“I get the impression he’s drifting further away, Harper. Anyway, I don’t believe in walking on eggshells for anyone. Just because he’s more emotional than I am, or some big star these days, doesn’t mean I should have to treat him any differently than I do anyone else.”

Harper tucked her hair behind her ears. “I know you think I’m being too much of a pushover. You’ve made that clear. But I’m trying to keep things as pleasant as possible for the sake of my kids. That’s important—especially now, at Christmastime.”

Silence.

“Karoline?”

“Fine. I understand,” her sister said with some reluctance. Karoline was so eager to come to her defense. Sometimes that helped; other times it only made matters worse. “I won’t get involved. I’ll just let her use my phone and hope for the best.”

“He might surprise you.”

“I doubt it,” she said dryly.

Harper had been pacing back and forth with her head down. As she came toward Tobias’s truck, she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up to see Uriah, dressed in work overalls and a ball cap, walking toward her.

“Morning,” he said as he passed, but he looked tired and drawn, and she felt sorry about what he was going through.

“Morning,” she replied.

“Who was that?” Karoline asked.

Harper caught her breath. She’d spoken without thinking. Her sister, who believed she was home alone, was on the phone.

As Uriah disappeared into the garage, she was tempted to come clean. She was usually such a transparent person. But now that she’d waited until they were so deep in the conversation, she knew Karoline would read too much into the fact that she was with the guy who’d given her the flower. “I’m out for…for breakfast,” she fudged, telling herself that her words were at least partially true; she was out and she’d just had breakfast.

Fortunately, that seemed to satisfy her sister. “Oh, that’s nice,” she said. “You need to get out and start circulating again. That’s what I’ve been saying all along. Let go of the old and embrace the new.”

Harper bit her bottom lip. She’d been embracing another man when she first woke up. She might’ve done more than embrace him had Maddox not interrupted when he had. Although she was glad she and Tobias hadn’t gone any further, there was a part of her that figured people had one-night stands all the time. Why would it be such a big deal if they slept together?