She tucked the final notices to the back of the pile and saw why her mother had called. The next letter came from Washington. It was from Piper’s brother—however, she couldn’t help but notice the writing on the envelope looked suspiciously like her mother’s.
Her eyes narrowed. “What is this, Mom?”
“Oh, you got it. Good. Well, with your graduation coming up, Ethan thought it would be nice to send you a present.”
Piper waved the flimsy envelope. Something told her it wasn’t a bouquet of flowers. “Mom, this better not be what I think it is.”
“You know, money is one of the most common gifts for a graduation present,” she said. “And Ethan feels so bad about not being able to make it down for your graduation. The check was his idea.”
Unless a roomful of people were watching, Ethan’s generosity with his money rivaled Ebenezer Scrooge’s, so she knew that wasn’t true.
“I don’t want it.” She averted her eyes from the final notices burning her hand like cattle brands.
“But Ethan wants you to have it.” Her mother’s voice filled with hopeful desperation. Like if Piper accepted this one peace offering all would be well.
“Which is exactly why I don’t want it,” Piper argued.
Her mother tutted. “When are you going to put this grudge aside?”
“When I invent a time machine. Or you give me a new brother. Either one.”
“But it was so long ago, Piper. It’s been almost a decade.”
“Nine years, Mom. It’s been nine years since he died.”
“And you don’t think I miss your father too? But Ethan is your brother. He’s family. What little you have left. And he’s trying to make amends.”
Too little too late, Piper thought. “And giving me money is going to fix what happened?”
“Look, Piper. We both know things haven’t been easy for you financially. It didn’t help that I moved up to Washington to be closer to your brother and left you to pay rent on your own.”
“No. It’s not your fault,” Piper said. “Besides, the place is rent-controlled. I’m fine.”
She didn’t blame her for moving. San Francisco was expensive, and Ethan had helped their mom out with money ever since she moved closer to him. It made Piper happy to know she was doing okay, even though she missed her mom. But Piper had lived by herself for six years, since she was twenty. She’d come this far on her own. She wasn’t about to pack it all in now because her brother wanted to buy her love.
“You could have moved with me, you know,” her mom said. Piper could hear in her voice that she missed her too. “You still could. It would be nice having everyone together.”
Not everyone, she thought. Her fist clenched until she realized that she was squishing her sandwich. She was tired of having the same conversation every time they spoke. She got it. Her mom wanted both of her kids to get along. But just because Piper had to love her brother since he was family, that didn’t mean she had to like him.
Ignoring the notices in her hand and the rent that was past due, she took the unopened letter from Ethan and tore it in half.
“What was that noise?” her mom asked.
“My life is in San Francisco,” Piper said. “I’m not moving. I’ll be fine.” Just fine, fine, fine, she thought, her shoulders drawing back a little.
“Well, I worry about you, is all.” Something banged in the background. “Oh, your brother just arrived. Here, I’ll hand you over.” Her mother’s voice grew faint as she passed the phone.
“Mom, I gotta go!” Piper yelled into the phone. “I love you. Bye!”
She ended the call before she could hear his voice. To make herself feel better, she tore the check up into minuscule pieces before throwing it away. When the last fluttering piece had settled to the bottom, she dared a glance at the final notices in her hand. Her mom would say she’d just cut off her nose to spite her face. But she didn’t. She did it to spite Ethan. It was a stubborn pride that she’d inherited from her father.
“How are we going to pay the bills, Colin?” she asked her backpack.
Colin squirmed restlessly in her bag. She tossed her sandwich in the garbage along with the torn-up check—it’s not like she had an appetite left, anyway—and headed to her poppy red VW Bug in the parking lot. Once inside the car, she freed Colin, who gave her an agitated sneeze.
“I know you hate the bag.” She gave him a scratch behind the ears. “But we can’t afford a new place that accepts pets.”
His bushy tan eyebrows rose and she sighed in defeat.
Reaching into her backpack, she drew out Aiden Caldwell’s business card. She hesitated, struggling to come up with another solution. One that was far less tricky.
It was an opportunity laced with potential complications and temptations. But when she considered the alternative, handing out résumés all over town, waiting days, if not weeks, for a call, then the interviews, the training. She’d already be kicked out of her apartment by the time she saw her first paycheck. Or worse, she and Colin would be forced to crawl up to Washington with their tails between their legs.
She grimaced. That wasn’t an option. Unable to think of a better idea, she reached for her phone and texted Aiden before she could chicken out.
Hello, this is Piper, the telegram girl from the rescue center. I’m wondering if you still needed a dog walker.
She hit send. It felt weird to ask for a job this way. Especially after how they’d met the day before. She wondered if he only suggested it because he’d watched her lose two jobs. What if it was a handout? What if he just felt bad for her? She’d rather sleep in the rescue center than face his pity.
Her phone chimed with Aiden’s response.
Absolutely. When would you be free to meet and have a chat?
A chat? She wondered what that meant in Aiden’s world. Was it an interview type chat at his office or a casual coffee thing? Since it was for a dog-walking position, she chose neutral ground.
I’m free all day today or tomorrow afternoon. We can meet at the Presidio with the dogs.
Does two o’clock work for you?
Sure. I’ll meet you in the Fifteenth Avenue gate parking lot.
See you then.
The exchange was professional and businesslike. No words wasted. Then why was Piper’s heart beating so fast? It was nothing more than a job, she told herself. It wasn’t like a date or anything.
She threw the phone in her bag and turned to Colin in the passenger seat. “Happy?”
His head tilted to one side in confusion.
“Sophie will be there.”
At the mention of her name, his tail began to twitch back and forth. He stared out the windshield expectantly, as if saying, You may chauffeur me now.
Bowing, she threw it in drive and did his bidding.
6
Seeing a Man About a Dog
Piper drove her VW Bug across town while Colin stuck his head out of the passenger window. His flapping ears reminded her of little propellers. She imagined that if they caught the right wind they would balloon like a parasail and he’d go flying right out the car and down the boulevard.
The sun glaring through the windshield made her feel like an ant under a magnifying glass, so she followed his lead and rolled down her own window. Her long hair whipped around her face as they drove toward the north end of the city. While the vintage car was totally epic, it made a gruesome hot box in the warmer months since the air-conditioning had crapped out and she couldn’t afford to fix it.
As they approached their destination, signs for the Presidio started popping up. She followed the signs onto the former military base and pulled into the parking lot where she told Aiden to meet her. Piper searched for a shady spot before parking; the vinyl seats had a tendency to heat up like molten lava and scorch her when she hopped back in. She killed the engine and climbed out.
It was a beautiful Saturday to be at the park. People were loading and unloading their dogs, kids, and pic
nic baskets from their cars. Those in bare feet hopped across the pavement and onto the grass like they were walking on hot coals.
Scanning the lot, she smoothed the wrinkles from her cotton tank and searched for Aiden. After all the time she spent Googling photos of him with Addison and Zoe, she was positive she would recognize him from any angle—and, as it turned out, he looked damned good from all of them.
Colin surveyed the scene from the passenger window. After a minute, his tail began whipping back and forth. His excited barks carried across the parking lot.
Piper followed his gaze and saw Aiden. Colin had spotted him before she did, or rather, he spotted Sophie rolling in the grass at Aiden’s feet. Aiden was sitting on a bench, people-watching at the edge of the lot. While she could only see his profile, she recognized the stiff way he sat, back rigid. He wore a collared work shirt even though it was the weekend. His sports jacket sat folded on the bench next to him. At least he’d skipped the tie and rolled up his sleeves. The man knew how to let loose and party.
He was obviously a newbie to dog parks, or parks in general, or perhaps all things non–work related. He stuck out like a new pair of shoes on the first day of school. Or maybe a lost little puppy. And God knew how she liked to take those home.
Her palms grew moist. “This is a bad idea, Colin.”
Colin spun in circles on his seat while she hesitated. Finally, he whined.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go,” she said to him, but she made no move to leave. Her gaze remained fixed on Aiden, kind of like when she worked at the veterinary hospital for practicum and she stared at the last donut in the box that the receptionist Terri had bought. Piper knew she shouldn’t, but it looked so damned good. And Aiden was the chocolate-filled chocolate-covered chocolate donut. Mmmmmm, she thought as she continued to stare.
No, she told herself. Donuts were bad for her. And so was Aiden. Wiping her palms on her shorts, she opened her car door so she could get in and drive to the nearest McDonald’s. Maybe she could fill out an application for burger construction artist or something. But Colin didn’t care what she thought. The second the door cracked open, he slipped out between her legs.
“Colin, no.”
She reached out to grab him by the collar, but his stubby legs moved in a blur as he scampered off in a direct line for Sophie. Racing over to the bench, Colin tackled his girlfriend. The two of them rolled across the grass in a writhing ball of torsos and ears. Aiden lunged toward them, thinking they were fighting, but he must have recognized Colin because he began to search the parking lot. He spotted Piper standing frozen by her VW and waved.
She was trapped.
“I’m going to kill you, Colin,” she promised under her breath.
She waved back before grabbing Colin’s leash and ball. At the last minute, she remembered her cell phone. She was on call for the veterinary hospital if any emergencies came in that day, so she had to stick close to the phone.
She didn’t mind, since the hours were better than her previous clinical placement and she only had to work the occasional weekend shift. The reduced hours allowed her to take more telegram gigs, even when she was on call. However, one time she had to deliver a litter of kittens dressed as a sexy gladiator. Now she carried a spare change of clothes with her at all times. Her car was like a closet on wheels.
Heading across the parking lot to meet Aiden, she almost wished she’d worn something nicer, not a cotton tank and an old pair of sneakers. But she wasn’t interviewing for a position at Caldwell and Son Investments, just as the son’s dog walker. And she definitely looked the part. Plain old dog walker Piper.
“Hi.” He stood up when she got closer. “I’m glad you could make it.”
“Hey. Sorry we’re late.”
He gave her a brisk handshake. Again with the handshake, she thought. “That’s okay. Traffic?”
“No. I’m infected with perpetual late-itis. The doctor says it’s terminal.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Aiden said in mock seriousness. “Terrible diagnosis. My cousin had that.”
“Oh, what happened to him?” she asked, clipping Colin’s leash on.
“He said he’d meet me for lunch one day. I’m still waiting.” He shook his head, his expression grim. “I don’t like to talk about it much.”
She laughed. “Come on. The dog park’s this way. We can let them off their leashes there.”
“Sure. Lead the way.” He grabbed his jacket and folded it over an arm. “Come on, Sophie.”
She stared at him from where she lounged on the mowed grass. He jiggled her leash, but she stayed put, resisting his tugs. Piper whistled through her teeth and called her.
Sophie heaved a sigh to say, Oh, very well, and jumped to her feet, deigning to join them.
Aiden laughed. “I guess she still doesn’t know who’s boss.”
“Oh, if you wanted to be boss, you chose the wrong breed. You’ll have to settle for administrative assistant.”
“Or mailroom boy.”
He followed her to the main trail, where they could walk side by side. The dogs stopped often to sniff out the new territory. It was busy, so they had to weave in and out of other people, giving Piper an excuse to watch the trail and keep her eyes averted from the temptation next to her. To forget about his glimmery eyes, and his adorable ruffled hair, and that one little dimple, not two, just one, and how could she have missed that before?
Not realizing she’d been staring at him, Piper tripped over a hump in the pavement and stumbled a few feet. After that, she kept her eyes straight ahead, reminding herself over and over again that this was an interview, not a date. Definitely, almost certainly, probably not. Right?
“So,” Aiden eventually said, “I wanted to spend a little time together today to make sure…”
“That I’m not a crazy person?” she offered.
He chuckled and ran a hand through his scruffy hair. “Well, I wasn’t going to put it quite that way. But yes. Before I hand over the keys to my home, it would be comforting to know you don’t have any psychotic tendencies.”
“Only when I don’t have access to my daily dose of chocolate.”
“Duly noted.”
They reached a large area where wood chips littered the ground. Piper stopped to set Colin free and Aiden did the same for Sophie. The off-leash area spanned about an acre in size, surrounded by leafy green trees and plenty of benches where many of the owners were happy to sit and enjoy the shade.
“Here.” Piper dug into her pocket and pulled out a gnarled tennis ball. “I thought our meeting could be both work and play.”
She tossed it to him and he caught it. “Oh, good. But just so you know, I’m not usually one to mix business with pleasure.”
Piper knew he meant it as a joke. It was a tennis ball, after all, but the words struck her as familiar. He’d said the same thing the day before in her taxi. She recalled the straight-faced businessman at the office, the formal handshakes, and now he was wearing a suit in a park—with a pocket square, she couldn’t help but notice.
Back when she’d helped her mother move to live near Ethan, they’d all gone to dinner together. He’d flashed his exclusive credit card, turning it in plain sight ten minutes before the bill came. Several times throughout the evening, he jingled his BMW keys with the big blue and white key chain in his hands when it was nowhere near. And while they were in the middle of dinner, he answered a call on his Bluetooth—still tucked in his ear—and began speaking loud enough so everyone could hear about his oh-so-important legal cases because he was such a big-time lawyer.
They were what he considered the badges of his new status, the things he thought made him better than where he came from—a farm in Oregon. It was a persona he wore, a mask of permanent fakeness, of empty gestures, leaving nothing but a hollow personality beneath it. Gone was the little boy she grew up with.
She appraised Aiden with a lingering look. “You know what they say, ‘All work and no play…’”
“Hmm, nope. Don’t think I ever heard that one,” he teased. “What do they say will happen?”
“Oh, something about kidney stones or blindness.”
“Well, in that case.” He whistled. “Sophie.”
Both dogs perked up. Aiden threw the ball in the air and caught it again, mesmerizing them. Hypnotized, they watched his arm draw back. The moment he released it, both Sophie and Colin took off like they were hot on the trail of a badger, their natural quarry.
Piper laughed, watching Colin fight Sophie for the toy like it was to the death. “Colin doesn’t understand the words ‘not your ball.’ Every ball is Colin’s ball. On the plus side, I’ve made lots of friends at dog parks because of it.”
“And Colin some enemies?” Aiden asked.
“No way.” Colin brought her the ball and she ruffled his fur in congratulations. “Look at this face. How can you hate this face?”
As she said this, Sophie tackled Colin and they went rolling. Sophie came back with wood chips stuck in her long red fur, and Aiden bent down to pick some of them out. “Well, these two seem to be the best of friends.”
“Yeah, they love each other. They grew up together. After I adopted Colin, he still came back to the center with me to visit her.”
“But you only adopted Colin?”
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t take both home with me. I shouldn’t have a dog at all. My landlord would kill me if he knew.”
She tossed the ball back across the lot again. The dogs raced for it, wood chips flying up in their wake. Finding the shadiest bench, Piper took a seat and curled her legs up next to her. Aiden had to hitch his pant legs up a little to sit but tried to look casual, slinging an arm across the back of the bench.
Piper studied him out of the corner of her eye. If Aiden wore the same mask as her brother, he wore it so flawlessly, without having to flash his badges around, that Piper wondered if it was a mask at all.
But what did it matter? She came there for one reason—a job interview. Aiden was just her potential boss. However, when she recalled the final notices in her mailbox that morning she knew it wasn’t just a job. It was her best shot at staying afloat.
Must Love Wieners Page 5