“How did you sleep last night?” Harper asked Grace.
“Fine.”
Harper laughed. “Bullshit. This loveseat is not comfortable. I’m sorry I don’t have a spare bedroom. I’d offer to let you sleep in the bed with Addie and me but it’s only a double.”
“Don’t apologize,” Grace said. “My insomnia is back in full force anyway, so it’s not like I actually need a bed. You’re amazing for letting me crash at your place for the weekend.”
“She is amazing.” Addison smiled at Harper. “I’d be lost without her.”
“Right back at ya, babe,” Harper said. “You both know you’re welcome to stay with me as long as you want.”
“Maybe I should move to New York, like you did,” Grace said. “Start fresh and forget all about stupid Gideon Walker.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be living here,” Harper said.
“Are you not happy?” Grace said. “I thought you loved New York and your job.”
“I don’t hate it,” Harper said. “But it’s outrageously expensive to live here, you don’t even want to know what this shithole of an apartment costs. I can’t afford to eat anything but ramen. I’m sooo sick of ramen.”
“You are looking a little on the thin side,” Addie said.
“I love my job at the art gallery, but I dunno, I thought I would be someone by now. I’m trying to break into the art scene, and I can’t get any type of footing at all. Every gallery I’ve approached has said ‘thanks, but no thanks’. I couldn’t get a friggin’ art show if I paid them.”
“What about the gallery you work at?” Grace said. “They won’t give you a show?”
Harper laughed. “Not a chance. They’re way too high-end for my work. They call my stuff simple and cute.”
Addison scowled. “They wouldn’t know talent if it kicked them in the butt.”
“They do,” Harper said. “I love working there and I didn’t expect to get a showing with them, but with all the art galleries here in the city, I thought I’d get at least one of them to give me a chance.”
“You’re good at what you do, Harper,” Addison said. “You just need to be patient and keep trying. You’ll be famous someday.”
“Doubtful,” Harper said. “Plus, my dad is acting weird lately. Every time I talk to him on the phone, he brings up the idea of retirement. He’s really not that close to retirement age and he loves what he does. He always has. It’s been almost six years since Mom died and I know he still misses her, but to give up being a vet? That doesn’t seem like him. Did I tell you he hired some new vet to work at the clinic?”
“He mentioned it to me,” Grace said. “Do you really think your dad is going to retire?”
“I don’t know. Something is going on with him, and I feel like he’s going to do something or make a choice that he regrets. And I’m so far away that it’s hard for me to get a good handle on what exactly is going on with him.”
“Maybe you should come back for a visit,” Grace said. “You haven’t been back once since you moved here.”
“I haven’t canceled my flight for September,” Harper said. She rubbed Addie’s leg with her foot.
Addison grimaced. “I don’t even want to think about what my emotional state will be on the day I was supposed to marry Harrison.”
“Girl, I’m gonna have you so plastered, you won’t be able to think straight,” Harper said. “Fuck Harrison and his cheating dick.”
Grace patted Addison’s leg. “I’m sorry, honey, I haven’t even really asked how you were doing.”
“You’ve had your own stuff to deal with,” Addison said. “But to answer your question – I’m doing okay, I think.”
“Are you? You love Harrison and -”
“Loved,” Addison said. “I loved him. Maybe this makes me an awful person, but I can say with full confidence that I no longer love Harrison.”
“I don’t think that makes you awful. He was cheating and he wasn’t always the nicest person to you.”
“Right?” Harper was working herself up, Grace could tell. “How many times did he fucking tell her to be a proper lady? How many times did he act like she was horrible if she said even the mildest curse in front of him? He acted like she was his goddamn property half the time.”
“He wasn’t that bad,” Addie said.
“Addie,” Harper said. “We talked about being completely honest.”
“Fine,” Addison said. “He was a giant jerk and I’m better off without him.”
“Yeah, you are!” Harper clinked her glass against Addison’s. “Gracie, I’m trying to convince Addie that what she needs is some rebound sex. What do you say we get dressed up and go out tonight? I know the perfect bar, and we’re bound to find someone Addie can hit it and quit it with.”
Addison flushed. “I’m not that kind of girl, Harper.”
“You only think you aren’t, because Harrison convinced you that you weren’t. Maybe you are,” Harper said. “You won’t know until you try.”
She turned to Grace. “What do you say? Hell, we can find you a nice boy to have some rebound sex with too, if you’re ready for -”
The knock on the door made them all jump. Harper stood and grabbed a baseball bat that was in the corner of the room.
“Seriously, Harper?” Grace said.
Harper shrugged. “I don’t live in the best neighbourhood, Gracie-Lou. Better safe than sorry.”
She moved to the door and peered through the peephole. “Holy fuck.”
“What?” Grace said when Harper turned and stared at her. “Who is it?”
Without replying, Harper unlocked the multiple locks on her door and opened it. Grace’s stomach plummeted to the tips of her toes and she barely heard Addie’s gasp of surprise over the thunderous sound of her heart beating in her ears.
“Hey, Gideon,” Harper said.
“Hi, Harper.” He studied the bat in her hand. “You gonna hit me with that?”
Harper grinned and rested the bat on her shoulder. “Depends. You here to beg for Gracie’s forgiveness?”
“Yes.”
“Then welcome to my lovely abode.” Harper stepped back and made a sweeping gesture with her free hand.
Gideon, his face pale but determined looking, stepped inside. There was awkward silence before Addison stood up. “Hey, Gideon.”
“Hi, Addie.”
“Um, it’s good to see you. Harper, we should…”
“Hit the bagel place down the street.” Harper grabbed her keys and her cell phone. “Let’s go, Addie.”
They hurried out of the apartment, and Gideon hesitated before moving to the loveseat. Grace jumped up and backed away, hating the look of hurt that crossed Gideon’s face.
Too bad for him. You need to protect your heart, Gracie.
“What are you doing here, Gideon?”
“I came to apologize,” he said.