He left her little private space. For a few moments, Christina sat on the hospital bed, her legs dangling, trying to gather her thoughts. She’d never considered herself a dependent sort of person, the kind of person people had to help. In one moment, that changed. It would take a while for her to recover—not physically, but emotionally, from that bizarre, incomprehensible moment when the ground exploded under her feet.

She didn’t know if she’d ever recover from the humiliating fact that Andy and his perfect girlfriend had seen her flailing around with her legs in the air like an overturned beetle, grasping for something to hold on to, spitting water out of her mouth as fast as it hit her in the face. Not a pretty sight.

But more important than her fall was the reality that Andy had been right there, walking with his girlfriend. True, while other people stood gawking, Andy had rushed into the torrent and pulled Christina free. He had lifted and carried her like a hero on the front of a romance novel. And he’d come to the hospital to see how she was. But that was something any friend would do, she supposed. And, indeed, the beautiful Anastasiya came with him—if Andy really cared for Christina, would he bring his ex-girlfriend with him? Of course not.

Which meant that Anastasiya was no longer an ex. Which meant Andy was coming to tell Christina that he was back together with the gorgeous model.

You don’t know that, her Inner Christina pointed out. Stop trying to make things worse than they are.

“I’m bruised. I fell on my ass in front of Andy and his exotic model lover! All my clothes are wet, and I’m all alone!” Christina retorted, and she was so emotional she didn’t care that she’d said it all out loud. After all, she was talking to her imaginary inner self.

“Maybe I’m crazy, too,” she whispered, and buried her face in her hands, letting the tears fall.

Chapter 14

“They said you were in here.”

To Christina’s surprise, Harriet came through the curtain. She wore a clever green beret over her long blond hair—only Harriet could carry off a beret—that accentuated her green eyes. She had a hatbox with the words NANTUCKET COUTURE printed on the side.

“I’ve brought you some clothes,” she said.

“Oh, thank you, Harriet.” Harriet being nice? How many more shocks could Christina take? She quickly wiped the tears from her face and forced a smile.

Harriet set the hatbox on the bed and opened it. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m not a complete monster. That must have been so frightening. And you looked so ridiculous, wriggling around on your back like an overturned turtle. Thank heavens it didn’t happen to me.”

Christina burst out laughing. “Always Harriet, all the time!”