"What's happening?" I ask Harris as I duck my head into the truck. He rests his arm over the top of the door and roof of the car and leans in. "Summer was nice at first. Holden thought she might have been the one, but then she saw him talking to our cousin Kristen in town, and she freaked out. Serious bunny-boiler shit. We all saw a side to her that chilled us to our very bones. She's been trying to get back with him ever since, and he's been patient up until now. I guess he figured that she'll get bored and move on to some other unsuspecting soul. The trouble is, this is a small town, and all the single men seem to have heard about what she's like. If she wants a relationship, she's going to have to move or persuade Holden to take her back. That's never going to happen, but she's gotten it into her head that if she just keeps trying, he'll forgive and forget."
"Shit." I shake my head, twisting my fingers in my lap. "She seemed so friendly when I was talking to her at the coffee shop."
"Yeah. That's the problem. She is friendly. But when it comes to jealousy, she freaks out. Does things totally out of character. What's that saying? Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned?"
"Yeah. Something like that. I mean, in a way, it's good that she doesn't take any shit."
"No, Connie. You're the kind of girl who doesn't take any shit. Summer's the kind of girl to sever your head for even talking to a person behind the counter at a grocery store."
I snicker nervously. "Yeah. I guess there's a difference there."
Harris stands, looking around for his brothers, who are ambling toward us loaded with bags. "We waited around to see what was going to happen with Summer, but she spotted us, and it was making things worse."
"Worse?" Harris shakes his head and then cups his chin thoughtfully. "I don't like this. It's taking too long. I'm going back in there."
Kane rests the bags on the bonnet of the car. "I don't think you should."
"But what if she goes totally psycho on him."
"Holden can take care of himself," Kane says.
Harris sighs, craning his neck even though he can't see anything from where we are. He's worried about his twin, and I can feel the tension rolling off him in waves.
"Go get him, Harris," I say, and that's all Harris needs to start jogging back into the market.
Before he can begin searching, Holden appears. They stop and converse, Harris, shaking his head as though everything his twin is saying is worrying.
All I want to do is get home and cook the stupid meal I've been planning for days. I just want my boys safe around the table in the yard, sipping on beers and talking about what sports are on the next day. I don't want this woman to have any kind of involvement with any of them. Somebody so unhinged has the potential to do anything. Am I going to have to watch my back everywhere I go?
By the time they're back at the truck, Kane and Karter have slid in either side of me. Harris drives, and Holden folds himself into the passenger seat. "That woman is crazy," he mutters.
"What did she say?"
"Just that she knows that we're going to be together in the end. She's seen our wedding in a dream. We're fated to be together."
"And what did you say to that?" I ask.
He turns, his pretty blue eyes finding mine, and I flinch with the worry that I see there. "I told Summer that she needs to back off, and if she doesn't, I'll be seeking a restraining order against her."
"Wow. It's gone that far?" Kane asks.
Holden swears under his breath and shakes his head. "I don’t know. I should never have brought that girl into our lives."
Resting my hand on his shoulder, I give him a reassuring squeeze. "You're not going to blame yourself for trusting someone and expecting them to be a normal and decent human being. You can't always account for people with issues. They hide it until you are already involved. That's how all domestically violent situations turn out. Just make sure you keep a detailed diary of any attempts she now makes to seek contact because you're going to need it."
"All of you will need to do the same. I don't think the crazy is just going to stay isolated to me."
Harris makes a growling sound in the back of his throat. "Do you think Connie could be in danger?"
"I don't know. I don’t think so but…" Holden shakes his head and reaches out to put his hand on my knee. "You have to promise me that you'll watch your back. If that woman tries to come anywhere near you...you just..." He pauses as though he has no idea what to tell me.