"Oh, so thelocationis the problem?" Under my breath, I added, "Good thing they have hotels."
"Yeah. And you know how I love those." Abruptly, he stood. "But hey, at least we had some laughs, right?"
I stared up at him. "Some laughs? That's what you thought we were doing?"
"Sure, why not? It was a good time." He gave me that same awful smile. "While it lasted." He looked toward my house, and I turned to follow his gaze. In my driveway, the cleaning crew was loading up their stuff as if preparing to leave.
When I looked back to Bryce, he was watchingme, not the crew. With a casual shrug, he said, "Anyway, thanks for the fun."
The words felt like a slap. "Fun? Seriously?"
"Well, notallthe time." And with that, he turned and began walking toward my house. As for myself, I stood, still and silent, as he sauntered casually toward the place I called home.
He didn't look back, and I didn't follow after him.
Instead, I blinked long and hard, trying to hold back the tears.
Apparently, I was just a fling after all.
Chapter 45
Harper
Like an idiot, I cried all the way home. It wasn't the sniffling kind of crying either. Instead, I was sobbing like a crazy person – or more accurately, like Gwen's mom whenevershewent through a bad breakup.
For her, this happened at least once a month. But for me, this hadn't happened for two whole years, and I was sure feeling it.
It was the second time today that I'd actually cried. The first time had been in my bedroom before leaving to get my car. At the time, I'dthoughtI'd been quiet but apparently not, considering that Gwen had knocked on my bedroom door to ask if I was alright.
It was so sweet that I hadn't wanted to trouble her. The wayIsaw it, she had more than enough trouble already with her mom. So instead, I'd murmured something about a stuffy nose and promised to check in with her later.
And I would.
But first, I had to tell my sister what I'd learned from Mitchell. For this and other reasons, I decided to take the entire day off. Sure, I needed the money, but I'd already missed the courthouse, and there was no way on Earth that I would be parking my coffee truck at the Christmas village.
Not today.
Probably not ever.
And even if Iwereinclined, I was pretty sure that my permission to park there had been officially revoked. On the business front, it didn't much matter. I would've lost the privilege anyway once the village was up and running.
But on the personal front?
It mattered.
A lot.
Back at my aunt's place, I discovered that Lexie had already left for work, which meant that my news about her old boss would have to wait until tonight.
As for Gwen, her car was home, but she was nowhere in sight. Whether she was napping or gone, this meant that I was on my own.
In search of comfort, I grabbed a blanket from the chest in the living room and snuggled up on the couch to think and sulk. I leaned back against the cushions and was just drifting off when my feet were attacked like nobody's business.
My eyes flew open, and I was entirely unsurprised to find Pepper and Pebbles on the hunt for the mouse underneath the blanket.
But of course, there was no mouse. There were only my toes, which I couldn’t resist wiggling for the kittens' entertainment even as they did their best to murder them through the blanket.
Near the sofa, I spotted Fred and George scampering up the nearest Christmas tree as Ginger hopped onto a nearby side table and batted at an empty water bottle until it tumbled to the floor.
