Bryce
In the living room, Harper's face lost all expression. "Wait, what?"
From the front porch, Gordy called out to Harper. "You okay?" He was standing alone and just for the record, wore no engagement ring.
I scanned the front yard but saw nothing out of the ordinary – no strange cars or people who didn't belong. When I looked back to Harper, she looked as confused asIfelt.
Her brow wrinkled as she stared at the guy on the porch. "I'm um…fine." She looked back to me. "Just so you know, that'snotwho was at the door earlier."
My eyebrows lifted. "You sure? Because I can see where you'd get them confused."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you making fun of me?"
"No, I'm making a joke."
"Thisisn'tfunny."
I couldn't disagree withthat."Yeah, tell me about it."
Harper looked once again to Gordy. "So that wasyoupounding on the door?"
"Poundingandringing," he said. "We thought you were being murdered."
This made her frown. "Well, I wasn't."
"Could've fooledme," Gordy said. "You were screaming bloody murder."
"When?" Harper asked.
"Maybe five minutes ago. The wife sent me over. She was ready to call the police."
"The police?" Harper sputtered. "Please tell me you're joking."
On the porch, Gordy shifted from foot to foot. "So…you want me to cancel?"
"Of course I want you to cancel," Harper said. "Look at me. I'm perfectly fine."
I turned to look. She didn't look fine tome.Sure, she was no murder victim, but she looked so agitated, I didn't know whether to laugh or pour her some eggnog.
I looked back to Gordy. "You might want to cancel that 911."
He looked to Harper. "You sure?"
Harper sighed. "Positive." But then her expression softened. "But hey, thanks for coming to my rescue. You reallyarea great neighbor. And so is Joanna."
"Yeah, well… you're not so bad yourself." But then his forehead creased. "But if it wasn't you, who was screaming?"
This time, it was me who answered. "The wayIhear it, it was my fiancée."
This made him frown. "You got a fiancée?"
What the hell?"No."
"So why'd you say it?"
"It was a joke."
"Well, it wasn't funny."
