“If you call him, I’m never going to speak to you again.”
Heidi worried her lower lip with her teeth. “What are you going to do when I get you home?”
“I’m going to take a bath and then I’m going to go to sleep,” Mandy said. “In another week, my body will be healed and I’ll be able to put all of this behind me.”
“You’re going to put James Hardy behind you?”
“I’m going to try.”
JAMES pulled into an open parking spot in front of Mandy’s apartment building and slammed his Explorer into park. He jumped out of the vehicle, pausing when he saw Heidi sitting in her car alone. She was talking to herself.
James knocked on the window, causing the pleasingly plump court stenographer to jump. Heidi rolled down her window when she saw him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Is she inside?”
“Yeah.”
James searched Heidi’s face for a clue. When he didn’t find one, he squatted down so he could better talk to her on an even level. “What did she say?”
“She said a whole heck of a lot,” Heidi said.
“Like?”
“Well, for starters, she says you don’t love her and she’s a burden to you.”
James growled. “She’s killing me.”
“I told her I thought she was losing her mind, but then she got mad at me so I stopped saying that.”
“What else did she say?”
“She said that you want a life that doesn’t include her, and that she’s sick of being a guilt girlfriend.”
James was curious. “What’s a guilt girlfriend?”
Heidi pinched the bridge of her nose. “Did you really sneak out of her apartment and leave her to wake up alone after the first time you had sex?”
James’ heart pinged. “Yes.”
“That was a jackass move.”
“I’m well aware.”
“She said … she said … .”
“What did she say, Heidi?”
“She said that she’s been in love with you since she was fourteen, but she couldn’t pretend you ever loved her anymore,” she said. “I told her that was crazy. I’ve seen you two together. You’re either the best actor ever, or you love her with your whole heart.”
“I love her more than anything in this world, Heidi,” James said. “You’re not wrong.”
“Then why is she acting like this?”
“She’s on medication,” James said. “She’s in constant pain. I’ve been … distant. I was being distant because I thought I was protecting her. I may have been wrong to do it.”
Heidi looked dubious. “May have?”
“I was definitely wrong,” James said. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“You’re a man,” Heidi said, shrugging. “You always think you’re doing the right thing until you realize you’re doing the wrong thing.”
“I can’t argue with that.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I think shaking her is out of the question,” James said, immediately regretting the joke. “I’m going to try and talk to her.”
“I don’t think she’s ready to listen.”
“Then I’ll camp out on her doorstep until she is ready,” James said. “She can’t stay in there forever. There’s no food.”
“I hope you fix this,” Heidi said. “You guys are my hope.”
“Your hope?”
“My hope that I’ll find what you have someday,” Heidi said. “You guys are the dream.”
“Well, I’m going to go and reclaim my dream,” James said. “I’ll have her call you when she’s feeling better.”
“Will you call me regardless?”
James nodded. “Yeah. Just give me some time. I don’t think this is going to be quick.”
“Good luck.”
James watched Heidi pull away from the building, squaring his shoulders as he marched to the apartment door. He raised his hand to knock and then thought better of it. He searched his key ring, finding the right one on his third try. He inserted it into the lock and pushed the door open.
She might not want to face him – but he wasn’t going to give her a choice.
The door opened four inches and then stopped. “Ugh.” She’d engaged the security chain. “Mandy?”
No one answered from inside. “Baby?”
Still nothing.
James sighed, sinking down to the hard cement and leaning against the door. “I want to talk to you.”
James leaned on his elbow and peered into the apartment. The angle of the door didn’t give him much of a view. “I know you’re in there. I guess I’m going to have to talk to you from right here.”