Always and Forever

by Harper Bentley

  I spoon the sour cream and butter into the dishes. “What else can I do?”

  “There’s some asparagus in the veggie bin if you wanna get it going. Use the butter you got out. Thought I’d sauté it. There’s a clove of garlic in the basket by the sink and pans are down there.” She points to a drawer then continues with the salad.

  I get this all going as we talk about the store and the trips I’ll be making this year then she tells me that she’s possibly found another accountant for the firm she’s trying to get up and running. Well, it’s not quite a firm yet but it’s getting there as she’s taken on the accounts of several businesses in town including Kade’s lumberyard. On top of that, she owns and runs Hale’s Garage but has left most of it to an older couple she’s hired. When Kade comes in with the steaks, we’ve just finished everything and set the dishes on the table.

  Once seated, our conversation flows easily but I can feel myself getting nervous again as I prepare to ask them my questions. When Amelia cuts the cake and puts it on plates for us I feel like it’s the right time and go for it.

  “So, why exactly did Brody break up with me?”

  Kade chokes on his beer and Amelia sets down her fork and bites her lips.

  “Well, I can see this is going to go smoothly,” I state before I take a sip of wine.

  I hear Kade mumble, “The fuck?” and see him giving Amelia a scary look. Whoops. Guess she forgot to tell him why I was there.

  Amelia clears her throat. “Kade, I thought it was time Piper knew what happened.”

  “Not our story to tell, Mill,” he says a little too dangerously for my taste making me sit up straighter at his tone.

  “But it’s been over a year and—” she begins when he cuts her off.

  “Not our story.”

  “Kade, look,” I start and he turns his look on me. Yikes. I swallow thickly and continue. “I—I don’t know what happened.” Tears sting the backs of my eyes as I look at him. “Did… did he just… fall out of love with me?” I whisper the last part because it’s hard to say. Hard to hear out loud. I feel a tear slip down my cheek and wipe it away quickly, upset that I’m letting this affect me so much.

  “Christ,” I hear him mutter.

  “Kade…” Amelia says and I look to see she’s teary-eyed too.

  He takes a deep breath and turns to me. “You wanna know the truth, Pipe, go to Brody. Don’t know why he didn’t tell you in the first place, the dumbfuck, but he didn’t. Took me forever to share with Mill, so you know it’s big.”

  “Does it,” I clear my throat, “have something to do with Peyton?”

  Kade purses his lips and looks back at Amelia as he breathes in deeply through his nose then lets it out. He gives her a nod and I glance her way.

  “It does,” she confirms as she wipes her ring fingers under her eyes. “And you know she’s a horrible person, so I’d be careful, Piper.”

  “Okay, I will.” Then I let it go. At least I’ve gotten a lead but now I don’t want to make them uncomfortable any more than I already have.

  “So, how ‘bout those Cubs?” I turn to Kade and ask.

  He barks out a laugh. “Not bad. For now. Give it some time.”

  I start laughing because he is not wrong. “I saw in the power rankings they’re doing better than your Yankees.”

  He snorts. “Like I said, give it some time.”

  And suddenly everything’s back to normal.

  Chapter 6

  “I knew that skank had something to do with it!” Ryan says then downs the rest of her Zombie. She always makes us order these because they’re strong and, as she says, “We don’t want to waste our free drinks on pussy stuff.”

  I’d left Kade and Amelia’s after helping clean up and leaving the cake with them because Kade said it was “the shit” and I wanted to make it up to him for putting him on the spot like I had with my choice of conversation. I’d walked from my house to Jen’s and Ry and I are now getting our drink on.

  “Seems like she’s always behind the bad shit in this town,” I mutter then take a drink.

  “For real. I’m just gonna go ahead and blame her for the last couple hurricanes that have come through.”

  This makes me snort. “So how do you think we should approach this?”

  “I don’t know. I can hold her at gunpoint and you ask the questions.”

  I now laugh. “No, seriously.”

  “I’m being serious. Or I can tie her in one of my salon chairs and threaten to dye her hair green if she doesn’t spill the beans.”

  “Then she’d think she was that Kardashian chick and act like she was awesome, behaving even more like a bitch.” I take a drink. “Do you think I should just ask her? I mean, she’s here and all.”

  Ryan shrugs. “Probably isn’t a bad idea. But I’m going with you.”

  I look over at the table where Peyton sits with her clique of fellow divorcees. They’re all blonde and gorgeous and bitchy. One is Stacia Mackie, one of the hags who asked me if it was okay if she asked Brody out after our breakup, then there’s Kensley Hubbard who’s in her forties so Ryan and I secretly call her Kensley the Cougar. Yep. We’re the mature ones, we are. And the last to round up the catty quartet is Sarah Foster who’s lived here for as long as I can remember. She’s a year older than I am and I remember her as being sweet in high school but I guess she’s changed since she’s hanging with that crowd now. She works at Sanderson Insurance Agency in town as a receptionist and I’ve had to talk to her a couple times and she seemed nice enough over the phone but you never know.

  “I need a little more encouragement,” I say and take another drink.

  “Oh, God,” I hear Ryan whisper and I look at her to see her eyes aimed at the front door and they’re bugging out of her head.

  “What?” I ask and twist on my barstool to see Mike heading our way. I turn back to Ryan. “You’re good. Relax.”

  “Forgot to tell you he didn’t say anything today when I was cutting his hair because I had five people waiting and I guess he didn’t want them to hear,” she mumbles then she’s looking up because he’s at our table.

  “Ladies. What’s on the agenda tonight?” he asks with a sexy smile.

  I shrug. “Drinking the liquid torture Ryan forces on me every Thursday.” I snort when she kicks me under the table.

  I check out Mike and appreciate the fact that he’s pretty handsome. He’s around Kade’s age, which is four years older than Ryan and I are, and he’s actually built a lot like Kade, around six-four and very muscular. He’s got dark hair that’s longish on top and he wears it slicked back, David Beckham style. Right now some of it’s gotten loose and is hanging over his forehead and, yeah, he’s hot.

  “So, Ryan, how ‘bout I give you a call tomorrow and we can set something up for this weekend?”

  Yes! Totally using this to ask her out.

  Ryan nods shyly which makes me bite my lips because the girl is anything but shy. “Okay,” she whispers and I now want to laugh because she’s acting so demurely.

  He smiles at her then echoes, “Okay.” He turns to me then back to her. “You ladies have fun tonight.” And then he’s gone.

  I watch as he walks through the crowd, his broad shoulders covered in flannel looking huge compared to some of the dudes in here and his denim covered ass isn’t bad to watch either.

  Ryan’s turned on her barstool to watch him too then twists back to face me. “Oh, my God. He’s freaking hot!”

  “Agreed. I can’t wait to see where he’s gonna take you!” We both squeal and clink our glasses together before taking a drink.

  Over the next thirty minutes, a few friends come by our table and say hi and then I’m ready. I drink the rest of my third Zombie, look at Ryan and dip my head toward Peyton’s table. “No time better than the present.” I hop down from my barstool and jerk my head motioning her to come with me.


  “Now?” she asks, a shocked look on her face.

  I nod.

  “Damn. At least let the drinks take effect because I wanna be able to blame the alcohol if I say or do something bad.”

  I roll my eyes and spin to walk to their table and hear Ryan holler, “Hold up!” and turn to see her guzzling what’s left in her glass, set it down, smooth her sweater out then head my direction.

  “I’m just gonna ask if I can talk to her some time. I’m not doing it here,” I explain as we walk.

  “Well, just make sure it’s in a big enough place for me to use my Taekwondo skills to their utmost.”

  I roll my eyes again then we’re at Peyton’s table. She turns and gives me a snotty look as do the other two women but Sarah smiles sweetly at me.

  “What do you want?” Peyton asks, flipping her blond hair over her shoulder. She’s wearing a cute glittery silver strapless dress and silver stilettos and has on evening makeup that’s very dramatic and if she wasn’t such a witch, she’d be pretty.

  “I wanted to ask if we could talk sometime,” I answer.

  Her eyebrows go up and she looks condescendingly at me then at Ryan as if she’s a queen and we’re lowly peasants who have dared enter into her presence. Gag.

  “About?” She now looks around the table at her posse as if to say, “Look at these idiots who have the nerve to approach me.”

  “Well, I thought we’d discuss that when you’re not busy.”

  “Piper.” She says my name as if it’s the most distasteful thing she’s ever had in her mouth but I’ve seen some of the men she’s gone home with and know that’s not true. “You can just tell me now or forget it.”

  I turn to Ryan who shrugs and gives me a “go ahead” look then I face Peyton again. “I wanted to ask what you know about Brody breaking up with me.”

  I see the surprise on her face for a moment before she starts laughing then looks around the table at her friends who laugh with her. Well, except for Sarah who has the decency to look embarrassed for the way her tablemates are behaving. I feel Ryan go stiff at my side but put my hand on her forearm as we stand there waiting for Peyton to finish. And, boy, does she put on a production, milking it for all she’s worth, especially when several men pass and smile at her and her giggles just keep coming. I’m just about to tell her to forget it when she finally stops.

  “Oh, that is rich,” she says, looking me up and down as if to say the reason Brody broke up with me is clear if I’d just look in the mirror.

  And Ryan’s had enough, stepping forward and getting in Peyton’s face. “Listen, you stupid slunt, keep this shit up and I’ll break your fucking vagina to where you won’t be able to go home and screw these assholes you pick up every night. Piper asked you a question. The least you can do is answer her.”

  Peyton sits back indignantly as if Ryan’s invading her space is against the law. “Slunt?” she asks, looking down her nose at Ryan.

  When Ryan starts to tell her it’s a cross between slut and cunt, I slap a hand over her mouth and tell Peyton, “It’s nothing. Just tell me if you know anything about why he did it?”

  She shakes her head to get her bangs out of her eyes which is amusing because it’s all so hairsprayed her whole head of hair moves like a big helmet sitting on her head when she does. Then she looks straight at me with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “He broke up with you because he told you he wanted more kids than you do, right? I’ll just say he’s well on his way to making that happen.” She now throws her head back and cackles then gives high fives to the two women at the table but Sarah’s turned around on her barstool acting as if she’s looking for someone.

  My hand involuntarily goes up to smack the shit out of her but Ryan grabs me by the arm and tugs me away hauling my ass back to our table. When we’re seated she snaps, “That pageant-haired bitch! Where’s fucking Karma when you need her to step in and take a skank out? God!” She waves Martina down and orders two shots of tequila STAT.

  Martina nods then asks me, “You okay?” I look at her and shake my head slowly. “Be right back,” she answers and takes off.

  I think I’m in shock because I can’t move. I can’t talk. All I can do is sit and stare at Ryan.

  “Hang on, honey,” she says. “Help is on its way.”

  Martina rushes up and sets a tray of six shots, a shaker of salt and lemon wedges on the table. She then places a shot glass in front of Ryan and me but I’m still not moving. So grabbing my hand, she sticks a finger in my tequila, rubs it on the space between my thumb and finger, shakes some salt onto it then moves my hand to my mouth. “Lick,” she instructs and like a robot, I do. She picks up my drink and hands it to me. “Drink.” I do what she says, sucking it down quickly but not tasting it or even scrunching up my face like I usually do when it comes to tequila. She next puts a lemon slice in my hand. “Suck.”

  I watch as she and Ryan do the same. “Again,” she says and we go through the same motions. After the second shot, I see Martina look at Ryan and shake her head. “I’ve heard Peyton and her friends talking before. Didn’t want to say anything because who knows if the shit she spews is true. I just wish you’d asked me first. I could’ve saved Piper the trouble.” She looks at me with a frown. “Sorry, honey.” She puts her hand against my cheek but I can’t feel it because my whole face is numb from the shots. She gives me a small smile before collecting everything off the table then leaves to take it to the bar.

  “You know Peyton’s a liar, Pipe,” Ryan offers moving her head around to get my eyes. “She’s a spiteful cunt who’ll say anything to hurt people. Don’t believe her.”

  “I’ve got to know,” I mumble.

  “What?”

  “I have to know!” I hiss and jump down from the barstool and make my way through the crowd and out the front door.

  “Piper!” Ryan hollers from behind me. I hear her call my name again and then she’s walking beside me up the middle of the street. “What’re you doing?”

  “I have to know.” I’m a woman on a mission and this shit needs to be settled now.

  Ryan walks with me for another block then she grabs me by the arm stopping me. “No, Pipe. Nuh uh. No way.” She starts tugging me back and I jerk my arm from her grip.

  I spin to face her, my hands balled into fists as I lean toward her throwing my entire body into what I’m saying and screech, “I have to know!”

  I turn and stomp toward my destination and throw open the door walking inside and am met immediately by Jeremy Pitkin who’s sitting on a couch watching TV in the lounge area of the fire station.

  “Hey, Piper, what’s up?” he asks as he stands then I’m pretty sure he sees the crazed look on my face because he frowns as he walks toward me. “Is everything okay?”

  “Brody,” I answer.

  “What?”

  “Tell Brody to come here,” I state evenly trying to control my breathing.

  I see him look at Ryan who shrugs. “Be right back,” he says glancing warily at me.

  “Piper, you can leave now bef—” Ryan starts but I cut her off.

  “I need to know.”

  I hear her sigh but she stays with me, crossing her arms over her chest. A few minutes later, we hear footsteps and Brody comes in, narrowing his eyes at me as he approaches, Jeremy at his back.

  I keep my eyes on his and when he gets within six feet of me, I ask, “Is it true?”

  He comes up short then frowns. “Is what true?”

  And that sets me off. “Is it true?” I snap and hear Ryan mumble, “Shit,” from beside me.

  Brody’s eyes go from me to Ryan and back as he tries to figure out what I’m talking about.

  “Is it fucking true?” I scream, all my patience gone.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Piper. And keep it the fuck down,” he chastises, the anger apparent on his face.

  Oh, no. He
does not get to be angry in this scenario. No way in fucking hell. I suck in a breath and blow it out feeling my heart pounding like mad in my chest. “Gonna ask you one more goddamned time, Brody,” I grind out.

  “What the fuck’s she talking about?” Brody asks Ryan, his face screwed up in confusion then he looks back at me as if I’m some fucking lunatic who’s just wandered in off the street.

  And that’s the last straw.

  “Did you sleep with someone else when we were together?” I spit.

  His head jolts back like I’ve slapped him and when I see guilt flash across his face for just a second, I know. Shit.

  Shit!

  “Did you?” I scream again since I guess he’s gone deaf and can’t hear to answer me.

  His eyes stay on mine as he shakes his head. “No.” But I see his jaw muscles jumping and catch a flash of worry in his eyes and I know he’s lying.

  Unbelievable.

  “You did. And you got her pregnant, didn’t you? You have a baby, don’t you?” I feel the bile rise in my throat and swallow it down bitterly. Then I feel like I’m going to collapse until I sense Ryan’s hand on my lower back which stables me.

  A few other guys have wandered in to see the show and I hear a couple of them mutter, “Fuck,” but my eyes stay on Brody and by his reaction, or lack thereof, I know I’m right.

  I can’t help but snort. “That’s it, isn’t it? You broke up with me because you slept with another woman and got her pregnant. I’m right, aren’t I?”

  He steps toward me and I take a step back. “Piper,” he says quietly reaching a hand out to me, an anguished look on his face.

  My eyes move from his outstretched hand, up his arm to his shoulder then to his jaw before landing on his. And now mine fill with tears. “Why?”

  “Piper,” he repeats.

  “Why would you do that, Brody?” I plead, my voice trembling as tears fall down my cheeks. I look down at my boots, my kickass red stiletto boots, wondering when the world’s going to stop so I can get off this crazy ride.