“So if her mom doesn’t know about Last Hope, who does she think you are?” I asked curiously.
“I keep it vague,” Marshall replied. “She assumed I was some kind of government employee assigned to help Harlow after what happened. I’ve never disputed that assumption.”
I grinned, knowing Marshall was probably a lot more comfortable in that role than one of the usual made-up identities we used as advisors. “You didn’t want to pretend to be Harlow’s latest love interest?”
“Hell, no,” he grumbled. “I’m old enough to be her damn father.”
“Probably just barely,” I mused.
None of us knew exactly how old Marshall was, but my best guess was early to mid-fifties. Even though I trusted and respected him completely, he wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who spilled much personal information about himself.
“I’m old enough,” Marshall responded in a clipped voice. He was quiet for a minute before he spoke in a more solemn tone. “I guess I’ve let Harlow’s situation get to me. I like her, and I like her mother. It’s not like I, of all people, don’t know better than to get personally involved with a rescue, but I fucking hate what’s happening to her. She busted her ass to get through all those college degrees of hers, and it doesn’t seem fair that one incident made her throw it all away. Granted, it was a horrific hostage experience, but her mom told me that working for Montgomery as a research geoscientist has been Harlow’s goal since high school. What in the hell is she supposed to do now that she quit her dream job?”
I gaped at him, trying to reconcile the red-faced, obviously agitated man in front of me with the Marshall who could generally run an entire mission without ever raising his voice or breaking a sweat. Hell, I didn’t think I’d ever heard him put that many curse words into a single statement, either.
This was a side of Last Hope’s fearless leader that I’d never seen before, but fuck knew I understood why he was upset. It was hell watching an exceptional woman like Harlow get completely destroyed by something she didn’t deserve and that she’d had zero control over.
“Maybe we aren’t supposed to get personally involved, but we’re also human, Marshall,” I said gravely. “The entire situation was fucked up. All three of them were completely innocent victims who were just trying to do their jobs. To be completely honest, it’s rattled the whole Montgomery organization, including me and my brothers. Hell, look at Hudson. I don’t think anybody could get more personally involved than he did, and we all feel guilty because they were in Lania for Montgomery. We cleared that exploration as safe, and it wasn’t.” I paused for a moment before I added, “And just so you know, Harlow is still a research geoscientist for Montgomery, and I plan on making sure it stays that way. She’s just on a leave of absence right now.”
Marshall’s eyes widened. “She said she resigned.”
I shrugged. “She tried. We didn’t accept her resignation. Do you really think we’re stupid enough to let a talented geoscientist like her leave and eventually go to the competition? When I follow through on my promises and become her advisor in another week or so, and that will happen, she agreed to stay on leave until she could consider her decision to resign with a clearer head. Hell, none of us wants her to leave. Harlow’s done some incredible work for us, and we want her to keep on doing it. The only reason she tried to quit is because she’s too damn willing to take responsibility for everything that happened.”
Marshall nodded. “She feels guilty because of what happened to Taylor. She thinks she made a bad call taking an intern with her to Lania. And she feels guilty about Mark, too, because she invited him and arranged for him to be on her team.”
“He probably would have ended up assigned there anyway,” I grumbled. “He was one of the few engineers who was free to go that week. None of this was her fault. No one saw this coming, not even the Crown Prince of Lania. If they had no intel that a small group of crazies were hiding out in an isolated area of their country, it sure as hell wasn’t on anyone else’s radar. Nobody could have foreseen this happening. Harlow, Taylor, and Mark were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Yeah, well, try convincing Harlow of that. She’s not thinking rationally,” Marshall said irritably.
“That’s not surprising considering what she’s been through. I think you and I both know how easy it is to start blaming ourselves when we lose a friend,” I answered. “I’m glad you got her set up with Dr. Romero. She gets really quick results. I think if Harlow had started out with her, she’d be doing as well as Taylor is right now.”
“She’s stubborn,” Marshall replied in a disgruntled tone. “She wanted to do things her way, and she didn’t really trust Last Hope in the beginning. It’s ironic that the only thing she really wants now is to be a Last Hope volunteer.”
I raised a brow. “Seriously?”
Marshall released an exasperated breath. “Oh, she’s completely serious, but I’m not sure that Harlow isn’t looking for something to use as a distraction. I told her I’d consider it if you decide she’s made significant improvement at some point in the future.”
I listened as he went on to explain Harlow’s history, and exactly what she wanted to do for Last Hope.
“I can’t say it’s a bad idea,” I mused. “I had no idea she was former military, but now that I do know, it makes sense. I can see it in the work she’s done at Montgomery. All of her reports and notes are extremely organized, and the way she researches is very disciplined. Hell, I thought she was just anal compared to some of our other researchers, and her attention to detail is actually an asset for Montgomery.”
“I think it’s just part of her personality, too,” Marshall told me. “According to her mother, Harlow was always a very disciplined overachiever.”
“I’m not sure that’s necessarily a good thing,” I informed him. “Overachievers have a very hard time cutting themselves any slack.”
Marshall looked at me curiously. “You speaking from personal experience?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
After growing up with dysfunctional parents like mine, it was hard not to be an overachiever.
Marshal shook his head. “I have no idea how your advisor relationship with Harlow is going to turn out, but it will be interesting to watch. I’m not sure which one of you is more bullheaded.”
“Me,” I assured him.
I have absolutely no intention of giving up on Harlow Lewis, no matter how obstinate she is about trying to shake me off.
He smirked. “You’re probably right. You did give up dating and women to help Harlow while you’re her advisor, which is pretty extreme.”