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“Are you okay?” Concerned, Honey stepped forward.
‘I’m…ah…shit.” Simone seemed to stumble over her words. She stepped into the office and slowly closed the door behind her.
Uneasy, Honey stared at her friend. Stinker jumped up from her bed and bounded toward Simone, making a show of sniffing around the woman’s leather sandals and licking them as if they were the tastiest things on the planet. Simone reached down and scratched the little mutt behind the ears, and, traitor dog that she was, Stinker leaned into her and lapped it up like she was starving.
Something was up. Simone was acting weird. Did Honey want to know what it was? Did she want to ruin her perfectly good evening by asking the question? Honey debated leaving it alone for all of two seconds, but then caved like she always did. “Where were you tonight?”
Simone was quiet for a few moments, her expression pensive. When she straightened, she cleared her throat and wiped her hands over the tops of her jeans. Her eyes were fixed on the wall behind Honey, and she swallowed a few times. Like she was nervous. Like she was guilty.
“Honey. Maybe you should sit down.”
Alarm bells banged inside her. “Sit down?” What the hell was going on? Honey’s crap-meter had just gone into the red zone. She knew something was gonna hit, and judging from the look on her friend’s face, it was going to hit hard.
“Please.” Simone met her gaze, and the blood drained from Honey’s face. She felt it slip away and fill her with a weakness she hadn’t felt in years. It was a weakness born from lack of control. Whatever the hell this was, it was coming at her fast, and she knew there was no way to stop it.
“What did you do?” she managed to ask without sounding too much like a wimp. A girl did have her pride.
Simone looked away, and, sensing the tension between the two adults, Stinker whimpered and took off for her bed, tail tucked between her legs. When Honey didn’t think she could stand the silence any longer, Simone spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. It was thick, full of emotion. Full of remorse.
“I got a phone call last week. It was random. Out of the blue.” She sighed. “A man asking if I knew someone named Honey Harrison.”
Oh God. Honey took a few steps
back and leaned against the desk because her legs were suddenly as limp as wet noodles, and her stomach was so upset, she thought she would be sick.
Simone shrugged. “I panicked, for like five seconds. But then I got my shit together and assured the caller I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“Okay.” Cotton filled Honey’s mouth. “Did they say anything else?” Was it an old mark looking for payback? Shit. Hadn’t she made restitution to those she could? Was she going to pay for the sins of her family for the rest of her life? What more was this world going to ask of her?
“No.” Simone slowly shook her head. “I didn’t give him a chance. I hung up and didn’t think about it again.”
Relief flooded Honey, and she was glad for the desk because she would have been on her ass. “That’s good.” She frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you. You’ve been happy. Finally happy. I didn’t want to be the one to ruin it. Especially since I thought I’d nipped it in the bud, you know?” Simone worried her bottom lip, but she was unable to hide the quiver.
It took a bit, but when the words registered in her brain, Honey didn’t know if she should run or hide or…ignore it all and hope for the best.
“You thought you…” Adrenaline pumped through Honey, and she stepped forward. “Where were you tonight?”
Simone looked at her, eyes heavy with tears of shame? Guilt? “He showed up here. And I…we went somewhere to talk.”
“Why?” The word was strangled from Honey.
“Because I had to know if he was genuine. If what he wanted was real.” She let out a shaky breath. “I had to know for myself that he wouldn’t hurt you. I told him that…I told him…” She was stumbling over her words, and Honey had a hard time understanding. “I told him this wasn’t a guarantee. That if you weren’t into it, he’d have to leave and not come back. He said he’d honor that and brought this to give you, in case you refused to meet him.”
Honey was cold. So damn cold. She wrapped her arms around her body and stared down the one friend she thought she could count on. The one person who knew all her secrets. Simone held out a plain white envelope, and she knew who it was before she asked the question. She recognized his handwriting.
“Who is it?” she whispered.
Simone met her gaze full on. “Nash.”
Honey’s mouth fell open. She literally could catch bees if she felt like it. She felt betrayed. Angry. Confused.
“Nash?” she whispered. “How could you?” Nash was here? What the hell? Why? What did he want? Hadn’t he hurt her enough already?
Pain twisted her insides, and she whirled around, palms on the desk as she gulped in air. It was hard to breathe. Her vision blurred, and after a few moments, her chest loosened, her lungs relaxed, and her eyes cleared. She’d envisioned this. Of course, she had. But not like this. He would hate her more than he already did.
She looked down at the gentle swell of her belly—felt the kick of life nestled deep inside—and somehow managed to speak.
