Chapter 12 Harper #2
“Dash was telling me that sometimes your mom works a lot, and you’re at the Academy, so if you ever need us to watch Dash, I want you to give me a call, okay?”
“Oh. Oh, no, I couldn’t ask—”
“You don’t have to ask. I’m offering.”
My throat felt thick, and I blinked hard as Orion jogged up with Dash on his back, my little brother’s face flush with happiness.
“Isn’t that right, Dash?” Mrs. Andolina asked. “You’ve never met Spike.”
“No, but I want to!”
“I think it’s time to get this one home before my spine gives out,” Orion said. His eyes widened slightly to see the tears in mine.
I cleared my throat. “Time to go home, buddy.”
Mrs. Andolina took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “My door is always open. Okay?”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Anytime, darling.”
Orion drove to our house—much slower with Dash in the back and no booster seat.
“Come inside, Orion!” Dash said, bouncing out of the car in our driveway. “Come have a snack. We can watch a show and you can see my room.”
“Oh, I’m sure Orion has to get back,” I said. I was already embarrassed that our shabby little house looked even shabbier next to Orion’s sports car. I’d die of embarrassment if he saw the inside.
Orion read my face. “Maybe next time, little man.”
Dash pouted. “Why not?”
“I have a lot of homework, and I’m sure you do too,” Orion said. He crouched down again and stuck out his hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Dashwell.”
“Dashwell?” Dash laughed, scrunching up his face.
“Dashiel? Dashopher? Dashraham?”
My little brother was cackling with laughter, the sweetest sound.
“Those aren’t my name!”
“No? What’s your full name?”
“Dash is my full name. Just Dash.”
Orion smacked a hand on his forehead. “Silly me. Pleasure to meet you, Just Dash. Until next time.”
“When is next time?”
“I don’t know.” Orion stood to his full height and met my eye. When is next time?
Dash tugged at my hand. “Harper, Harper, when can Orion come back? Tomorrow?”
“Um, we’ll see,” I said, my gaze locked with Orion’s. “Why don’t you go get a snack? I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay. Bye, Orion!” And then Dash threw his arms around Orion’s waist and ran inside.
“Sorry,” I said, tucking a curl behind my ear. “He’s, um…effusive.”
“Doesn’t seem to run in the family, does it?” Orion teased, and then his phone chimed a text. He fished it from his back pocket and his eyes widened. “Bloody hell. This can’t be.”
“Bad news?”
“No, but…I have to go.”
“Oh, sure,” I said. “But, thank you for today.”
Orion’s expression had hardened. “You don’t have to thank me. I’ll find out who messed with your car and—”
“No, please don’t,” I said. “Leave it. It’ll just make things worse.”
His mouth made a grim line. “I don’t want to leave it. I thought…” He shook his head, frustrated. “I don’t like it. This Cold War between us.”
“Me neither,” I said softly. “But it’s been an uphill battle since I got here, and staying in my lane seemed…safest.”
“I know.” Orion’s anger melted into uncertainty. “Harper, do you think—” His phone chimed again. “Shit. This is madness. I really have to go.”
“It’s okay. Go.”
He hesitated, torn. “Let’s talk later, okay?”
I nodded faintly.
Orion gave me a last, lingering look, and then put the phone to his ear. “I’m on my way. If you’d have told me you were coming…”
His words cut off as he shut his door, and he drove away.
I waited on my front drive in the falling dark until his car was out of sight, my pulse slowing because it had been pounding during the entire conversation.
I went inside, got Dash situated with a snack, and called Ralph’s Repair Shop, bracing myself for the worst, but was told they hadn’t gotten to my car yet and would call me back before closing.
Time crawled. I made Dash dinner and sat at the kitchen counter to do homework so I could keep an eye on him while he played with his train set on the living room floor.
At seven p.m. my phone chimed with a text, and my heart jumped. But it was Mom saying she was working late and not to wait up.
At quarter to eight, as I labored over a rough draft of my history paper, my phone rang with the repair shop’s number.
“God, here we go.” I heaved a breath and answered. “Hello?”
“Yes, hi, I’m Martina calling from Ralph’s Repair. Is this Harper Bennett? The 2011 Prius?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“We just wanted to let you know that the diagnostics have been completed. The oil pan is punctured and needs to be replaced. Our guys will get going on it first thing tomorrow morning, and you should be able to pick it up tomorrow afternoon.”
“Wait, wait, don’t I need to authorize the work or something? I thought that was the first step. I don’t even know how much this is going to cost.”
“Um, yes, there’s a note here.” Martina sounded like she was shuffling some papers. “The work’s been authorized, and payment’s been arranged.”
“What do you mean? What payment?”
“Orion Mercer? He put a card on file.”
“He did what?”
I let him call the repair shop. That was my first mistake.
“How much?” I asked.
“Oh, let’s see... Including diagnostic, oil pan replacement, damaged fuel line and labor, the total comes to $990.”
My face paled. It was more than the limit on my emergency card, but I could figure it out. Withdraw some cash and pay with a combination of cash and card…
“Can you…not use his card?” I asked. “I know it sounds weird but—”
Martina chuckled. “There’s a note about that too. It says you’ll probably ask that, and the answer is no.”
Damn him.
“We’ll text you when it’s ready to be picked up,” Martina said brightly.
“Okay. Thanks.”
I ended the call and set my phone on the counter and stared at it, split down the middle with emotions.
Touched and embarrassed. Angry and grateful.
I glanced at Dash, happily playing on the rug.
Orion was both infuriating and endearing, and now my little brother was in love with him, and every single door inside me I’d tried to slam closed was wide open.
“I’m paying him back. Every penny.”
“What’d you say, Harper?”
“Nothing, buddy. Time for bed.”
I tucked Dash in and took my homework to my room. I heard Mom come in sometime after ten o’clock but stayed at my desk. I’d tell her about the car tomorrow, and she could tell me what kind of overtime a dental receptionist put in that kept her at work until ten at night.
Do I even want to know? No, I do not.
I tried to concentrate on my history paper, but Orion and I had exchanged cell numbers early in the semester when we became lab partners. “Later” kept coming and still my phone remained silent.
Finally, at quarter to eleven, my phone rang, and my stupid heart leaped to my throat…until I saw the number.
“Hey, Xander,” I said, trying not to sound completely deflated.
“Heya, Harper. Hope it’s not too late to be calling.”
“No, it’s fine. What’s up?”
But I already knew what was up. Emery moved fast.
“I was wondering if you had plans for the Halloween festival? Supposed to be a big deal around here.”
“Yeah, that’s what I hear too,” I said slowly. “And no, I have no plans.”
“Okay, well… Would you like to go with me? Just as friends. No pressure.”
Just friends.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I blinked them away irritably, waiting. As if another call or text were going to come within the next few seconds.
“Harper?”
“Yeah, sorry. Sure, I’ll go with you. As friends.”
“Great,” Xander said, sounding about as enthusiastic as me. Like we were closing a business deal. “Should I pick you up? I can take my dad’s car.”
“No, I’ll meet you there,” I said. “I might have to make a quick getaway if my little brother needs me.”
“Okay. We can finalize the details tomorrow.”
“Yep,” I said. “Bye, Xander.”
We ended the call, and now I had a date to the Halloween festival.
I set my phone on my desk and got back to work, waiting for it to ring again, with a different boy asking me the same question, proving that I’d been a fool to say yes to Xander. That I should have waited.
But no call came, so I guess I wasn’t a fool after all.