Chapter 22
The Therapist Is In – Kayla
“ H arper?” I watch Jack’s mouth say before turning around to see the woman I’d only heard myths about, standing near us in all of her glory.
“Hi Jack.”
He stands up and approaches her.
She’s honestly even prettier than I imagined her to be. She’s wearing a long and pink chiffon dress, and her dark hair is half up and half down. She is also carrying a clutch, and she has an ivory bangle on her wrist.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I—” she pauses and looks at me over his shoulder, but I just glance around like I wasn’t watching them. “I wanted to see you.”
“Why?” His voice is gravelly.
I glare over again, and her wide eyes are blinking widely. “Well, because I love you.”
He scoffs before wiping at his chin with his hand. “You—you love me?”
She reaches for the collar of his shirt. “Of course, J Bear.”
J Bear? Puke.
He removes her grip on him. “You don’t cheat on people you love, Harper.”
She pouts. “That was a mistake.”
He then starts pacing. “Oh, yeah? A mistake it took you months to realize that you made?”
“But that’s why I’m here. I want to make amends.”
Okay, I really shouldn’t be here.
I stand up and start walking away.
“Kayla!”
His voice startles me, and I turn around slowly to face them again. “Yeah?”
“There’s absolutely no reason why you need to leave. You were here first. We’ll go.”
He takes his ex by the upper arm, and they hurry away.
What the hell? After that, I’m just standing there by myself. But I assume Callie and her man friend aren’t finished yet, so I set back down.
However, I do look toward the direction Jack and Harper went in. I’m not sure why—perhaps I was hoping he’d come back, tell me he told her to leave for good, and then kiss me again.
I bring my fingers to my temples and shake my head. That’s ridiculous, Kayla. You have no claim on him, and he’s made it clear on more than one occasion that he doesn’t—or can’t—have you.
Suddenly, Denver stumbles inside.
Part of me hopes he doesn’t see me, but he does.
“Kayla!” he yells.
“Denver! Shhh!” It’s late, and I’m sure those of us that didn’t go out are fast asleep.
“Oh, right,” he’s whispering now, and he sits next to me. “What’s up?”
Of course, my first instinct is to gossip and tell him all of the juicy details about Harper’s return, but I don’t want to think too much about what it means for any future he and I might have, and I also don’t want to be “that girl.”
If the word about it got around now, it would be pretty obvious that I was the blabber mouth, as I assume I’m the only person who has seen her so far.
So, I just respond, “Nothing much. Callie is entertaining a man in our room.”
He slaps me, probably harder than he meant to, on the back. “Ah, man. That sure seems to be a pattern with you on this trip.”
I pretend to laugh. “Yeah. I guess so. Did you have a fun night?”
When he breaks down into hysterics it’s clear that was the wrong question.
“I just miss her so much, Kayla,”
He slinks down and rests his head in my lap.
Goodness gracious. He sure has strong feelings for a woman he’s known for less than a month.
He sniffles and wipes his nose with the back of his hand. “I know. You probably think I’m crazy.”
“No, not at all,” I lie.
“I don’t even know how to explain it. But it’s like, the first time I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one.”
I just pat his head. “That’s nice.”
He sits up. “No, you don’t understand. I know that I’m going to marry that girl.”
“Okay, that’s great.”
He then holds his finger up in my face. “And she feels the same.”
“Good.” It would certainly be unfortunate for him if she didn’t.
“We want to get married as soon as I’m back.”
I choke on my own saliva. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“Wow.”
He brings his legs up and puts his elbows on each knee. “You think we’re insane, don’t you?”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “It doesn’t really matter what I think. Or anybody else, for that matter, who isn’t the two of you.”
He looks at me and smiles. “You’re right.”
“Of course, I am.”
And if anything, I’m so jealous of Maria. She has a man who knew his intentions with her the second he saw her. Whereas I’m dealing with Jack, and I feel like I encounter a different version of him every time we speak. Not to mention the complications that come with Harper being back in the picture.
“What about that guy you were dancing with tonight? He seemed fun.”
That makes me grin, at least. “He was. We’re going to try to meet up again tomorrow night.”
He lightly shoves my shoulder. “Good for you. Have fun playing the field while you can.”
He’s speaking like someone who has been married for fifty years, not a man who just recently met his “soulmate.”
“I intend to.”
“Good for you.” Then, he clutches his heart. “But once you find that special person, you’ll never want to lay your eyes on another.”
“Mhm.” I can appreciate what he’s feeling while still getting a little annoyed at how thick he’s laying it on.
He breathes sharply in and out. “Well, I’d better head for bed.”
“Alright. Goodnight.” That’s another thing I am jealous of him for. I’d love to go to bed. But what I assume is a sweaty wrestling match of passion is happening on my bed as we speak.
Ugh. A cold shiver runs down my spine. I hope they took the comforter off. And you better bet your ass I’m making her come down to the front desk to ask for fresh sheets. There’s no way I’m laying my head anywhere that smells like sex and… proof that the sex happened.
“Goodnight, Kayla.”
After he walks away, I’m by myself yet again.
However, a few moments later, the guy Callie brought back with us is walking out the door, and she’s walking down the hall in an oversized t-shirt and with tears running down her face.
I spring up and hug her. “Cal? What’s wrong. Did he—” I shoot daggers at him.
She waves her arms. “No, he was a perfect gentleman.”
“Well, then what happened?”
She sits down by the pool next to me.
“He—” She sobs, and I hold her head on my shoulder.
“Shh. It’s okay.”
When she calms down a bit more, I ask her again what’s wrong.
“He isn’t Dirk,” she finally confesses, her big brown eyes staring up at mine.
Dirk? Why does that sound so familiar—Oh, yeah! I remember the picture I found in her room. He signed the back of it and said she’d always be his “special girl.”
“Who is Dirk, Callie?” I use my thumb to wipe some of the tears away.
“My first boyfriend.”
“And you still love him?”
Pouting, she nods. “Very much.”
“Well, does he know that?”
She splutters. “He does. But he has a pregnant fiancée.”
Oh, yikes.
“Fucking Petunia.”
Jesus. They have odd naming conventions where she comes from—she’s Calliope, his name is Dirk, and now there’s a Petunia in the mix.
I then stifle a laughter as I think about how perfect all of those names would be for munchkins in Oz.
“I’m really sorry.”
She looks a bit like a raccoon with her runny mascara.
“The crazy thing is that he wanted to be with me. He planned to dump her for me after I moved back home, and we rekindled.”
“But—”
“She got pregnant. Fucking Petunia.”
“Well, were they using the necessary precautions?” I’m trying to see who the blame—well, both of them are at fault for having sex—but if one of them, assumedly Petunia, poked holes in the condom or purposefully didn’t take birth control pill or something, that’s a different story.
“He told me that they did. So, you can imagine the shock when it came to light that she was having his child.”
Her bangs are also all out of order, so I try to sort them out for her with my fingers.
“How far along is she?”
Tears swell in her eyes again. “I don’t know. Far.”
“Aw, Cal.” I hug her to my side. “That has to be so tough.”
“He offered to leave her, but…”
I shake my head. “That wouldn’t be right.”
She sits up, and her puppy dog eyes break my heart. “No. But whenever I think of them being a happy little family, I just want to scream.”
“That’s fair. But that doesn’t mean you can change the situation.”
“I know.”
She sets her head on my shoulder again, and I hold her cheek. “It’ll get easier with time.”
“Will it? God, I hope so. Because this—”
“Is miserable.”
Once again, I glance up and in the trajectory where Jack and Harper walked away.