Scott smiled, then suddenly looked worried. “Do you think, coming from me, it would become a reminder of a bad time in their lives? I wouldn’t want that.”
“I think,” Amy said, “all things considered, it turned out to be a good time. Don’t you, Piper? I mean, everything worked out, Ralph came into their lives and I’ve never seen Sugar looking so happy.”
Piper thought that Scott even asking such a question was a sign of how much he had changed from their time back in Albany, when he had focused too much on what was good for him. “Sugar is a very positive person,” she said. “She’ll certainly treasure this gift as something that was thoughtfully chosen.”
Scott seemed satisfied with that and began rewrapping his statue. Amy helped him pack it back up in the box and then he carefully retied the string. “There!”
“When will you give it to Sugar?” Piper asked.
“I thought instead of just running it over, that it’d be fun to meet for dinner. Sugar and Ralph, me and . . .” He looked meaningfully at Piper, who caught his drift and took a step backward.
“I’d better check on my fennel,” Amy said and quickly disappeared.
Scott was clearly asking Piper to join him for dinner, along with two other people she would certainly enjoy being with. She had dined with Scott when they met Zach at Niki’s to get his explanation of the bad incident at school. But she’d thought of that as a working dinner. Would this, considering how hard both she and Scott had worked on Zach’s behalf, be so different?
She knew it was. But she also knew Scott had changed during the time he’d been in Cloverdale. She liked the change. He’d become much more concerned about others and she’d been impressed with his caring attitude toward Zach and Sugar, something that showed with this gift. Many of her old feelings for Scott had resurfaced since his move to Cloverdale. Will had been amazingly understanding about that, giving her time to work it all out. But Piper couldn’t expect him to wait around forever. It was decision time.
Her shop phone rang.
“I’ll get it back here,” Amy called.
“Scott . . .” Piper hated seeing the look on his face, hopeful and, yes, loving. It was hard to bring the words out that she knew she had to say. “Scott,” she said softly, “it’s time to move on.” She watched his face fall and felt her own stomach clench. Breaking her engagement months ago to the old Scott had been so much easier.
He swallowed hard, then brought up a shaky smile. “Not what I wanted to hear,” he said. “But . . . okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded, his smile firmer. “Me, too. But can’t blame a guy for trying.” He picked up his box, started to turn, then set the box back down to look hard at her. “Good-bye, Piper.” Piper matched the gaze for several moments, then stepped out from behind her counter. She reached up to give Scott a hug. He held her tight for a moment, then pulled away. “Take care.”
Piper watched him go, knowing she had done the right thing but still feeling a mess of emotions. After the door had closed and she’d watched him disappear from sight, all while drawing many deep breaths, she heard Amy step out from the back room.
“That call was from Will,” Amy said. “I told him you’d get back to him.”
Piper smiled, then, and turned toward Amy. “Amy, that was absolutely the perfect thing to say.”
“Huh?” Amy asked, looking puzzled.
Piper grinned. “Never mind.”
She clapped her hands briskly. “Well! How’s that pickled fennel coming? Almost done? Maybe we should put up another batch of pickled carrots. Those are always popular, and business has been picking up. We’ll need to have more on hand. Strawberries! I should pick up strawberries for jam. Will loves strawberry jam. Yes! That’ll be next, after the carrots. Something really good for Will.”
Piper realized she was babbling and Amy smiled. “I think you’ve already got something for Will, something good to tell him, that is.”
“I do,” Piper said, returning the smile. “But it’ll wait.” Will, after all, had been waiting for several months to hear what she was finally ready to tell him. A few more hours wouldn’t hurt. And she wanted it to be in person, not over the phone.
Piper headed back to her pickling station, feeling that her life had just turned a corner, excited, a little anxious, but happy. As she checked her carrots and lined up her canning jars, she began to hum and realized she was grinning widely. For the first time in what seemed like forever, things were looking pretty darned good.
With that thought, she slipped a clean apron over her head, reached for her peeler, and got to work. First things first.
Recipes
BRANDIED CHERRIES
MAKES ABOUT 6 HALF-PINT JARS
1 cup sugar
2 cups brandy
1 cup red wine
Zest of one orange, removed in large strips with a vegetable peeler
3 pounds sweet cherries, pitted
Combine the sugar, brandy, wine, and orange zest in a 6- to 8-quart preserving pan, bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and boil for 5 minutes.
Add the cherries and lower the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the cherries are tender (about 5 minutes).
Ladle the syrup and cherries into prepared, hot jars, leaving ¼" headspace and wiping the rims clean. Top each jar with a flat lid and ring, tightening to finger-tight.
Put the jars in a canning pot and cover with at least 1" of water. Boil for 5 minutes, then remove the jars and let sit undisturbed for 12 hours. Check that the lids have sealed (can’t be pushed down). Any jars that have not sealed properly should be refrigerated immediately.
SPICY CARROT PICKLES
2 pounds carrots
5½ cups cider vinegar (5% acidity)
1 tablespoon pure kosher salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
8 dried hot chiles, stemmed
4 cloves garlic, sliced
4 sprigs thyme
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
½ small white onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
Scrub, trim, and peel the carrots; cut into sticks ½" thick and 4" long. Let sit in ice water.
Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, and 1 cup water in a wide, 6- to 8-quart preserving pan, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the carrots and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until tender-crisp.
Prepare jars and lids. While still hot, divide the chiles, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, and peppercorns among the jars.
Add the carrots to the jars, using tongs or a slotted spoon (don’t pack too tightly), and loosely fill spaces with slivers of onion.
Ladle the pickling liquid into the jars, leaving ½" headspace, and remove any air bubbles with a chopstick. Wipe the rims clean, then top each jar with a flat lid and ring, tightening to finger-tight.
Put the jars in a canning pot and cover with 1" of water. Boil for 15 minutes, then remove the jars and let sit undisturbed for 12 hours. Check that the lids have sealed (can’t be pushed down). Any jars that have not sealed properly should be refrigerated immediately.
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