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Harper was already gone.
* * *
Catie and Violet left, and Amber decided to walk over to Rena’s for some coffee. She’d need caffeine to stay up for her late night flight.
She opened the door and Harper stormed into the small studio.
“You were going to leave me!”
Amber shuddered. His anger filled the room, as though it were a presence rather than an emotion.
“Harper? What’s going on?”
“Damn you!” He paced the room, his fists clenched. “How did this happen to me? How did you get…inside me like this? How am I supposed to live like this?”
Harper punched his fist into the wall. Dry wall cracked with a thud, and a droplet of scarlet oozed down the white surface. He was bleeding.
Amber ached to run to him. To tell him how much she loved him, how much she wanted to be with him. Instead, she said, “Judy’ll make you pay for that.”
“Crap. I’m sorry. I just can’t bear the thought of you leaving.”
“I’m sorry, Harper. I want to get to know my father, but I never wanted to leave here.”
“Then why are you?” He advanced, like a wolf stalking his prey. His brown eyes were feral, primal.
“It’s too painful to stay here. You don’t want me. I’m not the woman you thought I was.”
“What?”
“You know my past now. All my sordid secrets. That last time we made love, it scared the hell out of you that we’d forgotten the condom. You thought I was”—she swallowed—“dirty.” The memory cut through her like a knife.
“I’m sorry about that. I just… I’ve never had unprotected sex before and… Oh hell, there’s no fucking excuse.” He thunked his head against the wall. “I was wrong, Amber. So very wrong, and I’m sorry. I should never have doubt
ed you.”
Amber warmed. It wasn’t a confession of love as she’d hoped, but it was an apology, and she believed it was sincere. “Thank you, Harper. I accept your apology. It means more than you know.”
“But still you’re leaving.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why?”
“I want to get to know my father. What better way than living on his ranch?”
He sat down on a large box. “I guess I can’t compete with that.”
“Compete with my daddy? Why would you want to?”
“Why would I want to?”
He rose again, and she wondered if he would hit another wall. Instead he paced back and forth between boxes.
“Damn it, I ran all over the state of Texas to get you out of a jam. I found your daddy for you. I took care of your mother.”
Yes, he had. But not for her. “You did all that for Angie, as a favor.”
“Angie? Are you serious?” He raked his fingers through his beautifully disheveled hair that now touched his shoulders. “I love my big sister, but not enough to traipse all over God’s creation after one of her friends.”
