Think! Where would she go?
James was pocketing his keys and moving toward the door mere seconds after the answer hit him. She’d gone to her apartment. There was nowhere else she could go.
Ten
“Are you on the lam or something?”
Heidi had picked Mandy up outside of Hardy Brothers Security, not once considering ignoring the request. She’d known the blonde clerk for four years – but the haunted tone of her voice was something new.
When Heidi had pulled up outside of the building, she’d found Mandy waiting with two duffel bags in her hands and a morose expression on her face. Heidi had no idea what was wrong – but it had to be big.
“Why would you think I’m on the lam?” Mandy asked.
“Because you told me to be quiet and not honk my horn,” Heidi said. “I figured this was part of some covert mission. Isn’t that what the Hardy brothers do?”
“I have no idea what the Hardy brothers do,” Mandy said, not bothering to hide the bitterness in her voice. “They’re not my concern anymore.”
“Not your concern? You and James are in love.”
“James and I aren’t together.” Mandy’s body was stiff, her voice stiffer. “He wanted out.”
That didn’t sound right to Heidi. She’d seen James and Mandy together. In fact, she’d been jealous of their relationship more times than she could count. She was embarrassed by the internal admission, but it was the truth. James and Mandy had the kind of relationship that people dreamed about. Heidi knew she’d been dreaming about one just like it since she was a teenager. Something else had to be going on here.
“Does James know you two aren’t together anymore?”
“I told you, he’s the one who wanted out,” Mandy said.
“Then why did you sneak away?”
“Because I didn’t want some big confrontation. I’m tired. I’m sore. I just want … I just want a little peace. Is that too much to ask?”
“No, but … .”
“But nothing,” Mandy said, her voice climbing an octave. “James Hardy doesn’t love me. He’s trying to be nice and not hurt me, but that’s not the type of relationship I want.”
“You’re still recovering, though,” Heidi said. “I don’t think you should be running around town with a chip on your shoulder when you need to be taken care of.”
“I don’t have a chip on my shoulder,” Mandy countered. “And I’m not staying with a man simply because he’s too scared to tell me the truth.”
Heidi pursed her lips, keeping her eyes trained on the freeway as she merged onto the exit ramp that led to Mandy’s apartment. “I don’t want to argue with you,” she said. “You look like you’ve been through enough for about three lifetimes. That being said, I can’t help but wonder if you haven’t lost your mind.”
“I’m perfectly sane.”
“Yeah, well, the James Hardy I’ve come to know is crazy about you,” Heidi said.
“He was crazy about me,” Mandy replied. “Things change. He fell out of love with me. It happens. I’m not surprised, really. I always expected it.”
“You did not.”
“I did, too,” Mandy said. “I never told you this, but James actually bolted the first night we had sex. He snuck out of my apartment and left me there to wake up alone. This was always his plan.”
Heidi was stunned. “That’s heinous.”
“It is.”
“He came back, though.”
“He did,” Mandy said. “I now realize it was just the guilt driving him. I refuse to be a guilt girlfriend.”
“I don’t think that’s what you were – or are.”
“You don’t know,” Mandy said.
Heidi made a popping sound with her lips. “You’re really cranky.”
“I’m just accepting my lot in life.”
“What’s your lot in life?”
“I’m going to be alone,” Mandy said. “I understand that now. I’ve loved James Hardy since I was fourteen years old. He didn’t feel the same way then. I somehow managed to convince myself that he felt that way now.”
“I think he does.”
“He doesn’t,” Mandy said. “He doesn’t want to be with me. I’m just a burden to him.”
“Is this about the explosion?’
“Who cares about the explosion? The pain I have from that stupid thing is nothing compared to the big James-Hardy-shaped hole in my heart. I’m done.”
“Maybe I should call him.”