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God, what had happened to her? Why was she letting Jake do this to her?
With a sigh, she pushed the rising gloom aside and set to putting on a summer dress and applying mascara, leaving her hair damp and drying around her face. Ready to start her day, she was heading down the staircase when a knock came on the front door. She trotted down the remainder of the stairs then whisked the door open, finding a smiling Harper holding two paper cups of coffee.
Harper shoved one at Emma. “You need to tell me everything that happened last night.”
Emma stepped aside, letting Harper come in. “About what?”
“When you came back inside last night after taking a break, you looked like you’d seen a ghost.” Harper kicked off her shoes then headed into the living room. Emma followed her in, and Harper continued, as if the conversation had never stopped, “I wanted to ask last night,
but we were never alone.” Concern touched her face when she sat down on the dark-brown couch and patted the seat. “Spill the beans. What happened?”
Emma joined her on the couch, leaning against the crocheted afghan resting over the back. “There’s not much to tell, except that this woman Vicki was talking about me being the next Blackshaw woman, in a long line of women used by the Blackshaw men.”
“That bitch!” Harper scowled.
Emma nodded and sipped her coffee, pulling her legs up underneath her. “You could tell right away the reason she was telling me came from a vindictive jealous place, for sure.”
Harper cocked her head, giving Emma a long look. “If you knew that, then why did it hurt you?”
Good question. A branch tapped against the window as a breeze blew by outside. “Before I moved here,” Emma explained, “I had just gotten out of a relationship.” A sudden freeing relief washed over Emma that the words were out in the open. Now there was no more hiding Jake. No more secrets.
Harper leaned forward, giving a soft smile, patting her leg. “Honey, I knew that the day I met you. You had heartbreak written all over you face.”
“That is really depressing, you know?” Emma took a sip of her coffee, inhaling the nutty aroma wafting from her mug.
Harper shifted on the couch, sitting cross-legged, the paper cup between her legs. “Believe me, you’re not alone. Someone can only see that heartbroken look if they’ve been through heartbreak themselves. But what does your past relationship have to do with last night?”
Emma swallowed the coffee in her mouth. In this new friendship she’d found with Harper, she admitted, “With Shep, it’s so natural. He’s . . .”
“Perfect?” Harper offered.
Emma nodded with a laugh. “He’s perfect for me.” No one was perfect, but sometimes two people fit together in the most perfect way. “But, like last night, I remember how much I hurt before, and that happened less than a month ago. I think with Shep, it’s easy to trust him, easy to forget that I’m not ready for a relationship.”
Harper’s expression softened, brows drawn together. “You also don’t want to stop a good thing from happening either.”
Emma paused, emotion swelling in her chest, tightening in her throat. “I can’t be hurt again, Harper. I’m not sure I can survive it. With Jake . . . he took everything I had.”
“You’re so strong, Emma, if you only you could see it.” Harper placed her paper cup down on the coffee table, then wrapped Emma in a warm hug. “I’m not sure what happened with Jake, but he’s an idiot to have let you go.”
When she leaned away, Emma said, “He might be an idiot, but I still miss him. I want to hate him . . . I really do, but then I think of him and all it does is hurt.” She paused then asked a question that had been echoing in her mind. “Is a heart big enough for two men?”
Harper held Emma’s hands. “The fact that you don’t hate Jake shows how big and warm your heart is. Think of that, Emma, and be proud that he didn’t change you.”
Emma hadn’t really looked at it like that. Maybe she should.
Before she could reply, there was a knock at the door. Harper released her hands and jumped up. “Shep?” she asked.
Emma shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Wipe that sadness off your face,” Harper said with a soft smile. “I’ll get it.”
Emma inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to lessen the redness of her face that she couldn’t see but sure as hell felt.
When Harper finally reached the door, she whisked it open. Emma heard the surprise in Harper’s voice. “Oh. Um, hi, Chase.”
Confused, Emma hurried to the door to see Chase giving Harper a very long once-over. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here.”
Harper smiled, leaning against the doorframe. “Funny, I wasn’t expecting you to be here either.”
