“Hey, Brother Judge! I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” I said excitedly. I was excited in a way. I hadn’t been able to spend any significant time with him in a while, and I missed him.
He stood and enveloped me in a bear hug. “Sister Cousin Harper! You didn’t really think I would drive all this way and not see you, did you?” He smiled down at me. “I came to take you to lunch, but the girl at the desk out there said you were already out for lunch.”
“I wish I had known you were coming. I would have rearranged my schedule for that,” I said.
He shrugged. “I didn’t know I was coming to take you for lunch either until I finished installing everything early. Your house had a security system at some point in the past. I was able to use most of the existing setup without having to start from scratch. Saved me a shitload of time.”
“That’s awesome! Thanks for getting it done for me on such short notice.”
Judge went over how to operate the security system and gave me the security code he had chosen. He also gave me a set of keys as he had replaced every lock in my house. He was nothing less than thorough. We talked for a half an hour or so, and he left with a promise from me to call him soon.
The rest of my day seemed to drag. All of the patients I saw that day were doing well, which was great for them, but meant my day was basically spent socializing with teenagers. By 5:00 pm I was anxious to see Chase. Right on cue, he strolled through the front door with that fake smile once again plastered across his handsome face.
“Hey, baby,” he greeted me, bending down to kiss my forehead. “How was your day?”
I quirked an eyebrow at him. “Good. How was your day?”
His creepy smile widened. “Great. I was wondering if Hilarie could take you home. I’ve got to run an errand before I get back to your place.”
I didn’t see why I couldn’t just go with him to run the errand, but I didn’t question him. He had been acting strange all day. As soon as Hilarie said she would give me a ride, Chase took one of the new keys to my house, pecked me on the lips, told me not to wait for him for dinner, and disappeared again.
“Do you want to grab something to eat on the way home?” Hilarie asked.
“Sure. Why not?” I replied, somewhat dejectedly. I had so been looking forward to spending the entire evening with him. I usually loved spending time with Hilarie, but she wasn’t who I wanted to be with right then.
Dinner wasn’t as stilted and awkward as lunch, but it didn’t have the natural ease that I usually had with Hilarie. My mind kept straying to Chase, trying to figure out what kind of errand he could be running. Hilarie seemed off as well.
“Is everything okay with you?” I asked. I was being a shitty friend and asked, not because I was genuinely concerned, but because I wanted to get my mind off of Chase.
“Since you asked, no, not really,” she snapped. “You were gone for two weeks and didn’t even bother to call me the entire time you were gone nor when you got back. Not only that, you came back with that monster of a man who guards you like a pit bull, and you seem perfectly okay with it! Are you going to be one of those friends who just disappear the second they are in a relationship?”
Her voice had grown much louder toward the end of her rant. “Hilarie, please lower your voice. I’m sorry I didn’t call, but in my defense, a lot was going on when I was in Croftridge. When I got back, I had a list of things to get done before this morning. As for Carbon, I didn’t know he was going to show up last night. On that note, I’m not going to be one of those friends who disappears when they are in a relationship because I am not in a relationship.”
She scoffed. “You might want to tell him that.”
“I don’t have to. He knows we aren’t in a relationship.”
She rolled her eyes. “His actions say otherwise. Anyway, so what happened in Croftridge that kept you too busy to use the phone?”
Crap. I couldn’t tell her what went on there. She didn’t know Chase, my brother, and several other members of my family were in a motorcycle club. It wasn’t information I readily volunteered. When girls my age found out about my association with a well-known motorcycle club, they tended to either look at me like I was a piece of trash, or they were a biker fangirl and tried to become my new best friend.
“Just a lot of stuff with my brother, his girlfriend, and their son. Sorry, Hilarie, that’s all I can give you. It isn’t my story to tell,” I explained, hoping she would understand.
“Fine, keep your secrets,” she huffed.
I tried to change the subject and keep some sort of conversation going, but she wouldn’t engage. She was obviously upset with me, but I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do. I apologized for not calling, even though I really shouldn’t have. I didn’t answer to her or anyone else for that matter.
When she pulled into my driveway, I invited her to come inside, but she declined. I hoped she couldn’t tell how relieved I was that she decided just to drop me off. I pulled out my new keys and unlocked my front door. When I pushed the door open, a scream erupted from me at what I saw.
“Harper, baby, calm down. It’s okay,” Chase said as he rushed toward me.
“What the fuck is that?” I screeched.
“Your new dog,” he said excitedly.
“My what?” I asked incredulously.
“Your dog. He’s a trained guard dog. I got him to protect you if I wasn’t around. He’s also a certified service dog, so you can take him to work with you. Do you like him?”