“Can I help you?”
“Is Harper here?” The muted sounds of conversation drifted down from the second floor.
“She is, but it’s not really a good time. Can I give her a message?”
He hadn’t realized she had company in. He felt foolish for interrupting. “Just tell her Mitch—no, never mind. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.” He stepped off the porch.
The door closed.
He was halfway to his house when Harper called out his name.
“Mitch? Wait.”
He turned, stopping in the middle of the overgrown path.
She ran toward him. She didn’t look like herself exactly. Her face was a little puffy, her eyes red. He knew that look all too well. She’d been crying. Concern filled him, but he let her speak first. “Listen, I know why you came by and I’m sorry. It’s almost all lies and if you’ll give me a chance, I’ll tell you the whole story. The absolute truth. I swear.”
He crossed his arms. “I came by to invite you for dinner, but now I want to hear more about this. What’s all lies?”
Her lips parted and her eyes filled with uncertainty. “You didn’t come to tell me you never wanted to see me again?”
His confusion grew. He dropped his arms to his sides. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Do you go on social media much?”
“Not if I can help it.” He had a person for that just so he didn’t have to. “In fact, unless I’m checking email or doing research, I generally avoid the internet like the plague. Why?”
She took a deep breath and tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. “I don’t even know where to start. Someone decided to ruin my life today online.”
His brows lifted. “What? Why would someone do that?”
“Because…” She shrugged. “Mostly I think I was just an easy target and maybe she felt threatened by me in some way.” Her eyes dampened and she turned away, sniffing. “Sorry. It’s been a really bad day.”
“I know about those.”
She exhaled a short laugh and smiled for a second, looking at him again. “Yeah, I guess you do. How was your day?”
“It was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. That’s part of what I was going to tell you about at dinner. I started the day by journalling.”
Her smile returned, much more genuine this time. “Hey, that’s fantastic. I’m so glad.”
“Me, too. I doubted you but you were right. It worked. I’ll be journalling again tomorrow morning.”
“That’s great. I’m happy for you.”
He took a step closer. “You want to talk about what’s going on with you?” He was bothered on her behalf, because whatever had happened, clearly it had upset her. And now that she’d helped him the way she had, he felt oddly protective of her. Like she was this valuable new resource he couldn’t afford to lose. And maybe even a friend.
“I do. I owe it to you to explain. I really don’t want you seeing what’s been said about me online. I’d hate for Joyce to see it, too, for that matter.” Harper blew out a breath. “This is such a mess.”
“Who did this to you? You said ‘she’ so it sounds like you know.”
She regained her composure. “I’m fairly certain it was a woman who lives here. Suzanne Collingsworth.”
Mitch rolled his eyes. If Suzanne was behind this, he already knew he was on Harper’s side. “I know of her, but I know her husband better. He’s been trying to get me to do an interview on the network’s morning show. I guess he thought appealing to me in person would do the trick. But that’s not who I am. Are you sure she did this?”
“She as much as told another neighbor that she had. Prisha Chatterjee. Do you know her?”
He nodded. “I do. Her husband’s a doctor. He was instrumental in getting Jeanie in to see the right people. Listen, I take it you have company at your house? Don’t worry about me or Joyce. We can wait. Go do what you need to do.”
