“You know, if we’re going to be partners, you’re free to hire people as well. It’s not going to be just the two of us working there. I’m trying to add some other trainers, and we’re also going to need a secretary and some other people. Any chance you know anyone?”
“I’ll have to think about it and get back to you,” I said, shaking my head. I grinned ruefully. “Sorry, I just didn’t realize it was all going to work out so easily.”
“I didn’t either,” George confessed. “But I’m glad that they have. So I’ll get in contact with the lawyer and set something up. And I’ll let you know.”
“Perfect,” I said, standing up. “George, thanks again for everything. I mean it.”
George waved away my thanks. “You just keep training dogs the way you have been around here,” he said.
“Will do,” I promised.
When I walked out of George’s office, I checked my phone. It was almost reflexive at this point. Had I somehow missed the buzz? I’d texted Harper a couple of times that day already, and she hadn’t responded. And still, nothing.
I frowned, wondering if I was somehow missing something. I’d thought that we’d left things on a positive note. I’d thought that we were both happy with the way the previous night had gone. If there was something wrong, she’d tell me. Wouldn’t she?
Now, I wasn’t so sure. I played back over the details from the previous night, trying to find any sign that she and I weren’t on t
he same page.
I’d asked her if I could see her again. She’d said that she would call me.
I realized with a sinking heart that there was my clue. If she’d really wanted to see me again, wouldn’t she have just said yes? Or was I reading too much into it?
I could feel myself start to get angry. Or rather, frustrated. If there was something wrong, if I was moving too fast, why didn’t she just say something? Was this why she had left without saying goodbye in Kuwait, too? Maybe it had had nothing to do with her editor or the paper; maybe I’d done something wrong, and she’d decided that leaving would fix it.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. She hadn’t been too excited to see me there in Boston, that was for sure. I must have done something wrong, four years ago. And now, I must have done something wrong again.
I wanted to hang on to the anger, but instead, I could feel myself feeling just sad. It was such a silly thing, but I just wanted to call her and tell her the good news. Tell her that George had found a place and that pretty soon I was going to be a partner in a dog training facility. And not just any facility either. George had already set up some contacts within the police department and the military. We were going to be working with some very important clients.
I just wanted to share all of that with Harper. But she still wasn’t responding.
After work, I debated whether or not to call her. If she was already freaking out that things were going too fast, I should probably leave her alone. Give her a few days to calm down. Then I could call her again. But on the other hand, I deserved to know if she was freaking out. She should just tell me.
Or this might have nothing to do with me. Maybe her phone was broken, or maybe she was just busy with something for work. I should at least call her, to make sure that she was okay. And that everything was fine between us. If things weren’t fine between us, the sooner I knew, the better. At least then maybe I could stop dwelling on her.
I nodded to myself, decided. For several long, tense seconds, I listened to the dial tone. She must have my number saved in her phone by now. What if she saw that I was calling and refused to pick up? What would I do then?
Get rollicking drunk with Stone and forget about her, I told myself, even though I knew I didn’t have the heart to do that. Not again. It had been difficult enough to forget about her the first time.
I should have just let bygones be bygones, or whatever that saying was. When I lost her, back in Kuwait, I should have just let her be. I shouldn’t have come here to Boston, and I definitely shouldn’t have asked for her number that first time that I’d seen her. I should have accepted that she was just a part of my past and that she and I had no future together.
For the first time, I started to wonder if maybe I wasn’t as put together as I’d pretended since I was back in the States. Maybe there was something that I needed from these social groups, these reintegration trainings, life with Stone. All I could think was that maybe I was pinning too many of my hopes on having a future with Harper.
But was that so wrong? I just wanted to show her that I wanted her, that I was serious about this. That I wasn’t just going to disappear for another four years, that I wasn’t going to be… Well, that I wasn’t going to be Ava’s dad, wherever that deadbeat had gone off to.
I felt guilty just thinking it. For all I knew, Harper was the one who had broken it off with him. Or maybe he’d been in some sort of accident or had some sort of medical reason he couldn’t be around for Ava. It was a terrible thing to think, but there it was. I wanted to be better than that. I wanted to give Harper what she deserved.
Finally, she picked up. “Hey, Ace,” she said, sounding both tired and distracted.
“Hey,” I said, frowning. It must just be work stuff. “Busy day?”
“Yeah,” Harper sighed. “Ava’s sick, and the poor girl is just miserable. I gave her some Tylenol earlier, and that seemed to help bring down the fever, but it went right back up. And I took her to the doctor, but he said there’s some bug going around and there’s not much I can do except what I’ve been doing already.”
“Aww, poor Ava,” I said. “I hope she feels better soon.”
“I hope so, too,” Harper said. “Anyway, I need to go bring her another glass of water because she spilled the last one.”
“Right, right, I’ll let you go,” I said quickly. “Talk soon.”