Once I was inside my car and had a minute to actually breathe, I looked down, and my heart felt like it hit the seat beneath my ass. I had my damn shirt on backward, and what made it worse was the tag was sticking out just below my chin.
Why me?
Chapter Twelve
Rhett
“Rhett?” My mother hollered my name just as I entered the back door into the kitchen. I walked toward the refrigerator and opened it up to grab a few more beers for the guys when I heard her voice again, only closer this time.
“Hey.” I turned around to see her standing in the doorway holding a laundry basket full of clothes. “Something came for you in the mail today.” She pointed toward the counter where an envelope sat.
The look on her face was hard to read; she almost appeared somewhat sad.
“I thought about just throwing it out, not even telling you it came.” My stomach dropped as I looked back at the manila envelope. “But then I figured that wouldn’t be right for me to do.”
I stood in the same place, the refrigerator door still opened wide, beer bottles held tightly to my chest with one hand as I tried to decide if looking was worth the effort.
“It’s just that you’ve been happy lately,” my mom added, regaining my attention. “You and AJ have something so sweet, and it’s just been so long since you’ve heard from her that I’d hate for you to stumble back into that old funk again.”
“I’ll…uh…” Fuck, I had no idea what I’d do. “The guys are waiting for me.” I stepped back and closed the refrigerator door. “I’ll get that later.”
I didn’t stick around, only rushed from the house and back toward the barn I’d soon call my place. My mind raced with each step I took. Mom was right. It had been a long time since I’d heard from Harley, so why now? The last time I’d had any contact with her it was on my last birthday, nothing but a short and simple text.
Happy Birthday.
That was it; that was all I got. I didn’t even take the chance to respond back, so why should I care now?
The problem was easier said, because for the next three hours the only thing I could think of was that damned envelope. With each passing minute, I found I only grew more pissed off.
Why now?
Why when I’d found someone who’d made me happier than I’d felt in a long time?
“We still on for Friday?”
I smacked the nail into the plank of wood a little harder than necessary and looked over to find Mikey watching me with an arched brow. “Trouble in Happy Land?”
When I didn’t respond, he just chuckled.
“Come on, man. AJ can’t still be pissed about the other day, can she?” He was referring to the morning that Uncle Gavin and he showed up to find her and me going at it on the newly installed countertops in the kitchen. She squealed, I laughed then covered her up until they backed out of the doorway to allow us both to right ourselves.
“AJ’s fine,” I told him.
“Well, I know that,” he wagged his brows, “but I’d say she’s more than fine.” When I shot him a glare, he grinned wide. “Honestly, though, what’s going on with you?”
I lowered the hammer and leaned back against the wainscoted wall I’d been working on diligently. “Harley.” One word was all I offered, and his shoulders sagged in defeat as he turned around and also leaned back against the same wall.
“She's back?”
“No,” I looked over at him, “not physically anyway. She sent something in the mail, and when I went inside earlier Mom told me it was there.”
“What’d she send?”
“Didn’t look.” I still wasn’t sure I wanted to. “I guess I just can’t figure out why now. When she left we’d made plans to go to college together, we’d made plans for our lives together. I know things change, I get that now, but she just stopped, ya know? She quit calling, she quit responding, it all just ended. Now here we are, and out of the blue she sends whatever the fuck she sent.”
“Let me ask you something.” Mikey turned toward me, resting his shoulder to the wall and looked directly at me. “Whatever’s inside that envelope, is it gonna change the way you feel about AJ?”
“No.” I didn’t even need to think about that. “It wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Then you have two ways you can go with this.” He made it sound so simple. “You can open the envelope, or you can throw it away and forget all about it.” With a shrug, he walked away, leaving me alone with nothing more than my thoughts.
***
“Happy Birthday.” AJ sauntered up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck, rising on her toes to press a kiss to my lips.
“Thank you,” I said just as she pulled back, her eyes opening to lock with my own. “I think I’d much rather hang out here with you than go out to some bar.”
“Then you’d take all the fun away from Mike and the guys. They’ve been planning this all week.”
“You should come too.” I gripped her tighter and held her close when she attempted to step back. I always felt better when I was holding her close.
“No way am I crashing the party the guys have planned for you,” she added, gliding her hands over my chest. “How about you call me when you get home, and if it's not too late, I’ll come over and give you your birthday present from me.”
“How about you give it to me now?” I cupped her ass and she squealed.
“April’s waiting for me in
