"Oh, yes you are."
She glared at the roll of toilet paper in my hand before saying in a sloppy sort of way, "There's still half a roll left."
This was hardly a huge amount. But it didn't matter. With mounting frustration, I asked, "Why are you doing this, anyway?"
"Youknowwhy," she practically growled. "He's a monster."
As she said it, I felt a twinge of something unpleasant.Guilt? Uncertainty? Shame?I couldn't quite identify it, but Ididknow that the term "monster" wasn't sitting so great on my conscience.
Sure, he'd been a monstrous boss, but outside of the office, he'd been absolutely wonderful except for his attitude about Mister Grampkin.
Now, at the thought of what I'd thrown away, I felt a familiar pang deep in my heart. It was the same pang I'd been feeling for eight whole days, except now it was getting worse by the minute.
During our last date, I'd been totally awful.
But he'd deserved it.
Hadn't he?
As my thoughts churned like bad seafood, I told Harper, "We need to go."
She gave a drunken snort. "Why?"
Did I seriously need to explain?"Because I don't want to get caught."
"Thenyouleave." She lunged for the roll of toilet paper."I'mnot done."
I yanked the roll out of her reach. "Oh, yes you are."
She made another lunge and missed by several inches. "Says who?"
"Me, that's who." I shoved the roll deep into the pocket of my borrowed coat and leaned close to whisper, "Seriously, Harper. Trust me, you'll see things differently in the morning."
"I doubt it," she grumbled.
"Fine. Then we'll talk about itthen, okay?" I jerked my head toward our aunt's place. "Now come on, before he comes out and catches us."
"He can't," she slurred. "He's gone." And then, as if to drive the point home, she lifted her hand and made a little walking gesture with her fingers.
I gave her fingers a perplexed look. "So…he left on foot?"
She dropped her hand. "No. On wheels, Silly."
"But…" I frowned in confusion. "You were making that walking gesture."
"Oh." With a little laugh, she liftedbothhands and made a driving gesture instead, as if she were steering a car – badly, I might add.
I squinted through the shadows. "So hedroveaway? That's what you're saying?"
She gave a solemn nod. "Yeah, totally."
"So…" I tried to envision it. "You saw him leave? With your own two eyes?"
She was still nodding. "Yup, both of them."
"Oh." I felt a surge of relief followed by something considerably less pleasant as new questions formed in my mind.
Where would Cole be going in the middle of the night?
