“Get it together, Gloria,” she told herself as her feet carefully avoided each sidewalk crack. “She’s not going to break your arm or strangle you.” Morbid pep talk out of the way, She rounded the block and took slow, deep breaths. By the time she found herself in front of the house again, she felt calmer…or at least slightly less crazy.

The woman was there on the porch, sweeping a winter’s worth of debris off the wide planks. Harper Wilde, Deputy Adler—Ty, as he’d insisted—had told her. Harper, the stranger who had stepped in and saved her life in that parking lot, was now living with the reclusive Luke Garrison. There was a story there, but Gloria wasn’t sure if she could ask for it.

She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to bother you, but Ty told me where I could find you,” Gloria called.

Harper leaned the broom against the railing and wiped her hands on the seat of her jeans. “Gloria, right?” she asked with a quick smile.

Gloria nodded. “I wasn’t sure you’d recognize me. We weren’t…”

“Formally introduced?” Harper supplied with a friendly wiggle of her eyebrows.

Gloria felt herself relax muscle by muscle. “Exactly. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”

“Not at all! You’re giving me the perfect excuse to quit cleaning,” Harper said, stepping off the porch. “Do you have time to come inside?”

Gloria hadn’t expected an invitation inside. Hell, she’d expected a curt reaction from a battered woman who blamed her for the bruises. But Harper was moving around like she was used to a good ol’ physical assault. “Um, sure. If you’re sure you don’t mind?”

“I would love some company,” Harper insisted. “Especially if you tell me you haven’t had lunch yet because I’m starving.”

On cue, Gloria’s stomach growled. “Oh, um. I don’t know if I should…” It was a knee-jerk reaction. There were no spontaneous invitations accepted when Glenn was waiting for her, timing her at the grocery store, or worse, tracking her down in public and dragging her home.

But this was her second chance. And damn it, she was taking it. Even if her heart was in her throat and the idea of walking into that house made her want to barf all over the sidewalk. She was used to fear. It had been her constant companion this last decade. Now was her chance, her choice.

“Please?” Harper cocked her head to the side. “I’d love to have some company.”

Gloria nodded, unable to speak. What the hell kind of company would she be? Was she even capable of making small talk? She should have just written a nice apology/thank you letter to Harper instead of trying to do this face-to-face.

Harper grinned. “Come on in.”