“You’re my little pumpkin.” He hugged me tight and kissed my forehead and added, “He’s a tough man, but he loves you. I know he loves you.”
There was no point in arguing about it.
Since I’d refused to spend the night there, Hoyt insisted on driving me home. The party was still going even after the newlyweds and many of the guests had gone.
“What’s up with your date?”
“She’ll stay in one of the guest rooms. Don’t worry about her.”
“One of the guest rooms?” I wasn’t so sure about that. I’d seen how they’d looked at each other. “Yeah, right.”
With a sly smirk, he said, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m being serious! She’s different, and I–I want to take it slow. I don’t want to spoil things.”
I nodded. I was happy for him. He kissed the crown of my head and said, “I gotta go get the car keys. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.”
I followed him up to the house and waited in the vestibule whilehe went up to his room. Looking out the windows, I could see couples dancing to the soft rhythms of sensual soul music that echoed faintly where I stood. Past the dance floor, there were other couples listening to the lapping of the waves and watching the stars. The house was in a beautiful location with a strange enchantment, and the lake views made it almost perfect.
I turned toward the door. I was tired and my feet were killing me in those new high heels, which I would never have agreed to wear on my own. I saw my reflection in the mirror over the console. God, I looked horrible! My hair had been in a bun, but now strands of it were falling everywhere. I walked closer and started pulling out the hairpins with their little jewels until my hair fell over my face and shoulders. Then I ran my fingers through the little knots and tried to relax. The night was all over.
That’s when I saw him.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
Our eyes connected in the mirror.
And as we looked at each other, I felt everything vanish. His expression was dark, hard, defiant.
Nervously, I found the energy to leave. With firm steps, I walked outside, and the humid air hit me in the face, so dense it was almost impossible to breathe.
“Are you running away from me?”
Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw Trey had followed me out. “How observant of you.” I walked downstairs and to the fountain. He came to a stop next to me.
“What the hell is up with you?”
“Like you don’t know,” I said.
I felt his fingers suddenly grab my wrist, forcing me to turn toward him. His hand trembled in contact with my skin, or maybe it was my arm that was shaking.
“I don’t like riddles, Harper. So if you have a problem with me, just spit it out.”
I pulled away. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“That’s not what it seems like. And judging from your face, there’s a whole speech inside you just waiting to be delivered.”
“One you’ve already heard before.”
“Here we go again,” he grunted.
I sighed loudly and tried to hide as best I could how little control I felt over the situation.
I watched myself through his eyes, and for some strange reason they looked sincere as he lied to me, acting like he didn’t know the origin of the gulf that separated us. For a moment, I saw myself as he saw me. A spoiled, whiny little girl who used silence as a punishment. Stupid, immature, and a bunch of other things I didn’t want to think about just then. It was true, too. That was how I was acting, and I didn’t know why.
I should have screamed at him. Should have let it all out, one detail at a time. What it feels like when you break into a million pieces and nothing can put you together again. How hard it is to admit that you meant less than nothing to someone. The hatred, the pain and disappointment I felt when I saw him fall off the pedestal where I’d put him. It would have made me feel better, but I said nothing because my heart needed him to open that door. I needed him to say sorry, to repent, and he hadn’t done it. I needed to know why. Perhaps that would erase from my mind what he’d said to me back then.
Insolently, I said to him, “Isn’t there something horrible you should be doing?”
