“What about Tori?”
“What about her?”
“Were you with her while she was married?”
It’s a simple question. Yet the answer is very complicated. I pause and attempt to give her an answer, but I’m angry now. How has this conversation turned to my ex? How did she know this about Tori?
Harper raises an eyebrow. “No answer? I only need a yes or no. I don’t want any explanation.”
“That’s convenient.”
“Yes or no.” She stands with her arms folded over her chest.
She doesn’t want an explanation. My pulse thrums in my ears. Tori was a liar. Harper is a liar. I want to reverse the past hour and go back to before. I don’t want to know she’s exactly like Tori. “Yes.”
Harper doesn’t meet my gaze. Her eyes are filled with tears and I’m pissed that I want to stop her pain. At the same time, I want her to hurt like she’s hurting me.
She walks out my door and quietly closes it.
I don’t leave my apartment for two days. Josie drops in and attempts to quiz me about what happened between Harper and me, but I won’t engage. I guess that Josie is the one who told Harper the details of my relationship with Tori.
Josie can be my ally, but she also interferes. When she discovers Harper’s lies, she’ll get all up in arms like she did over Tori. It’s more than I can stand right now. My sister threatened to do Tori physical harm more than once and they weren’t even friends. Josie’s like a gangster that way.
Sometimes the twin thing is just too much. Too stifling. Too invasive.
A knock at my door sends prickles of dread through me. I peer through the peephole, then open the door wide. Dane strolls in with Gunner, a friend from my school days and one I haven’t seen lately. It’d be hard to turn them away.
Dane takes a seat on my sofa and Gunner grabs a barstool.
“What’s going on?” I turn the television volume down.
“Thinking about going fishing. You up for it?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. I have too much to do.”
Gunner looks around my apartment. “Nice place.”
“Thanks. You like your new one?” I ask him. “I haven’t seen you much since you moved back.”
“Yeah. It’s taken me a while to get everything set up with the business. I haven’t had time to do anything since I started it. I’ve got a day off.” Gunner’s a guy who works harder than anyone I know with his own landscaping business. When he moved to Arkansas as a teen, I thought I’d seen the last of him.
I’m glad to see him back. A guy can never have too many good friends. My mind wanders to Harper and how I miss her. Is she sitting across the hall alone and thinking about me? But no. I glance at the clock and realize she’s at work.
Dane puts his feet up on the trunk in front of him. “How are you and Harper doing? Have you seen her lately?”
Silence.
This isn’t the type of conversations we usually have. He’s treading on serious ground. “You talked to Josie?”
He doesn’t even pretend. “She mentioned it.”
“She send you over here?” I give him a look. He and my sister should not be joining forces against me.
“Nah. I came on my own. For the fishing.” He glances at Gunner. “Right, Gun?”
“Bullshit.” I smile. It’s fake and hard-as-hell to execute since I haven’t felt anything close to a smile since Harper walked out my door.
Gunner leans back against the bar and stretches his legs to the floor. He’s a tall guy—still built like the star football player he was when I went to school with him. The landscaping business agrees with him. “Women. They make life a helluva lot tougher than it should be.”
Dane nods, as if he has women problems. The only problem he has is running from his feelings for my sister. All other women throw themselves at him. Owning a bar has its advantages and disadvantages. Drunk, lonely women could fall into both categories.
He puts his feet down and leans up with elbows on his knees. “Tori came in last night.”
There’s a reason he’s telling me this. Tori still visits Dastardly’s on a regular basis, so her appearance isn’t news. “Oh yeah?” I ask.
“She said you two might get back together and that Harper is causing both of you problems.” Dane examines his cuticles and picks at one.
“Man. You know that’s a lie.” I take a deep breath.
“Uh huh. Sure. But she’s loud. She said some pretty bad things about what she’d like to do to Harper.” Dane glances up.
“She is insane.” I usually don’t exaggerate or moan and bitch about Tori, but she’s a burr in my side that I’m ready to be rid of. I should’ve tried harder to cut her out. She’s like a festering wound. The thought that she’d hurt Harper makes me want to do her physical harm.
Not that I’d hit a woman. But Tori needs her mouth taped shut.
“She knows Harper is your neighbor.” Dane nods as if he’s telling me something new.
“Yeah. She came by once when Harper was here.”
Gunner picks up a flyer on my bar and studies it. Poor guy is ready to be on with his fishing day.
Dane shakes his head. “I wonder if she’s bothered Harper. Tori asked me fifty questions about her. I didn’t know most of the answers and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell Tori.”
“I don’t think so.” I flash back to Harper telling Tori that she’s my neighbor. “She was asking last night?”
“Um hm.” Dane looks at the door as if he can see through it and across the hall. “Just thought you’d want to know in case she’s harassing Harper.”
“Thanks man.” I’ll make sure Tori stays away from her.
“So. What do you say we go hit the river? The water’s not too low and you need this. Come on. Gun’s here and I need to work on my tan. You’re looking pretty pasty yourself.”
I stare at the windows and think about Harper. If I sit here any longer, I’ll be tempted to go next door and demand we talk through whatever has happened between us and what she wrote on that postcard.
Two nights ago, I picked up the postcard mess and organized them as I always do. Each postcard tagged with an inventory number I created. It’s a way to match it to the image file on my computer. A way to match a postcard from ‘Betrayed Woman’ to the image file.
Harper took more than my heart across the hall. She stole that fucking postcard.
14
Perfect Storm
Harper
From: angelgirl@me.com
To: isabellawarren@iconic.net
Isabella,
I wonder if my compass in life has been destroyed and I’ll never understand true north. What I mean is, will I know when love is real? I can’t understand what’s happened to me in the last four years. How could I be so wrong about someone? So blind to the false things he portrayed?
I hope you find true north someday. I hope we both do.
I hope Charley is doing well. Of course I don’t mind if she emails me. It’s sweet that she wants to be my friend since you are. Also, I know I don’t have to say this, but I’d never reveal our true connection to her. I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision about telling her about her father. I don’t envy you in that.
Hugs,
Harper
My bad luck hasn’t run its course. I’m not certain how Tori discovered where I worked, but she has. Seeing her leave Le Frou Frou’s surprises me. She isn’t carrying a dog out. Maybe she’s dropping one off.
I don’t say a word to her as we pass each other on the sidewalk outside. She’s wearing shorts and platform heels that probably cause traffic to stop when she walks by. It’s all I can do not to purposely bump her into oncoming cars.