“Oh, like you faced your stuff? I clearly remember you hopping in my car and running away to New York with me so you didn’t have to face Michael.”
“That’s fair,” Jules agreed.
“You ran away, and now you’re telling me not to do the same thing,” Piper shot back as she joined her friend on the couch, mostly out of exhaustion. She was tired. Tired of being alone again, tired of being angry. And, mostly, tired of thinking about her half-sister, sick in the hospital.
“I know, and that seems hypocritical, but I learned something from all of it. I’m glad I was here with you, but if I had lost the baby that day, before I had ever had a chance to tell Michael I was pregnant, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself. I never realized that you could love someone you don’t even know yet. There was a small window of time when I thought this was all going to be taken away from me, and I’ve never in my life experienced such fear or sadness. I can’t imagine what Connie and Marty must be feeling. They’ve been living in that moment for months now, never sure what will happen to their child. I’m not telling you that you should have the surgery, I’m saying you should talk to them, listen to them.”
Piper threw her head back in defeat. “I know,” she groaned, slumping over and leaning on her friend. “I just don’t know where to start.”
“Marty wants to meet you at this address at noon,” Jules chirped, springing up and leaving Piper to fall against the couch. “I told him you’d be there.”
“What if I had said no?” Piper asked, staring down at the piece of paper Jules had handed her.
“No one can say no to me. My charm is too powerful.”
“Sure, but you have to admit that was a little risky on your part,” Piper replied, looking down at her watch. “I’m supposed to meet him in an hour.”
“I don’t have to admit anything, just ask Michael. He’s learned that through a lot of arguments.” Jules winked and headed for the door. “Ma told me to tell you to keep an open heart.”
As the door shut behind Jules, Piper heaved herself off the couch. She pulled on her coat and headed for the door. The address on the paper indicated a location near Connie and Marty’s home. She was relieved to see it wasn’t the hospital. She wasn’t ready for that just yet. She hopped in a cab and watched again as the bustling of the city turned to the placidity of the suburbs.
The cab driver weaved down the winding streets and made his way into a quiet cemetery. Piper glanced around, confused. “Is this the address I gave you?”
“Yep, Saint Margarita’s Cemetery. My grandmother is buried here,” the man said as he made a sign of the cross.
“Oh. I guess this is the place then.” She handed him the cab fare and opened the door.
“You sure you don’t want me to leave the meter running?” the driver asked as he counted out the money. “Might be hard to get a cab to come back and get you.”
“No, I have a feeling I’ll have a ride.” Piper shut the door and walked toward Marty who was leaning on his car. His arms were folded over his chest and his cheeks bright red from the cold. He looked like he had been there all morning, just waiting for her. Traffic had been a little bad, but it was only a few minutes past twelve.
“Have you been here long?” she asked, not sure what else to say. “You look like you’re freezing.”
“I didn’t want to miss you. I thought I’d better come early in case you were early, and that I’d better stand out here so you would see me.”
“Oh,” she muttered, praying he had more to say than she did.
“There is something here I want to show you. I suppose from your perspective there aren’t a lot of ways to know, definitively, what kind of people Connie and I really are. You have a perception of us, and rightly so. But you have to admit there is a chance that maybe we are just two very good people who had some impossibly hard circumstances to deal with. And we may have made some mistakes. I know so far in your life you’ve mostly known bad people who make bad choices. It can’t be easy for you to imagine that good people can make them, too.” He hung his head as they walked down a winding path of the cemetery.
“I’m sure you and Connie are nice. I just wish you had told me the truth. I would have understood.”
“I believe that, because now I know you. I know how strong you are and how kind, but I didn’t know all those things when you walked in my door. All I could think about was Clarissa and what you might be able to do to save her life. But I am sorry for what we did to deceive you.”
“I don’t think there is much you can do to convince me you ever really cared about me. I think that is my biggest problem. How am I ever supposed to believe that you were really happy I showed up for any other reason than it might save your other child?”
“Hopefully this will prove it to you,” Marty said, as he knelt down before a headstone and straightened the vase that had been knocked over by the icy wind. The stone read Carolina Murphy. Her brows knit with confusion and she realized, too late, that she had stopped breathing. She had to pull in a long breath just to right herself.
“When I found out your mother had been killed it broke my heart. Connie knew about your mom from the beginning. She knew she was my first love, and she knew how much it killed me not to be able to save her. When we got news about the attack, Connie and I started making inquiries about what might happen to your mother’s body. She had no next of kin. We were originally told her child had been killed, too, but later found out that was not true. We never knew how old you were or had even an inkling that you could have been mine. When your mother’s body went unclaimed we stepped in and had her buried here, even had a small ceremony for her.” Marty ran his fingers over the stone as the tears started to fall. “I loved your mother from the time I was a child, and I still love her today. I know she wasn’t a good mother to you, but that isn’t the person I buried here. I buried the person she was before she met that monster.”
Piper felt her knees buckle as she bent down next to Marty. She felt like something was willing her to do so, as if a weight was pushing down on her shoulders. She reached out a trembling hand and touched the stone, tracing her mother’s name.
“She would have been an amazing mother if she hadn’t met him. Or if I could have saved her from him sooner,” Marty gulped, choking on his guilt.
“How do you know that?” Piper asked, feeling her own tears coming now. She had always wanted to believe that her mother, in a different world, in another life, could have been a better person. A part of her had always hoped her father was the poison and her mother just the victim of his brainwashing and violence.
“I know that because I’m kneeling next to the person your mother could have been if she had the chance. You are a kind, compassionate, strong woman. You are everything your mother almost was.” He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. His body was throwing the kind of warmth only the strong arms of a father could. “That’s why I would have been happy you found me even if Clarissa didn’t need you. That’s how you know Connie and I are good people who made a bad choice. We come out here every couple of months and place new flowers on her grave. We even looked for you a couple of times, but we always hit a dead end—were told it couldn’t be discussed for your protection—so we left it alone. If you had walked into my home any day over the last twenty-five years, no matter what was going on in my life, I would have been happy to see you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my children.”
Piper sobbed into the warm fleece of his jacket and admitted to herself that she was truly in the presence of a good man, a man she was related to. Here was a part of her history that wasn’t tarnished. There was hope for her, hope for all of them. All she had to do was give in to the love he was trying to give her, and give back to him the one thing he needed, hope for his other child.
“Thank you for doing this. I never knew what happened to her. She was very bad to me, but it helps to know that she wasn’t always that way.” They split apart and Piper aga
in ran her hands against the stone. “I want to help you and Connie. I want to do whatever you need to help save Clarissa.”
Marty squeezed his eyes shut and took a steadying breath. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to. That isn’t why I brought you here today. I only wanted to be able to talk, to show you that I cared for you before I even knew you were mine. My wife is a very compassionate and understanding woman, but it’s hard to talk about this in front of her too much. I think love comes in many different forms, but first love is unique.”
Her mind went instantly to Bobby; he was her first love and she knew exactly what Marty was talking about. If she put herself in his shoes, if circumstances had made it so her love for Bobby couldn’t survive, she’d always hold a candle for him. Always.
“I know that. But there wasn’t a single second from the moment I found out my half-sister needed a piece of me to survive that I considered anything other than giving it to her. I was just upset and needed time to try to find a way to tell you without being angry. I always intended to help her.”
“Oh,” Marty’s voice caught on a sob, “thank you.” He pulled Piper back into a hug so tight she nearly lost her breath.
“I’m no doctor, Marty,” Piper groaned under his tight grip, “but I’m pretty sure I need to be breathing for them to want part of my liver. You might need to loosen your grip.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The days after her meeting with Marty in the cemetery passed quickly. She’d been taken in for pre-op testing and had been given stacks of paperwork to review. At the urging of the social worker assigned to the case, Piper wouldn’t be introduced to Clarissa until the day before the surgery. No one wanted her to feel a level of obligation to go through with the surgery. But tomorrow was the day of the surgery so today they would finally meet. Piper broke into a sweat as she stepped into Clarissa’s hospital room. She was relieved to see Marty and Connie already sitting down with their daughter.
“Clarissa, sweetheart, this is Piper.” Clarissa smiled a half smile at her and waved a weak hand.
“Sorry I can’t get up to hug you,” she murmured. “I’m trying to save my energy for the marathon I’m going to run this afternoon.”
Piper raised her eyebrows and looked over at Marty. “She’s kidding,” he said, patting Clarissa’s leg. “She’s got an odd sense of humor this one.”
“Wow,” Connie gasped, as she looked at the two girls next to each other. “I can’t believe how much you look alike. I could see it a little bit before, but now that you are both right here, it’s amazing.”
Piper nodded and pulled up a chair. She took note of the girl’s features. Jennipher and Eli favored Connie with their thin lips and wispy hair. But Clarissa was all Marty, which meant she resembled Piper as well. Her thick, shiny, almost black hair was hanging over her shoulders, and the brush on Connie’s lap told Piper that Clarissa was probably too weak even for a simple task like brushing her hair. Her skin was an unhealthy shade of yellow that made it perfectly clear her body was in distress. But regardless of her current state, she could definitely still see the resemblance.
“So your mom and my dad used to bang, that’s pretty gross. But lucky for me and my bum liver, I guess.” Piper laughed, though Connie and Marty didn’t seem amused. “I still can’t believe these two convinced you to get sliced and diced for me. I feel like I should tell you that I’m not nearly as good a kid as they’ve probably tried to paint me. I failed biology in eighth grade and, even though I denied it, I really did hit Gabrielle Marsconia with a whiffle-ball bat. In my defense she was picking on Jennipher and therefore deserved it.”
“I know you are trying to stay upbeat, but not everything is a joke, Clarissa. Piper is here to meet you and I’d appreciate it if you acted like a normal person,” Connie scolded gently.
Marty couldn’t fight off the grin growing on his face. “At least until she signs this consent form, that is.” And then it became perfectly clear where Clarissa got her sense of humor. Connie folded her arms and flopped back in her chair.
“You two are hopeless, really. We’re sitting here talking to the woman who is going to give you part of her organ to save your life and you’re cracking jokes.”
Piper felt the seriousness fill the room for a moment. Marty and Clarissa bit at their lips to refrain from any more playing around. But Piper couldn’t help but join in. “Yeah, if you guys don’t cut it out I’m going to donate a quarter of my liver instead of half.”
With that even Connie couldn’t help letting the corners of her mouth turn up, but she quickly reversed the direction. “Well, I need to go get Eli from school while the comedy club here has open mic night.” She kissed all three of them on the head as she passed them and stopped at the door. “Piper, all kidding aside, thank you.”
Piper nodded her head and smiled.
“If it takes more than thirty minutes to deliver your liver to me, do I get it for free?” Clarissa asked, and at that her mother stomped away.
It was so strange for Piper to sit in a room with two people she hardly knew yet seem at home with them. She felt the small things they had in common made her a part of something, and much to her relief, it was something great.
“So where do I sign?” Piper asked, more ready than ever to be a part of this.
“Connie is right, Piper, we should talk about this seriously before you sign the paperwork.” Marty cleared his throat and pulled out the forms, but Piper cut in before he could begin talking.
“I’ve already talked in depth to the surgeon who will be performing the surgery, the psychologist, and the physical therapist. I understand the risk and the recovery time. We’ve talked and talked about everything. I’ve been poked and prodded and tested and retested. I’m ready for this.” Piper reached her hand out and indicated she wanted the paperwork. He handed it over and she grabbed the pen from his breast pocket. She quickly scratched her name down and handed them back to him.
He fought back his emotion and reminded himself that he was Dad first and then a doctor. “You’ll be admitted this afternoon, Piper, and then the surgery will be tomorrow, probably midday. Do you have any more questions?”
Piper looked up at Clarissa, who, for the first time, seemed overwhelmed by emotion. Her lashes were wet with tears, though she didn’t seem willing to let them spill over. Piper walked over to her and patted her leg. “We’re going to look back on this next year and laugh. You’re going to get your life back.”
“I’m not crying because I’m nervous or happy,” Clarissa muttered, clearly ready to throw out another joke. “I just realized I’m a middle child now. Do you know how screwed up those kids are?”
Piper laughed and then considered for a moment what it would be like to have these siblings, to be the oldest of a family.
The process of being admitted didn’t seem quite so daunting as Piper had thought. She was excited to know she wouldn’t have to slip into one of those backless hospital gowns just yet. She wiggled into her flannel pajamas and slipped between the sheets of the hospital bed. It was almost four o’clock, and she was happy for the distraction of Bobby and Michael discussing their plan.
“I’m going to need your help with this one, Bobby.”
“How is my favorite patient?” Betty sang, as she fluttered into the room. She had a permanent skip in her step since she’d been spending more time with the chef, who was a few steps behind her. After Christmas, Marty and Connie had offered to continue putting the whole group up at the Waldorf, but no one felt right accepting that. Clay had taken Betty, Jules, and Michael into his two spare rooms. Betty was very clear about the fact that she’d be delighted to stay there, but there would be no hanky panky hooking up. She’d take her own room and if he didn’t like it she’d go stay at Stoneybook with the nuns. Clay was perfectly fine with her rules; he was happy to have them all.
Piper and Bobby had taken up residence in the spare room at Marty and Connie’s. It wasn’t technically a bedroom, more like
an all-purpose room that happened to have a bed in it. There was also a computer, a sewing machine and some scrapbooking materials. But they were happy to be together, and get more time to spend with the family leading up to the surgery.
“I hope you don’t mind, Clay came to wish you well on your surgery.” Betty beamed as she said the man’s name.
“Hi there.” Clay shook everyone’s hand and handed Piper a bag. “I know you can’t eat anything after dinner today, so I figured you better make it a good one.”
Piper opened the bag and the tangy smell of pasta sauce filled her nose. She pulled it out and placed it on the rolling table in front of her. There was a full place setting in the bag and Clay stepped forward to lay it out for her. He had a cloth napkin, real silverware, and even little salt and pepper shakers.
“Thank you, that was so thoughtful. All these two brought me was some cafeteria jello and a plastic spoon,” Piper jeered with a look of mock disgust at Michael and Bobby.
“Well, dear, as you get older you learn how important it is to please a woman.” Clay’s eyes sparkled as he looked over at Betty and shot her a wink. The gap between his teeth was endearing and the rosy hue of his full cheeks made him seem jolly.
You,” Michael paused, considering Chef Clayton, “you two, are going to stay with Piper and keep her company.”
“Where are you boys going?” Betty inquired, narrowing her eyes in a way that indicated she knew they were up to no good.
Bobby leaned in and kissed Piper. “See you in a bit,” he whispered as he moved toward Betty. “We’re going to see an old friend at the FBI. I’ll be back tonight to stay with you for your surgery in the morning.”
“You two be careful. I hate when you go saving the world.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
As they walked down to Michael’s rental car, Bobby shook off nerves from Piper’s pending surgery and focused on the task at hand.
Changing Fate (Book 3) (Piper Anderson Series) Page 18