Page 24 of If You Were Mine
Again. A kick to the chest. “Wellesley,” I whispered. I had moved in front of her without thinking, and now we were less than a foot away.
Her lips quivered and it took all within me not to reach out and bring her close. I didn’t think she’d let me, nor did I think Joshua would want that. And hell, my leg ached enough at the moment that I’d probably fall on my ass in my rush.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to blurt that out. But it’s true. He’s gone. So I guess we’re both allowed to be asses.”
“You still have me you know. I mean, it doesn’t seem like it recently, but you do.”
Her eyes filled, and I cursed.
“Dorian.”
Panicked, I ignored my earlier control and reached out, not knowing what to do, but she wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me tightly. Awkwardness settled in for just a moment, but then I realized this was Wellesley. Harper.
I swallowed hard and held her back, holding her tightly. And when she nuzzled into my chest, I leaned down and rested my cheek on top of her head.
I didn’t mean to, but I inhaled, that sweet vanilla scent of hers filling my nostrils.
“I miss him,” she whispered.
I sighed, running my hand up and down her back.
“I miss him too.”
And we stood there, ignoring her work, ignoring the world.
Because I knew I couldn’t go anywhere. Not with Harper in my arms.
Where she should have always been.
Chapter Five
HARPER
The dark circles under my eyes now matched the bags that would probably forever remain. I hadn’t slept well since the plane crash, and honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to. It ached just to think about, however, I was getting decently good at learning how to function while on little to no sleep. Having practiced when I was younger and living with my grandparents had been a saving grace I’d rather not think about.
Everything I’d gone through over the past weeks, however, was worth it. I was finding my place in town, my role in a way that had nothing to do with my life before. And the best part was reconnecting with the women in this town who I’d left behind when I’d been torn from Cage Lake’s grasp. While I was alone, I wasn’t truly alone. And in the darkest of days I needed to remember that.
Ivy and Scarlett were on their way over, and we were going to have a girls’ afternoon, which wasn’t exactly like a girls’ night of lore, but as each of us had full-time jobs that tended to create chaos it made sense that we had to schedule out our get-togethers with a multicolored calendar. One that got a lot of use considering Scarlett worked more hours than I thought was physically possible. Though I was no slouch considering I owned the business, my friend took dedication to a whole new level. Ivy sometimes pretended that she had a decent work-life balance, but all three of us were terrible at it. Ivy traveled often, even though she was a Cage Lake resident like the rest of us, so her sleep schedule was probably just as bad as mine.
However, my lack of sleep last night had nothing to do with the usual. No, it had everything to do with him.
How he had held me. How I was Wellesley again. Wells.
It had almost felt as if we were back to what we had been. Only I knew that wasn’t the case. There was no way we could have been when it felt as if that hug had been a dream.
Because he had walked away after that moment, that sense of a new reality shattering in a blink. He’d grunted something about needing to be somewhere for the house and then scurried away. If he was anyone else, I would’ve thought it had been because he couldn’t stand me. But perhaps, I was closer to the truth of that than I cared to admit.
With a sigh, I finished putting my hair up into a ponytail that would fit at the back of my hat and went to find where the love of my life had scurried off to.
Lucky stood in front of the door, doing his big stretch, and I snorted. “The girls are almost here and then we will go on our you-know-what.”
He gave me a look with those expressive golden retriever eyebrows that told me he knew exactly what I was talking about, and I should probably give up the whole not speaking out loud thing when it came to the W-A-L-K word.
But seriously, my dog was a menace, and I loved him more with each passing day. He would never run away from me as if I were the problem.
I tried not to think about what would happen though, when time moved far too quickly.
I set Lucky up in his harness, pushing my doom and gloom thoughts out of my mind. They weren’t going to help anyone.
