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“But did you? See me?”
“Well . . . no . . .”
“And wouldn’t you have recognized my pickup?”
“In the dark? Probably. But I still would have ended up pissed.”
He actually grinned. “One of your most endearing qualities.”
“You are a bastard. You know that, don’t you?”
“I think it’s A-one bastard. But yeah.”
God, she hated it when he was being charming, or self-deprecating or clever. And she didn’t like thinking that the beard shadow on his face was actually kind of sexy. As he leaned over her shoulder to look at her computer screen, she saw the way his hair curled near the back of his ear. She’d always found that little whorl intriguing.
Stop this now!
* * *
Harper was pissed.
What were her parents thinking?
Ganging up on her?
Everything in her life was turning to shit and she hated that Xander was so far away. Her heart ached and she kept looking at her phone, hoping he’d text her, but so far, nothing but radio silence.
It occurred to her that he might just want to break up with her. There were tons of cute girls in college; he didn’t need a high school girl with a lot of problems who lived like a million miles away. Sitting up in bed, she texted him again, hoping that she didn’t appear desperate, which, of course, she was.
He hadn’t texted since they’d left the police department early this morning and she was dying—dying—to hear from him.
She’d already called and left two voice messages asking him to call her back, and then there were various texts, which she scrolled through:
* * *
The first: That was so awful and bizarre. Where are you? Are you okay?
Next: Miss U
An hour later: Is something wrong? Text or IM me.
Maybe he’d lost his phone or it was out of battery or charging or whatever . . . still she was miserable.
She’d written again: I heard that you had to move back to Eugene. That sucks!!!
* * *
Still nothing. Hours later. It just wasn’t like him. Had the police taken his phone? Had it been lost in the chaos of finding the dying woman at that horrible old church that had become a crime scene? She shuddered thinking of it now.
For a second she wondered if something had happened to him and her stomach soured at the thought. No, no, no! Xander was tall and smart and . . . he was fine. And probably was just over her. Her heart squeezed and she felt like breaking into a million pieces but didn’t much like that approach.
No, there had to be another way. Had to be.
Then, miracle of miracles, he texted back.
And all her worries and pain disappeared.
CHAPTER 34
