Page 38

Eve

It’s Complicated

Back at the campsite, Monty and Ruby turned in early, claiming exhaustion from the intensity of the dig.

But even after they promised me and Harper that this first fail was just the beginning—that Forks held so much promise, that we’d be back at it again in no time—they couldn’t hide the severely defeated slump to their shoulders as they climbed into the trailer.

I knew the feeling. We’d ridden back here in a morose silence, so markedly different from the cheery lightness of earlier. The windows stayed up, and the music was off. Monty wasn’t even whistling under her breath.

She’d offered to set up the tent and air mattress for us outside the trailer, but I told her not to worry about it.

That if Harper and I couldn’t find a motel, Faith usually had at least one RV open for last-minute walk-ups.

Not that I could say what Harper’s plan was or if she even wanted to stay with me.

We’d stumbled upon another sliver of cell service on the drive over, and whatever message she’d seen on her phone had her looking absolutely panicked.

And when I reached across the seat to grasp her hand in comfort, she pulled away.

As soon as Monty shut the door to the trailer, I turned to see if Harper was okay. Except she was already stalking off toward the empty road ahead of us, phone to her ear. Her voice carried in the night breeze—nothing fully audible, though her tone was high-pitched and nervous.

A sick feeling stirred in the pit of my stomach, a sick feeling that felt an awful lot like reality storming back into our lives.

When she finally walked back over, I was sprawled in one of the lawn chairs in front of the small campfire I’d just started, my right knee bouncing with nerves.

“What’s happened?” I asked.

She hesitated, her eyes shining with unshed tears, and I felt my heart stop.

“That was Greg, my boss, and he was…he was livid with me. I was supposed to have three more days with you— out here , three more days out here. But he said since I broke the rules and used the paper’s time and money to pursue a story he hadn’t signed off on, they rebooked my flight, and it leaves in three hours. ”

That sick feeling became an icy despair, seizing me by the throat. I pushed to stand on shaky legs. “Can I… Shit, let me drive you—”

“It’s fine, really, Eve. You should stay here with your aunts, commiserate together, be with each other tomorrow and…

continue searching without me.” She opened the trunk of my car and pulled out her suitcase, avoiding looking at me.

“My rental is still in The Wreckage parking lot. I called a car to pick me up here, then I’ll head to the airport. ”

Total distress surged through me, but I forced it back down through brute strength. We’d known each other for all of a week—what did I think Harper was going to do? Never go home? I’d been the one who’d bragged about keeping things casual anyway.

Except it hadn’t been casual between us for even a second …and I knew that. Knew that she’d always leave me in the end.

“What does…what does this mean for the Priscilla and Adeline story?” I managed to ask.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I was already starting to think that they deserved something longer than whatever the paper would let me have. But if I decide to go that route, it means I need to pitch it around to other news outlets, which will take time. To be blunt, finding the diamonds tonight would have made things easier from an editorial standpoint. Until then…I don’t have any answers yet. ”

I held out my hand, indicated the trailer behind me. “You heard what they said, though. This is just the beginning. We know they’re out there.”

Harper’s entire body sagged. “There are so many potential explanations for what happened that it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. How probable do you think it is that they’ll actually be found at this point?”

There was a caginess to her movements that was unsettling.

And she still hadn’t looked me in the eye.

Neither eased the crushing disappointment I still felt from earlier, or the terrifying fact that she was voicing my late-night anxieties out loud.

“You know I can’t answer that, Harper. It’s not a science.

Besides, you don’t need the diamonds to do what you promised.

Helping us set the record straight, proving Priscilla was the hero after all. ”

“That’s my plan,” she said. “Telling their story is all I want to do. I want it with my whole damn heart … But first I need to… Fuck , Eve, I need to get back and see if I can salvage all this. I’ll keep you and Monty in the loop over email, if that’s okay?”

Keep you in the loop over email sounded so cold and professional coming from the woman who had absolutely turned my world upside down in a single week.

“Harper,” I said, even more nervous now, “you’re gonna keep it a secret that you saw Monty and Ruby, right? They asked me to vouch for you and if you do anything—”

She reared back, dropping her luggage to the ground. “ Do anything? Like what? I thought you trusted me.”

“You can’t fault me for being realistic,” I hedged.

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m worried you’ll get all the way back to New York, far away from here, and you’ll be pressured to out Monty somehow.

It’s a huge scoop for someone vying for a promotion, right?

And like you said, we didn’t even find anything tonight, so all you have is finding my aunt. ”

Her cheeks reddened. “A promotion is so far off the table for me… Eve, I broke about a million company policies and, worse, don’t even have a story to show for it.

At this point, I’m being sent back to beg for my job.

Any job.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and released a shaky breath.

“God, I screwed everything up. I should have known better.”

The bitterness at the edges of I should have known better sounded just like the Harper Hendrix I’d met at the beginning of this journey—the career-obsessed rule-follower who never wanted to take a risk. It ratcheted up my nerves, sent my thoughts flying toward every worst-case scenario.

“Well, then…then fuck that guy,” I said earnestly. “He sounds terrible. The job sounds terrible. Quit and do whatever the hell you want. If you want to start enjoying the sunrises more, living like Priscilla and Adeline…maybe this is your chance.”

Harper’s face crumpled, like she was about to cry. I reached for her, already so pissed at myself, already breaking on the inside. But she waved me off, which hurt even more. She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes until she got herself under control.

“Eve…” she said, voice cracking. “I can’t just leave my family and move out west with my amazing aunt like you did. Daphne and I don’t have anybody. We only have each other. And if I lose this job, it’s going to fuck up a career I’ve always wanted. It’s…complicated.”

I grabbed the back of my neck, gut curdling. “Leaving my family wasn’t just some vacation for me, Harper. You know it was complicated, too.”

“I know that.” She was shaking her head. “I’m sorry, that came out the wrong way. I know how horrible they are, what you had to do to survive. That doesn’t mean we can all live our lives the way you do.”

“You have a famous dad who can get you any job you want in the industry without you even having to try,” I shot back. “Doesn’t seem that complicated to me.”

Her eyes flashed. “You know why I can’t do that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” At her shocked silence, I started rebuilding the walls around my heart, brick by brick. “Listen, we had to get back to reality at some point, didn’t we? It can’t always be spontaneous road trips and treasure hunting. We were just having fun together. No shame, all sensation.”

That lie hurt. God, I wanted to punch myself in my own face. I’d spent so much of this week teasing Harper about never wanting to break the rules. But here I was, breaking all of my own rules and somehow being surprised at the consequences.

The shitty, heartbreaking consequences.

Harper nodded slowly, placing her bag back on her shoulder. “I see,” she said, almost sadly. “I’m still the enemy here, aren’t I? You really don’t trust me.”

“Harper, we barely know each other,” I said, exasperated. “Five days ago, you were still out to stop me and find Monty.”

“That’s not true.” She lifted her chin. “It’s…it’s different between us, and you know it.”

She fought to compose herself, letting me wallow in the memories I knew she was referring to.

Every precious vulnerability we’d shared, every divulged secret.

How fiercely we’d protected each other, saved each other.

The look of her dancing beneath sparkly disco light.

Her hair in the wind as she hung out the window, her smile like a beam of incandescent joy.

That quiet bravery. That fierce hunger. Her soft body under mine in the backseat of the car, every breathy plea full of honest need.

I want you so badly, I burn with it, Harper.

There was such a sharp pain in the center of my chest I had to press my palm there. Headlights swept down the road, slowing to a stop when Harper raised a hand and flagged them down. It was her driver, here to take her away.

When she turned back to me, her spine was straight, shoulders back.

“You were always going to do this, weren’t you? This is how it is with you, how it will always be.”

“What, being practical?” I fought to keep my voice steady.

“We couldn’t be more different. You want a relationship that fits neatly into some kind of outcome-shaped box, and I’d prefer to never have a relationship again .

You have a whole entire life and career you don’t want to leave in Brooklyn.

I have a whole entire life and career in Santa Fe.

Why is it so wrong that I’m cutting things off before it got serious? Before someone gets hurt?”

She swiped angrily at her cheeks. “You’re not wrong. You’re right. I’m the one who should have known better. I have rules for a reason, and I broke every single one for you. But I know now that’s not an option for me. So thank you for the clarity, Eve. I’ll see you around.”

She turned on her heel and strode to the car with her head held high. They drove off a moment later, leaving me to collapse back onto the lawn chair with only the dying fire for company. And total, abject misery washing over me.

I lost the diamonds.

I lost Harper.

I lost all the hope I’d had left in me for a happy ending.