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“I’m sick of this. You tell me all the time what’s wrong with me, what and who is bad for me, and you don’t even know him.”
“I’m just trying to help. I worry, and don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’m a grown woman. And I care about Jack.”
“I know you do, but all the bad habits are starting up again.” I stilled, and so did Harper. “You think someone is messing with you. You’re getting paranoid and had a panic attack.”
“So, you think I’m making this up?” Hurt stuck in my lungs. “Do you think my mind is getting the better of me?”
“I just think that you’re under a lot of stress with Brock being back and, yes, it can mess with your mind.”
My chest felt tight and wanted to fold in on itself. “I don’t have proof, but I really think something isn’t right. Someone is messing with me.”
Harper just looked at me with that pity expression, and it tore my soul in two. She was discrediting me.
“Just be careful,” she finally said. “You are going down a path you worked really hard to get off of, and now you’re dating a guy that requires a lot of emotional stamina. He has a world that is different from ours.”
“What does that mean? Because he has money and owns resorts?”
“That’s part of it. Jack has a reputation and persona that comes with success and money. Other people, including women, will sniff that out, and you are…”
“Naïve.” I finished for her.
“It’s smart to question what someone stands to gain from you. And trust?” She scoffed. “You don’t just hand that out.”
“I don’t.”
“You did with Jack. Hell, you even cozied up to Cal at the beginning of summer.” That stung. Just in how she said it.
“Who I trust is my decision,” I said, and put the contents of the salad in the bowl, grabbed my purse and keys, and headed toward the door.
“Where are you going? Aren’t you going to have dinner?”
I looked at my best friend. “I’m not that hungry anymore. And I’m not losing my mind or making things up. Yes, Brock being back has affected me.” When all the other elements were peeled away, the truth was clear. “I don’t feel safe,” I admitted. “Except when I’m with Jack.”
“I want you to feel safe, too. I’m not trying to push you away,” she said softly with hurt behind her eyes.
“I know. But that is what you’re doing by not taking me seriously.”
~
After drinking my dinner at the little café two blocks down, I walked back to my house with a belly full of vodka and orange juice and tried to sort out what was going on in my world.
Everything felt like there was an underlying scheme. Like my father and his interest in Jack and me. Harper wasn’t acting herself, and while Jack and I had made progress, there was so much more to come if this was to be a relationship of growth.
“Plus, I may be going crazy.”
Maybe Harper was right and I was being paranoid because Brock was just closer than usual. I walked up to the house, which was dark. Harper’s car was gone. I felt terrible, walking out like that. She must have left for Aspen, and I hadn’t said goodbye. I had reached my max on hearing the reasons I was struggling, failing, and naïve. I dug my keys out of my purse and stopped when I saw my car.
“Oh, my God…” I looked for a long moment, making sure it wasn’t my vision wavering, but what I was seeing was real: All four of my tires had been slashed.
So much for thinking this was just my imagination. Which meant, if this was happening, someone had been in my house. And inside my car last week.
I looked around, feeling very exposed on a dark street. I felt violated. Worse, I didn’t know who was behind it this time.
~
“Hey,” Jack said, opening the door to his house. While he was still dressed in semi-casual business attire, he was in bare feet. It was a good look for him. “You must have read my mind, because I was just finishing up some business and was going to call you.”
