Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
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Harper slit her eyes open just enough to glare at her vibrating phone. Who on Earth was calling? If it was Mimi Atwell, Harper was not answering. Whatever crisis Mimi was going through, it did not require a personal phone call at…whatever time it was.
She grabbed her phone and looked at the screen. Twelve oh two a.m. And it wasn’t Mimi. “Hello?”
“Harper? Hey, how are you, man?”
She sat up and cleared her sleep-clogged throat. “Jack?” She hadn’t talked to Jack Marsh, Arlington’s youngest son, in some time, but she’d recognize his voice anywhere.
“Yeah, it’s me.” He chuckled softly in that kind of laidback, good-natured way of his. “How are you doing, Harper?”
“I’m, um, well, I was asleep.” She wasn’t awake enough to lie and that wasn’t her style anyway.
“Asleep? Dude, it’s barely nine o’clock.”
“In California. I’m in Florida.”
“Oh, wow.” He drew the word out for an extra beat or two, managing to infuse it with genuine remorse. “I am so sorry. Totally did not realize you were out of state. Vacation? Never mind, don’t answer that. I’ll let you go. Back to the sandman with you, my friend.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m up now.” She scratched her scalp. “What’s going on? Everything all right? Teddy didn’t…he’s okay, right?” She didn’t want to say “relapse.” She hated putting that kind of negativity into words without good reason.
“No way, Teddy’s great. Things are things.”
Jack said that all the time and she still didn’t really know what it meant. “Yes, they are. Glad to hear that Teddy’s good.”
“Hey, you said Florida. Are you at the house?”
There was only one house he could mean. “I am.” That might stir up a lot of feelings for him. Memories. Regrets. Longings. She’d tread carefully, but she wasn’t going to apologize. Arlington might have given her the house, but both of his sons had gotten their fair share of his estate.
“Cool, cool. How is it?”
“Beautiful. Peaceful. Just what I needed, really.”
“Yeah, I heard about how things went for you. Did my best not to give those lowlifes any clicks, you know? The press are vultures, man.”
She nodded. He understood. More than most. “Yes, they are. They were not kind.”
“You all right? Everything copacetic?”
A smile bent her mouth. That was Jack. Whatever his faults, he was well-meaning and kind-hearted. “I am. Thank you for asking.”
“Cool, cool. Listen, I’m sorry about waking you up. I had something I wanted to talk to you about, but it can wait.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I appreciate that, but sleep is life, man.”
She laughed. “Sleep is pretty important.”
“Then you get back to it, my beautiful, wise friend. I’ll be in touch soon. Cool?”
“Cool.”
“Peace, man.”
He hung up and she stared at the phone, wondering what that was all about. She imagined she’d find out tomorrow or whenever he called back.
She flopped back down, yawned, and stared at the ceiling, picking out the constellations by the tiny gold stars that glinted in the dim ambient light.
She hoped Jack wasn’t in any kind of trouble. She liked him. She’d never worked for him like she had his dad, Arlington, and his older brother, Teddy. But maybe that was why he’d called. Maybe he wanted to hire her.
Anything was possible.
She closed her eyes. A cold, wet nose nudged her fingers. She kept her eyes closed and whispered, “Go back to sleep, Archie.”
That got her fingers licked, followed by more nudging, which resulted in Archie’s head being under her hand.
With a weighty sigh that she hoped her beloved dog would understand meant she was only doing this for him—and to avoid a puddle on the floor—she pulled the covers back and swung her feet to the floor. The tile was cold underfoot. “You had really better need to go or I am not going to be happy.”
She put on flipflops with her nightshirt, grabbed his leash, clipped it to his collar, and plodded down the steps. Yawning, she took him out to the backyard.
To his credit, he immediately squatted to pee. She yawned again and wrapped her arms around herself.
Did Mitch realize what he was getting himself into with a dog? She hoped so.
She smiled. Mitch. He’d kissed her. Then she’d kissed him back. It had been completely unexpected and the nicest thing that had happened to her romantically in a long time. At least since Ford Keating.
Hmm. From Ford Keating to Mitchell Ripley. The gossip sites would have a field day with that, but it wasn’t information they were ever going to get. She’d do her best to be sure of that.
She had a feeling Mitch felt the same way and not just because he was such a private person.
After the kiss, they hadn’t really talked about it, just started walking Archie again. They’d taken him back to the house, then they’d returned to Mitch’s and gone about things as though nothing had happened. Normal as could be. Or so she’d thought. Clearly, Frankie and Willa had picked up on something.
Made sense, though. She’d been in a bit of daze from that kiss. Had Mitch been affected the same way?
They hadn’t talked, so she had no idea. She went to check her phone to see if he’d texted, but she’d left it upstairs.
If Frankie and Willa had realized something was up, Joyce probably had, too. Would Joyce have said anything to Mitch? Probably not in front of Kyle.
Did Mitch regret the kiss? It hadn’t seemed that way in the moment. Maybe it had just been a silly impulse.
Maybe tomorrow he’d tell her he was sorry, and it could never happen again.
The thought filled her with an immediate sense of sadness. She took Archie back inside. She hoped that wasn’t what ended up happening, but if it was, she’d understand. Better to keep Mitch as a friend and employer than to lose him altogether.
Actually, what would be better would be to have him as a friend, employer, and boyfriend.
But this was real life, not fiction, and too often in life, sadly, there was no guarantee of a happily ever after.