“Come back later,” I groan. “I’m closed.”
There’s a snort, but I’m too busy falling back into sleep to pay much attention. At least, until a wet, smelly dog tongue assaults my face. Swatting at whatever dog is bathing me, I end up rolling right off the couch. And now I’m awake.
This is Tank’s rug, and that is Tank’s couch, where I apparently fell asleep last night in my clothes. Smoky is still enthusiastically licking whatever he can reach, while Harper watches me with narrowed eyes from a chair she’s pulled up. The television is playing reruns of house-flipping shows. Tank must be asleep.
“It’s still dark,” I protest, rubbing my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to snap out of it. Why are you still here?”
I yawn, pushing Smoky back with the other. “Why are you?”
“I’m here to prevent one of my idiot brothers from making a dumb decision. Or, since you’ve made several dumb decisions lately, I’m here to stop the bleeding. And I have to train someone in half an hour, so you better start talking.”
I climb back up on the couch, running a hand through my hair. A sour taste fills my mouth as I remember yesterday’s events.
“Everything’s fine,” I lie. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
Harper arches a brow. “So, you didn’t try to tell your emotionally overwhelmed wife she needed to make a final decision about your relationship? Because according to the rumor I heard, you did that right in the lobby of the courthouse. Not ten minutes after the hearing.”
I scratch my ankle. I’m not used to it being bare, and it still itches like the ghost of that monitor is still there. “Um. I might have done something like that. But you’re making it sound so—”
“Selfish? Careless? Inconsiderate?” She nods. “Yeah, I guess I am making it sound that way. Because putting all those things on Lindy at that exact moment was all of those things. And then some. Like I said, dumb decisions.”
I already know Harper’s right, and my stomach drops at the thought. I’ve done what I always do best. I made an impulsive choice. I ran my mouth when I should have shut up. I can hear Collin in my head, scoffing at another classic Pat Decision.
Crossing my arms, I stare out the back window, where pinks and purples are just starting to wash over the edge of the dark sky. I wonder if Lindy is waking up alone in the bed we shared the night before. Or maybe she slept curled around Jo. I would have. It physically hurt to walk away from them at the courthouse. This is the last place I want to be.
And yet, thanks to me being dumb, I guess, here I am.
Harper leans forward and touches my knee. Her voice softens. “Talk to me, Patty. What was going through your head?”
I shrug. “Hard to explain.”
“Try me,” Harper says.
Much like I’d done with James a few days ago, I tell my sister everything, from the way I screwed up way back when to Lindy’s rules and my attempts to win her over—which seemed to be working. Harper seems surprised by nothing, but maybe she had more of an idea what was going on than James.
I don’t realize I’ve paused until Harper touches my knee again. “What happened?”
What DID happen? It all seems so messy now, my thoughts like briars and weeds sprouting up everywhere in a messy, overgrown garden. I hate the heaviness pressing down on me right now, like I’m wearing a weighted blanket as a cape.
“I’m not sure. I wanted to talk about where we stood, but Lindy asked to wait until after the hearing. Which made sense. I mean, it’s been weighing on her, you know?”
“I can imagine,” Harper says.