by Harlow James
“No… no!” I shout, shaking my head like the movement will rewind the last two minutes and make everything that just happened disappear.
“I’m sorry, Pfeiffer. I’m so sorry,” my mother cries as we hold each other for a while, my father taking a seat on the other side of me on the bed, wrapping his arms around us both.
The sound of a throat clearing pulls our attention to the door, where Cash stands with flowers in his hands, the same ones he brought me on our first date, taking my breath away with his handsomeness, even though the stress he’s been under is clear on his face and the weight of sorrow in his eyes. My parents move from the bed as he stands there and we study each other.
“Cash,” I croak out as he rushes over to me, pressing his lips to mine in a soft kiss, respectful of my parents being in the room, but cradling my head in his hands while he pours himself into the touch of us together again.
“Fuck, Piper. God, woman, you scared the shit out of me.” My father clears his throat now, alerting us to his presence in case we forgot.
“Thank you for calling them,” I say, cradling his jaw in my palm as he crouches above me still.
“Of course. I’m sorry I had to go through your things to find the phone, but…”
“I don’t care.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay, that you’re going to be okay,” he says, and instantly my thoughts veer to the information my mother just told me. I might be okay physically, but mentally I’m still shattered.
“I’m here.” I press my lips to him again and then my mother speaks.
“We will give you two a minute,” she declares, reaching for my father’s hand and pulling him out of my room reluctantly. The guilt on his face is insurmountable. I know it will take time for me to convince him that this is not his fault. He did what he thought was best at the time, and I agreed to leave. We always knew this was a risk.
“Kiss me for real this time,” I say as Cash’s lips tip up in that smirk I love while he sits beside me before he dives into my mouth with his tongue, stroking and claiming me as his—because I am. And yet, in the back of my mind, I’m reminded that I may never be able to give him everything he deserves. As the tears threaten to fall again, I focus back on his kiss, realizing the last time I kissed him could have been the last time, and the memory of his lips on mine will never be enough.
“Sweetheart, I’ve been a mess,” he breathes when we part, resting his forehead on mine.
“I can imagine.”
“How much longer do you have to stay here?”
“I’m not sure yet, but usually a GSW will mean seven to ten days in the hospital. How is Birdie doing?”
Cash chuckles. “You get shot and you’re worried about Birdie. I swear, I don’t deserve you.”
“She’s important to you, and to me. I care about her well being too.”
“She’s doing great. Still snarky and smacking me upside the head. I think you’re rubbing off on her.”
“I was snarky all on my own before I even met her and vice versa,” I tease him.
“I don’t want to leave you so soon, but I have to work tonight. They’ve given me the last few days off, so I have to go in. Can I come back tomorrow?”
I nod, knowing I want to see him more than anything—be with him, hold him, pick up where we left off. But so much has changed now. Not just the fact that he knows about my real identity, but I have no idea where to go from here. Do I go back home with my parents? Do I stay here with him? Does he even want me still? Or better yet, will he want me when he finds out I may never be able to give him children?
“Okay. We still need to talk though, Cash.”
“I know, sweetheart. Your parents have filled me in a bit, but I want to hear it from you, so we can move forward. Just know that the man who shot you is behind bars.”
I swallow hard, still unsure of what our future looks like, but grateful that this arrest will help lead to taking down the Montevallo family. “Okay.”
“God, I don’t want to leave you.” He kisses me goodbye once more, melting us together in a heated mess of lips and tongue, reawakening my desire for him that was dormant for days.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. I promise.” He smiles as he walks away, leaving me in my bed, all alone for the first time since I’ve woken up. I’m a mess, a flurry of emotions hitting me hard—grateful I’m still alive, thankful that Cash is still here, beyond relieved to see my parents after months apart, and yet angry and grief-stricken by how one instance has altered my life completely yet again.
It only takes a few minutes before the morphine fully kicks in again, and I surrender to the sleep that my body needs, healing itself at its own pace, but knowing my heart may never completely heal from this surprising consequence of my choices.
Chapter 28
Cash
“So she’s awake?” Cooper asks me as he stands next to my desk in the station.
“Yes. She’s weak and missing some color, but she’s here, man. That’s all that matters.”
“Fuck. This is some crazy shit. Did I tell you we connected the guy back to the Montevallo family?”
“Yeah, Luke told me yesterday actually. From the research I’ve done, seems the family is like small-time mob. Not quite at that caliber, but powerful enough to kill people that betray them.”
Cooper shakes his head. “I still don’t understand how Piper got wrapped up with them.”
“I’m still trying to figure that out myself. I haven’t been able to really talk to her. And when I showed up to visit with her while she was still out, her parents would leave me alone with her. We didn’t talk except for that first night. I get the feeling her dad doesn’t like me very much.” Being well-received by parents is not something I’m familiar with in the slightest because I never really dated before Piper. Then add in the fact that our relationship is cluttered with secrets, and well, it’s hard to talk about what happened when we’ve all been in shock.
But now, with Piper, I have this inherent need for her parents to accept me so we can secure our future together. I know they were grateful that I called them, but that’s the extent of my knowledge on their thoughts about me. And they’ve been such a wreck since they arrived, the last thing I felt comfortable doing was pressing them for information about who their daughter really is and how she ended up in Emerson Falls. Besides, I want to hear her story from her.
“Well, hopefully tonight I’ll get some answers,” I say as I straighten the stack of papers on my desk, power down my computer, and move to leave.
“Let me know what else I can do.” Cooper reaches to shake my hand and then pulls me into him. “I’m glad she’s okay,” he says quietly in my ear, causing my body to relax at the thought.
“Me too, man. Thanks.”
I hurry home to shower and change, wanting to be clean and fresh when I see her and get to finally immerse myself in her since she’s been awake. I take time styling my hair, choosing a black sweater and dark jeans that I know she loves, and stopping by Apollo Burgers to get some fries to accompany the twenty packets of ketchup I secured with my order.
I’m ready to see her, talk to her, figure out where we go from here. When I reach the receptionist at the hospital, she checks my ID and directs me where to go, even though I know exactly where to go by now.
Riding in the elevator, my foot taps on the floor, wrestling with nerves I feel about seeing her, feeling like it’s our first date again—because in a way, it is. This is the first time I get to meet Pfeiffer Winters and learn about her, the woman who ended up in Emerson Falls for a reason I’m dying to put together, having only bits and pieces of the puzzle to go off of.
When the doors open, I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face as I carry my items to her room. But as I turn the corner and prepare to see her blinding smile light up when she sees me, I stop cold, greeted with nothing but an empty bed and clean room.
“Are you looking for someone?” A nurse I’ve never seen
before speaks to me.
“Uh, yes. Where is Piper Davis? She was in this room less than twenty-four hours ago.” My heart is jumping on the trampoline in my chest, my pulse racing as I wait for her to answer me.
“She was checked out just a few hours ago.”
“Do you know where she went?” My eyes are pleading with this woman to know the answer to that question.
“No. I don’t, I’m sorry.”
“Okay. Thanks,” I say before spinning on my heels and running back to my truck, hopping inside and cranking the engine, speeding off towards Piper’s apartment.
“Fuck!” I shout, banging my hands on my steering wheel as fury courses through my veins.
How did she leave? She’s recovering from a gunshot wound, not a minor injury. We were supposed to talk, again! She knew I was coming by tonight. And then I show up to an empty bed? What the fuck!
As I race across town, I’m hit with yet another notion of why I haven’t done relationships—the drama. And in Piper’s case, this is drama that is next level. This isn’t some cheating accusation or claim that I’m not spending enough time with her. No. This is some having-a-second-life type of drama and the whiplash is hurting my fucking head and my heart.
When I arrive at her apartment complex, I barely park my truck before I’m jumping out, racing to her door. But the landlord is locking the door behind him just as I arrive.
“Excuse me, sir? Where is Piper Davis?”
He turns to me and offers a polite smile. “She no longer lives here. Her folks came by a few hours ago and had a moving company pack up all of her stuff. They paid her breach of contract fee in full, and then added on a few thousand to fix the hole in the wall and to thank me for letting her stay here. Nice people. The extra money will definitely help with the holidays right around the corner.”
“So, she’s gone? Did they say where she was going?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. Just took her things and left.”
And in that instant, defeat washes over me. “Okay. Thank you.”
“Have a nice night,” he says before walking off, leaving me standing on her doorstep in the black of night, wondering what the hell just happened in the last twenty-four hours.
Frantically, I reach in my pocket for my phone and dial her number, the line continuing to ring until it goes to voicemail. I hang up and then dial again, this time it only rings three times before clicking to her voicemail, which means she screened me. She denied my call.
“What the fuck?” I shout into the night, crashing to the ground while pulling on my hair, wondering how the hell I ended up on the ground in this spot yet again.
Chapter 29
Piper
“Do you really think this was the best idea, Frank?” My mother’s voice is low, but it’s enough to pull me out of my sleep. My eyes are still closed as I listen in on their conversation.
“She needs to come home now. The police have enough to go after the Montevallo’s and once she’s back home, we know she’ll be safe. She can finish healing from her true home.”
“I know. But what about her life there? We just ripped her from it.”
“That wasn’t supposed to be her real life, Elizabeth. Piper Davis is no longer a person. Our baby is coming home and I don’t want to hear anything more about it.” My father snaps at my mom, effectively ending the conversation. I hear my phone ring from somewhere in the plane, but I’m too weak to search for it. It stops and then starts again, ending a lot sooner than before.
“Who was it?” I ask groggily, knowing the answer, but still curious.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re on your way home, darling,” my mother comes to sit down next to me in the bed at the back of our private jet.
“The doctors let me leave?”
“Well, yes and no. But your father was adamant. The doctor insisted he speak to Dr. Mino before you could leave.” Dr. Mino is our family doctor back home and is familiar with all of our medical histories. “As long as he follows the protocol they set forth for your recovery, you should be fine. This flight was going to the be the worst part, which is why you’re heavily drugged up right now,” my mother says, brushing my hair from my face.
“Cash… I need to speak to him,” I mumble as the drugs pull me under again.
“You need to rest right now,” she whispers and then everything fades to black again.
By the time I regain consciousness, I wake up in my bed in my old room at my parent’s house. The pale pink walls still hold all of my posters from my teenage years, my pictures from school and family vacations, and all of my academic awards that meant something to me. The light grey bedding I picked out myself is tucked in snuggly around me, cocooning me in the mattress so I can barely move.
I manage to turn my head to the side, noticing a bell on the nightstand next to me, so I reach for it after I free my arms, mindful of my wound. A few swishes of the metal, and the tiny ring alerts someone outside of my door.
“You’re awake.” Millie, our house keeper comes into the room, a beaming smile on her face.
“Yes. Where’s my mother?”
“She’s on the back patio. I’ll go get her. Do you need anything?”
“Just some water would be great, thanks,” I croak out, my voice hoarse from the lack of moisture. She reaches for a cup on my nightstand with a straw, positioning it at my mouth so I can drink. I take in water like I just did a trek through the Sahara, and then ask for more.
She leaves to refill my cup, and then returns with my mother in tow.
“Pfeiffer, how are you feeling, darling?” My mother asks, sitting next to me in the bed and feeling my forehead with the back of her hand as Millie sits down the glass of water and then turns to leave. “Seems your temperature returned to normal finally.”
“Did I spike a fever?” I ask, knowing that can be dangerous.
“Yes. It seems the travelling was a bit too much. So Dr. Mino sedated you for a few days and gave you a hefty dose of antibiotics to allow your body to rest. You seem much better.” She smiles as Millie drops the cup off and then leaves. I want to tell her that I knew that travelling that soon after surgery was not a good idea, but I leave it be.
“Where is Dad?”
“He’s actually meeting with the lawyers right now. Theo Montevallo was arrested last night.” Her smile says she happy about it, but her eyes show her fear.
“Really?”
“Yes. They are putting together their case as we speak.”
I’m not going to deny the wave of relief that washes over me, knowing I can finally breathe easily. Mason lost his life unfortunately, a reality I still haven’t wrapped my mind around, but I’m back home with my family, a place I didn’t know if I’d ever see again.
However, the somber realization that I was building a life elsewhere is still nagging in the back of my mind. And then the image of Cash’s face when he saw me awake after I was shot brings all of my emotions back. I start to hyperventilate, struggling for air as tears run from my eyes.
“Pfeiffer? Pfeiffer, what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Everything is wrong, Mom! My life has been torn apart and turned upside down in the last eight months! And just when I was accepting it, I get pulled away from it and brought back here, when there’s a man I love on the other side of the country! Tell me, how should I be feeling? Because right now, all I feel is pain and guilt and desperation. I need to speak to him!”
“Pfeiffer, please calm down,” she pleads, guiding me to take a few deep breaths to bring me back down to earth. I know raising my blood pressure is the last thing I should do, but I can’t help the panic attack I feel because of my circumstances.
“You know what the worst part is, Mom?” She stares at me while I gather myself. “I found him, the man I thought I was supposed to be with. He made me feel things I never felt with Mason. And he wanted a family one day, everything I’ve ever wanted. And now? Now I may never be able to give that to him,” I choke, more
tears falling as I come to terms with my new reality.
“Oh, Pfeiffer. It’s not impossible, honey. It will just be hard.”
“You heard the doctor, Mom. Most likely not without the use of fertility drugs or in vitro. He doesn’t deserve that. He deserves a woman who can give him everything, who doesn’t have to be pumped full of drugs to have his baby, who won’t cry every time she gets her period or gets a negative pregnancy test.”
“You are an incredible woman, Pfeiffer, and your reproductive challenges do not change that. You have been through so much in the last eight months, more than some people go through in a lifetime. Take some time to heal, to mend your heart and your mind, and then decide where to go. No one says you need to have those answers right now.”
I brush the moisture from my face and stare back into her eyes. My mother knows the struggle to have children because she went through that with me. “How did you handle it, Mom? Trying relentlessly to have a child and coming up short for years. How did Dad handle it? Do you think he would have walked away if he could?”
She shakes her head at me, now showing her own emotion about my circumstances mirroring her own. “I never wanted this for you, Pfeiffer. And I’m not going to lie to you… it was gut-wrenching at times. But I never would have gotten through it if it weren’t for your father. His support, his constant reassurance that we would be okay, even if we never had you, was the only thing that kept me sane some days. I love you with all of my heart, darling… and although this will be a challenge, this isn’t a dead-end road. This is just a one-way street you have to follow.”
Her words affect me more than she will ever know—a one-way street I have to follow, like the one I turned the wrong way down that lead me to Cash. Christ, how could she possibly know to give me those words of validation right now?