24. Grant
Chapter Twenty-Four
GRANT
A full three days passed before I found out what Harley was hiding.
“I told you about that,” Daphne was saying to Flynn in the kitchen at the lodge. “I found her in the hallway. I’d forgotten she has that issue with her heart skipping beats sometimes.”
“Found who in the hallway?” I asked just as I stepped into the kitchen.
“Harley. She forgot to eat breakfast and got busy with work. She came over here and fainted in the hallway.”
“Is she okay?” I demanded, my tone probably harsher than it should’ve been. I’d seen Harley every day, so I knew she was fine.
Daphne glanced over. “Yeah, she's fine. Well, you look all tense,” she observed as I stopped at the corner of the counter.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Daphne’s perceptive gaze skated over me. Her tone was casual when she replied, “Just that. You look tense.”
Flynn glanced in my direction, his gaze inscrutable. “We're all a little sensitive about heart stuff,” he offered with a glance back at Daphne.
“I know. Harley said she started taking medication.”
My blood was beginning to boil. Harley should’ve told me about this.
She hadn't even mentioned that she was taking medication yet.
I felt Daphne's gaze on me and tried to school my expression to neutral, but Daphne was annoyingly perceptive.
She didn't say anything at that moment, but I saw her eyes narrow slightly and worry chase through her gaze with the telltale furrow between her brows forming.
She looked away, replying to something Flynn asked.
Walking to the bathroom in the back hallway, I splashed cold water on my face, quickly drying it with a paper towel and taking a breath.
I ordered myself not to dwell on this. I didn't need to worry about Harley.
She was fine, right? I didn't need to be angry.
It was just that she hadn't told me about this.
That tiny detail felt like a splinter driven into the old scar in my heart around my mother's death.
My rational brain tried to remind myself she hadn't known how serious it was until it was too late. I had to splash water on my face again. I took another deep breath, trying to kick all of those worries to the curb.
When I entered the kitchen again, only Daphne was there.
“Where’s Cat?” I asked.
“I think she went to town.”
I felt unsettled now. I was still hungry, but I didn't want to eat. My stomach was churning.
“I have your favorite,” Daphne said.
“My favorite what?” I prompted.
She smiled. “Those ham and cheese rolls you like so much. I don't know if they're really your favorite, but I know whenever I make them, you gobble them up.”
When I rounded the counter, she pushed a small plate in my direction. I picked a roll up and took a bite. It was delicious, but I couldn't even focus.
“Harley didn't tell you,” Daphne commented.
“Didn't tell me what?” I asked, though I knew precisely what she was talking about.
Daphne's lips pressed in a line. She placed a rolling pin to the side and quickly rinsed her hands in the sink. While she dried them, she looked over at me. “She doesn't want anyone to worry. I’m worried, and I'm sure you are. I know she means a lot to you.”
My heart was making a racket in my chest, and it actually hurt a little.
I always thought the whole idea of someone’s heart aching was bullshit.
But, right now, mine sure did. Tears stung the backs of my eyes, but I wasn't going to fucking cry in front of Daphne.
Not because I was being all manly, but because I didn't want her to fuss over me. That would only make it worse.
“You can cry,” she said softly.
I blinked, and a single tear rolled down my cheek. I brushed it away. “I don't want to cry. I'm not being all tough.”
“I know you're not.”
“You know how our mom died,” I stated.
She nodded. “This probably brings a lot of shit up.”
“Yeah, no shit. I wish Harley would just—” I shook my head. “Fuck. I don’t know.”
“Talk to her about it. Tell her how you feel.”
“For what? She won't even tell me when she has one of her episodes.”
“She said she just started taking the medication and Quinn is going to adjust the dose if needed,” Daphne said softly.
I knew she meant to make me feel better, but I felt more annoyed. Harley couldn't even bother to fucking tell me that.
“Well, good,” I said, stuffing the rest of the roll in my mouth and taking my anger out on an unsuspecting roll.
It tasted like sawdust. It was more just a matter of getting something in my stomach.
My stomach was digesting itself with the acid of my anger and confusion about my feelings for Harley.
I knew this was becoming more than just a convenient roommate-with-benefits situation. I didn't get angry often, and that was another splinter in that scar in my heart.
I flew that afternoon, relieved that I had a busy day. Anything to keep my focus off Harley.
That night, I had dinner in town at Sally's.
“Good to see you,” Layla said as I walked past her a while later. She cast me a quick smile. The corners of her mouth were tight, and the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.
I wasn't about to explain, but I sensed that she knew our no-strings-on-occasion arrangement was thoroughly over. It was.
I lifted my hand in a wave, tossed a tip on the table, and walked out into the late evening.
In most places, it would be dark now, but at this latitude in the summer, even at eleven o'clock at night, the lingering colors from the sunset were still staining the sky.
As the indigo darkness came to lay claim, a few stars were already glittering through the colors.
A crescent moon sat above the shadowed ridge of the mountains in the distance.
My boots scuffed on the gravel as I crossed the parking lot. The sounds of the bar became louder before muting as the door swung open and shut again behind me.
I told myself stopping here wasn’t a test, but it was.
My anger with Harley was still rolling on a low simmering boil inside me.
I'd wanted to see if maybe I could feel a spark.
But fucking nothing. Nothing. Layla was fun.
We always had light, flirty fun. It was easy between the sheets for both of us.
Yet Harley had ruined me, likely for all women in the future.
Everything with her was so intense. She’d taken my expectations up another notch. With the way she let her guard down, it felt like I had earned something, something I knew she didn't give over easily.
I drove home. I just hoped Harley and Cat were both asleep.
It was almost dark by the time I got back home.
I walked from the parking area by the main lodge through the trees to the staff house.
My footfalls were quiet on the well-worn ground.
An owl called in the distance with an ever-bossy magpie chattering in return.
I stopped as the trees opened up, looking ahead at the small circle of light cast above the porch. I took a breath, squared my shoulders, and walked with purpose.
When I crossed the porch, I knew before I even opened the door that Harley was still awake. Nerves tightened in my gut.
I walked in, calling out, “Hey!”
She was sitting on the couch and glanced over. The silence felt heavy. I left my boots by the door and hung up my jacket. I was just about to cross into the kitchen when her voice stopped me. It was as if she hooked a finger on the back of my shirt and tugged.
“I'm fine.”
The anger that had been simmering rolled hot and fast. I spun around. “Why are you hiding things? It's bullshit.”
She stood with her hands on her hips. “It's none of your fucking business.”