Page 36 of Sugar and Spice
Paula gives me a sympathetic look. “Thirty minutes.”
Rolling my eyes, I close the door. “I’ve gotta?—”
“I heard.”
He’s already walking toward the door when there’sanotherknock. When did I get so popular?
“Harper?” Sadie’s soft voice calls.
Brandon freezes. We stare at each other, two deer caught in the headlights.
“Bathroom!” I mouth and jerk my head toward the door to the right.
He darts inside, keeping the light off. Once he’s out of sight, I open the door. Sadie stands in the hall. Her hair is disheveled, yesterday’s mascara is smudged down her cheeks, and she’s wrapped in a flannel robe that looks like it belongs to an eighty-year-old woman.
“Can I come in for a minute?” she asks.
“Sure,” I say, holding the door open and trying not to shoot a guilty glance into the bathroom.
Sadie toys with her robe’s belt, and she won’t meet my eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you had feelings for Brandon. He said…” She sniffs like she’s going to cry. “He said that you didn’t. I knew going into all this you two had history…but…”
I nod, because what the heck do you say to that?
She looks up. “I really like him, Harper. I thought all night about it. I was going to step aside, let the two of you work things out. But I…I think he might care for me too. We’re in a good place, you know? And I feel awful about all this, but I?—”
Tears roll down her cheeks, and she scrubs them away with the back of her hand.
“I’m just really sorry we hurt you,” she finishes.
She still isn’t aware that I know her relationship with Brandon is a charade, but her words…those are coming from a raw place. She means them. She’s not talking about her and Brandon’s fake relationship. She’s talking about one she’s imagining for the future.
She really believes she has a shot.
And if I had stayed in Texas, where I apparently belonged, she probably would have. Good grief—after hearing that, maybe she does anyway. What could Brandon possibly be thinking, standing there in the dark bathroom, listening to Sadie pour her heart out?
“Me too,” I say, and I mean it. I am so truly, deeply sorry that I’ve caused her this turmoil.
“Are we…are we okay?” she asks, blinking at me.
After a moment, I nod.
“Okay.” She hugs herself and sniffles one more time. “I’m going to…”
She points to the door. After another few awkward seconds, she lets herself out.
Once the door clicks behind her, Brandon cautiously exits the bathroom. He rubs his chest, looking almost ashen. “We’re noteven dating, and I feel like I’m cheating on her,” he whispers, not daring to speak any louder.
I nod, knowing exactly what he means.
We stand here, staring at the floor. The minutes are ticking away. I only have twenty left before I have to meet Tammy downstairs.
“You need to get ready,” he says, rubbing both his hands over his face. “I’ll…”
Without finishing that thought, he lets himself out the door.
I turnthe corner to Tammy’s office, hurrying because I’m one minute late, and find Mason strolling through the hall, holding two disposable coffee cups.
He eyes my hastily pulled together outfit and grins, offering me one of the cups. “Morning.”
