hear that song?” He took a step forward, crushing a cup in his hand as his gaze bounced between her and Harmony.
The music stopped mid-note. Scarlett stood and moved in front of her daughter as his face grew redder. Why was he so angry? She hadn’t broken her word—he was the expert at that. All she’d done was teach a little girl—one desperate to understand why she didn’t have a dad who loved and wanted her—a song.
“My daddy wrote it.” Harmony’s small voice ignited every protective instinct within her.
All color drained from his face before he spun on his boots and stomped away, disappearing around the corner of the house.
She stood frozen with his wounded and confused expression playing on a loop in her mind.
“Go.” Cassidy grabbed the plate from her trembling hands and nudged her shoulder. “Talk to him before it festers.”
Before what festers? Scarlett stumbled after him. Was this really about the song? If anything, she had more cause to be angry. He’d abandoned her and their child. Made promises and broken every one of them.
One night of dancing, followed by kisses in the barn, had led to confessions of love and much, much more. Yes, she regretted the choices they’d made back in high school. Her life would be less complicated if they’d refrained from intimacy, but God had given her a beautiful daughter despite their impetuous mistake. Without Harmony, would she have healed from the heartbreak of Jake’s silence?
She caught up to him as he yanked open the door of his black truck, snatched off his hat, and tossed it inside. “Jake?”
His back stiffened, and both hands furrowed through his dark hair—that needed a trim because the wave was showing—before he faced her. The hard edge of his jaw halted her forward progress.
“Is it true? Her daddy…?” He choked up.
Her jaw fell as she stared at him. What kind of game was he playing with her? “I taught her the song but never said who wrote it.”
He slashed a hand in the air. “I don’t care about the song. Why, Scarlett? Why keep this from me?” His shoulders fell and she slumped against the side of his truck. His voice ground so low she had to lean in to hear him.
“What did I do to make you hate me this much?”
Fury boiled inside until the edges of her vision blurred. He rejected a relationship with his daughter. Why was he blaming her for his choices?
His voice grounded lower. “Nine years? I’ve had a daughter for nine years and not one peep from you.”
“That’s not true, and you know it.” She jabbed a finger in the air toward him. “You’re the one who wanted nothing to do with our daughter. Your daughter.”
“You think I didn’t deserve to know my daughter?” He glared at her. “What gives you the right to make that decision?” His volume rose again as he stood to his full five-foot-ten height. “You’re going to pay for this.”
She already had. Every single day. “Jake, this is what you wanted.” He couldn’t change his mind and take her daughter now.