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“Fine. Let me make some calls.” I stepped away so I could book us two tickets on the next Amtrak out of town, then a personal phone call.
When I returned, she already had her purse which had been retrieved from the rental car she had driven to the warehouse the day before. I’d had Hertz come to pick it up, because I knew even then that I would be with Harper.
I hadn’t really counted on everything else that happened, but I was glad it had. I placed my hand on her back and led her out of the penthouse. We headed for Indiana and her hotel.
“Why did you go all the way down there?” I’d asked her, and she turned to me.
“It was the closest hotel with vacancies during the blizzard.”
I almost asked why she hadn’t stayed with me, but then I remembered. I’d basically treated her like Jayson had, and all because I’d wanted to punish her. I wanted to kick my own ass for that. There was no way of knowing though because I had bought the lie she sold — hook, line, and sinker.
We didn’t talk too much on the way. I could tell she was nervous, and I had not a clue as to what to say or do to set her mind at ease. While I was slightly apprehensive about all she told me regarding her uncle, and I had heard Jayson indicate I might have something they wanted, I just wasn’t as worried as she was. She’d had time, however, to convince herself that those fears were real. I just hoped that once I proved the plane crash was an accident, she would let this go. Only then could we discuss the future I intended to have with her.
We finally arrived at the hotel and I followed her up to her room. She had another outfit to put on, and as she went into the bathroom to change, I grinned at the sight of one of my T-shirts. She must’ve taken when she slipped out into the storm like a thief in the night. I heard a noise and looked up to see her exiting the bathroom in the same thing she had worn the night I saw her at the charity auction.
“How much clothes did you bring with you?” I asked her.
“I didn’t anticipate you being so damn stubborn, so I brought enough for three—”
“Me, stubborn?” I asked, then chuckled. “Your picture is beside the definition.”
Harper grinned, then quickly packed up her laptop and bag before we were on our way. Once we were in the car and on our way back to the city, she looked over at me. “What time does our train leave?”
“In a few hours. We have somewhere to go first.”
“We do?”
“Yes, and before you even ask, I’m not telling you where.”
I left it at that, and despite her prodding, I stayed firm until we reached the Magnificent Mile. Michigan Avenue was a mecca for shopping, and the flagship Mitchells was located there. She visibly tensed when we passed it, then turned to me again when I pulled into the nearby parking garage.
“Is Charlie here?”
Harper and Charlene Mitchell had been best of friends our entire lives. It’d always been five of us, which beside me and Harper, also included Charlie, Noah, and Leon. As much as it pained me to lose Harper, I knew Charlie suffered as well. Earlier, I’d asked if she could meet me at the store. I wanted to take Harper on a small shopping spree.
“Well, is she?”
“I don’t know. Would it be a problem if she was?”
Harper fidgeted slightly, before responding. “No, but I haven’t talked to her since things with you and... since we broke up... This might be awkward, so maybe we should go somewhere else.”
“Nonsense. I see Charlie all the time, and I know for a fact that she misses you. Over the holidays, she’d told me as much. Let’s just get ourselves a few days’ worth of clothes for our trip, then get to the station.”
She finally agreed, and we walked into the store. Charlene was there and as soon as she turned around and saw who was with me, the women both stood stoically until the blonde smiled wide. “Harper! Oh my God!”
The two friends hugged each other. It didn’t take more than a few minutes before I was relegated to third wheel as Charlie dragged Harper toward the women’s section. I took a left and found a few outfits for the trip, along with a bag before returning to the lingerie section where I found them both.
“I hate to break up this reunion, but we really do need to go. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to—”
“Promise me you’ll come back to see me before going back to Portland,” Charlie told Harper.
My girl agreed, and at the mention of a return to Oregon, I narrowed my eyes.
HARPER
I still couldn’t believe Gabriel had arranged all of this. I found out he had called ahead to arrange for my former bestie to greet him, failing to mention to her that I would be with him. Seeing Charlie again after all of this time brought back so many memories. There was obviously a lot of catching up we would need to do, but she had forgiven me for deserting her. Gabe had also forgiven me, but only after he found out the truth.
Charlene Mitchell didn’t look as if she had aged a single day since I had been gone. She was stunningly beautiful, her classic features maybe a little more pronounced than before, but otherwise still the same.
