Lexie
The candy store was packed with customers, but I was alone in the back room, clutching the business phone so tightly my fingers trembled. Into the receiver, I said, "What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"
On the other end of the line, Harper practically growled. "No, but someone'sgonnabe."
Well, this was just terrific.
I hadn't spoken to Harper since I'd caught her "decorating" Cole's house.That was how long ago? Seven hours?
She'd been asleep when I'd left for work, and I'd planned to catch up with her later tonight after I finished my shift at the candy store.
But only two hours into that shift, the manager had pulled me aside to tell me that I had an emergency phone call from my sister – on the store's business line, no less.
So here I was, hunkered down among shelves and boxes, trying to make sense of my sister's lingering insanity.
Emergency, my ass.
I lowered my voice to say, "You're not drunk again, are you?"
"No, I'm not drunk." Her tone grew sarcastic. "But gee, thanks for asking."
Her tone grated.If anyone should be miffed it was me.With Christmas only a week away, the store was absolutely crazy, so unless she produced an actual emergency, I needed to get off the phone pronto.
Speaking of which, I asked, "And why didn't you call me on my cell phone?"
"I did," she said. "But you didn't answer."
"Yeah, because I’m at work."
"See?"
Actually, I was having a hard time seeing much of anything. "Just tell me, is there an emergency, or not?"
"Yes, actually."
"Really?" I felt the blood drain from my face. "What's wrong?"
An edge of panic crept into her voice. "I heard you were making out with Cole Henster."
Oh, for God's sake. "Sothat'sthe emergency?"
"Just tell me," she said. "Were you, or were you not, kissing that monster?"
My fingers flexed around the phone. "He'snota monster. I know I called him that, but–"
"Oh my, God," she groaned. "Youwere."
If she meant last night, I hadn't even kissed him, but that was only because we'd been interrupted. If, however, I considered the last month as a whole, Ihadbeen making out with him, quite a bit actually.
And now, I was kicking myself for not coming clean with Harper sooner.All things considered, could I really blame her for hating him?
While I fumbled for a reply, Harper muttered, "That bastard."
I felt my temper rise to the surface. "Stop calling him names, alright?"
"No. It's not alright," she said. "You deserve better."
Damn it.I needed to make this right, but five minutes wouldn't be nearly long enough to do the story justice. With an effort, I kept my voice level as I said, "I'll fill you in tonight. I promise. But right now, I'm still at work, so Ireallyneed to go, alright?"
