Page 113 of Seeing Harper

She snatched it out of the cup holder of her car. “If this isn’t Harper I don’t have time for this!” Libby shouted into her phone.

“Not even if I know where she is?” Maia said calmly.

“Maia?” Libby asked.

“Yep. She just left here. She’s been with me. She’s driving my truck and she’s fine. But I think we need to talk. I’m assuming you’re on your way. Can you continue on and we can spend a few minutes talking about what is literally none of my business?”

“You’re sure she’s okay? You saw her?”

“I brought her inside and we spent a quite a while talking. She’s okay, just wanting to hide for a while. She’s fine, though.”

“Okay, okay, why didn’t she call me?!”

“Her phone is with Summer, and honestly, I’m not sure how much more she can take at this particular point in time. I told her I’d call you.”

Libby eased her foot off the accelerator as the panic she’d been living with the last ten minutes began to loosen its hold on her. “What happened, Maia? One minute she was going to pick up take out with Summer, then Summer calls yelling that she’s missing.”

“She saw Clay having lunch with some woman. It sent her over the edge because she went inside with the intention of telling him she’s his. Instead he introduced her to somebody named Erica.”

Libby’s heart fell. “Oh, no. And she was so excited about the two of them.”

“You know how things like that are, Libby. It doesn’t mean they won’t be together. Even she said that none of it was his fault, that she never told him what she’s realized and that he’d mentioned that he thought he might have met his mate. She’s not blaming him, she was just reeling. She didn’t want him to see her losing control so she ran. She saw my house and her mind went ‘safe place’. So she took refuge in my back yard. I brought her in and we spent some time together.”

“Oh, thank God. I was panicking. I mean, I think, my girl’s a flipping Tiger! Nobody can hurt her. But then I realize that there are some sick bastards out there that could get the jump on her before she knows she’s got to protect herself, and for her to be gone in just a minute or two…”

“I understand. Believe me, I do. I have Cristie and despite the fact that she is mated to Remi, I still worry about the same thing.”

“Okay, whew! Heart’s calming down,” Libby said. “I’m at a normal rate of speed so maybe I won’t get arrested, and I’ll be there soon.”

“Maybe we can include Travis in a speaker call or something when you get here.”

“Oh, he’s coming. I called him when I realized I’m a human going to get my daughter back and he’s a shifter. I’m angry with him, but I’m not an idiot. If somebody was stupid enough to grab her, then he’s the one that can get her back, not me.”

“Good. I’ll see you both when you get here.”

~~~

Richie walked over to where Erica sat finishing her food. She looked up at him as he came to a stop beside the table she and Clay had been sharing. “Sorry about that. Too much assumption on the parts of both Clay and Harper and now she’s avoiding him and he’s searching for her.”

“Yeah, young love, huh?”

“You’re not kidding. I wouldn’t go back and do that again for anything.”

“Same. Think it’ll be okay?” Erica asked.

“Oh, yeah. It’ll work itself out most likely by sunset. If not, they’ve got nothing but time.”

“Sorry I added to their confusion, but I figured I’d just sit here and wait until one of them comes back,” she said as she took her final bite of her roast beef. She sat back and sighed. “Does that sound like a reasonable excuse to continue sitting here and eating instead of getting involved?”

Richie laughed. “Meaning if you weren’t eating you’d have gotten involved?”

“Well, Harper was doing her best to be polite and friendly despite the fact that she was obviously upset. I respect that. But no, I most likely wouldn’t have gotten involved.” She pointed at her empty plate. “This is fantastic. I don’t know when I’ve had a better meal. Any chance I could get some to-go meals?”

“Sure. You want a repeat of what you just had, or you want Salisbury steak and steamed veggies as the side?”

“Yes,” she said.

Richie laughed again. “Tell you what, let me fix you up with some dinners to go, and I’ll send out your dessert, too.”