“It’s nothing.” I press my lips to hers one more time and slap her lightly on the butt. “So, where’s the litter box?”
She points to the other side of the living room area. “Down the hallway, second door to the left.”
“Got it. Meet you back here in a few minutes.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Since this is my first time cleaning a litter box, it takes longer than I expected to get all the clumps out and into a bag, but I eventually manage it. I go back to the kitchen with the plastic bag tied tightly.
“Harper, where does the bag go?”
Footsteps sound from the other side of the room, and Harper pokes her head around the corner for a second. “Just put it in the normal trash under the sink, please. We can take it out with us later.”
I do what she says and then wash my hands in the sink with soap. Better be safe than sorry with this.
Harper reappears a few minutes later, carrying a small duffle bag that she puts on a chair by the front door. She walks to one of the couches in the living room and plops down. Not five seconds later, Bacon jumps up on her lap to rub his face against her hand. His purr carries through the whole room, and for a second, I envy the little furball. I know exactly how good it feels to have Harper’s attention.
I step around the kitchen bar and spot the box we brought up with us. “Do you want me to bring the box over?”
Harper glances at me over her shoulder and nods. “Sure. Thanks.”
With the box in hand, I sit on the other side of the couch, not wanting to spook Bacon who keeps sending suspicious looks in my direction.
Harper takes the box from me, and Bacon jumps off her lap to tiptoe to me. His nose twitches as he approaches and smells my clothes. Apparently, he approves, because the next thing he does is nudge my hand. I pet him like Harper did, and he restarts his purring concert once more.
With a grin on her face, Harper opens the box on her lap. The second she sees what’s inside, her smile falters. She picks up a card from inside the box and reads it, her hand shaking the entire time.
Her face loses some of its color, and I tense. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Bacon must feel the unease and takes off to find another spot.
Harper closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them again, she exhales loudly. After clearing her throat, she turns my way. “It’s flowers from my ex-husband.”
My thoughts freeze for a moment, and I grimace. “What? Your ex-husband sent you flowers?”
“Apparently so.” She closes the box, gets up, and takes it into the kitchen.
She makes a ton of noise, and I finally get up and follow her. She’s leaning over the trash can trying to get the box to fit. Quite unsuccessfully, but she’s definitely trying.
I gently take her by the hips and push her aside. “Here, let me do it.”
Apparently, letting her emotions out on the box wasn’t enough because Harper storms around the kitchen with her hands on her hips like an angry bull. “Who the fuck does he think he is? First the messages and now flowers? That son of a bitch.”
Whoa. Wait. What?
Now that my mind jump-started again, it’s racing, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Why does her ex-husband send her flowers? And what else is Harper going on about? She’s clearly fuming, but I need to know. “He’s been sending you messages?”
That makes her stop mid-step, and she stares at me with wide eyes. “He has, for a few months now. Not a ton, just a random one here and there. It’s from an unknown number, and I usually don’t open them and just delete them.”
“What does he want?”
She shrugs and walks back to the couch. “He said he misses me and that he made a mistake. It’s utter bullshit.”
I plop on the couch, my muscles tense. I want to find this guy and have a talk with him and then some. But there’s also something else that’s bothering me more at the moment. “Why didn’t you say something?”
Her shoulders drop, as does her gaze. “I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t really want to talk about him, let alone think about him. It annoys the crap out of me that he sends me messages, but I didn’t want to give him any more attention. Things have been crazy enough without even more drama. I was hoping he’d stop if I ignored him.”
Despite the fact I wish she’d have said something, I understand where she’s coming from. She’s been struggling with a lot in the last few months.