“Harper’s friend. He tended bar for the party.”
“That must have been some fancy party.” He settled back on the couch and crossed his ankle over his knee. Even his blue jeans were neatly pressed, along with the olive-green T-shirt he was wearing under a long-sleeved teal shirt.
“Not too fancy, but very nice. Anyway, I drank the cosmos and—”Oh no.Something about last night came back to her. Not clearly, but enough that she started to cringe. “Oh no,” she repeated, this time out loud.
“What?”
“Never mind. I drank too much and got a hangover. End of story.”
“Um, no, Anita. You’re not getting off the hook that easily.”
She gulped down the coffee, ignoring the heat scorching her mouth. “Like I said, I don’t remember anything else.” A blatant lie because fuzzy images of last night were circlingher brain. Something about calling someone a knight in shining armor. Had she really said that to Dylan? Or worse, to Tanner?
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Why are you being so nosy?”
“Because things happen sometimes when you get drunk.”
“And how do you knowthat?”
“Never mind.” His voice was tight. “Who brought you home?”
“Harper.” She looked down at her clothes again. Weird that her friend hadn’t helped her get undressed. Then again, Harper was probably annoyed about having to take care of her. She cringed. This was awful. As soon as her head stopped pounding and she showered and dressed, she was going to call Harper and apologize.
A relieved expression crossed Kingston’s face. “She’s a good friend.”
“She definitely is.”
“Are you going to be all right now?” He uncrossed his legs and looked into her eyes.
The aspirin was working, and so was the coffee, despite her burned tongue and queasy stomach. “I’m okay. You don’t have to babysit me.”
“I wouldn’t call it babysitting. But I’d like to get back to church before the service is over.”
Guilt flooded her. “I’m sorry you had to check on me.”
“It’s okay.” He smiled and got up from the couch. “Call me if you need anything, and I’ll be right over.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Kingston.”
“By the way, did you get a cat?”
Oh no.“Please tell me he’s not on the roof.”
Kingston shook his head. “No, he was perched in the willow tree on the other side of your house.”
Oh, thank goodness. Hopefully he would stay there.
“Love you,” he said, walking out the door.
“Love you too.”
Once her brother had left, she stared at the blank TV in front of her. The sun wasn’t bothering her anymore, but her conscience was. She had caused problems for both her friend and her brother, and she’d let her Sunday school class down. Thank God Tanner had taken over the class, something she never would have guessed he’d do. She’d never even seen him interact with a child before. She hoped her lively students weren’t scaring him off of children forever. They were sweet, but they could be rambunctious.
She got up from the couch, went to the bathroom, and made the mistake of looking in the mirror before she took a shower.Horrificwas the word that came to mind. No wonder Kingston had been so worried. The makeup Harper had expertly applied yesterday was smeared all over, and black streaks ran from her eyes down her cheeks. Her dress was rumpled, her hose were torn, and the barrette was dangling by a thin lock of hair. How embarrassing. Was this how she’d looked when Harper brought her home?
Another unclear memory shot through her mind. Her eyes widened and her stomach twisted, and not because of the hangover. Harper hadn’t brought her home last night...
