Settling Scores (Piper Anderson Series)

by Danielle Stewart

  “And that’s what you want to do?”

  “I talked to my parents. Since I put them through the ringer lately, I thought I’d better see how they feel about it first. They were worried but supportive.”

  “So when do you go?”

  “That depends on what you say,” Willow croaked out timidly, knowing that once these words were spoken they couldn’t be taken back.

  “Last I checked you didn’t answer to me. If you want to go there and help out on these cases, then you should.”

  “I know I don’t answer to you,” Willow snarled back and then bit her tongue remembering she was the one who should be receiving the attitude right now. She deserved anything Josh wanted to throw at her. “I want you to come with me. I already bought you a ticket for Thursday.”

  “You bought me a plane ticket?” Josh asked, his mouth agape. “After I told you I wanted time?”

  “Yes,” Willow admitted apologetically. “I know it was crazy. You have your practice and you’ve lived here your whole life. This could take months, maybe even a year. But if you don’t want to come, it’s okay. I can just make copies and mail the book up to Denny and we can stay here.”

  “Edenville isn’t home for you, you know that.”

  “I can be happy anywhere if you’re there. I’ll cancel the tickets and we can just stay. I just want to be where you are.”

  “How am I supposed to trust that? Am I going to wake up every morning and wonder if you’re going to be there? That’s no way to live.”

  “I have literally no answer for you. I feel like running right now. When I sat down with my parents, I wanted to run. When Jedda just asked to talk to me, I wanted run. I don’t know how to turn that off. And I don’t want to lie about it either. I just know I can’t imagine going somewhere and you not being there.”

  “Tell me why. I need to hear why you think you want me in your life.” Josh was firm faced and teetering on the verge of anger.

  Willow didn’t have an immediate answer. The urge was just to say she loved him and hope that would be enough, but she knew that was cheating. That wasn’t what he meant. So in usual Willow fashion she tried to think about what he’d expect her to say. Just like she’d done with every therapist, her adoptive parents, Brad, and a whole host of others. Then she realized that, within itself was her answer. “You’re the first person who doesn’t have an expectation of my perfection, of me being healed or saved. You haven’t asked me to be anything other than what I am. Before I completely blew it with you, somehow you loved these jagged edges of me that I’d always tried to hide, and everyone else had ignored. You didn’t try to dig up the best in me, you saw the worst and you still loved me. I think I need that in my life, and I don’t think I’ll ever find it again the same way I had it with you.”

  Josh drew in a deep breath and scratched tiredly at his head. “That’s a damn good answer.”

  “It’s the truth,” Willow said simply, finally able to bring her gaze up to Josh’s.

  “Edenville doesn’t feel like home to me either,” Josh sighed as he ran a finger across Willow’s cheek. The warmth of his touch brought tears back to her eyes. “I can bring on some partners at the practice and have them run it while I’m gone. I’ve had some great offers over the years. That’s the nice part of being the only show in town.”

  “And you can see yourself in the city? I don’t know how these cases are going to go, it might be a lot of bad news over and over again.”

  “I’m tired of living in this bubble and pretending everything in the world is perfect. I love being a doctor and helping people, but I feel like I’m only scratching the surface of what I could be doing. I want to go with you.”

  “Just because you don’t want to be in Edenville?” Willow asked, knowing full well, her wide eyes were begging for him to quench her thirst with a drop of his love.

  “No,” he said, giving in, “not just because I want to leave Edenville. I want to be wherever you are.” He spun her around and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand as he pressed her against the car she was leaning on. The full weight of his body making her feel completely safe. “I want to go wherever you are, if you’d just stay there long enough for me to love you.”

  “I promise to try,” Willow whispered as Josh leaned in close, his lips just inches from hers. “Thank you for not giving up on me.” Their lips met and Willow felt her heart swell as his hands tightened around her waist. She lost herself in the kiss, let it bowl her over like a wave and instead of fighting to get her footing, she let it take her to shore.

  Josh broke the kiss and looked down into her face tentatively searching for something he might be able to latch onto. She could see him convincing himself that Willow was worth the gamble, and it pained her to know she’d made that necessary.

  “I’m proud of the things you’ve been doing here Willow,” he said leaning in and kissing her forehead. “I believe in you.”

  And just like that, Josh became the thread that mended her split seams and repaired her frayed edges. He pulled the loose piece of her back together and she knew that the promise she was making was one she could keep. She could be better.

  Six Weeks Later

  “How’s it been going, working all the cases with Denny?” Bobby asked Willow as he bent down and laced up his sneaker. His skin was still tan from his working vacation with Piper.

  “No big wins yet but, some great leads. He actually has surveillance on two men that I identified through mug shots as having dealt with my parents. That’s been promising.” Willow said as she stared up at the door of the apartment building she’d been held captive in.

  “Well, you look well considering Josh tells me you’ve been busier than a one eyed cat watching a dozen rat holes,” Betty teased looking her up and down.

  “He’s been busy too. He’s working at the clinic next to our new apartment. He’s making a real difference there,” Willow bragged with a smile as she took Josh’s hand. “Thank you all for coming. I can’t believe you all got here.” Willow took a look at the group that had gathered. Her people: her adoptive parents, Piper and Bobby, Michael and Jules, Betty and Clay, and Jedda and Crystal were all standing on the lawn of a terrible place, and their simple presence stole some of the power it had over her.

  Betty pushed the stray pieces of her wind-blown hair aside as she smiled hopefully at Willow. “Are you doing any singing? I sure love your voice. I’d hate to see you rob the world of it.”

  “I’ve taken a little break from singing while I help out up here. When I go back to it I want it to be with a clear head.”

  “I had the chance to meet with Denny yesterday to thank him personally for helping to find Erica,” Crystal said, touching Willow’s trembling arm gently. “You left something out of the story. He told me you paid the witness for the information. Out of your own pocket and it wasn’t a small amount.”

  “I got some money from a friend who died out in California. He wanted me to use it in a way that helped me get on with my life. I initially thought I should take it and pay my parents back but when I told them what I did with the money they understood. I’d do it again tomorrow given the chance.”

  “I know I’ve said it a hundred times before, but thank you,” Crystal gulped as she leaned backward into Jedda’s arms.

  “You ready?” Josh asked, taking a step toward the entrance where Tony was waiting to let them into the apartment.

  “As I’ll ever be,” whispered Willow as she met his stride and headed toward the door. She turned back to see the legion of people who’d gathered to support her as she faced the darkest place she’d ever known. It was clear to her now, this was a place where bad things had happened to her, but they weren’t happening anymore. This, all these people behind her, that was happening now.

  She stepped inside the door, farther in now than any other attempt she’d made and as the smell hit her nose, she felt like she was falling from the clouds, plummeting toward the earth. That was okay
though because there were plenty of people to catch her.

  Epilogue

  As they stood staring up at the run down somber looking apartment that Willow had just stepped into Michael’s phone rang. It drew everyone’s attention and elicited a roll of Jules’s emerald green eyes. “I swear your office doesn’t know what the word vacation means,” she huffed as she released his hand and he stepped away, an apology on his tongue.

  After nearly ten minutes, Bobby wondered why Michael hadn’t been able to get off the phone with whoever had called. Clearly Jules was wondering the same thing as she griped, “The whole point of us being here was to support Willow when she comes out if she needs us and he’s going to be on the phone.”

  “Go get him Bobby,” Betty said shoving him in the direction Michael had disappeared to.

  “I’ll go with you,” Piper said, tugging a reluctant Bobby along. “He’s probably micromanaging whatever cases he left behind.”

  As he and Piper rounded the corner of the adjacent building, they saw Michael bracing himself against the brick wall as though he’d just taken a physical blow. “What happened?” Piper asked, racing toward him as he instantly tried to gather himself. It was too late; they’d already seen his crumpled over shoulders and the pain in his face.

  “That was my mom,” Michael blurted out with a cracking in his voice. “My dad had a heart attack. He’s dead.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Piper opened her arms to him but he didn’t move toward her. He straightened his back and swallowed hard.

  “I need to get to Ohio.”

  “Of course,” Bobby said, as though it was the only thing that made sense. “Do you want Piper and me to keep Frankie while you and Jules go?”

  “No, I’m going by myself,” Michael insisted as he tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Tell Jules,” he hesitated on the words, clearly struggling to come up with a message. “Tell her I’m sorry, and I’ll be back in Edenville by the weekend.”

  “Wait a second,” Bobby said catching his arm as he spun to leave. “We’ve all turned a blind eye to the fact that you don’t talk about your family. It’s none of our business that up until this point they haven’t met your wife or daughter. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to walk back up to my friend and tell her that her father-in-law just died and her husband took off without her.”

  “You don’t understand Bobby. I’ve stood by all of you with your stuff, I’m asking you to do the same.”

  “No, you’re not, Michael,” Piper snapped. “You’re not asking us to stand by you, you’re asking us to watch you bail. You’re married now. You exchanged vows, for better or worse. Whatever it is, she’ll understand.”

  “I don’t like this new optimistic Piper, she’s too happy to remember how messy things can be,” Michael said in a hushed and serious voice as he shook his arm free from Bobby’s grip.

  “Take care of my girls Bobby,” Michael called as he hustled toward the street, a pleading look in his eyes.

  Bobby wanted to chase after him and tackle him to the ground. He wanted to hold him there and force him to face whatever it was he was running from, or running toward. Instead, when he saw the desperation in his best friend’s eyes, so he did the only thing he could, reassure him. “I will,” he called back feeling like the earth had just spun off its axis. It had been Michael, Jules, Bobby and Piper for almost two years now. They’d been through hell and back together. This was supposed to be the beginning of their finally peaceful lives. Michael was a husband and father now. He had responsibilities to Jules. Hell, he had responsibilities to all of them. That was who he was, the stable one. He was the voice of reason in the face of everyone else’s panic. Now suddenly as he ran away from them at a frantic pace Bobby could tell all of that was about to change.

  “What are you saying Bobby?” Piper pleaded anxiously tugging at his arm. “We need to go after him.”

  “We will, just not yet.”

  Follow The Piper Anderson Series in book six

  Battling Destiny September 2014