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“Good. I was so worried about you. The police have been in contact with me. They’re keeping an eye on Joel’s house. He’s going to go away for what he did to Amanda. That poor girl.” She pauses. “It shouldn’t be for too long.”
“I hope not.” I scan Cole’s room. “Oh, save this number to your cell. I picked up a new phone on the way back from Tallahassee. Luckily, they could retrieve most of my info and contacts from my cloud. Well, I’m going to get something to eat.”
“Okay, honey.”
“Oh yeah. How’s the rehab going?”
“Good. I’m walking with a walker, but I shouldn’t need it for too long. Are you sure, after everything, you still want to help out with the escorts? I can probably ask—”
“No. I’m fine. Really, Aunt Willa.”
“Okay,” she says, not pressing any further.
She knows me well. When I say I’m going to do something, I do it. I don’t back out or run when it gets tough. Unless, of course, someone rips my heart out and crushes it into a million pieces. Then I bail town for five years.
I don’t know how she puts up with me. When I first went to live with her, I was horrible. I challenged her at every turn. I didn’t want to trust her, even if she was my dad’s sister. I figured something was wrong with her. I was twelve when I lost my dad, and he never once talked about her. I didn’t know she existed. I thought something must be wrong with her to stay away from my dad and me.
It took years for her to break me, and now I miss her compassion and meaningful insights. I wish I could be more like her. Maybe it comes with age.
Hopefully, I’ll get there someday.
“I’ll try to come and see you in the next day or two.” I feel bad. I’ve been in town for a few days and haven’t seen her.
“That’d be wonderful.”
“Alright, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”
“Good night, Harper.”
The call ends.
I mosey out to the kitchen, scanning the rest of the place. It’s neat. Not spotless, but clean. I open the fridge, hearing a ding. My heart jumps. Is he back already?
The elevator doors to his flat open. A woman in a white blouse, high-waisted dress pants, and heels smiles at me.
“Hi! I’m Cassie!” She walks in, holding a bottle of wine.
“Oh yeah. Brett’s girlfriend,” I say. She’s gorgeous. I haven’t met the infamous Brett my aunt raves about yet.
“And”—she lifts a finger—“independent, strong woman who works as the marketing director for GrandMark.” She walks in, holding her million-dollar smile. “But I do like what having the title of being Brett’s girlfriend entails as well, just don’t tell him that.” She lifts the bottle of wine. “I thought, maybe you could use a drink after what you've gone through. Unless, of course, you prefer something stronger?” Her large blue eyes snap around the room. “I’m not sure what Cole has in here.” She stops. “Oh.” Her eyes flash to me. “Do you drink?”
“Wine sounds great.” I take the bottle from her. “And I’m Harper, niece to Willa, underpaid social worker back in town after five years, who doesn’t want to be here.” My eyes widen. “Well, not, I mean—”
Cassie laughs, waving her hand. “No need to explain. I understand.”
“Good.” I blow out my breath with relief, believing her.
I turn around and head for the cupboards. “Now, let’s see if we can find some glasses and something to pop this cork.” I set the wine on the counter.
She joins me, opening drawers. “Found a wine opener.” She holds it up.
I grab two whiskey glasses. “These will have to do. I can’t find any wineglasses. I’m sure if we keep looking, we’d find some whiskey to go in these things. But I shouldn’t have hard liquor. Not when I’ll have to deal with Cole tonight.” My eyes snap to her.
She pulls the cork from the bottle. “Dealing with any Daxon brother is enough to make a girl drink.” She laughs and fills the glasses. “Let’s start with the wine, and then, if we need to”—she looks up at me—“we’ll move to the hard stuff.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I like her already.
We settle on the sofa with our glasses of wine. I’m not sure what to say to her. I know she and Brett met through the escort service. There’s got to be a story there. Not that I expect her to tell me. We just met.
