by K. L. Ramsey
“I know that, but I should have been in the store with them, not sitting on the sidewalk. I should have died with them that day. Then, you wouldn’t have had to give up your own life to raise me. You didn’t think twice, just moved in with me and didn’t look back. Lorna, I owe you everything.”
Lorna shook her head. The last thing she needed was for Piper to think that she “owed her” for taking care of her. She wouldn’t have had it any other way. Piper wasn’t an obligation, she was her life.
“Pipe, I wouldn’t change one minute of my life. I regret losing my sister and her husband. It makes me incredibly sad that you had to grow up without them, that you had to witness what you did.” They both looked through the front window, as if seeing the ghosts from their past. “I didn’t give up my life to raise you Piper, you just became my life. I don’t feel like I lost anything to be your surrogate mom, I only gained the most amazing daughter. That’s how I think about you Piper, as my own. I know we don’t talk about this stuff, I guess I never wanted to step on your mom’s toes. But I need for you to know that I love you with my whole heart.”
Piper’s tears were now falling freely down her cheeks. Lorna pulled her closer, giving Piper a bear hug.
“How about I go over there and sit on that bench.” Lorna motioned to a bench that sat just underneath a huge oak, the only tree still left on the street.
Piper nodded.
“You take all the time that you need, baby. Tell them both goodbye and let them finally rest in peace. Then, you and I are going to find that handsome fella of yours so that you can tell him that you love him.”
Piper smiled through her tears and nodded her agreement.
Lorna watched as her niece bravely squared her shoulders as if daring the demons from her past to come at her. Piper stood in front of the store for a long time, crying and talking to the ghosts that haunted her nightmares. At one point she screamed so loudly that Lorna was sure that the police would be called. She hadn’t counted on Piper’s behavior being normal for New Yorkers. It was still early enough in the day that not many people were on the streets yet.
Just after the sun came up, Piper turned from the store, wiped her tears from her face, took a deep breath and walked towards Lorna. Lorna stood and met her halfway and pulled her in for another long hug.
“Thank-you, Lorna, for everything.” Piper squeezed Lorna and released her. “Just so you know, I feel the same way about you. You have been my mother longer than my own mom, and you have been one kick-ass mama.” They both laughed, starting for the car that waited for Piper in the adjacent vacant lot.
“You have a car and driver now?” Lorna nodded in the direction of the waiting SUV.
“Yeah, his name is Jonathan Sawyer. He’s not just my driver, he’s also my bodyguard. Apparently, having money makes me a target.”
Lorna looked Jon Sawyer up and down, causing a laugh from Piper, as if reading her aunt’s mind.
“He’s a nice-looking man, Pipe. How old did you say he is?” Lorna stopped walking towards the car. She needed a minute to get herself under control. There was something about a man in a suit, with the brownest soulful eyes she’d ever seen, that just did it for her.
“Well, I didn’t say his age, but I know from his employee application that he’s thirty-five.”
Piper side-eyed Lorna, as if waiting for a response. If she was being completely honest, Lorna would have to admit that she was a little disappointed.
“Well then, that is that. He’s too young for me.”
Yeah, she was more than just a little disappointed. She looked Jon Sawyer up and down, once more, and wished she was just a few years younger. What was the point? Someone that looked like him would never want an older, frumpy woman who’d spent the last fourteen years raising her niece. He probably liked women like Piper—young, thin, and gorgeous.
“Oh, give me a break, Lorna! You just turned forty and you look like you’re my age. Don’t you think you deserve something good in your life? Besides, if you haven’t noticed, Sawyer hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you.”
Lorna barked out a laugh. “Yeah, I think it’s you that he can’t take his eyes off. Isn’t he paid to watch you? I’m just in the way of him doing his job.”
Lorna was only thirteen years older than Piper, but most days she felt so much older. She was only twenty-five when she gained custody of her niece. It was time for her to remember that she still had a lot of life left in her, but hoping that Mr Sawyer could help her remember was just a fantasy.
“Okay, we’ll just see about that. I’ve got a plan.”
Lorna didn’t like the determined look on Piper’s face. When her niece was up to something, she didn’t give up. It would be fun to keep Sawyer around for a bit. He was nice to look at and she was pretty sure that he would be able to protect Piper, if things ever came to that.
“So, do we get to bring him home with us?” Lorna whispered as they started walking towards the car again. Sawyer held the door open for them.
“Well, I hadn’t given that much thought. I will need to get my new car across the country and back to Colorado.”
Piper stopped in front of Sawyer and introduced him to her aunt. Lorna shook Sawyer’s hand, not missing the instant attraction that she felt for the man. She almost didn’t want to let go of his hand but had no choice as Piper pushed her into the back seat.
“So, Sawyer, how do you feel about Colorado?”
Sawyer looked a little flushed as Piper questioned his background, even asking personal questions about his family. Lorna was happy to hear that the hunky bodyguard didn’t have a girlfriend or a wife. In fact, he was looking forward to some time away from city life. After he agreed to Piper’s job proposal, he helped her into the back of the car and shut the door.
“Sawyer can stay in my old house with you, if that’s okay?”
Lorna met his eyes in the rearview mirror and didn’t miss the heat that touched her from just his gaze.
“Sure,” Lorna stuttered. Having Jon Sawyer staying under the same roof with her was going to be interesting. She didn’t miss the little smirk on Piper’s face. Her niece was up to no good and truthfully, she liked it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Tag was waiting in the front lobby when Piper and Lorna returned. He hugged Lorna, thanking her for coming all the way to New York. He didn’t miss the way Piper was fidgeting. He knew that something was up, he just hoped that it was finally going to be some good news. He was ready to put everything from the past behind them and go home. But that would be up to Piper. He wasn’t going to force her into anything she wasn’t ready for.
“I’ll take you back to your hotel, Ms Sanders.”
Tag noticed the way Piper’s driver looked at Lorna, like he wanted to eat her up.
“Please, call me Lorna.” She nodded at him, turning to pull Piper into a big hug. “Tell him, Pipe. He won’t disappoint you.” Lorna waved with all four fingers at Tag, making him chuckle. She looked lighter, younger even. He hoped that was a good sign, until he looked back at Piper and saw the worry etched on her face.
“Honey.” He pulled her into his arms, she felt so rigid. He wished that he could kiss away her worry, but he also knew Piper well enough to know better. “Tell me what’s eating you, Pipe. Don’t hide from me.”
“I’m sorry that I just left you this morning. I needed to do this on my own, or at least I thought that I did. Thank you for sending Lorna to find me. Having her there meant everything.” Piper loosened up a little, wrapping her arms around Tag’s middle.
“Do you want to talk about it, honey?”
Piper nodded her head.
“Not here, can we go for a walk?”
Tag reached down, took her hand, and headed for the door.
“Do you think your bodyguard will be okay with me taking you for a walk?”
Piper laughed. “You sound a little jealous, Tag. I’m pretty sure that you can handle my safety.” She looked him up and down.
“No one will mess with me as long as I’m with you.”
He nodded, knowing that she was right. He wouldn’t let anyone else touch her. She was also right about the jealousy thing too. Until Tag just saw the way Sawyer looked at Lorna, he’d been worried that Piper’s bodyguard might be a problem.
“Why do you need a bodyguard anyway?”
Piper froze and Tag worried that he had been right with his first hunch. Piper would never cheat on him, but they’d been broken up and she’d had yet to tell him that she loved him.
“It’s alright, Pipe. You don’t have to explain your relationship with Sawyer to me.” Tag tried to keep from sounding like a sulking child, but he failed miserably.
“Tag,” Piper laughed. “It’s not like that.” She looked up at him and just about took his breath away. She was gorgeous in the morning sun. Piper wasn’t wearing any makeup and she looked like the woman that he fell in love with over that long weekend at their cabin.
“Agnes, my grandmother, left me her estate. I’m worth a great deal of money now. The press got wind of the story and my past, here in the city, with my parents’ murders. The news had a field day with the story and my lawyer convinced me to hire Sawyer for my own safety. At first, he presented it as Sawyer being my driver. Over time, though, I came to realize that he was sent to protect me. He kept the press from following too closely.”
“Remind me to thank him when we see him later. I wish I could have been here to take care of you, Pipe. But, I’m here now.”
Piper stopped on the sidewalk in front of Tag. “Didn’t you hear the part about me inheriting millions of dollars?” She crossed her arms over her chest and the sight made Tag’s mouth water. It had been only hours since he’d made love to her in the middle of the night, but he wanted her again.
“I don’t care about any of that, honey. You’re still you. I don’t care how much you have in your bank account.”
Piper blinked up at him, almost as if not believing his words. He took her mouth in a hot passionate kiss, eliciting a few whistles from the people who were passing them on the sidewalk.
Piper pulled away breathless. “And you’re not worried about the reporters or our privacy being invaded by people who don’t even know us?”
Tag shrugged. “Honey, I don’t care about any of it. If you want to stay here, then we will have to deal with all the craziness that surrounds you being well-off. If you want to go back to Colorado, I’m sure some of that will follow us. We will just have to learn to deal with it.”
This time, Piper was the one to go up on her tiptoes and take Tag’s mouth in a hard, passionate kiss. Passersby even stopped to clap this time, causing them both to laugh. He wasn’t used to strangers caring about him kissing his woman. New York was a lot to get used to, but for Piper, he would live anywhere and get used to anything.
“I want to go back to Colorado, Tag. I’ve already hired Sawyer to bring out my SUV and he’s going to stick around for a while to make sure that the dust settles. Besides, did you see the electricity between him and Lorna? I can’t wait to see that happen.”
“You little minx. You hired a bodyguard to date your aunt?” Tag wrapped his arms around Piper and pulled her into him.
“I’ve also decided to start a program for troubled kids who have lost one or both parents. I want to fund an adventure program, with your help, that they will be able to go to and find their strength. I want to give them back their voices.”
Tag wasn’t one to be overly emotional, but he honestly felt a little choked up by Piper’s plans.
“Wow, honey. You have been busy thinking this all through. You decided all of this today?”
Piper nodded her head. “I’ve let them go, Tag. I said goodbye to my parents’ ghosts. I might never forgive the monster that took them from me, but it’s a step in the right direction. I feel whole, like a weight has been lifted from my chest.” She rubbed at the imaginary spot.
“I’m so happy for you Piper.” Tag reached for her hands, his own big hands swallowing hers up.
“That’s not all. I love you, Tag. I wanted to tell you before. I knew it when we spent our first weekend together at the cabin, but I was too much of a chicken to tell you. I was afraid to love you because I was convinced that if I did, it would ruin your life. Lorna showed me that I was wrong. I was so wrong, Tag. I hope that you can forgive me. I’ve been so foolish.”
Tag wanted to move, to say something, but all he could focus on were those three words. He felt like he’d waited his whole life for Piper to say those words to him.
“You love me?” Tag’s voice sounded hoarse, even to his own ears.
Piper nodded, fresh tears running down her cheeks. “I do. I love you so much, Tag.”
He lifted her into his arms, spinning them both around. This time, he didn’t even notice the other people that had stopped to watch them. All he saw was Piper.
“Marry me, honey. Make me the happiest man on earth.”
He stopped spinning and pulled out a small box from his pocket. He had brought his mother’s engagement ring with him, hoping that Piper would give him another chance. She had given him that and so much more. He and Torren had had a long conversation about their mom’s ring before he flew to New York. Torren had convinced him that he wouldn’t be using the ring and that he wanted Tag to give it to Piper. He opened the box and Piper’s eyes widened.
“Oh, Tag. It’s beautiful.” She covered her mouth with her trembling hands.
“It was my mom’s and now I want for you to have it. Marry me.” Tag took the ring out, not waiting for Piper’s answer. He slipped it onto her finger and it seemed to fit perfectly.
“Are you sure? You really want me, forever?” Piper admired the ring.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life, honey. You are my forever, Piper.”
She nodded, covering her face in her hands, sobbing.
Tag laughed, trying to pull her hands away from her face. “Is that a yes, honey?”
“Yes,” she shouted. Everyone who’d stopped to watch the proposal on the street cheered and clapped. They had acquired quite an audience.
“Let’s go home, Pipe. We have a wedding to plan.”
“No, Tag, we have a whole life to plan.”
Tag couldn’t help his smile; he knew that his soon-to-be wife was right. He couldn’t imagine anything better than planning a life with the woman that he loved by his side. That would be the greatest adventure of all.
Epilogue
Three months later
Piper looked around the cabin. She couldn’t find her mom’s sapphire ring—it was going to be her something blue and she couldn’t walk down the aisle without it. She knew that just outside the cabin door about twenty-five of her and Tag’s friends and family were waiting under a big white tent that they’d set up earlier that morning. Everyone had chipped in to help, making today truly special.
She also knew that Tag was waiting at the front of that tent under a pergola that he’d built for her. It was her wedding gift, something that they could use to pledge their lives to each other, but it would last for years as a symbol of their love.
Her wedding gift to Tag was the launch of their High Adventure Company for troubled kids. He would run the adventure side of things while she finished college. She wanted to get her degree in business—it was time to make plans for a future that was about them both. She had a lot of living to catch up on after shutting her heart off from all the possibilities that life had to offer. She knew that with Tag by her side, she could make plans and not be afraid anymore.
She found her mom’s ring under a kitchen towel, slipped it onto her finger and turned to find Lorna standing in the doorway.
“You ready, Pipe?”
Piper tried to hold her tears at bay; she was an emotional mess. She knew that today would be tough, facing her wedding without her parents. She didn’t know just how wonderful it would be also. Lorna and Sunny had made sure that she didn’t have to li
ft a finger on her special day. Sunny pushed through the doorway and past Lorna to grab Piper up into a bear hug.
“Careful, Sunny, you’ll mess her up,” Lorna scolded. Piper and Sunny burst into giggles, found their bouquets and joined Lorna at the door.
“Geez, you would think that with a date as sexy as Jonathan Sawyer, Lorna would loosen up some. Maybe he can help relieve some of that tension you carry around.”
Sunny bobbed her eyebrows at Lorna, causing another fit of giggles between her and Piper. Sunny always did know how to lighten the mood. Just moments ago Piper wanted to burst into tears. Now, she couldn’t stop giggling. She needed to get herself together before she saw Tag; she wanted today to be perfect.
Sunny nodded to the quartet to start the music, then she headed down the aisle. Lorna grabbed Piper’s hand, squeezed, and led her to the doorway.
A warm summer breeze blew gently against her bare shoulders, giving her goosebumps. She looked out to find Tag staring back at her, as if awestruck. She couldn’t help her own smile at his expression. He always had a way of making her feel like she was the only woman in the whole room.
She and Lorna stepped down from the cabin porch and onto the soft moss that lined the path to Tag. She wanted to run down the path to get to him faster. She wanted to scream her “I do’s” as she raced down the aisle. The minutes that ticked by felt like hours; she couldn’t wait to be Tag’s wife. She looked at the friends and family that had come to celebrate her and Tag’s marriage and felt so much love. She never imagined that she could be this happy, this complete.
Tag met her the last few steps, took her hand from Lorna’s and kissed her aunt’s cheek.
“Be good to each other.” Lorna whispered to them both, wiping a tear from her own cheek. She turned to sit next to Sawyer in the front row.