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“Yeah, I—” She looked across the parking lot and came to a full stop.
The redhead.
His amusement faded. “Are you okay?”
Not again. Elisa thought she’d ended thefollowing her aroundstuff at the school. “Yes, of course.”
He tugged on her arm to start walking again, but she didn’t move. The redhead—Meredith—wasn’t facing them. She had her car’s back door open and was dumping a bag inside.
Elisa glanced around, trying to figure out where she’d come from and if the shopping bag looked familiar. Not the pet store or the vet clinic. The only other options in the strip mall that made sense were a doughnut shop and a taco place.
But what were the odds? Here, in this line of shops. In this town.
Harris stepped in front of her. “Elisa, what is it?”
Right. Keep pretending. She forced a smile. “It’s nothing.”
“If you’re worried we’re going to talk about the open window and you playing house security guard, well, you should be.”
That she could handle. Having a stalker she couldn’t. “It’s not—”
“Who are you looking at?” Harris turned away from her and scanned the parking lot. After a few seconds his shoulders tensed. “Is that the redhead you had it out with at the school?”
Theredhead. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to cause a scene.”
“I am.” Harris took off walking.
“Harris, no!” She tried to do a shout-whisper combination and only succeeded in ticking off a car that didn’t want to yield as she ran across the lane. The driver threw up hishands at her and started saying something, but she couldn’t hear him. She had to get to Harris.
“Excuse me,” Harris said from a few feet behind the redhead. “Meredith Grange?”
“Yes?” Meredith glanced up with a smile on her face. It froze when she looked at Harris. It disappeared completely when she looked over his shoulder at Elisa.
“I thought we should meet.” Harris held out his hand. “You’re supposedly dating my brother, or did. I’m not clear on the timing.”
Her expression went blank as she stared at his outstretched arm. “Who are you?”
He dropped his hand. “Harris, Josh’s brother.”
“Okay, I’m confused.” Meredith shut the car door. “Who?”
As performances went, this one was pretty good. She looked confused and cornered. She shifted back until she rested against her car.
Elisa knew none of it was real. “Oh, come on. He knows. I told him about you.”
Meredith reached for the driver’s side door handle. “You’ll have to excuse me.”
“The school. Outside Josh’s office building. This parking lot.” Elisa refused to slither away. She’d run into Meredith over and over. It was time Harris heard the truth about what this woman meant to Josh. Then maybe they could figure out why she kept appearing.
Meredith shrugged. “You’ve lost me.”
Before Elisa could go off, Harris started talking. “Are you saying you don’t know Josh Wright?”
“I’m sorry, no.” Meredith held her key fob in a tight squeeze. Her gaze darted around the lot as she inched closer to the front door of her car.
Harris hitched his thumb in Elisa’s general direction. “And you never told her the two of you were dating.”
Meredith’s fingers kept clenching that fob. “That’s ridiculous.”
