Page 142 of Crossed Wires: The Complete Series

“Tell her I said hello. And that we’re going to have a long chat when she gets back home.”

Amy laughed. “Big bully.” Then she clicked on the phone and said, “Hello.”

He picked up his sweatpants and headed upstairs.

“What’s up, girlfriend?” Amy said. “It’s kind of late for you to be up, isn’t it? Tomorrow’s a school day.”

“I just wanted to hear a friendly voice.”

Harper’s tone set off alarm bells in Amy’s head. “What’s wrong?”

Silence met her question until Amy prompted again, “Harper?”

“I had a bad day. I fucked up.”

Amy couldn’t imagine anything Harper could do that would be so bad. “In class?”

“Oh no. The kids are awesome. Seriously. I love them. It’s something more…personal.”

“You’re going to have to give me more to go on, Harper.”

Again, her friend didn’t immediately reply. Like sister, like brother. The similarities between Andrew and Harper were never more apparent. Both of them played their cards close to their chests.

“Listen. If you can’t talk to me, what about Marc or Keith? I’m sure either one of them?—”

She didn’t have a chance to finish her comment before the sound of Harper crying cut her off.

“Holy crap. You’re killing me. Please don’t cry. What’s wrong?”

“Marc and Keith are wonderful. But I screwed things up with them. And then Ronnie…” Harper’s words faded away and Amy sensed she was struggling to pull herself together.

“Ronnie? You mean Big Mac? That guy’s an arsehole. If he’s bothering you, tell Keith, or hell, if you can’t do that, tell Hunter or Hazel. Don’t let him hassle you.”

“How’s Andrew?”

It was an abrupt change of topic and it took Amy a second to switch gears.

“He’s fine.”

“I miss him.”

Amy wanted to chalk the phone call up to homesickness, but it was clear there was something else at work. “He misses you too. Do you want to talk to him? He’s just upstairs. I can?—”

“No! No, please don’t tell him that I’m crying. He’ll flip out. I don’t want to cause him any more worry. I’ve hurt him enough.”

What the fuck did that mean? “If you’re upset or hurt, Andrew would want to know. I’ve kept the fact you’re at Farpoint a secret because I thought you were safe and happy. It doesn’t sound like that’s true anymore. What do you want? Do you need me to fly home? Or do you want to come back to Chicago?”

Harper sighed. “I don’t want to come home.”

Amy wasn’t sure what comfort she could offer. She felt helpless, too far away. “Tell me what you need, Harper. I hate that you’re sad.”

Harper scoffed, the sound filled with sadness. “I thought I’d kicked the demons of my past to the curb. These last few days have been perfect, some of the best of my life. I got blindsided today and now I’m struggling to find my way back.”

“Demons?”

“One day I’ll tell you about why I came to live with Andrew and my dad when I was a kid. For now, let’s just leave it at my stepdad wasn’t a very nice person.”

Amy’s heart lurched. Had Harper been abused? That would definitely explain Andrew’s tendency to be overprotective of his sister and her hesitance to put herself out there, to take chances. “We’re going to have that talk.”