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“What?” she demanded.
“Nothing.”
“Then stop looking at me like that.”
“Stop looking at you like what?” Mason fiddled with his napkin, but his eyes didn’t leave her face. “I’m not looking at you like anything.”
“Yes, you are,” she insisted. “You’re staring at me like…”
“Like what exactly?” One side of Mason’s mouth quirked upward as he settled back in his seat. “Like I’m trying to figure you out?”
“Well… yes.”
“Am I not allowed to do that? Is there some unspoken rule that says I can’t study you?”
“No,” she stumbled over her words, “but it’s not polite to stare.”
He chuckled. “You know what I think? I think that you don’t want me to watch you too closely because you’re worried I will figure you out.”
Her strength waned and she looked away. “There isn’t much to figure out. I’m just some spoiled rich kid who disappointed her parents just enough to make them crazy. And I have an uncle who is just as crazy as they are who was willing to take me in so he could teach me a lesson.”
“I don’t think you believe a word you’ve just said.”
Her eyes snapped to meet his. “I’m not lying to you. I’m sure you’ve heard the whole story from Vern. I’m trouble with a capital T. And you shouldn’t trust me.”
“Oh, I don’t trust you.” His words conflicted with the grin he sported. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll immediately believe that you’re trouble. You already put me in my place earlier today for nearly doing just that.”
“So you’re admitting you were wrong,” she hedged.
“I’m admitting I was wrong,” Mason murmured so quietly she nearly couldn’t hear him. “I shouldn’t have suspected that you were doing anything wrong. Heaven knows I’ve seen people change. Shoot, my family had a reputation to overcome and we’re still trying to fix the way the town sees us. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry.”
She stilled. In her entire life, she couldn’t remember a single person in authority apologizing to her. Every single one of them had made excuse after excuse. Never were they at fault. “You’re sorry.”
He nodded. “I’ll try to remember that you’re not who you were when you came here a few weeks ago. You’re not who you were yesterday.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means that our experiences shape us. I’m going to judge you based on this point forward and not on your past. Don’t let your past define you.”
This time, Harley couldn’t bring herself to look away from him. His words had a profound impact on her psyche. A clean slate. That was what he was offering her. She could make her own choices from this point forward and they would add up to how he viewed her.
The concept was freeing.
“Does that sound acceptable?” Mason asked quietly. “Or do you have to think about it and check with that stubborn side of yours?”
Sour. That’s how his last statement tasted to her. Hadn’t he just said he wasn’t going to judge her? Wasn’t that word—stubborn—a label? As much as Harley wanted to believe him, she couldn’t bring herself to trust him like he probably wanted her to. She pressed her lips together in a tight line. “I suppose we’ll have to see, huh?” She pushed away from the table and grabbed her plate. “I’m going to eat outside on the porch. I need some fresh air.”
Where did Mason get off? He was so two-faced she couldn’t believe it. One second he was sweet and caring, making her believe that things could be different. Then, in the next breath, he showed his true colors. He would always view her as a stubborn brat. That was basically what he’d been telling her with that statement. He might have been smiling when he said it. His tone might have been light and teasing, but she could hear the underlying meaning behind the question.
Her parents used the same tactic. It was underhanded and it stung.
Harley stopped in her tracks, no longer pacing the back porch with her food in hand. She stared at nothing in particular as the realization hit her hard in the chest. She’d wanted to have that clean slate. Never before had she wanted something so normal in her life. She practically craved Mason’s approval.
What was wrong with her?
Harley shoved her dinner plate on a small table that likely used to hold a plant, then resumed her pacing. Something had changed. It had taken less than twenty-four hours and she was already disregarding everything that made her who she was. What had happened to her desire to be the one in charge? It was as if her mother’s proximity was the one thing that fueled her.
A few days away from that woman, and Harley had lost all desire to cause problems for others. She groaned, flinging herself against the railing as she did so. Yes, she knew she wasn’t going to win any Nobel Peace Prize with that mentality. But she’d never wanted that sort of thing for herself anyway.
