As she made her way to the porch with Jiggs, he said, “Nice shirt.”
“I think so.” She eyed the crutches. “Have everything you need?”
“I do.”
“Motrin, or whatever you’re taking for pain?”
“Got it at the pub,” he said, glad she cared enough to ask. “Would you mind telling me why you threw out my body wash?”
She looked away and said, “I’ll get you a new one.”
“I liked the way that one smelled. Your mom gave it to me.”
“Exactly,” she said sharply. “I’ll get Jiggs inside while you hobble down to the truck.”
He chuckled on the way to the truck. Everyone knew about Roxie Dalton’s famous love potions, although her mother hadn’t said anything about the body wash he’d been buying from her since he came back to town having any funky potions in it.
A few minutes later they pulled up in front of Dutch’s. Harley peered over the seat at the girls and tapped his cheek.
Sophie unhooked her seat belt and kissed him. “Have a good day, Uncle Harley.”
“Thanks, squirt, you too.” He turned his other cheek and said, “Get over here, Jo. You know I’m not getting out of this truck until my cheeks are even.”
Jolie rolled her eyes, sighing exasperatingly as she unhooked her seat belt and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. He’d take it. He was a firm believer that people needed to give and receive love in their lives. And after his father passed away, he swore he’d never leave the ones he loved without letting them know he loved them.
“Have fun at school,” he said, “and remember, we’re seeing your mom this afternoon.”
“I know,” they said in unison.
He winked at them, and then he turned to Piper and said, “How about a little sugar?” He puckered up, and the girls giggled.
Piper scowled and pointed to his door. “Out. Now. Before I slap that goofy look off your face.”
Sophie and Jolie roared with laughter.
“She burned you, Uncle Harley,” Jolie said.
“She loves me. She just has her own way of showing it. See y’all after school. Love ya.” He stepped from the truck and grabbed his crutches. As he settled them under his arms, he grinned at Piper and said, “Love ya, too, Trig. Have a great day at work.”
If looks could kill, he’d have been laid out on the pavement right then.
He chuckled as she drove off, then headed inside.
It felt good to be back at work.
His parents had purchased the pub when they’d moved to Sweetwater right after they were married, before they’d had Delaney. Harley had spent his youth helping his parents after school, washing dishes, doing inventory, and mopping the floors. It was at the pub where he’d first discovered his love of finances. He had always been good with numbers and had taken calculus in tenth grade and college-level math courses at Beckwith University for the remainder of high school. His mother had done the books for the business, and she’d taught Harley how to do them. His father, also a numbers guy, had been reading about the stock market in his office one day, and Harley had quickly become obsessed with the idea of investing in financial markets, how it worked, and the potential it held. By the time he went to college, he knew exactly what he wanted to do for a living, and he’d made it his life goal to work on Wall Street.
Now, as he sat behind the same desk his father had, going over inventory and receipts from the last day and a half, he didn’t miss the all-consuming career he’d once enjoyed. He liked knowing he was carrying on a family legacy, and he hoped one day to have children who might want to do the same, though like his father, he’d never push them into it.
The morning flew by, and he was knee-deep in work when Jasper poked his head into the office and said, “You icing your ankle yet?”
Jasper was a laid-back, good-natured guy, with Matthew McConaughey hair, a little long and curly in the back, and wily eyes. He’d lived in New York City for several years, working in restaurant and bar management, and had come to Sweetwater two years ago. He’d become a loyal employee and a good friend, and he was excellent at managing their part-time bartenders and waitresses.
Harley looked up from the report he was evaluating and said, “Who are you, my mother?”
Jasper strolled into the room, closing the door behind him, and dropped a bag of ice on the desk. “No, but Piper called and said to make sure you took your meds to stay ahead of the pain, and that if you didn’t elevate your ankle and ice it at lunchtime, she’d have my ass.” He carried the chair from the other side of the desk over to Harley. “I’m sure you’d eventually get around to taking care of this, but I do not want to get on that woman’s bad side. I like Piper, but I’ve seen her take guys bigger than me to their knees with her sharp tongue.” He pointed to Harley’s sprained ankle and then he motioned toward the chair.
Harley put his leg on the chair and began unwrapping his ankle. “I love her sharp tongue.” He also liked knowing she cared enough to check on him. “I’m surprised she called you after how pissed she was when she left to come here last night.”
“You guys came here after hours?”
“No. She left my place and headed here for a drink.”
“Then she never made it. Murph and I were here until closing, as you know.” Murphy was one of their waitresses. “Kase and some of the other guys who work for her were here, and Willow and Zane came in for a drink earlier in the evening.” Zane Walker was Willow’s husband. “But I never saw Piper. I figured you finally wrangled her into an after-party.”
Harley didn’t know what to make of Piper not showing up. “She must’ve changed her mind.”
“Guess you struck out, then, huh? I thought maybe she’d feel bad for you being hurt and, you know, give you a pity ride.”
“She does feel bad for me, but I’m not trying to score. I’m interested in making her mine.”
“This is Piper Dalton we’re talking about, right? Little sexy thing with a mouth like a sailor? The one who’s like those little dogs that don’t know they’re small? That Piper?”
“The one and only.” Harley set his ankle wrap aside and pointed to the bag of ice. “Give me that, will ya?”
Jasper winced at the sight of Harley’s bruised, swollen ankle and handed him the bag. “Damn, boss. You shouldn’t even be here. No wonder she called. That looks awful. I’d have my ass on the couch for a week.”
“I’d lose my mind.” He put the ice on his ankle.
“I don’t claim to know everything about Piper Dalton, but she makes no bones about not wanting to get married. Hell, I remember when she was a senior in high school and she turned down three different dates for the prom. She told them all the same thing—that she didn’t do commitments. I get the impression she likes her life just as it is, and you’ve seen her in here with different guys. That’s a woman who likes to have a good time, not the kind of woman looking to become anyone’s permanent squeeze.”
Harley sat back and said, “I’m well aware that she doesn’t want to get married, and she’s been trying to have a good time with all the wrong guys.”
“You must be a glutton for punishment. I’ve seen you hit on her, and I’ve seen her laugh it off like it was a joke too many times to count. She’s got you so deep in the friend zone, you’ll never climb out.”
Their kisses told him otherwise. “You know what my mother said when Delaney’s husband took off? She told Delaney she needed to kiss a lot of toads before she found her prince.”
“Probably because Delaney married the first guy she’d ever kissed. Piper’s been kissing toads for years.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Harley said sarcastically. “Hey, do you think Griff can pull a few strings and get me two seats to the playoff game tomorrow night?” Griffin Lennox, Jasper’s younger brother, played hockey for the New York Ice Caps.
“I can call him, but you sure you want to do that? Your ankle looks horrendously painful. What’s up? You goin
g to see a buddy in the city or something?”
“Nope. I’ve got a date with Piper.”
Jasper sat on the edge of the desk, rubbing his hands together. “Dude, you want to make this woman yours and a hockey game is your play? We seriously need to have a talk. Piper might drink beer and play basketball, but she’s still got a vagina. Trust me on this—women are hardwired to need flowers and shit. It’s like guys needing porn. Hardwired, man. Hard. Wired.”
“Thanks for the dating advice, but I think I know her pretty well. Would you mind making the call?”
Jasper pushed to his feet and held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, man, this is all you. I’ll make the connection, but don’t blame me if the only goals you see Saturday night are on the ice. And take your pain pills, will you? There is only one reason I want to get on my knees for a woman, and this ain’t it.”
The girls were in good moods when they arrived at Harley’s mother’s house, but within minutes Piper noticed that Jolie grew quiet and withdrawn. While Sophie was sitting close to their mother on the couch, talking animatedly about her day at school and last night’s trip to the bookstore, Jolie slowly moved away, putting space between herself and Delaney. Piper’s heart hurt for both of them. Delaney looked exhausted, although she had clearly put effort into looking as healthy and normal as possible for her girls. Her long, layered dark hair was styled, and her makeup was freshly applied. She wore jeans and a loose, soft-looking button-down cotton shirt, but Piper could see she had on a compression garment beneath. Surely to a watchful and insightful twelve-year-old girl who was used to a vivacious mother with endless energy, the fatigued and carefully moving mom before her was a little scary.
“Jolie, tell your mom about the party you’re going to tomorrow,” Harley encouraged. He’d been watching the girls and Delaney as closely as Piper was.
Only Piper was also watching him, finding it hard to breathe every time she allowed herself to think about their kisses and the things he’d said to her.
Jolie fidgeted with a seam on the arm of the couch and said, “Elizabeth is having a slumber party after our last game.”
Delaney reached over to touch Jolie’s hand, but she winced in pain and pulled her arm back. “You love the end-of-season parties. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“I’m spending the night with Aurelia and Ben, and I’m going to help take care of Bea!” Sophie exclaimed.
“Uncle Harley told me,” Delaney said, her eyes running between Harley and Piper. “That’s exciting. What are you going to do with her?”
Piper sat beside Debra on the other couch, gazing out the window that overlooked the front yard. It had been years since she’d been there, and she remembered how special she’d felt when she’d walked into their home as a high school sophomore, holding Marshall’s hand. It turned her stomach to think of how naive she’d been back then. Marshall was her first real boyfriend. They’d been going out for only a couple of weeks when he’d asked her to come over and watch a movie, and she’d been a nervous wreck about everything—how close they should sit, what his parents thought of her, even though they’d known her for practically her whole life, and what Marshall thought of her.
She glanced at Harley sitting in an armchair a few feet away and realized she’d never wondered what he’d thought of her back then. He was a sophomore in college when she was seeing Marshall. He came home often on the weekends and worked at the pub or hung out with Ben and Zane and some of their other friends. But she hadn’t had much interaction with him back then. Although sometimes she’d see Harley walking to or from work when she was fishing out on the lake in the rowboat she and Marshall had made. Back then Harley had just been Marshall’s older brother. He’d come over to chat a few times after she’d docked the boat, though she hadn’t thought much of those conversations, either.
Had he?
Harley glanced at her, catching her lost in thought, and goose bumps rose on her flesh. She shifted her eyes away, hoping his sister and mother hadn’t noticed. Her eyes caught on a framed picture on an end table of Harley standing between Delaney and Marshall, with his arms around them, smiling like he’d never been happier. Harley appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen. He and Marshall looked nothing alike. Marshall’s hair was lighter brown, like their mother’s, and he was tall and athletic, but he’d never been thick-bodied like Harley. Piper had always thought Harley looked just like his father, but now she noticed his smile was all Debra.
They were all smiling in the picture, but Piper saw a hint of restlessness in Marshall’s eyes. Why hadn’t she noticed it back then?
Debra put a hand on Piper’s forearm, startling her. She reminded Piper of Katey Sagal, with long, layered hair a shade lighter than Harley’s and a slightly long face with high cheekbones.
Debra leaned closer, speaking in a hushed voice. “My Marshall broke a lot of hearts, mine included. But I have hope that one day he’ll find his way back to us.”
Piper had always considered herself lucky that Marshall hadn’t returned to Sweetwater to build his life. She didn’t relish the idea of seeing him on a daily basis. When his father got sick and he didn’t come home, she’d written him off as an even bigger asshole than when he’d cheated on her. And when he came home for the funeral, she’d thought he was there to make things better and she’d been nervous about seeing him again. But she’d never had the chance. He’d taken off before the day was done, and she’d considered herself lucky once again. Now she realized how selfish that was. She might not want to see him, but Debra needed him. Did Harley? Delaney? How about the girls? Marshall had been such a troublemaker when they were younger, egging Piper on to streak down Main Street, getting her to sneak out at night, and going to parties all the time. When he’d disappeared, she’d assumed he was one of those guys who would never grow up.
But now that she saw the other side of what she thought had been luck, she felt guilty and said, “I hope he does.”
“Don’t hold your breath.” Harley held Piper’s gaze and said, “He’s the least loyal person I know. There’s a reason he was never able to hold on to a girlfriend.”
Piper hadn’t realized he was listening, and the irritation—jealousy?—in his eyes told her he’d heard every word and had taken them wrong.
“People change,” his mother said.
Harley shook his head.
“Did Uncle Harley tell you he tried to get Piper to kiss him this morning?” Sophie asked with a giggle. “She wouldn’t do it. It was funny.”
“Oh boy,” Piper said, cringing inwardly. Delaney didn’t need to worry about her brother making moves on Piper while he was supposed to be taking care of her children. She had been through enough worries for one lifetime. Piper caught Delaney’s eyes and said, “It wasn’t like that.”
“It was exactly like that, Dee,” Harley said.
“All my children have a little mischief in them.” Debra patted Piper’s arm and said, “If he tried once, he’ll try again.”
Piper felt her eyes rolling and stopped them because everyone was looking at her. Her stomach knotted uncomfortably, but she managed to wink at Jolie and scowl at Harley, who had the nerve to chuckle, and said, “Uncle Harley is a big goofball, isn’t he, Jo? He kisses everyone, even his dog.”
Jolie nodded, and she even smiled a little.
“Maybe you went out with the wrong brother in high school,” Delaney teased. “Harley would have been a safer bet. I’d choose a dog kisser over a cheerleader kisser any day.” She laughed, then winced in pain, and her hand flew to her chest. “Ow, ow,” she said softly.
The color drained from Jolie’s face, and it took all of Piper’s control not to go to her, but to let her family console her.
“Are you okay, Mom?” Sophie asked.
“I’m fine, baby,” Delaney said. “Just a little twinge of pain.”
Jolie pushed to her feet and said, “I’m going outside.”
Delaney frowned. Piper felt her heart tearing
right down the middle. She wanted to go after Jolie, to hug her and tell her everything would be okay, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, Sophie jumped up and yelled, “Wait for me!” and ran after her.
Piper couldn’t hold back and leave those girls on their own to figure out how to handle this. She and Debra stood at the same time.
“I’ll bring them some cookies. You stay and visit,” Debra said.
Piper sat down, looking at Harley, who was having some sort of stare down with Delaney.
“What are you not telling me?” Delaney asked. “She hasn’t been herself since she walked in the door.”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” Harley said, moving to sit beside her.
“I’m worrying, Harley,” Delaney said angrily. “Those girls are my world. I hate not being able to run after Jolie, to take her in my arms and make her feel safe. That’s my job.” Tears welled in her eyes.
“I know, Dee, but right now your job is to heal so you can take care of them,” he said. “If you do too much, your healing will take longer. We’re keeping communication open with Jolie, reassuring her about what’s going on with you, and Piper bought her a diary, which she’s using. She’s going to be okay. We’re not leaving her to fend for herself. The girls are going to be home for good in a week. Seven more days, Dee, then they’re all yours.”
Piper moved to Delaney’s other side and said, “Harley’s taking really good care of both of them. He’s patient and loving with them, Delaney. I know Jolie is hurting and scared, and she’s twelve. That’s a hard age. Remember what it was like? Everything changes when you’re twelve. Suddenly boys mean something, and friends form cliques, and every emotion feels new and big and overwhelming. Yes, it’s harder for her with you recovering from surgery, but she’s learning to get through it and we’re both watching out for her and Sophie. Harley’s right. You need to focus on getting better so she sees that you’re okay.”
Delaney wiped her eyes and said, “It’s so hard. I used to worry about what effect my working as a single mom would have on them and whether I could do enough at work to maintain a leg up in the firm. Now everything’s changed. I am fighting for my life—for their mother’s life. I have no idea if cancer will come back someplace else. I’m terrified. How can they not be?”
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