by K. L. Ramsey
“Oh Tag, when your sarcasm shows, you sound like Torren. I won’t hold that against you though.” She ordered Tag another beer and herself a burger. The girl could pack away some food.
Sunny leaned forward, almost as if she had a secret to whisper to Tag. He found himself leaning towards her, waiting. “I know where Piper is staying, and I know her grandmother’s address. You’ll just need to stake out the building until Pipe shows up. She has a meeting scheduled with a real estate auction company in two days. I bet you’ll find her at her grandmother’s apartment that day.”
Tag dropped the rest of his burger on his plate. “Why make me suffer, Sunny? Why didn’t you tell me all this days ago?” He motioned for the waitress. He couldn’t waste time sitting around with Sunny when he could be spending his time convincing Piper to come home with him.
“Pipe needed time and, frankly, so did you. You were angry and grumpy for days. I know Piper probably wasn’t in much better shape than you were. You two belong together, but that doesn’t mean that everything is going to be easy. You expected Piper to forget all the pain that she experienced, fall in love with you, and live happily ever after. Well, that’s not Pipe. She’s been through more shit than anyone I’ve ever met. You both have. You just need to figure a way to live with your crappy pasts and make each other happy, now and in the future.”
Tag sat back in his seat, weighing Sunny’s words. She wasn’t wrong. He thought he could fix Piper, but she didn’t need fixing. She just needed to be loved. Shit.
“I’m in love with her, Sunny,” Tag almost whispered.
Sunny laughed and reached across the table to take his hand, squeezing it in hers. “I know, you dumb giant. I’ve known that for a year now. It just took the both of you a while to catch up. I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about you, but I’ll let her tell you that. You’re just going to have to be patient with her while she figures it all out. Whatever you do, Tag, just don’t give up on her. She’s one of a kind.”
Tag pulled Sunny’s hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “Thanks for being such a good friend, to both of us.”
Sunny blushed, slapping Tag’s hands away. “Enough mushy shit, just go get our girl!”
For the first time in more than a week, Tag felt hopeful. He paid their bill and kissed Sunny on his way out. He needed to pack a bag and book a flight to New York. He was going to claim the woman that he loved, whether she was ready for him or not.
***
Piper wasn’t sure how much longer she could stretch out her stay in New York. She had gone through all her grandmother’s belongings and decided to keep only a few items, mostly family pictures and a few sweet figurines of angels. She loved angels and, after reading the letter, felt that maybe that one connection was enough to find some common ground.
She really tried not to think too much about her grandmother’s words. She had lived the exact opposite life that Agnes had hoped for her. Would her father really want her to find love? She knew that her parents had loved her and that they’d loved each other. They were always touching and kissing in front of her, usually to her squeals of “gross”. Would they have wanted that for her? Was she so consumed with losing them that she had forgotten to live?
She had arranged to meet with the estate auctioneer this afternoon, then she would be finished with her business in New York. She would never really get used to being wealthy, so she was choosing to ignore her newfound money. Sure, staying in one of the ritziest hotels in New York was nice, but she was determined not to let it change her. She’d go back to Colorado and figure things out from there.
She needed to face her friends and family to apologize for just leaving. She also needed to face Tag—she owed him an apology too. She needed him to know that it wasn’t his fault. When she left, she’d blamed him for doing his job. He was good at it too. Being in the adventure business was a part of him. She couldn’t imagine him not hiking up the side of a mountain to save someone if the situation arose. How could she ask him to give that up? She would be asking him to give up who he was, and she wasn’t willing to do that. He shouldn’t have to change for her, to accommodate her fears.
It was time for Piper to face the darkness that had consumed her for so long. She needed to do it for her parents and for Lorna and Sunny. She needed to do it for herself, to find the happiness that her grandmother spoke of. The time for being a chicken was over. Piper greeted the doorman at Agnes’s apartment and took the elevator up to the penthouse. She would have her meeting and then she was going to find a way to take her life back.
Chapter Eighteen
Tag watched Piper as she came out of the building that matched the address that Sunny gave him and turned the corner. He was desperate to call out to her, but afraid that, if he spooked her, she would run again. He carefully stepped into her path as she was searching in her bag for something. She seemed to be in a hurry. He couldn’t let her get into her waiting car—she would disappear from his life again and he couldn’t handle that, not after he’d traveled this far.
He reached out to catch her as she ran into his body, still not paying attention to where she was going or her surroundings.
“Oh—excuse me, I—”
Piper looked up from rummaging through her oversized bag to find that she had landed in Tag’s arms. Her eyes widened with the realization that he was standing in front of her.
“Miss Flynn, are you alright?”
Piper’s oversized driver tried to pull her away from Tag, but he refused to let her go. Piper was his and she was the only one that could tell him that she wanted out. God, she’d already done that, back home. But he was here now. He wanted another shot at, well, everything.
“Ma’am?”
The brawny driver waited for Piper to respond, his hand on her upper arm. Tag wanted to pull her away from his grasp, but he also didn’t want to rush her. Piper needed to figure out what she wanted, and he prayed that it was him.
“Piper, honey, you need to tell your driver that you’re okay.” He knew that her driver’s patience was wearing thin, he could feel the tension rolling off the guy. Tag couldn’t take his eyes off Piper, the way she looked at him, as if she was both confused and happy to see him, all at once.
“Yes,” she stuttered, “I’m fine. This is a friend of mine from Colorado.”
Tag flinched at the term “friend”, but he’d take it. At least she wasn’t denying knowing him altogether. Her driver eased back, leaned against his SUV and waited for Piper.
“Tag, what are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Sunny,” they said in unison.
Piper groaned. “How could she do this to me? I needed time.”
“I gave you time, honey. It’s been almost two weeks. I’ve been in hell waiting for you to come back, not knowing where you were, not being able to touch you or talk to you. It’s been agonizing. I’m done waiting, Piper.”
He didn’t miss the slight hitch in her breath or the way her eyes hooded with desire. Tag wanted to kiss her, but he knew that she could still bolt. He needed to get her where they could talk, preferably without her driver listening in.
“Is there someplace that we can talk, Pipe?” She seemed to weigh her options, going over the pros and cons of the situation, as she always did. His Piper. God how he’d missed her. She was always so careful, so calculated. She nodded her agreement and Tag exhaled the breath that he didn’t realize he had been holding.
Piper motioned towards the bulky driver and expensive car. “Do you mind if we take my car? It’s already here.”
Now it was Tag’s turn to consider his options. On the one hand, he knew that if he got into Piper’s car, they could go someplace to be alone. On the other hand, her driver would be privy to their conversation while they were in the car.
As if on cue, Piper laughed, reaching for his hand. “Tag, it’s not a hard decision, you want to ride to my hotel or meet me there?” He definitely didn’t want to let Piper out of h
is sight, so his answer was clear.
“We can take your car.”
The driver opened the door and Piper slid into the back seat. Tag was starting to get the feeling that this guy was more than just a driver for Piper and the idea was really rubbing him the wrong way. It had only been two weeks—had Piper had time to move on? He eyed the guy as he slid in next to Piper. He wanted to pull her onto his lap or crush his mouth to hers to send a clear message, but he knew that they weren’t quite at that point. First, they needed to talk. Then, he would convince Piper that they belonged together. He didn’t give a fuck about her driver or what he was to her. Piper belonged with him, in Colorado or wherever else she wanted to be. He didn’t care as long as she let him come along for the ride.
***
They pulled out into the New York traffic, something Piper was getting used to. She was a small-town girl at heart but there was something about being able to get lost in a big city, especially one the size of New York. No one here knew her story and she liked that. She didn’t have to put up with whispers and pity glances from people who knew who she was and what had happened to her family. Here, she was just a number. She was one of the millions of New Yorkers that just existed in the city. Except, she missed home. She knew that she wanted to end up back in Colorado with Sunny and Lorna and, God help her, Tag. But she also knew that moving forward meant that she had to relive some of her painful past.
Just after her meeting with the estate auctioneer, she’d called the precinct that she’d spent the night in all those years ago. Of course, they didn’t remember her. She explained who she was and what had happened to her parents and, while the officer was sympathetic, she had heard hundreds of stories like Piper’s. She asked about Officer Kennedy, the kind man that had held her hand and talked softly to her. She’d never got the chance to thank him—she was young and in shock. He probably didn’t expect to be thanked—heck, he probably didn’t even remember her—but she needed to tell him how much it had meant to her that he’d taken care of her until her aunt could get to New York.
She was able to get Officer Kennedy’s number and was hoping he would want to meet with her. Tag showing up had thrown a wrench in that plan. If she told him what she wanted to do, he would insist on going with her. While she loved that he wanted to protect her, this was something that she needed to do on her own.
“Listen, Tag, this isn’t a good time.” He did a double take, looking at her as if she was crazy. She almost wanted to laugh but knew him well enough to know that now wasn’t the time for humor. Instead, she reached for his hand instead and linked their fingers.
“I have things left to do here, and I can’t have you talking me out of them or even distracting me. I need to finish what I’ve started for us to have any chance at a future.”
Tag pulled her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers, lighting up an ache in her soul.
“Honey, you take all the time in the world, I’m not going anywhere.” Tag watched her, awaiting her response.
“I need to do this alone, Tag. I can’t have you picking me up every time I fail at life. I need to find my own strength.” Piper hoped that he would understand that she was doing this for them, not just herself.
“I want a future with you, but I can’t have that until I straighten out my past. I want to meet with the officer that helped me that day—”
She paused, almost not wanting to say exactly what day she was referring to.
“—the day that my parents died. I’ve never talked to anyone about this. Well, except for my therapist. Not even Sunny or Lorna have heard this story.”
Tag undid his seatbelt and slid closer to her, pulling her legs over his lap.
“You can tell me whatever you need to, Piper. Nothing you say will ever make me not want you.” Tag dipped his head down to gently kiss her lips. God, she missed him. She especially missed the way he held her and kissed her. She needed him like she needed her next breath, but she also needed to stand on her own.
“The day my parents died, I was there. I watched the entire scene through the windows of a convenience store. It was almost like I was watching a movie or a show, like it wasn’t really happening to me. But it was—it did. I froze, too afraid to run into that store. All I could do was watch them die.”
“I’m so glad that you were too afraid to run into that store, honey. You wouldn’t be here now if you had. I wouldn’t be able to touch you or tell you that I love you.”
Piper sucked in a big breath, not wanting to feel so much hope. That emotion was dangerous and wonderful all at the same time.
“Tag, I just—”
She was shaking her head and crying, Tag wiped a tear from her cheek.
“It’s okay, honey. You don’t have to say it back. I just needed you to know how I feel. I love you, it’s simple for me. I know that it’s not that easy for you. I’m a patient man, Piper. I’ve got time, I’m not going anywhere.”
Piper couldn’t help her tears. She wanted to say those words back, but they seemed to be caught in her throat. All she seemed to be able to do was nod and cry. She needed to get the rest out, to tell him the whole story. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath, determined to continue.
“After they were taken, the gunman turned his gun on me, aimed it right through the glass window. The only reason he didn’t pull the trigger was because the second guy heard the sirens and convinced him to leave. The only thing I could do was stay with our luggage. I was a coward. I was weak.”
Piper hid her face in her hands, unable to stop the tears and shame that she felt. She knew that it was irrational to blame herself, she didn’t take her parents’ lives. But she’d done nothing to try to prevent them from dying. The what-ifs that she lived with daily were keeping her from living in the present. They were keeping her from happiness with Tag. It was now or never. She needed to put all her ghosts to rest to be able to move on with the man that she loved.
“I’m going to try to meet with the officer that found me that day. I want him to get me into the prison to meet with the monster that took my parents from me.”
Tag’s gasp filled the cabin of the SUV; she knew that he was going to try to stop her.
“Tag, it’s the only way to move forward.” She knew that she was taking a risk, but this meeting was so important to her. Tag finally nodded his agreement and she pulled out her cell to punch in the number she’d been given earlier. She needed to put her plan into motion before she chickened out or Tag tried to stop her.
She held back tears as the phone rang once, twice and, on the third ring, a familiar man’s voice answered. She would never forget it—it was one of the only comforts that she remembered from that day.
Her words seemed to stutter out.
“Hello, my name is Piper Flynn. I don’t know that you will remember me, but I would like to meet with you.”
The sharp gasp on the other end told her all she needed to know. Officer Kennedy remembered her.
Chapter Nineteen
Tag felt helpless as the car pulled up to the address that Piper had programmed into the GPS. He knew that whatever happened today could change everything for her. He just hoped that their relationship wasn’t one of the things that changed. He’d agreed to her plan, but he didn’t think that it was the best thing for her. Piper was right about one thing—she needed to find a way to move forward. If this was the path that led her to find healing, he’d walk down it with her, hand in hand.
He moved to get out of the car when Piper placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
“Tag, I need to do this by myself. I appreciate that you want to help me with all of this—I wouldn’t have the courage to do any of this without you— but this next step is mine; I need to find my way through this alone.”
Tag hesitated, not quite sure what to do. On one hand, he understood her passion for wanting to make it through this by herself. But on the other, he wanted to be there for her. They were a team and she needed to rem
ember that.
“Honey, I admire your courage. You are probably the strongest person that I have ever known. But you need to remember that we are a team now. You made me promise not to go off and do anything stupid and you promised to trust me. I need for you to give me a chance to be there for you. Otherwise, it’s still just you against the world. I’m your partner in crime now, remember?”
Piper nodded her head. “I remember.” Her hand still on Tag’s shoulder, she paused, staring out the windshield. “What if you hear something that makes you change your mind about me—about us?”
Tag pulled her hand from his shoulder and cradled it in his.
“Honey, there is nothing that anyone in this whole wide world could ever say to make me change my mind about you or us. I told you that I’m in love with you; that’s not going to change. Just let me be there for you, Pipe.”
She nodded again, and Tag relaxed some. He knew there was no way that he was going to let Piper go it alone, so it would be easier if she finally agreed to let him in.
“Well, Officer Kennedy is waiting for me. Let’s not keep him.”
Tag breathed a sigh of relief as he rounded the car to Piper’s side. He just hoped that this captain would be able to talk some sense into her. The last thing he wanted to do was watch the woman he loved face the monsters from her past. They needed to find another way to move forward together. Their future together depended on it.
***
Piper wasn’t sure what she expected to gain from meeting with Captain Kennedy. After he’d recovered from his initial shock of hearing from her after all these years, he told her that he’d stayed with the department and worked his way up to captain.
Now that they were in front of his house, she wondered if this was all worth it. When she got the information that she needed to contact him, she was afraid to call for fear that he wouldn’t want to meet with her. She needed to at least tell him how much she appreciated everything that he’d done for her all those years ago.