"What?"
"We're seeing other people for maybe three months, and one day, completely out of the blue, he pops the question." Her voice hardened. "To Rebecca Simms, the homecoming queen."
What the hell?"So, how old wasshe?"
"Well, not a teenager if that's what you're thinking. I just meant, she was the homecoming queen at our high school. She was two years behind us, and she wasreallypretty."
"Yeah, but so are you."
"That's nice of you to say, but—"
"I'm not being nice."
She gave me a skeptical look. "Well, that's not the way Dillon saw it."
My jaw flexed. "What do you mean?"
Color stained her cheeks. "It's not like he called me ugly or anything, but he was always saying stuff like, 'You don't need to be pretty. You've got personality.'"
What a dick.
Harper gave a bitter laugh. "Which is pretty funny when you think about it. I mean, my personality isn't all that terrific either."
I was staring now. "Are you serious?"
"Well, yeah," she said. "I'm way too blunt for starters, and I'm always saying the wrong things, which means I spend a ton of time apologizing." She gave me a half-smile. "Like even now, do you realize that you're myfourthapology within the past twenty-four hours?"
The fourth?
Just what had she been doing, anyway?
I asked, "To who?"
She held up a finger. "No, wait. You're my fifth. I had to apologize to Mitchell, too."
Just the name set my teeth on edge. "For what?"
"Well, for you, actually – you know, for the whole fruitcake thing."
"But why shouldyouapologize?"
"Because it was mostly my fault. If I'd just told you that I was leaving the reception, you wouldn't have assumed the worst." She sat up straighter on the couch. "And do you wanna know something else?"
"What?"
"I would have come here sooner except I didn't find out until last night."
Last night was Christmas Eve.Now I wasmorecurious. "Find out what?"
"How you threatened him." She shoved a nervous hand through her hair. "And it made me realize something."
"What?"
"I'm an idiot."
This wasn't what I wanted to hear. "You're no idiot."
"Yeah, well I've been acting like one. Ask my sister. She'll tell you. Do you know, I had to apologize to herandto her boyfriend?"
