by K. L. Ramsey
“I’m off, Tag. I’m meeting everyone at the launch site to go over everything and I’ll be in touch every two hours while I’m gone. You good, man?”
Tag nodded and tried for a nonchalant smile. Torren just laughed and waved on his way out the door. Yeah, nonchalant was just not his thing.
***
After a long day at her shop, the last thing Piper wanted to do was have a girls’ night in, but she’d promised Sunny and their new friend Maddie. Jack and Maddie had moved to town a few months back and they’d all become instant friends. Maddie was fast becoming someone who Piper trusted. That was a small circle, so Piper was grateful for the new friendship.
Sunny showed up first, bearing some yummy looking dessert with chocolate smeared all over the top. Maddie ran up the pathway, shouting something about bringing pizza, which won her a cheer from both Sunny and Piper.
“I’ve got the wine,” Piper added. “Well, Sunny and I get wine, sorry Mads. You had to go and get pregnant and ruin all of our fun.” Maddie smiled and palmed her barely-there bump, as if it was the best thing she’d ever seen.
“Yeah, that’s what happens when you can’t keep your hands off your hot husband.” Sunny and Piper both groaned at their friend’s bliss and they all filed into Piper’s cheery little kitchen.
After Lorna had moved out, she and Sunny went through the house painting all the rooms bright, happy colors. Her kitchen was her favorite; it was a lemon- yellow color. It reminded her of her best friend and made her smile, even on her darkest days.
They took their plates, piled high with food, into Piper’s family room, which was painted a pretty sky blue. In the corner she kept her dad’s brown leather chair , which Maddie claimed. They all sunk down to devour the pizza. Since they could never agree on a topping, they always settled for cheese pizza. It was still good enough to groan over, which they all did. About half way through dessert, Sunny filled Maddie in on Piper’s day of breaking poor Tag’s heart.
“Fifty-two times,” Maddie repeated, after Sunny updated the number of denials. “I just don’t get it Piper. You have eyes, you can see how beautiful that man is. Why not say yes, just once? Unless what I have heard about you in town is true. In which case, never mind.”
Maddie seemed determined to know the truth. There was no way Piper was going to get out of this discussion.
“I’m pretty sure I can guess what they are still saying around town. To answer your question, no I am not a lesbian. Not that any of that matters, but it has nothing to do with why I keep telling Tag no.” Piper was hoping that would be enough to keep Maddie happy. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep Sunny quiet. Her best friend knew everything and could probably guess the reason poor Tag never got his “yes”.
“You’re just being a big chicken, Piper. I know that you’re afraid of losing someone close to you, but we all are.” Piper tried to interrupt, but Sunny held up her hand to stop her from speaking. “Piper, if you don’t take a chance, you’re never really going to experience life. Do you think your parents would want you to live like this? Do you think your mother would want you to be alone for the rest of your life because you live in fear of losing someone? They both would want you to be happy and in love with someone that can give you that happiness. I know that terrifies you but give Tag a chance. I know you think he’s hot, I see the way that you look at him when you think he’s not watching. Just say yes Pipe.”
Piper couldn’t stop her tears; she stood and went into the kitchen. Maddie tried to follow, but Sunny stopped her. “Just let her go. She’ll be back in a few minutes and pretend that everything is fine again.”
Hearing the disappointment in her friend’s voice as she left the room tore at her heart. But Sunny was right. She needed to get herself together and pretend that everything was alright; it was how she’d got through these past thirteen years.
***
Sunny couldn’t help but feel sad for her friend. Maddie didn’t know the whole story from Piper’s past, but she was still a good friend to them both.
“She just needs a swift kick in the ass.” Sunny was pacing in front of where Maddie stood, trying to get her temper in check. She was usually a pretty easygoing person, but when Piper was hurting, she wanted to fix everything for her.
Piper’s phone chimed on the coffee table, pulling them both back to the present. Sunny glanced at the incoming message and choked back her laugh. Piper had signed up for one of those dating apps and she’d received a notice that someone was a match, in their area. Sunny couldn’t help herself; she picked up Piper’s phone and opened the message.
“Well, damn.” She held up the phone for Maddie to see what she’d found—a message that Taggart Harrison was a match for Piper. “I could have told them both this, but no one listens to me.” Sunny shook her head, laying the phone back on the table.
“Why would Piper be on a dating app if she doesn’t want to date anyone?”
Maddie had a valid point. Sunny picked up Piper’s phone again and looked at Tag’s profile. He really was a man of few words. He’d put that he was looking for a woman who was outdoorsy. Sunny was pretty sure that wasn’t even a word. And for his ideal date he’d written, “Someone who likes pizza”. Yeah, Tag was a simple man. He knew what he wanted and he just asked for it, using as few words as possible.
Sunny smiled, a plan forming in her head. She knew that these two belonged together, she just needed to make sure that they had a chance.
“How about we just give them a little push.” Sunny silenced Piper’s phone and slipped it into her pocket.
“What are you doing? Piper will know that you have her phone.” Maddie seemed a little panicked at the sight of Sunny stealing Piper’s cell.
“No, she loses this thing about five times a day. I can’t tell you how many times she’s left it in my bakery after a visit. I’ll just leave it there when I’m finished setting up a little date between her and Tag. She won’t even question her phone being at my place.”
Maddie’s smile told Sunny that she was on board for helping to throw Tag and Piper together. Sunny knew she liked the new girl!
“Guys, I’m sorry for my outburst.” Piper returned, as if on cue, from the kitchen with her eyes dried and a smile plastered on her face. “So, what did I miss?”
Sunny couldn’t help her laugh, Maddie pulled Piper into a tight hug and they all fell to the sofa to finish their desserts. It was as if Piper’s life wasn’t about to change, but Sunny knew better. As soon as she could get home, she was going to set up two people who deserved some happiness- together. Whether Piper liked it or not, it was for her own good.
Chapter Three
Tag jumped at the chime from his phone. He was working in the storage room after store hours to get everything together for Piper’s trip. It was going to be Piper, Sunny, Maddie, and her husband Jack going on the hike. He was getting to know Jack since he’d moved to town a few months ago, but he still felt they needed one more guy, to even out the group. Truthfully, he hoped they wouldn’t mind his best friend, Aaron Steele tagging along. He needed someone there who knew what he’d gone through, asking Piper out weekly and being turned down flat each time. Aaron knew everything, he was the only one who could run interference if Tag needed. Plus, it didn’t hurt to have a fire fighter on the trip, just in case of emergency. Aaron knew the local area about as well as Torren and Tag did. He could just tell Piper and Sunny that he needed Aaron on their little trip as back up, it really wouldn’t be a lie. It was best to lead groups out with another team member. They hadn’t hired summer help yet, but the season would soon be in full swing. It was time to look at some of the applications that college students dropped off. For now, he knew he could rely on Aaron to give him a hand with Piper’s day hike.
Tag pulled his phone from his jean pocket and saw that someone had been found as a match. He needed to swipe right if he liked the person, left if he didn’t. He felt a moment’s panic at having to make a decision when Piper’s prof
ile picture popped up on his screen.
Piper was on a dating app? How was that possible? He had never seen her with anyone, not even as a teenager. She was either with Sunny or Lorna, or she was alone.
Tag stood, frozen in place, clutching his phone. He broke out in a cold sweat and felt sick to his stomach. If he swiped right, would she want to go out with him? If not, he didn’t know if he could stand her rejection again. If he rejected Piper and swiped left, he might never get another chance with her. God, what if someone else wanted to go out with her, he’d never forgive himself for not taking one more chance on Piper. He couldn’t stop himself, he swiped right, which automatically opened a dialogue with Piper and honestly scared him shitless.
Her comment popped up immediately.
Hey, so when and where do you want to meet?
Tag took a minute to just stare at her question. No niceties, no formalities, she just got down to the nitty gritty. He could deal with that, he preferred things that way. He was a simple guy. He didn’t want to get into anything too deep with Piper for fear of scaring her off, especially now that she was finally giving him a chance.
I’m up for whatever.
There, that way she could come up with what they would be doing. He wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible.
How about we do that new Escape Room, over in Estes? We can grab pizza after.
Piper had obviously read about pizza being part of his perfect date. Geez, now he wished he would have put a little extra effort into his profile. He wanted to take Piper someplace nice. Maybe even a local lodge, to have a nice dinner, even dress up. The past year of begging her for a date had really given him time to think of what a perfect night with Piper would look like. Hell, he dreamed of booking a room in the lodge for after dinner and showing Piper just how much he wanted her. But he knew that would definitely scare her away.
Sounds good, I’ll pick you up at 5pm tomorrow night. Can you find someone to cover your shop?
Lorna will cover for me, but I’ll meet you at the Escape Room, I have an errand to run first
Tag knew that she was avoiding spending extra time alone with him, but he’d take it.
See you there
He logged out of the app, not quite sure how he felt about the whole thing. He started to wonder why Piper had had a change of heart. After fifty-two times of turning him down, why had she changed her mind now? He decided not to question it. He’d take the win and find a way to convince Piper to give him a chance.
***
The next day, Piper was emotionally drained. She’d had a fitful night filled with nightmares. Most of them involving her parents, much like the ones that plagued her every night. But last night, she’d dreamed about Tag. He was standing on the edge of a cliff, trying to reach her but he couldn’t. She was screaming for him to help her, but he just laughed at her. He walked away leaving her to fall to her death. She woke just before she hit the rocky ground, and was unable to fall back to sleep. It was going to be a long day, especially since hers began at 4am.
She decided to get dressed and head over to Sunny’s bakery. Maybe a freshly baked pastry and some coffee would make her feel better. Just seeing Sunny usually helped her mood. She had the whole morning to spend with her best friend, since Scrumptious didn’t open until 11am. Honestly, she could eat ice cream for breakfast, and had in the past. But today’s overcast skies and cool temperatures made her crave coffee, pastry and Sunny’s company.
Piper grabbed her keys and realized her phone wasn’t sitting in its usual place, on her entry table. “Great, I’ve lost it again.” She was constantly losing her phone. Most of the time she either left it in her shop or over in Sunny’s back kitchen. She could have sworn that she’d brought it home with her last night though. “Oh well, It’s probably at the shop.” She headed next door, to her shop, but didn’t find her phone. Sunny must have it. She was always teasing Piper that she needed to have the phone permanently attached to her body.
She skipped through Sunny’s back door to find her friend singing, dancing, and baking the morning’s special: blueberry muffins. Piper loved Sunny’s blueberry muffins.
“Hey girl,” Piper shouted over the music. Sunny jumped and squealed, startled by the interruption.
“Geez Pipe, you scared me!” Sunny turned down her country music, leaving flour on the knob. “Why are you awake?”
Piper looked around Sunny’s kitchen, searching for her phone.
“I couldn’t sleep. Have you seen my phone? I must have left it here, I’ve checked everywhere else.” Piper noticed Sunny’s back stiffen as she began to stir the batter.
“Nope, haven’t seen it. Did you check your shop?”
“Yeah, not there. Damn it, I must have lost it again.”
Sunny laughed and folded in the fresh blueberries, making Piper’s mouth water.
“Pipe, you lose that phone every other minute.” Sunny shook her head.
“The crazy thing is, I could have sworn that I took it home with me last night.” Piper lifted a stack of papers that Sunny had in on the back counter. Her friend wasn’t the best at the paperwork part of owning a business. She really needed a personal assistant to keep track of everything.
“Hey, I almost forgot to tell you—Maddie and I want to take you someplace fun tonight, for your birthday.”
Piper groaned at the thought of having to go out tonight. She’d barely slept last night; she was already exhausted, and it was only 5:30am.
“No, I just want to stay in and hopefully sleep tonight. I don’t want to go out. Besides, you two are taking me on a hike on Thursday, that’s enough birthday fun for me.” Piper snuck a few blueberries while Sunny put the first batch of muffins into her industrial ovens. She turned towards Piper, wiping her flour-covered hands on her apron.
“Pipe, you need to enjoy life a little, it’s your birthday week. Live it up!” Piper couldn’t help but smile at Sunny. Her friend was always so optimistic, even when covered in flour at the break of dawn. She just couldn’t say no to her.
“Fine, what are we doing tonight?”
Sunny’s smile brightened. She always seemed to know just what to say to Piper, to get her way.
“Well, Mads and I thought it would be fun to go to that new Escape Room in Estes.”
Piper groaned again, thinking about how much energy it was going to take to actually escape from one of those rooms. “I don’t know, Sunny. That sounds like a lot of work.”
Sunny laughed, wrapping her arms around Piper’s neck. “Hopefully it will be a night you will never forget.” She kissed Piper’s cheek, probably leaving flour behind.
“Well, I don’t think that will be the case, unless we can’t escape and we all die in a tiny room, together. That would be pretty unforgettable.” Piper wiped at her cheek, causing Sunny to pull her closer.
“Always the optimist, Pipe.” Sunny kissed her one last time and then released her to check her muffins.
Piper turned to leave, deciding that she needed to get a jump start on her day if she was going to have any energy for tonight.
“I’ll pick you up at 4:30. I’ve already talked to your aunt and she’ll watch your shop.”
Piper nodded. Arguing with Sunny wouldn’t get her far. Sometimes she felt it was best to just give in to her best friend. Life was just easier that way.
***
Tag waited outside of the Escape Room, hoping that Piper wouldn’t chicken out. He knew that her agreeing to a date was a long shot; her showing up would take a miracle. He was hoping for a miracle. When he decided to ask her out, last year, he never thought that it would turn into a year of him basically begging her for a date. He’d never had to beg any woman to go out with him. About halfway through the year, he’d thought about giving up. She wasn’t budging on her answer and he was starting to get lonely. It had been a year and a half since he’d been on a date, and he was determined to break that spell with Piper. He wasn’t sure what it was about her that drew him to he
r, but he needed to find out. Piper was his siren, calling to him. The problem was, she didn’t know that. Until she responded to the dating app, he thought she would never agree to a date. He just hoped that he would get his chance. She still wasn’t there and with every minute that passed, he worried.
At 5:10pm, his phone chimed. It was a message from Piper; this time she’d just texted him directly instead of going through the app.
Hey, I’m running late. Can you get the room for us and I’ll meet you inside?
He smiled at his phone; she was going to show up. His heart started racing, his palms even felt a little sweaty. Piper had effectively turned him into a teenage boy again. Torren would have a field day with the way he was acting over a woman. He texted back that he’d be waiting inside for her. He was finally going to get his chance with Piper. A part of him wished that they’d never find their way out of the Escape Room—he’d be good with some extra one-on-one time with her.
***
Sunny stalled Tag, asking him to get a room for them. Her and Maddie’s plan wouldn’t work if Piper caught onto the date before she was locked into the room. If everything went well, Piper and Tag would be locked in a room, alone, until they figured a way out. Sunny couldn’t hide her smile as she texted Tag from Piper’s phone. She had Maddie drive, letting Piper sit shotgun. This gave her privacy to use the phone she’d “borrowed” from Piper.
“I wish I could figure out why you are so damn happy back there, Sunny.” Piper’s voice broke through her concentration and she hid the phone under her thigh.
“Nothing, really.” Sunny hoped she sounded casual, but she felt as giddy as a school girl. She loved the idea of Piper finally finding happiness.
Sunny couldn’t remember the last time that she saw Piper truly happy. She seemed to find a new normal after she returned from New York. Sunny knew that Piper loved Lorna and that she wasn’t unhappy growing up with her aunt. But she remembered how Piper was before her parents’ deaths. She wasn’t the same fun-loving girl that Sunny recalled. She knew that Piper distanced herself from everyone as a defense mechanism. She even tried to remove Sunny from her life, but that was just not acceptable. There was no way Sunny would ever have let Piper just disappear from her life; she was like a sister to her. Sunny fought hard to be part of Pipe’s life and she knew that her friend was worth every ounce of trouble.