Page 5 of Seeing Harper

“I’m sorry. I had no idea things were declining.”

“It’s okay. Honestly, I try not to think about it, because there’s not much I can do to stop it, but I’m going to fight it all the way down. And then I just might bring the horses that belong to the Bigsbys to my house. Those being boarded will have to find somewhere else to board them, or sell them. My dad will have a fit, but my plan if it comes to that, is to tell him that at least I’ll be spending all my time at the tree farm now.”

“Is there anywhere else to board them?” Clay asked.

“There are a couple of facilities out there, but nothing within fifty-five or sixty miles. And they’re nothing like this place. It’s gorgeous and peaceful. Not just a barn with dirt floors that horses are kept in until their people find time to stop by.”

Clay reached over and laid his hand over hers where it rested on the gear shift of her car. “It’ll be alright. Good things always seem to happen when we need them most.”

“I hope so,” she said as they pulled off the driveway of the equine center and onto the highway. “So, home now?”

“I don’t know. What did you have in mind?”

“I’m starving.”

“Didn’t you eat at Cristie and Remi’s party?”

Harper looked at him sheepishly once, then twice. “Yeah. But I eat a lot.”

Clay laughed. “Me, too. What are you feeling?”

“Pizza?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely pizza.”

“Rodolfo’s Italian Grill?” she asked.

“They have the best eggplant fries!” they said simultaneously.

They laughed.

“Yes! And a large thin crust with everything,” Clay said.

“Except jalapenos and anchovies,” they both added.

They looked at each other with their mouths hanging open.

“Stop doing that!” Harper said with a laugh.

“You stop doing that!” Clay said, laughing as well.

Not too much later they were seated in a booth in Rodolfo’s, the waitress sending meaningful, lingering glances at Clay as Harper ordered for them.

Harper ignored the woman, as she read from the menu. “And can we get two orders of the eggplant fries and the marinara sauce.”

“Two orders?” she laughed. “Yeah, you can,” the waitress said. “Is there anything else I can get you?” the waitress asked Clay, not Harper, she looked directly at Clay while she spoke. “Anything at all.”

“Yes,” Harper said, bringing the waitress’s attention back to herself, pretending she didn’t notice the woman flirting with Clay. Clay wasn’t her boyfriend anyway, he was her friend, a Pride member, but not her boyfriend and not the scariest word of all… mate. “We’re going to need a large thin crust pizza with everything on it except jalapenos and anchovies.”

“Make that two large pizzas, everything but jalapenos and anchovies,” Clay said. “Make sure you get that right. No jalapenos. No anchovies.”

“Got it. I hear every word you say,” the waitress purred.

“And I’ll have ice water,” Harper said. “What do you want to drink?” she asked Clay.

“You have iced tea?” he asked.

“We do, and it’s super, sticky sweet. Perfectly lip licking.”