Chapter Eight

 

 

Harper sat on the edge of the tub and cried her eyes out before calling Felicity. “I’m jinxed,” she said on a sob.

“I thought you were having a great time!”

“His sister called me a Christmas Angel hook-up.”

Felicity snorted and tried to hold in her laughter. “To your face?”

Harper stared at the phone in shock—this was not the reaction she’d been expecting. “No.”

“Well, that’s good, then. What happened?”

“Jacob thinks that this is love.” She shivered all over.

“That’s romantic!” Felicity was always about the romance, when it came to other people.

“How can you say that? He barely knows me. He thinks that we were brought together by fate.” Harper wasn’t one to go on about woo-woo miracles or supernatural blessings.

“That is as good of a reason as any,” Felicity said. “Although I like to think that Todd had an angelic hand in where your finger landed on that map.”

“You, too?” What was the matter with people? “Life just happens. Nothing extra special or pre-ordained about it.”

“What would you rather he’d say—that he doesn’t care, and that he just wanted a fine piece of ass?”

Harper gave that serious thought. “No.”

“This is the guy you’ve been into for a while now, and you are going to let him go because he says he loves you?”

“It can’t be love.” Her stomach flipped. “It just can’t.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Our connection was physical.” And all-around healing for her heart and body—yes, there had been a hint of something that could grow but he’d rushed her. Was dating once a year such an awful idea?

Harper brought her hand to her mouth. Oh God, that really was a hook-up.

A cross-the-pond-booty call.

Why couldn’t he be the kind of guy to go along with that?

She’d had the white wedding where they’d promised each other forever—and that life had been taken from her. Harper had given her whole heart and everything she’d believed had been tragically cut short.

How could she survive that kind of pain again?

She couldn’t—it was better to walk away while she had the power to do so. “I have to go Felicity. I’ll see you later this week.”

“Text when you are at the airport, please.”

Harper agreed and ended the call. Why couldn’t they have had just one more night together? After a hot shower she changed her clothes. Nothing from Jacob. He must have realized that he’d escaped a close call.

Steeling herself, she went down to the front desk and made arrangements to have Jacob’s clothes dry cleaned and then delivered to him, so she didn’t have to see him again. Tempted to keep them, at least the t-shirt, she paid cash and tipped the clerk.

She believed Jacob when he said that he wanted more, and it wasn’t fair to drag this out, because it just couldn’t be. His life was here and hers was in London.

Jacob sent a text asking if he could take her to breakfast. She texted back no, and goodbye—then turned off her phone.

Her heart ached with loss, and she kept reminding herself that despite the pain, this was way better than having something terrible happen later. It would get screwed-up, because that was her life.

The next day, she rose early and walked the beach, determined to remember her toes in the sand, because she wouldn’t be returning.

When she checked out, the lady with jet-black haired was back at the desk and asked, semi-jokingly, if she wanted to reserve the same room for next year.

“No,” Harper replied. “This part of my life is over.” Her heart burned.

The bartender Jeff, on his way into his shift, crossed the lobby to her left side. “How melodramatic—I’m intrigued. Can I buy you a drink before you go?”

“I don’t have time,” she said, looking at her watch. Well, there was four hours before her flight left. But no—if he thought that was melodramatic, just add alcohol and she’d be a regular drama queen.

Jeff’s brow arched. “You don’t remember me from last year, do you?”

She shook her head in surprise. Last year? The scotch year? It couldn’t be good.

He cupped her elbow and sat her on the loveseat before the blue and silver Christmas tree. “You’d just lost someone, right?”

“My husband.”

“Right…” Jeff lifted his hands. “So, the guy I saw you with last night? It’s none of my business, but…”

She looked down at her lap. “It’s over.”

“You two looked so happy!”

“Did we?” Her tightly wound composure slipped a notch.

“Yeah. In love.”

“How? It’s too soon for those feelings to be real.” Harper made sure nobody else was listening and said, “We met one night last year, and one night this year.”

“So?” Jeff brought his hand to his chest. “He’s married?”

“No!” She tapped the place where her wedding ring used to be—she’d taken it off for this trip and knew that even without Jacob, it was time to put it away.

“I wouldn’t judge,” Jeff promised as he leaned in. “Listen, hon, as a bartender I hear more than my share of stories about people searching for love—that’s all they want. So, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about why or how. I’d just grab it and hang on.”

She got to her feet as a yellow taxi stopped in front of the hotel. “My cab’s here.”

Harper didn’t want to think about anything but getting on the plane without shedding another tear—and then ordering a double scotch, skip the rocks.

She kissed Jeff’s cheek and left the hotel, rolling her luggage behind her like a black cloud.

 

 

Jane arrived the day after Christmas to hang out with Jacob at the coffee shop and exchange their gifts.  He hadn’t slept at all last night, devising plan after plan to get Harper back before tearing each plan up because she clearly didn’t want to be with him.

He wasn’t going to grovel, for Pete’s sake. He had his pride.

A delivery man dropped off a dry cleaning bag with his sweats and t-shirt encased in clear plastic wrap. No note from Harper—why did she have his things sent to the cleaners?

She could have kept them, or tossed them, for all he cared. He pushed the bag away. Jane said, “You get your sweatpants dry cleaned now?”

“Funny.” He pointed to the café with half a dozen customers reading or web-surfing while drinking coffee. “Business isn’t that good.”

Jane wadded the Christmas paper into a ball. “I feel like I’m missing something.”

All Jacob had told Jane was that Harper was going back to London and that they hadn’t worked out.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jacob said. He stacked the deluxe baking pans from his sis on top of one another on the counter. He’d gotten her concert tickets—three of them, for an upcoming show at the Hard Rock Cafe. “Harper made her decision and I have to honor that.”

“What decision?” Jane lobbed the paper ball into the trash. “When you said that things didn’t work out between you, I assumed you had no feelings for one another. But I can tell by the red cheeks over dry cleaning that isn’t the case.”

His throat ached. “I care,” he admitted.

“I know that.” Jane stared closer at him and shook her head, dark waves of hair settling around her face. “You weren’t going to tell me that she broke up with you. I hate her. Why?”

“You make my head spin, Jane.” Jacob glared at the pressed sweat pants.

“Why did she break up with you? You said yesterday things were going well.”

“I may have mentioned the hook-up angel.”

Jane smacked her forehead with her palm. “You are an idiot.”

“Hey! She never listened to my explanation. Harper never wanted this to be more, anyway.” His voice caught and he patted his chest, his heart hammering. “So, I will return to my regularly scheduled existence and banish her from my mind, like I promised.”

“That was only if she didn’t show up. If she cares for you and you care for her, then you need to go after her.” Jane crossed her arms. “I can manage the shop for a week, between me and the girls. Teresa is an excellent barista and Marissa doesn’t mind cleaning floors.”

“You couldn’t handle the business. You can’t bake.” He wasn’t sure—could she do it? Of course, Jane could do anything. Even if she couldn’t, did it matter, without Harper? He checked the time. Harper’s plane left for London in just over an hour.

“I can call Aunt Nancy and she can walk me through until I get the hang of it! Besides, I just bought you new baking pans.”

He picked the snow globe out of the trash and brushed off an empty sugar packet.

Jane tossed him his car keys and his dry cleaning. “Go.”

“Harper was very clear that she didn’t want to be with me.” Her rejection stung. But he also remembered the catch of her tears on the other side of the door. Was there a chance to reach her?

Wouldn’t he regret not trying? Hope, damn hope, rose.

“You are already packed. Buy a toothbrush at the airport and you will be all set—you have your passport?”

“What if I’m wrong?”

“Look around this shop, big brother. You have all of this because you took a chance. Why stop living fully now? Isn’t love for her part of why you’ve been so happy? Don’t stop because you’re scared!”

Her words resonated with truth. Jacob kissed her cheek. “Well, hell. I don’t know what is going to happen, but—just don’t burn the place down, okay?”

With that, he rushed out the door and didn’t look back. He was going after the girl.

He wanted Harper in his life, no doubt. When she’d left him last year he’d been in limbo waiting for her return. She fulfilled him. Yes, he had a rich life without her but she made everything just that much brighter.