Brielle answered with another smirk.
“Harper, are you out of your mind?” Jack appeared next to Brielle. “Ten grand for that guy?”
Brielle turned to Jack, her smirk devolving into a scowl. “What do you care?” she snapped. “You said you didn’t move back here for her.”
“I didn’t at first.” He turned to Harper. “But I realize now how much she means to me.”
“Is that why you betrayed me?” Brielle squared off. “You told her my plan.”
“Of course I did!” Jack faced her. “Do you know how much trouble you could be in? You’re lucky Harper’s too nice to report you. Or stoop to your level.”
“Mylevel? What about you, bailing on our relationship and our partnership?”
“It wasn’t working, and you know it.”
Harper’s gaze bounced back and forth between the two of them as they continued to fight.Both of them are nuts. She backed away and spun to talk to Rusty. Those two could duke it out for themselves.
But when she turned around, Rusty was gone.
***
Rusty climbed into his truck and peeled out of the parking lot, Harper’s“I’m sorry”on repeat in his brain. Sorry that she’d bid on him? Sorry she’d spent so much money? Sorry she’d used him to get the upper hand with Brielle?How about all three.Not that it mattered. Once Brielle showed up, he’d been forgotten. And when the guy who had been sitting between the two women arrived, Rusty got out of there.
He drove with one hand as he yanked at the knot on his tie until it loosened enough around his neck to breathe. Why was he such a sucker? He should have just stayed home tonight. Then his heart and his pride wouldn’t be a shattered mess right now.
He did know one thing: he wasdonewith women. For good this time. He’d be fine as a lifelong bachelor. It wasn’t like they were an endangered species. Jasper Mathis had been single his entire life, and he was good. Crotchety sometimes, but he was also in his eighties, and he deserved some grouchy moments.
I have my own business, and soon I’ll have a new house.
Rusty swore, something he never did. Harper was taking him to see the Miles Road land on Sunday. He’d call and cancel. No, postpone, because he would keep his word. Just not tomorrow. After what had happened tonight, he couldn’t hack seeing her so soon.
But after he bought the property—and he would buy that property, especially after all this trouble—he was done with Harper Wilson.
***
After helping the rest of the committee clean up after the gala—and listening to everyone congratulate her not only for snagging one of the best-looking bachelors of the night but also being so generous—Harper left and headed straight for Rusty’s. She pulled into his driveway, then cut the headlights. Her head pounded, and not from the champagne she’d gulped down earlier. What had she done? Her little nest egg was gone, and Rusty was furious with her. She had no one to blame but herself. She was ashamed she’d fallen into Brielle’s trap and that Rusty had to see her sink so low. She had no idea how much of the hysterics he’d seen between her, Brielle, and Jack, but even a glimpse was too much. She owed him an apology and an explanation. She prayed he’d hear her out.
She got out of the car, and her heel caught on the sidewalk crack, almost sending her sprawling on the ground. Catching herself, she regained her balance and glanced around, hoping no one had seen what almost happened. The golden light from the seventies-era porch light fixture was on and illuminating the front yard. What had happened here? The overgrown bushes in front of the picture window were neatly trimmed, and the weeds that had grown in the sidewalk crack were gone. The lawn was mowed, and only a few dead leaves dotted the grass. Even the front stoop had been swept and the small windows on the door cleaned.
Did Rusty do all this?
She knocked on the door and waited, then knocked again when no one answered. When she’d left the gala, Senior was still there, talking with Cammi and some of the other women on the planning committee. But Rusty’s truckwas in the driveway, so she knew he was home. And when he didn’t answer the door, she took one guess where he was.
A full moon was out tonight, so she could see where she was going. The yard was soft, and her heels dug into the dirt. Frustrated, she took off her shoes and left them there. She’d get them later. She went to the side of the house and unlatched an old steel gate attached to the crosshatch fencing. When she opened the gate, it squeaked. She paused, waiting to hear Rusty call out or come investigate who was entering his property. After a minute of silence, she walked into his backyard.
He was sitting on a lawn chair in the same spot they’d been when they stargazed together. But he wasn’t looking at the sky. There was no point due to the bright moonlight that cast him in a silver shadowy glow. Instead, he stared straight ahead, then brought a bottle to his lips.
“Go home, Harper,” he grumbled. “I ain’t in the mood to talk.”
She halted a few feet away from him. “How did you know it was me?”
“Heard the Merc.”
Of course he’d be able to tell it was her car in the driveway. He knew the vehicle inside and out.
He took another long draw from the amber bottle and tossed it on the ground.
“Rusty, I’m sorry.” She walked toward him, then stood by his chair, waiting for him to acknowledge her.
