She sensed judgment in his tone. “It’s only temporary. I already checked out some jobs and apartments on Craigslist. I’ll be off of her couch in no time.”
“What kind of jobs?”
“There’s a couple of waitress/manager openings, an inventory clerk position, and, worst case scenario, one of those people who sit on stools in the middle of the mall and try to sell you a new bathtub.”
“Dream job?”
“Any job that pays the bills is a dream job these days.”
He changed the subject. “So do you want to talk about why you ran out of your place with nothing yesterday?”
“Not particularly,” Harper said, looking out the window. She sighed. “Just a mistake on my part. Poor judgment followed by a nasty surprise when I came home early.”
“Boyfriend?”
“Ex, as of yesterday.”
“Cheating?”
“A bike messenger girl. She had great legs from what I could see.”
“My God, Harper, you’re a mess.”
She puffed out a breath. “It would appear so.”
An hour later, Luke pulled up in front of the beige townhouse that Harper pointed out. “Do you want me to come in with you? I don’t want you moving anything heavy.”
“No, he should be at work. And I don’t have much to pack. It won’t take me long.” Harper opened the door and slid out.
“Just come out when you’re packed and I’ll carry the stuff to the truck.”
She hurried up the walk to the front door and let herself in. The beige carpet and off-white walls had never screamed “home” to her. And they certainly didn’t make her feel homesick now.
It was time to go.
She grabbed her purse out of the hall closet, double-checking that her wallet and phone were there before hurrying and upstairs to the bedroom. The sheets were still in disarray and she could see two head indentations on the pillows. Messenger Girl must have spent the night. Or maybe he’d ordered pizza after he was finished with Messenger Girl.
She turned her back on the bed in disgust and grabbed her suitcase and duffel bag out of the closet. She emptied her dresser drawers into the bags and then moved to the closet. In less than ten minutes, she had both bags packed.
In the bathroom, she hastily applied some cover up to her eye and dumped her cosmetics into a Ziploc bag. She muscled her bags down the stairs one at a time to the front door.
Luke was waiting for her on the porch. “I told you I would carry everything.” He took the bags from her and hauled them down the front steps.
Harper rolled her eyes. “I can handle a suitcase.”
“How many more bags?” He called over his shoulder on his way down the walk.
“This is it for the clothes. I just want to do a walk-through and see if I’m missing anything important.”
“All of your clothes fit in two suitcases?” He stopped in his tracks and looked at her like she had just grown an arm out of her forehead and asked for a high five.
“I lost a lot in the fire and haven’t really had the chance to replace the bulk.”
“The fire?” Luke blinked rapidly.
“Yeah, six months ago. My apartment building in South Side burned down. One of my neighbors was making a grilled cheese on a hot plate next to her drapes. Woosh!” She jazz-handed the air.
“Were you home?” He was covering his eyes with a hand now.
