“That’s a great idea,” Willow smiled and stepped toward him, not yet sure if she intended to touch him, though she wanted to. “You’re really going to do all this with me?”
“Yes. But there are two catches. If you are in mortal danger, I will intervene. I’m not willing to commit to letting you destroy yourself. If it gets to that point, I’ll step in. Otherwise, I’ll just watch your back and take your lead. Second, I plan to call Edenville. Everyone there is concerned about you and I don’t intend to lie to them. You don’t need their permission but they love you and you should give them an update.”
“Fair enough,” she nodded and nervously began wringing her hands together, unsure of what else to do with them. If she didn’t keep them busy, she knew they’d reach out and touch Josh’s kind eyed face.
“You should know, I’m not here to try to win you over either. I’m not going to kiss you, or make a move on you,” he assured seeming to read her mind. “I’m not going to risk having something with you someday just to have something with you right now.”
“I don’t know what things are going to look like when I come out on the other side of this.” She felt obligated to warn him that there might not be anything left of her worth caring about.
“Just don’t lose yourself in this. Make sure there is still enough of you left on the other side to piece back together.”
“I’ll try,” she said, pushing her bangs out of her eyes and finally meeting his gaze again. She wouldn’t make a promise, but this was as close as she’d get to doing so.
“We can fly out tomorrow if you want to pack up. I’ll grab a hotel and pick you up here in the morning.”
“Stay,” Willow said, quicker and with more urgency than she would have liked to portray. “I know it’s not a really nice place but I want to show you what else I have here,” she continued, gesturing up to the wall of information she’d pieced together so far.
“Sure, I can crash on the floor,” Josh offered trying to make the situation less awkward.
“The floor is disgusting. If we’re really going to do all this, if you’ve truly got my back and plan to support me, I think we can share a bed. I mean, just like sleep in it.”
“That’s fine,” Josh smiled, clearly amused by the hot pink in Willow’s cheeks. “I think I can handle that.”
Chapter Five
Piper held her tongue as long as she could as everyone gave his or her opinions on Josh’s phone call. She watched as Michael’s nostrils flared the way they did when he was angry. His tone made it clear he was.
“So she did have a hand in what happened to Brad? Does she know how bad it would have been if anyone had found out? That document I sighed was iron clad, she needed to put the Brad stuff behind her,” Michael seethed.
“Apparently she had more than just a hand in it. She orchestrated the whole thing. Getting involved with some very dangerous people in order to do so. From what Josh said she’s lucky she didn’t get herself killed,” Bobby huffed as he slid into his booth at the Wise Owl. The restaurant was doing great but Monday nights were always quiet so they made it a point to come, making sure the seats were filled. It was a nice addition to Wednesday night dinner, though Piper could see the conversation might get intense.
“Well if it’s done now why doesn’t she just come back?” Jules asked, as she patted Frankie gently on the back and pushed her pink pacifier back between her cherry red lips.
Bobby, who’d taken the call from Josh, looked like he was mustering the courage to bring on more bad news.
“I’m starting to get to know that look,” Jedda worried out loud, tossing his dishtowel over his shoulder and sitting down to join them. “It gets worse, doesn’t it?”
“She’s not coming back here,” Bobby admitted, and Piper let out a heavy sigh. She didn’t think the odds were good that a little time away would get Willow back in a happy state of mind. She knew from experience it took a lot of work and a lot of help. Hiding out didn’t do you any favors. “Josh just booked them two flights back to New Jersey. He said she’s got this plan in her head. Somewhere along the way, she started remembering things from when she was young. She remembers other girls who came through the house, girls your parents abducted maybe. Her plan is to go back to your old neighborhood, the old house to try to remember more and find out what happened to the girls.”
Jedda pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers as though his head was about to burst from the pressure. “Bobby, you of all people know how dangerous my neighborhood was. It’s likely even worse now. She can’t go tracking down my parents’ old connections and try to find out what they did with girls they abducted. She’ll get herself killed. I’m going up there.”
“You can’t go Jedda,” Crystal interjected, a comforting hand squeezing his arm. “She won’t let you just drag her back here anyway. She’s a tough cookie, she’ll put up a hell of a fight.”
“I will literally toss her over my shoulder and carry her back here if I need to.” Jedda grunted as he pounded his fist on the table sending the silverware rattling.
“Crystal’s right,” Bobby agreed, sucking in a deep breath. “Jedda can’t go there but I can and I don’t care what she wants, I’m getting her home. I don’t care if I have to handcuff and arrest her. At this point she’s done enough to warrant it.”
“I recall you just giving Josh the wild horse speech. You’re changing your tune now?” Piper asked, finally speaking up. “I thought you were speaking from experience. Do you really think a plan like that would have worked on me?”
“She’s not you Piper. You never stole money or drugs. You weren’t out associating with guys like Brad or God knows who else in order to take him down. What you were doing was admirable.”
“That’s what I was doing in Edenville,” Piper admitted. “But I had a whole life before turning up here. Trust me, some of my mistakes would make Willow look like a nun.”
Bobby threw Piper a curious look as he asserted, “All I’m saying is I think she needs a firm hand at this point. Josh went out there, and I was hoping he’d talk some sense into her. Clearly he didn’t.”
“She’s a grown woman and Josh is with her. If this is what she thinks she needs to do then we should let her,” Piper stressed, raising her voice to meet Bobby’s volume. They didn’t do much arguing these days. Their lives had settled over the last few months, but Willow had remained their one point of contention. Bobby hadn’t fully shaken his views of right and wrong and Piper hadn’t been able to ignore her empathy for Willow’s situation.
“Josh has lived in Edenville his whole life. He’s not going to be prepared for what it’s like up there. Think about how Jules was when you got to New York,” Bobby reminded. Piper knew he expected her to be on his side but she wasn’t. She knew what it felt like to be paralyzed by life as though you couldn’t move forward until you fixed the things haunting you.
Jules cut in with a stern look, “I did just fine up there, thank you very much.”
“You’ve been going to school for a while now, Piper,” Michael said as Betty came in with a tray of food for everyone. “I’d imagine learning to become a social worker and victims advocate you’ve seen your share of the horror stories. Hell, you’ve lived them yourself. The statistics don’t lie. The odds that any of these women will be found are miniscule. She’s not actually going to have a good outcome from all of this. You have to know that.”
Piper kept her tone steely, knowing a lot was riding on this debate. “I’m not saying I think she’s going to find them, I’m saying she deserves to look for them if that’s what she thinks she needs to do.”
“Josh is worried about her mental state,” Bobby chimed in now not looking at Piper at all as Betty placed his plate of pasta down in front of him.
“Willow?” Betty asked, putting down the last plate and then taking a seat with all of them.
“Yes, she’s going to New Jersey and trying to remember things from when she was younger. She thin
ks she can help some of the girls her parents hurt. I know it’s not likely but I think it’s important that she try.” Piper pled her case to Betty, knowing if she could win her over, she could turn the tide of this conversation.
Every eye was on Betty, waiting for her to weigh in. She pulled her napkin from the table and placed it on her lap as she thought it over. “Is it safe?” she asked, and her eyes went wide as Bobby, Jedda, and Michael called back a loud and resounding no.
“But she’s determined I’m sure?” Betty continued, the wheels in her brain turning.
“She’s not going to stop,” Piper interjected before anyone else could. “Willow is going to do this, we just have to figure out how to help her, not how to stop her. I’ll go up there. I’m off school this month anyway.”
“You’re off school because of your wedding and honeymoon. Don’t forget about that,” Jules reminded, switching positions and handing a fussing Frankie over to Michael. She took her role as maid of honor very seriously, even if the wedding was planned to be casual.
“You’re not going up by yourself. I’ll go with you, but I’m not biting my tongue while I’m there. I’m going to tell her this is a bad idea,” Bobby said, folding his arms across his chest assertively.
“I’m sure that will go over great. But you don’t have any time off, only what you’ve got scheduled for the honeymoon,” Piper said sounding defeated.
“I’ll switch it. We’ll just honeymoon before our wedding. In Jersey. Doesn’t that sound romantic?” Bobby shrugged and leaned into Piper with a sweet smile.
“I’m not sure either of you are capable of relaxing anyway. I figured even on your honeymoon you’d be solving a crime or something,” Michael joked, as he grabbed the onions off of Jules’s salad with his free hand and Jules grabbed the tomatoes off his. Piper had watched them morph into a couple during the time she’d known them and this was just another example. How wonderful to find the person who willingly gave you your favorite thing off their plate and took away the one thing you didn’t like. It brought balance to them both.
“So we’re going?” Piper asked, looking around the table in a speak now or forever hold your peace manner.
“I think we have to. I’ll give my boss a call and explain the situation. Maybe he’ll give me some liberties to work with a precinct up there. If Willow’s dead set on doing this at least we can do it the right way.”
“If you two aren’t here for your wedding,” Betty began, pointing her knife threateningly over at them, “I will hunt you down and drag you back here. I have worked too damn hard to make sure you two don’t screw things up in this relationship. I’ll be damned if I’m going to postpone these vows.”
“I think we’ve done most of the heavy lifting in our relationship,” Bobby shot back putting his arm around Piper proudly.
“Oh please, you’d all be nothing without me. Just a bunch of hungry, lonely buffoons who keep screwing up your lives. Let me hear one of you disagree with that and I’ll start listing the crap you all pull. So just don’t make me get on another plane and pull your sorry butts back here. You know how much I hate to fly.” Betty sliced off a bite of meatloaf and plunged her fork assertively into it. “Oh and give my love to Willow. Tell her we’re rooting for her and if she needs anything at all, I’m here.”
“You’re scary and wonderful all at once, Betty,” Piper said as she poured a glass of wine for herself.
“You just focus on the scary part if the idea of moving your wedding date creeps into your head,” Betty threatened with a sweet smile.
Everyone finished their meals and then began to scatter. Jedda tossed his dishtowel back over his shoulder and tied his apron back on as he kissed Crystal goodbye. Jules and Michael finished the endless process of getting Frankie cleaned up, strapped in, and all of her jingling toys gathered up.
“Piper,” Crystal called in a hushed voice once Jedda had disappeared back into the kitchen.
“What’s up?” Piper asked reading the look of conflict on her friends face. Crystal had been someone Piper could talk to leading up to the wedding when Jules had been busy tending to Frankie. She’d assimilated well into this patchwork family, becoming her own pattern in their quilt. Crystal was good for Jedda, and in that, good for all of them.
“I wanted to ask you and Bobby something,” she said looking uncomfortable as Piper waved Bobby over. “I know this makes absolutely no sense and I’m embarrassed to even ask, but I was hoping you could take something with you when you go to New Jersey.” She reached in her bag and pulled out the photograph of her missing sister Erica. The edges tattered and the print faded, Piper could see Crystal had been carrying it a long time. Likely, the entire fifteen years Erica has been missing.
“Of course,” Piper answered holding her hand out to receive the picture Crystal clearly didn’t want to part with.
“I completely understand that you’re going up there for Willow. I’m not asking you to do anything proactively on Erica’s case. I know you looked into what was available up there already and there wasn’t anything to go on. That hasn’t changed. I try not to talk about it too much because I feel terrible for the pretenses I used to meet all of you. Hiding my past from Jedda just hoping he’d have information about my sister that was wrong. But Erica is on my mind every single day. Not knowing what happened to her is the worst part. It would mean a lot to me if you could just take her picture. Just in case.” Crystal pressed the photo down into Piper’s hand and brushed her long blond bangs away from her eyes. Wiping away a small tear, she bit at her lip.
“It’s worth having with us,” Bobby assured her as he pulled her in for a hug. There were no shortage of moments in Piper’s life that reminded her why she loved Bobby.
“Thank you both, not just for taking Erica’s picture with you but for how accepting you’ve been over the last few months. I didn’t make a very good first impression but somehow you all found a way to give me another chance.”
“In this family, we do second chances,” Piper smiled, squeezing Crystal’s arm. “Hell, we do third and fourth chances too,” she teased.
“Well Betty seemed like she meant business so you just make sure you two are back for your wedding. Sounds like you might be out of chances.”
Chapter Six
Willow clutched her bag close to her chest as they made their way through the hotel lobby. The notes she’d gathered, the things she’d forced herself to remember were all tucked away in the pockets of that bag and they felt as important to her as oxygen. She didn’t want a single scrap to be lost. She couldn’t afford to a have a piece of the puzzle misplaced, even if much of it was unimportant.
“You sure you’re alright with me only getting us one room?” Josh asked hesitantly as he pushed the elevator button.
“Yeah, I don’t know how long I’ll be up here and it’s too expensive to get two rooms. I think we can be adult about it.”
“Absolutely,” Josh agreed, grabbing Willow’s guitar case and gesturing for her to step into the elevator ahead of him. It was those small acts that, all stacked up together, made Josh who he was. His arm reached out across the opening to ensure the doors didn’t prematurely start to close on her. His movements were always accommodating and kind. Selfless. He’d likely let the elevator door chop off his arm if it meant she got in safely. Luckily, it didn’t come to that and he stepped in behind her.
“I called the sketch artist. She’s going to meet with us here in the lobby tomorrow morning. Is there anything you want to do tonight or did you just want to rest? I’m sure the jet lag is harder on you, adjusting to the time change and all.”
“I want to go to the apartment. Even if we don’t go inside, I just want to get there. I need to see it all,” Willow said, fidgeting with her nervous hands. Maybe that didn’t make sense to Josh, but to her it was a crucial part of what she was doing. She’d splintered off so many pieces of her life that until she saw that structure, the actual building standing there in front of her,
she wouldn’t be completely convinced any of her memories were real. This was going to set the tone. Would Josh really support her or would he take every opportunity to talk her into backing off? Would he suggest they rest, grab dinner and start fresh in the morning?
“Sounds good. I put the address in the GPS earlier and we’re about twenty minutes from there. I wanted to make sure we were close enough to get back and forth easily but that we were staying in a safer area.” With those words, Willow felt another of her defenses fall away. He’d passed every test so far, and she was starting to wonder if he really could just support her.
“That’s smart. I think it’ll be good to have a home base that’s far enough away in case I get overwhelmed.” Admitting the chance that she might struggle was her gift to him. She wasn’t dumb enough to think this wasn’t going to take a toll on her, but normally she’d put up a blustery front about how she’d have it under control. Josh deserved to see that she was nervous, that she was being realistic.
“Let’s get our bags settled then head out. I don’t think we should be there after dark, do you?” Again, Josh wasn’t dictating, he was letting it be her choice, her idea.
“Definitely not.” Willow smiled as Josh opened the door to the hotel room and she felt a wave of relief flow over her. She’d been living in that decrepit miserable hole for so many months. A nice clean, comfortable bed in a safe place was exactly what she’d hoped for even though she wasn’t going to ask for it.
“I know I already said it a bunch of times Josh, but I don’t feel like I’m saying it the right way. Maybe I don’t even know how. The fact that you’re here, the way you’re backing me up… it’s helping. I think it’s going to make all the difference. I know I don’t really ever get the words right but…”
“Message received,” Josh said with a flash of understanding in his eyes. “I know taking help isn’t easy, so I’m just glad you haven’t tried to lose me yet.”
Settling Scores (Piper Anderson Series) Page 5