Sophie rushed into the back seat, bright-eyed and chattering as she crawled across the bench. “Hi, Uncle Harley. Hi, Piper! Why is Piper here?”
“Because she’s Uncle Harley’s girlfriend,” Jolie said flatly as she climbed in.
Piper’s head whipped in Harley’s direction, and she glared at him. “I am not his girlfriend.”
“Then why does he have two pictures of you guys on his fridge?” Jolie asked with enough snark to put Piper’s sass to shame.
“One of you guys dancing at Ben and Aurelia’s wedding,” Sophie added. “And one of you on his shoulders playing basketball. He said he lost the game but won the girl. Right, Uncle Harley?”
The shock on Piper’s face made him chuckle. Although, he was pretty high, so she could very well look annoyed, not shocked. He really couldn’t tell.
“Your mother gave my mother the picture from the wedding, and I asked for a copy. Can you blame me? We looked hot together.” He ignored her eye roll and said, “And your mother gave me the basketball picture. It was from—”
“The pickup game at Willow’s last summer. She gave me that one, too. I remember being on your shoulders.”
Harley looked at the girls and said, “See? I won the girl.”
Piper smacked his arm. “You’re going to confuse them.” She glanced into the back seat and said, “He did not win me. We were a team, and I’m not his girlfriend.”
“Whatever,” Jolie said, bored with the conversation.
Sophie bounced in her seat. “Guess what? I got an A on my math test.”
“That’s great, Soph,” Piper said. “Congrats.”
“Attagirl, squirt!” Harley held a hand up, and Sophie high-fived him. “Buckle up, peanut. How was your day, Jo?”
“Fine,” she mumbled. “Can we go?”
Piper looked over her shoulder at Jolie and said, “What’s up with the long face?”
Jolie rolled her eyes, and Piper glanced at Harley.
He shrugged. “You’re the queen of eye rolls. This should be right up your alley.”
“I think I’ve got competition for my crown.” Piper glanced at Jolie again and said, “Hey, Jolie. Do you need me to kick some kid’s butt?”
Jolie’s expression softened. She shook her head and looked out the window.
“Did you kick Uncle Harley’s butt? Is that why his ankle is wrapped up?” Sophie asked.
“Darn right I did,” Piper said as she cruised out of the parking lot.
When Piper stopped at the pharmacy to get Harley’s medication, Sophie went with her, skipping through the parking lot, while Jolie stewed in the back seat. Harley tried to figure out new ways to communicate with the females in his life. He was as determined to get through to Jolie and help her deal with whatever was bothering her as he was to prove to Piper that not all the Dutch brothers were destined to break her heart.
But the way his head was swimming, he was pretty sure none of that was going to happen today.
CHAPTER TWO
ON THE WAY to Sweetwater, a short drive from Harmony Pointe, Harley answered dozens of Sophie’s questions about his injury. He made up a story about hurting himself while rescuing a bear from a trap, and Sophie ate it up. Jolie, on the other hand, stared absently out the window. Piper adored Harley’s nieces, and while she worried about both of them, at the moment her mind was on Jolie, who was obviously struggling.
As she drove past the marina and pub, she spotted Harley’s truck in the parking lot and made a mental note to walk up and drive it back to his house. Harley lived only about a mile down the road, on three private wooded acres on Sugar Lake.
When they arrived at his house, the girls piled out.
Harley opened his door and said, “Jolie, take the keys.”
Jolie doubled back to get them. Piper grabbed the pharmacy bag, her mind spinning with lists of things she had to do for work and for Harley. The girls ran up to the door, and Piper had a feeling she’d be adding the girls’ needs to her to-do list. She helped Harley out of the truck and handed him the crutches. He took one and draped his other arm around her neck.
“You have two crutches for a reason,” she said as they made their way up to the porch.
“You have shoulders for a reason, too.”
“I can see it’s going to be a long night,” she said under her breath.
He tapped his head lightly against hers and said, “And you’re lucky enough to get to spend it with me and the girls.”
“You are three of my favorite people,” Piper admitted.
The girls opened the door, and Jiggs barreled out, barking and jumping up on Sophie.
“Jiggs, down,” Piper hollered.
“He’s okay,” Sophie said, giggling as she tumbled to her butt. Jiggs crawled all over her, soaking her face with sloppy kisses.
Jolie stepped around them and went inside.
“Jolie’s having a hard time processing what’s going on with her mom, huh?” Piper asked.
“Yeah. I can’t get her to talk to me. I don’t get it. We used to be so close, but now it’s like I’m the bad guy or something.”
“She’s at that age, but she’s probably scared, too.” She helped Harley up the steps, and Jiggs barked and ran over, knocking into Harley’s sore ankle and jumping up on him.
Harley clutched the railing and winced, but he bent down and loved up his dog, letting Jiggs lick his face. “That’s my boy. Daddy’s home, but you’ve got to watch my ankle.”
Jiggs whimpered and licked him again.
“Come on, Jiggsy!” Sophie yelled as she darted into the house.
Jiggs took off after her, barking up a storm. The happiness on Harley’s face told Piper there was no pain big enough to keep him from seeing that dog and those girls happy.
They headed for the couch in his living room while Jiggs and Sophie played chase. The sounds of Sophie’s laughter, Jiggs’s barking, and feet and claws dashing across the hardwood floors filled the room. Piper dropped the pharmacy bag on the coffee table and helped Harley down to the couch. She let out a breath and wiped her brow. The heavy tools she used and loads she carried at work were nothing compared to this. The guy was heavy.
“Uncle Harley, I’m hungry!” Sophie hollered as she ran past with Jiggs on her heels.
“Apples are in the drawer,” he said, waving a hand in the air.
Sophie and Jiggs bolted into the kitchen. Sophie pulled open the fridge and Piper said, “Soph, maybe you and Jiggs can play chase out on the deck. Jiggs hasn’t been out yet. I’m sure he needs to go to the bathroom.”
“In a minute!” Sophie called out as she ran through the kitchen.
Harley closed his eyes and sighed.
Piper was so used to seeing him take charge. He had to be either hurting or flying high as a kite to be so laid-back. She hoped it was the pills, because the thought of Harley in pain made her ache inside. She pulled the medical instructions out of her back pocket and said, “Okay, let’s see. We need to elevate your ankle.” She grabbed a pillow and placed it under his foot. “You need to rest it, as Felicity said, ice it three times a day for twenty to thirty minutes, keep it wrapped to compress it, and—”
Jiggs jumped over the back of the couch with his leash in his mouth and landed on Harley’s stomach. Harley let out a loud, “Argh!”
“Jiggs!” Piper tried to shoo him off, but Jiggs buried his face in Harley’s armpit and Piper swore the dog was clinging to Harley for dear life. Jiggs looked like he had a French manicure on his big, stubby toes. He was all gray with a white chest, a streak of white down his snout and around his nose, and white tips on each toe.
“It’s okay,” Harley ground out, shifting Jiggs’s feet away from his crotch, wincing as he repositioned his leg. Jiggs licked Harley’s face, and Harley scratched his dog’s head with both hands, kissing his snout.
Lucky dog . . .
Holy cow. Where did that come from?
Harley patted the dog’s back, smiling groggily up
at Piper.
“You spoil him rotten,” she snapped, more harshly than she meant to. But they were both so damn cute, she struggled to keep her worries about those unexpected thoughts in the forefront of her mind.
He winked flirtatiously and said, “I’d spoil you, too, if you’d let me.”
She rolled her eyes and turned away to put the instructions and papers on the coffee table and try to figure out why, when he’d said things like that a million times, she was suddenly thinking a little harder about his words. This was ridiculous. She was just feeling bad that he was hurt and had so much on his plate right now. That had to be it.
She put a hand on her hip and said, “Just don’t complain when Jiggs does it again and lands on your ankle—or your junk.”
A spark of heat flamed in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to speak.
She held up her hand and said, “Don’t. I don’t want to hear any more loopy snippets from you. Got it?”
He closed his mouth and looked at Jiggs, whispering, “She loves me. She’s just fighting it.”
“Dream on, Dutch.” Piper looked up as Jolie skulked down the stairs.
Jolie stood on the bottom riser, holding on to the railing as if ready to flee. “Uncle Harley, did you go to the store today?”
“Crap,” Harley said. “Sorry, honey. I didn’t have time, but there should be more apples in the drawer.”
“Gross,” Jolie said, and she moped back up the steps.
“Let me guess,” Piper said. “You need me to go to the grocery store?”
“Only if you don’t want the girls to starve.”
Jiggs pushed his snout into Harley’s cheek, and Harley petted him.
“Should I let him out before he pees on you?” Piper asked.
“You can try, but he won’t go,” Harley said, stroking the dog’s back. “He’s used to going on an afternoon walk.”
As if on cue, Jiggs lifted his chin, the leash hanging out of his mouth, and he whimpered. Both he and Harley looked at Piper with pleading eyes.
“Of course he is,” she said with a sigh.
“And an evening walk before bed.” Harley stroked Jiggs’s back and said, “Right, buddy?”
Piper rolled her eyes. “I really need to have a talk with your mother about how you were raised. Remind me to warn your future wife to be prepared for spoiled kids and dogs.”
Jiggs barked and crawled across Harley’s stomach, staring up at Piper with his big dark eyes, his floppy, pointed ears adding another pleading dose of cuteness. When he cocked his head to the side at the same time Harley did, she had to laugh.
She grabbed the leash and said, “What have I gotten myself into?”
A few hours later they ordered pizza, eating around the coffee table so Harley wouldn’t have to hobble to the kitchen. Piper made a list of their schedules and realized there was going to be a heck of a lot more to helping Harley than she’d thought. At least she’d remembered to pick up his truck when she’d taken Jiggs for his walk, so that was one less item for her list. But it was the little things that were giving her more of a hard time. Harley had asked her to help him to the bathroom earlier, and when she’d handed him the crutches, he’d said they were annoying. He hadn’t liked her snappy comeback: They’re not the only thing that’s annoying. He’d grabbed the crutches and hobbled to the bathroom, but she’d felt guilty, and when he was done, she’d helped him back to the couch. It was strange seeing Harley unable to fend for himself. She wanted to tough-love him back to his strong, capable self, but knew she couldn’t do that when his ankle was so messed up, which meant she was stuck with feelings she wasn’t sure what to do with.
“My soccer sleepover is Saturday night.” Jolie looked at Harley and said, “Can I still go?”
“Why wouldn’t you be able to go?” Harley asked. “Are you planning on robbing a bank between now and then? Going to get thrown in the slammer?”
The triumphant light in Harley’s eyes, and Sophie’s giggle, told of the funny-uncle status he thought the comment would add to.
Unfortunately, Jolie’s shoulders slumped. “I mean because I need a ride there and back and you can’t drive.”
“But I can,” Piper said, and she added Jolie’s soccer sleepover to her list.
“You don’t mind?” Jolie asked tentatively.
“Of course not. I’m happy to pitch in. Harley, do you have a sleeping bag she can use?”
“Sure do,” he said.
Jolie looked horrified. “Nobody brings sleeping bags.”
Piper looked at Harley, who shrugged. “Okay. No sleeping bag,” she said. “What time is the party?”
“Right after our last game, which is at two,” Jolie said.
“Two o’clock soccer game and then the party—got it. This will be fun. I haven’t been to a school soccer game in . . . well . . . ever.”
Harley chuckled, and then his expression turned serious. He turned his glassy eyes on Piper and said, “Piper was too busy fixing people’s drywall and helping the church paint over graffiti, and whatever other repairs needed doing that a teenage girl could handle.”
Piper was stunned. How did he know about the things she’d done while he was away at college? It wasn’t like they’d hung out together back then. And why was he looking at her like he could see her thoughts? She tore her gaze away, picked up a slice of pizza, and chomped into it, wondering what kind of superpowers were in those pain meds.
“Jo, can you get me a phone number to touch base with the parents who are hosting the party?” Harley asked.
“Okay,” she said in a resigned voice.
Piper felt Harley watching her as she added the soccer game to her list. He wouldn’t be able to drive until he could put pressure on his ankle, which the doctor had told him could take anywhere from a week to several weeks, depending on how much he stayed off it. When he’d taken off the wrap to ice his ankle before dinner, his entire foot was so swollen, it looked fluid filled. He’d taken off the splint and had refused to put it back on after he’d iced his foot. He’d claimed it bothered him too much to wear it. She was determined to keep him off that foot and help him heal.
“Sophie, are you in any sports or other extracurricular activities?” Piper asked.
Sophie bit into her slice of pizza and shook her head. “I don’t like sports.”
“Then after Jolie’s game, you and I can do something fun.” Piper wrote Sophie? next to Jolie’s soccer sleepover.
“Pipe, if you need to work, I’m sure I can bribe one of the guys to help me out with the girls this weekend,” Harley said.
Harley hadn’t asked for help the whole time he’d been taking care of Jolie and Sophie, and he was always willing to help everyone else. Piper didn’t mind helping the man who never asked for a damn thing. In fact, she wanted to.
“It’s okay. Kase can handle things Saturday.” She scanned the list, seeing her work hours dwindle with each item. She knew her crew could handle the project, but as much as she loved the girls, she might lose her mind if she had too much downtime. She was used to working with her hands, swinging hammers and using power tools. It looked like she’d have to find another outlet for a while.
“Thanks, Piper,” Harley said, grabbing another slice of pizza.
“It’s okay. Let me know if anything else comes up that I should put on the schedule.” They’d spoken to Delaney before dinner, but they hadn’t said anything about a visit. “When am I taking the girls to see Delaney?”
“Friday after school,” Sophie answered.
Harley nodded. “That’s right.”
“Got it.” Piper scrawled Girls to Delaney beneath their school pickup. It looked like she’d have Sunday free. She’d catch up on work then. The girls went to school in Harmony Pointe. Even though it was a short drive from Sweetwater, it would take forty-five minutes or longer each way because of the lines in the school parking lot. At least she was working in Harmony Pointe. She wondered how Harley had taken care of all these th
ings with the girls and still managed to run Dutch’s without asking for help.
Jolie finished her pizza and fed the crust to Jiggs, who was sitting between her and Sophie on the floor in front of the couch. Jiggs would eat anything. When Harley first adopted him, he’d eaten an entire jigsaw puzzle that Harley had left on the coffee table.
Jolie put her paper plate on the table and headed for the stairs.
“Hold on, Jo,” Harley said. “Plate in the trash, please.”
Jolie’s shoulders sagged again, but she came back and grabbed her plate.
“Get started on your homework,” Harley said as she headed into the kitchen.
“I know,” she said with an air of frustration.
“Hey!” Harley hollered loudly, but not unkindly.
Jolie threw out her plate and looked over.
“Love you, Jo.” Harley blew her a kiss.
Jolie rolled her eyes and hurried up the stairs, but not before Piper saw the smile appear on her pretty face.
Harley reached down with both hands and gently tipped Sophie’s face up. He leaned over her and said, “Love you, too, kiddo.”
“Love you, Uncle Harley.”
Jiggs put both paws up on the couch beside Harley and whimpered. Harley kissed Sophie’s forehead, then petted Jiggs. He sat back and winked at Piper. “We’ve got a lot of love in this house.”
She Loves Me Page 3