The phone in the elevator rang. Don reached over her andanswered it. “Hello . . . Everything is okay. Just a glitch.” He reached around with his other arm and hit the button to resume movement. “See, the elevator is working now . . . All right, thanks for checking.” He hung up the phone, his arms still around Madge but not touching her, his eyes still filled with love that melted some of the ice around her heart. He straightened as the elevator doors opened.
“Finally,” a tall, thin woman with long brown hair said. “I thought the elevator was broken again. Someone said it got stuck recently.”
She and Don exchanged a look, then stepped out. “Nope, working just fine.”
“Have a good day,” the woman said as she stepped in.
“We’ll talk later,” Madge whispered. Don nodded his reply.
They walked to the receptionist’s desk. “We have an appointment,” Don said.
“Wilson, right?”
“Yes,” Madge replied. “Sorry we’re a few minutes late.”
“Mr.Crenshaw and Ms.Pressman are waiting for you.”
As they followed the receptionist down the hall, Don leaned over and whispered, “We’re about to have two confused and disappointed lawyers on our hands in a few minutes.”
She smiled, shocked that she was able to and buoyed by the spark of hope inside her. For once, she wasn’t the one disappointed.
***
As Rusty drove the short distance back to the garage, he fought a losing battle. For a split second during his conversation with Brielle on Saturday, he’d considered taking her up on her offer to exclude Harper. But he couldn’t bring himself to do something that backhanded and had quickly ended the call by saying Harper would be in touch with her soon. She hadn’t sounded too happy about that, for some reason.
It still stung that Harper had withheld that information from him. She knew how much he wanted to see that property. With Amber possibly leaving in two months or less, it was crucial he found a place soon for him and Senior. It would take time to build a house, and he had resigned himself to the fact that once he sold Senior and G’ma’s house, he and his grandfather would have to move into an apartment or put a trailer on the property—if that was what he ended up buying.
He shook his head as he turned into the garage parking lot. The headache that had started two days ago was drilling into his temple now. He’d decided to take some time off and go fishing to clear his head, but the weather had nixed that, so he ended up puttering around the house. He fixed the hole in the living-room floor, repaired the leaky faucet upstairs, and scrubbed the linoleum floor in the kitchen, among other things. By the time he’d gone to bed Tuesday night, he’d been plum exhausted—but his mind was still alert.
It wasn’t just the stress of house hunting and selling or that his sister was moving across the country, although both definitely played a part. No matter how hard he’d tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about Harper or feeling guilty that he was avoiding her. When he’d seen her at the diner today, he couldn’t dodge her anymore, and he’d intended only totell her he was dropping out of the auction and that was it. It wasn’t right to back out like that, but he definitely didn’t want to go now. He’d talk to her about house hunting later.
But she’d followed him to the counter and asked if he was mad. He’d been tempted to tell her no. Good guys never got angry, right? But once he admitted he was, a sense of satisfaction washed over him. At least he’d been able to tell her the truth about that.
The satisfaction had disappeared when he saw something in her eyes while they were standing outside and she admitted she’d let him down. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but whatever it was had his pulse skyrocketing. In that moment, it was almost as if she was... longing for something? Then it went away, she said she’d call him, and his pulse returned to normal. Weird.
He drove into the parking lot and dropped off lunch for the guys. “You stickin’ around?” Percy asked.
“Are we busy?” Rusty asked.
“Naw.” He wiped his hands on a shop towel and reached for the plastic bag holding two Reubens and large fries.
“I’ll be back tomorrow, then.”
When he arrived home, rain started to fall again, only a light sprinkle instead of the thunderstorms they’d had two days ago. He got out of the truck and headed inside, barely looking at the neatly manicured lawn he’d spent so much time cleaning up. A few more leaves had fallen on the grass, but he’d deal with them later.
He walked inside the house and sat down in Senior’s recliner. He should have changed his clothes and gone back to the shop to work on the GTO, but he didn’t feel like doingthat right now. A brittle chuckle escaped. He’d never refused a chance to work on a car. Not until Harper.
Thrusting his hand through his short hair, he stared at the green carpet under his feet. Then he got down on his hands and knees and started ripping it out. The physical work helped him refocus his thoughts, and he worked straight through the afternoon and supper. By nightfall, he had a large pile of torn carpet and carpet padding in the middle of the living room that included not just that area but also the stairs and the hallway on the main floor.
Starving, he grabbed some graham crackers and peanut butter, nixing the hot sauce Senior liked to add, and walked out to the back deck. He dipped a cracker in the jar, scooped out a bite and ate it, then looked up at the stars. The clouds had cleared, revealing a sky teeming with twinkling lights. How many times would he see this incredible view before he had to move?
And despite everything... he wished Harper was here to see it with him.
***
“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” Harper said as she sat down in the chair across from Brielle’s desk Thursday morning. She’d thought about calling her directly again, but suspected she’d get ignored again. Besides, the two of them had a lot to discuss, so she made an appointment with Brielle’s secretary.
She quickly glanced around the spacious office. Everysingle award Brielle had won was prominently placed on the walls or on a bookshelf directly behind her desk. Harper kept her awards in her office at home.
