***
“There you are!” Adahy lifted a hand in greeting. “Where’s Piper?”
Just hearing her name caused his heart to beat faster. “I don’t know.” He glared, hoping his brother would take the hint.
“You two have a fight?” He fell into step with his brother.
“It’s none of your business.”
Adahy held up his hands. “I’m trying to help. You look agitated.”
Tai stopped, huffed out a breath. It wasn’t fair for him to take his anger out on Adahy. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. “We broke up.”
“This isn’t about the article, is it?”
“No. I realized it will never work. She’s not Queche.”
Adahy’s mouth dropped open. “You split up with your gorgeous sweetheart of a girlfriend because she’s white?” He shook his head. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side,” Tai reminded him.
“Not when you do something so dumb.”
Annoyed, Tai turned to him. “I’m sure you’ve read the article. She doesn’t understand us. She doesn’t fit in.”
“She was fitting in fine this weekend,” Adahy said and squinted at him. “What’s the real problem? Is she shit in bed?”
Tai blinked and then blinked again. He couldn’t keep up with his brother. “No.”
“Has she become clingy and nagging?”
“No.” Piper had always given him the space he needed.
“Then what?”
“It won’t work.” He didn’t want to stand here justifying his decision to his brother. Adahy didn’t understand what the tribe meant to him. He didn’t realize how hard Tai fought to save it, to support it, to make it self-sufficient. How he needed to make sure others didn’t suffer like he had. He couldn’t jeopardize all of that for his own needs.
He needed to continue to work with the council to help preserve their culture, their peace of mind, their identity.
And he needed to make sure his children were part of that.
Pushing past Adahy he continued to the school.
And immediately wished he hadn’t, when Stan cornered him. “What did she have to say for herself?” he demanded.
Tai sighed. He might have used the article as an excuse to break up with Piper but he couldn’t let the others believe it was her fault. “She didn’t write the article, Stan.”
“What a load of trash. Of course she did. It says so right on the top.”
“Her editor changed it.”
“That’s convenient.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Can we just drop it? It’s too late now.”
It was another negative portrayal of a Native American.
One day he might even stop being surprised by it.
***
Piper called Eyota on Monday morning to apologize for leaving without saying goodbye.
“I hope everything is all right,” Eyota said.
Piper had no idea what Tai had told them. “It’s fine. I’ll send through the first chapter by the end of the week.”
“Take your time. There’s no rush.”
“Is Bradley there?” She didn’t want him to think she’d deserted him.
“I’ll put him on.”
“Hey, Piper.” He sounded a little sad.
“Hi, Bradley. I’m sorry I had to rush off yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to wish you good luck on your spelling bee today.”
“I think I’ll ace it after your help.” His voice perked up.
“I’m sure you will. I’ll give you a call later in the week to see how it went.”
“OK. Bye, Piper.”
She hung up. No matter what happened between her and Tai, she wasn’t going to desert Bradley.
The thought of Tai made her sad. He hadn’t called like she’d hoped he would, but she had a plan. She was going to work on the recipe book this morning and then head to the restaurant mid afternoon when it was quiet, and talk with him.
She would tell him what Geraldine had said, she would tell him she loved him, and she would support him and his tribe in whatever way she could.
Surely he would forgive her.
***
At three o’clock Piper drove to the Wooden Spoon. The back door was locked, which was unusual. She knocked and Kath answered. “Is he here?” Piper asked.
Kath shuffled her feet. “He is,” she said. “But I’m not allowed to let you in.”
Piper gaped at her. “What?”
“I asked how the recipe book was coming and he said you weren’t welcome in the kitchen any more.”
Piper was suddenly short of breath. “Could you check again for me?” She hated to put Kath in a difficult position but she may have misunderstood. “I can meet him in the restaurant.”
Kath nodded.
A few minutes later she was back. “No. He’s busy.” She fidgeted with her hands.
“Thanks, Kath,” Piper managed to say, and walked away. He wouldn’t even talk to her. After all they had been through together and he wouldn’t give her a chance to explain.
How could he believe she’d written that article?
Unless he’d just used it as an excuse to break up. Maybe she’d unknowingly put out some kind of “I love you” vibes and it had freaked him out. But the least he could do was be honest with her. She would make him tell her the truth.
Fueled by anger, she entered the restaurant through the front door, waving to the waiter and moving purposefully toward the kitchen as if she had a right to be there. No one tried to stop her.
She would have loved to see them try.
Pushing open the doors separating the kitchen from the restaurant, she ignored the few staff in there prepping for dinner. Kath saw her but didn’t move.
Tai was in his office, working on his computer. He was still wearing his chef’s uniform, his hair was tied back in his usual braid and his eyes were focused on whatever it was he was reading.
He looked so good, her heart hurt.
Striding into his office she was rewarded with a satisfying look of shock before his face pulled on the mask of disinterest.
“Did you really believe you could break up with me and not let me defend myself?” she asked. She didn’t wait for an answer. “You know I didn’t write that article. I showed you the two I did write, so don’t you dare use that as an excuse.” She took a breath. “As for understanding your culture, I find it absolutely fascinating. I loved spending time on the reservation and getting to know everyone. No, I didn’t grow up with your traditions so they don’t have the same meaning to me as they do to you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t respect your right to believe them.”
Tai stared at her, his expression unchanging as if he was uninterested in what she had to say. Doubt slid insidiously inside her. How could he look at her like that? Not a flicker of emotion. They had shared so much.
She went on the attack to get some sort of response from him. “But maybe you used my race as an excuse to break up with me.” She remembered what Stan had told her and everything clicked into place. “That’s it, isn’t it? It’s because I’m not Queche. You never intended this to be anything more than a fling. You would never marry anyone who wasn’t part of your tribe.”
He said nothing, but his eye twitched.
He had known about the tribal laws. He had never considered what they had serious. Being hit by a truck would have been less painful.
“Well, let me give you some advice. Next time you decide to date a white woman, tell her at the start that it’s just casual, that your tribal laws won’t allow it to be more serious. Tell her before she falls in love with you.” Her voice broke. “Save her the heartbreak you’re putting me through.”
He flinched.
At least something got through to him.
“You don’t need to worry about me coming around again. We’re both clear on where we stand.”
With as much dignity as she could muster, Piper turn
ed and walked out of the office, out of the kitchen and out of Tai’s life.
Only when she reached her car did she let the tears fall.
***
Tai waited until the kitchen door had closed behind Piper before he lowered his head into his hands.
What a mess.
He had never wanted it to come to this. He’d been selfish, trying to fool himself that what they had was just casual because he loved spending time with her.
It wasn’t going to work. It couldn’t …
And then she’d said she loved him.
It was like being hit by lightning. A spark of electricity, excitement, joy, before he remembered it couldn’t be. He’d wanted to end the relationship before she loved him. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He was hurting enough for the both of them.
“You all right, Chef?” Kath hovered at the doorway. She’d probably heard the whole thing.
“Fine. I’ve got work to do.” He turned away from her, dismissing her, and waited until she left.
Whose stupid idea had it been to put a glass window in his office? All he wanted to do was shut himself in and hide from the world but that wouldn’t work.
No, he had to keep busy.
His phone rang and he grabbed it, desperate for the distraction.
“Tai, I want to talk to you about the concert,” George said.
Would there be a concert now? Would Piper get so upset that she’d ask George to cancel it?
“What do you need?”
“Numbers of people attending from the reservation,” he said. “Tickets go on sale tomorrow and I need to hold back the right amount for the kids who are coming.”
Tai frowned. “What kids?”
“Piper asked for the kids from the reservation to get free tickets, because they can’t afford it and the money is going to help them.”
Tai leaned back in his chair as emotion swamped him. She hadn’t told him. The kids would love it. “I’m not sure. Let me make some calls and I’ll get back to you.”
“Great. I’m so excited about this. I reckon we should make it an annual event.”
Tai was used to George’s enthusiasm. “Let’s see how this one goes first.”
After a bit more discussion they hung up and Tai called his grandmother. He explained about the tickets.
“I know. Piper was talking with the school. They can organize transport for a hundred children.”
Would George be willing to give away so many tickets? “I’ll check the numbers with George.”
“Wonderful. Can you tell Piper that Bradley will be one of the children going so she won’t need to take him?”
Tai hesitated. “You’d better tell her yourself.”
“Why?” His grandmother’s voice was concerned.
“We broke up. I’ll talk to you later, Ka’ sa’.” He hung up before she asked him any more questions.
He had to stop thinking about Piper, stop talking to people who knew her. It was better they had a clean break, but with the concert, that was likely to be difficult. He had to survive the next couple of weeks and then the event would be over and no one should ever mention Piper to him again. He could cope with that.
He would have to.
He called George back and gave him the number.
“Fantastic. We’ve been promoting the hell out of the concert and tickets go on sale tomorrow. I’ll know by the end of the day how successful the promo has been.”
Tai was suddenly nervous. What if no one was interested in attending such a diverse concert? Kent Downer might be enough of a draw card but there were no guarantees. “Will you let me know?”
“Sure.”
Tai hung up. He had work he needed to go on with.
And a woman he needed to forget.
***
Piper allowed herself an hour for crying and self-pity and then threw herself into work. The quicker she finished the cookbook the sooner she could put Tai behind her.
She worked late into the night, only stopping when she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Then she fell into bed and slept.
The next day she did the same, working from the moment she got up until she fell asleep at her table.
By Wednesday evening the cookbook was ready for its final read-through. She pushed back from the table and breathed a sigh of relief. By the end of tomorrow she could send the manuscript to Tai and she wouldn’t have to see him again.
The thought caused her more pain than relief.
Needing a distraction she cleaned her house, picking up the snack wrappers and rewashing the clothes that Moggy had been using as a bed for weeks. She was becoming a hermit.
She had to get out of her apartment and back into civilization.
But not tonight. She was so tired she needed to sleep, but in the morning she would head to Eat, Drink, Read and go through the manuscript there.
***
Piper got up early on Thursday and fussed with her appearance to make herself feel more confident, and then she drove to Elle’s café.
It was busy with the morning coffee rush so she took a seat and waited for Nora to take her order.
While the girls were making her coffee, she fired up her laptop and began to read through the recipe book.
She was pleased with what she had done. The Queche stories flowed nicely into the recipe sections and were easy to read.
“Hi! I haven’t seen you in a while.” Elle delivered her order and sat down across from her. “Where have you been hiding?”
“On the reservation.” Piper told her about the two ghost-writing projects.
“Wow, that must be interesting. Tai’s keen to share his culture with you.”
At the mention of Tai’s name Piper swallowed the lump in her throat.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”
“Nothing.” She didn’t want to tell her friend yet. It hurt too much to talk about it and she didn’t want to start crying here. “Just tired.”
“You’ve been working hard.” Elle smiled. “Oh, hey, George was going to call you and Tai today. He wanted to go over the concert plans.”
Piper was supposed to be taking Bradley. “He’d better call Tai. But I’ll call George later and see if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“It’s mostly sorted. Imogen is checking the details of the auction website today and it should go live tomorrow.”
Piper had been so out of touch with what was going on. Her friends had done amazing things to get the fundraiser off the ground and she’d barely done anything. “I’ll give her a call too.” Imogen’s wedding was in a couple of weeks and Piper knew nothing about it except that she was a bridesmaid.
She’d promised herself when she was laid off that she would be a better friend, not work all the time, but somehow she’d replaced work with Tai and the ghost-writing projects, and still neglected her friends.
Had she always been so self-absorbed?
“I’ve got to run. I’ll talk to you later.” Elle stood up and went to serve a customer.
Piper sighed.
She was a mess. She’d been so excited learning about Tai’s culture that she’d neglected not only her friends, but also her search for permanent employment. She still had a couple more weeks of work on the manuscript for Eyota, assuming she still wanted to go ahead with it, and the money from both projects would last her a couple of months. But she had to find a job.
She’d start looking as soon as she’d finished the cookbook.
***
Piper returned to her apartment after lunch, and at the end of the day, she was satisfied with the cookbook. All it required was the recipes, which Tai could easily add in himself. She sent him the file, agonizing over the email until she was sure it sounded as professional as she could make it.
Then she got up to find something for dinner. She switched on the radio and found a station playing cheerful tunes. As part of her new resolution, she was determined not to work past six o’clock. Her evenings would be sp
ent reading books, watching television or catching up with family and friends.
As she checked her cupboard for food, a song came on the radio that she recognized immediately – Adahy’s single. She grinned and turned up the volume, tapping her feet in time with the music. She should call him and tell him it was playing.
She froze with her hand outstretched to the phone. Maybe he wouldn’t want to hear from her now she and Tai had broken up. Had she not only lost Tai, but Rayen and Adahy too? Tears sprang to her eyes and she blinked them back.
As she was debating whether she should call, the phone rang. Piper turned down the music and answered.
“Have you had dinner yet?” It was Imogen.
“No.”
“Great. I’ll bring pizza.” She hung up before Piper could ask what was going on. She wasn’t in the mood to socialize but it would be good to talk to her friend. She needed to tell someone about Tai.
She went to the fridge to check if she had anything she could offer Imogen to drink.
Her laptop pinged with an incoming message. It was from Tai.
Manuscript fine. Payment in account. Contract is complete.
That was it. Nothing that would suggest he felt anything for her. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears. She wasn’t going to cry. Imogen would be here soon.
When the knock at the door came, Piper had two glasses out and a bottle of white wine.
She opened the door and stepped back in surprise. Imogen stood holding two pizza boxes and with her were Libby and Elle.
“Girls’ night,” Imogen announced, walking in and putting the pizza on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
Piper hugged Elle and Libby and closed the door before she turned. “We didn’t have anything planned, did we?” Her brain may have been distracted this week but she was almost certain they hadn’t had a date.
“You looked like you needed cheering up at the café today,” Elle said. “So I called the others.”
“We’ve barely seen you since you got cozy with Tai,” Libby said. “Not that we blame you.”
At Tai’s name Piper turned away, and busied herself getting extra glasses out, blinking back the tears. Damn it, she didn’t want to cry any more.
“Honey, what happened?” Imogen asked, coming over and putting her arm around Piper’s waist.
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