“Don’t pick anything else up,” he says, echoing his sister’s words from earlier. “I’ll be back.” His thoughtful words are the complete opposite of his gruff tone. He lifts the heavy box.
“He’ll be back,” Josie says in a Terminator voice and opens the stairwell door for Leo to go through. She holds it for me, so I follow Leo. He’s not a tall guy. But he’s not short either. He’s average height with a lean frame, but his biceps bulge from the effort of holding my heavy box.
Josie catches up to walk beside me in the hallway. “I peeked in your apartment. Where’s the rest of your stuff? Your furniture?” she asks. She runs ahead so she can open my apartment door.
I shake my head. “I don’t have any. I lived in a furnished apartment before. I’ll have to get some.”
“Oh. That’s too bad. It’ll be expensive to get all new stuff,” she says. Josie steps aside to allow Leo and the big box through first. I follow and try to stop staring at his toned arms and tantalizing biceps. My, what nice arms you have. I smack the wolfish voice down inside my head.
Ogling the unfriendly neighbor is wrong.
“Where do you want this?” Leo raises one eyebrow.
Did he see me looking at him? At his arms? And now I’m staring at his face. A really nice face. And he’s waiting for me to snap out of it and answer him.
“Anywhere,” I say, my voice a little squeaky.
“Harper? You get too hot out there?” Josie presses fingertips lightly to my shoulder and my mind leaps to the present.
“Oh yeah. I’m fine. Just resting for a second.”
Josie looks at me with concern. She glances around the sparse room and then at Leo. “You look like you could pass out. Let’s go over to Leo’s. You can sit at his place for a bit, since you don’t have furniture.”
“I think she just needs a minute.” Leo gives her a hard stare.
“Leo,” she says, her mouth dropping open a bit at the end of his name.
He’s silent, and looking at her like they have some sort of telepathy. “Look. She said she’s fine.”
Josie smacks her brother’s arm. “What is wrong with you?” She pivots to me. “Come on. Leo will fix us both a cold drink.”
“Um…I’m good, Thanks.” My embarrassed laugh draws Leo’s gaze to mine.
He shakes his head slightly. “Ladies.” He waves a hand forward, sweeping in the general direction of his apartment. The hard line of his mouth says he’d rather be flogged than serve me a cola.
“I really don’t want to.” I especially don’t want to give Leo the impression that I’m going to be an unwanted guest hanging out at his apartment all the time. “I have stuff I stuck in the refrigerator here. Want something?”
My place is identical to Leo’s in layout. There’s an open living area and kitchen with high ceilings and exposed black ductwork. The kitchen boasts the usual furnishings—refrigerator and stove. At least I have those things.
I make my way across the room before Josie can protest further and open the stainless steel door. “I have bottled water, sodas, and I can make tea if you want. I have a teapot and kitchen things in the heavy box Leo brought in.”
“Well, if you don’t have anything else heavy…” Leo trails off, waiting for my response. His statement doesn’t surprise me. It’s like he can’t wait to get out of the room.
Josie doesn’t respond, but glares at Leo. I grab a bottled water for me and one to offer her. “I’ve got it from here. Thanks.”
I barely have the last word out when he turns on his heel and exits. He closes the door behind him. My throat tightens at the outright hostility.
“What the frick?” Josie’s eyes are wide and confused. “I am so sorry. He’s not usually so anti-social. I have no idea what his problem is today.” She takes the water from my outstretched hand.
I lift my shoulders in a careless shrug. “Men. Who knows what they think.”
Turning my back on her is the best way to hide the hurt I feel at his hostility. I make my way over to a spot near the window and sit on the floor.
“I know him better than anyone. We’re twins,” she states, like I’ll get the extent of their relationship.
My only child status leaves me lacking any knowledge of sibling relationships. “So you’re close.”
“Very. We are uncomfortably aware of how the other thinks. Something is going on with him, but I guess I’ll find out the details later,” she says and sits near me with her back against the wall. She glances back at the closed door, as if she can see through it to read his thoughts across the hall. “He’s had some drama this year that put him in a funk. That’s all. His attitude doesn’t have a thing to do with you.”
Now she’s got me curious about Leo. He can’t have problems. He lives in a beautiful apartment, he’s gorgeous, and he seems to have lots of friends. In fact, I’m slightly peeved that Mr. Expose thinks he’s got anything to be unhappy about.
We need a new topic that doesn’t involve her rude brother. “Where can I get some furniture? Inexpensive. Maybe just a sofa or a bed for starters.”
I take a swig from my water bottle and let my head fall back on the wall.
Josie tilts her head while she thinks. After a moment of comfortable silence, she nods to herself. “IKEA or something like that, maybe. I saw you have a truck. Want me to help? I’m free today. And my brother’s attitude stinks at the moment, so I think I’ll wait a while to visit.”
“Oh. Well, I can’t imagine you’d want to spend your Saturday doing this.” I wave a hand at my bare room.
“No problem. It’ll give us a chance to visit. I need to get to know the girl Leo will have the hots for soon.”
I laugh, a little too high-pitched and short. She’s trying to make up for the horrible way he treated me. “I doubt that will happen.”
“Why not? Listen, don’t judge him on today. He’s a sweetheart. Quiet sometimes. A little on the suffering-writer, broody side, but always sweet to women. Gets him in trouble, actually.”
“I’m not looking to date anyone.”
Josie glances down at my left hand. “Oh, gosh. That was totally insensitive of me. I’m so sorry.”
My ring finger is empty. Empty like my life. Last night, I took out the wedding set from where I keep it as a reminder of my mistakes. I don’t even have to wear the rings to feel the weight of their impact on everything I am now. The invisible circles might as well be tattooed on my finger. An unpleasant heaviness has settled deep in my chest, an anchor from four years based on lies.
I smile at her. “Nothing to be sorry about. I think I will take you up on your offer. But only if you’ll let me buy you lunch. Deal?”
“Works for me. Cool.” She stands and screws the lid on her water bottle.
I get to my feet and grab her empty bottle so I can put them both in the trash. My back is to her when she clears her throat.
“Do you mind if I ask what happened? Your husband, I mean? You’re really young, so I’m guessing it was something bad.”
“Wesley—that’s my husband. Was my husband. He was killed in a car accident.”
“Oh God. That’s horrible.”
I almost wish I could cry at this moment. I feel the numbness settling in more and more lately when anyone asks about Wesley.
My past is all a lie that doesn’t make sense.
But I don’t deserve to be detached from all that’s happened. I need to remember how easily a person can be fooled. My life before Wesley was all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns. A true fantasy where my parents sheltered me and friends were who they appeared on the surface.
Now I understand that a person’s character can run as deep as an ocean.
“Yeah. Well, death is not an un-horrible thing.” I pause and inhale deeply.
Josie waits for me to say more. When I don’t, she glances at her phone. “It’s getting late and it’s going to be really hot by lunchtime. Let’s get this shopping trip started. I get to pick where we eat afterward, right? I know just the spot. They serve carnitas to die for and huge margaritas the size of melons.”