“Is he…?” Sweet mother, she couldn’t even say it. Her eyes squeezed shut, her heart hammering, preparing for the worst. How did she think she could live without him? Either in his arms or in his heart?
Margo’s hand reached out, clasping around Piper’s upper arm. “Oh, God, no. I didn’t mean to imply…” She shook her head. “Quinn’s fine. Just fine.” A frown tugged at her brow. “My face was too serious, wasn’t it? I knew it wouldn’t work unless my face was really serious. You know how I get giddy sometimes.”
Piper’s heart was still thundering beneath her ribs. “Margo, what, in the name of chocolate, is going on? You scared me half to death, you know.”
She tugged Piper out the door. “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to.” Margo’s grip remained tight around her arm as she pulled her toward the stairs. “I’m not good at this. I told them I wasn’t good at this.”
Piper locked up her knees and refused to be dragged one more step. “Margo! Stop this instant.” She smacked at Margo’s hand around her wrist. “Where are you taking me? Would you let go? Margo!”
Margo’s laugh was loud and mischievous. “Sorry, hun, I’d thought you come easier than this.” She loosened her grip and gave Piper the saddest face ever. Full lip pucker and puppy dog eyes.
“What did you do? Did you overload the embalming machine again? Put someone in the fridge and accidently reset the temperature?” Her hand flew to her head. “I really don’t need this right now.”
Margo eased away, her face holding a bit of expectation. “Trust me, Piper? Please?”
“I was in the middle of something, you know.”
Margo leaned around Piper, eyeing the mess of chocolate wrappers and peanut butter jars in her living room. “Yeah,” she grunted. “I can see that. You’re not doing anything else, and I promise I haven’t broken anything and no one’s dead. This will make you happy. I promise.”
Piper rolled her eyes. There was no chance of that, but since she’d decided to turn over a new leaf and live, Piper couldn’t say no. “Fine.”
Margo squealed and tugged Piper down the stairs.
“Wait! The door! My shoes!”
Margo continued to laugh as Piper turned and collected her things, locking her door behind her.
“I hope this is worth all this trouble, Margo,” she mumbled as she followed Margo out the front door of the funeral home. Margo only smirked.
<<<<>>>>>
Piper was silently fuming the passenger’s side seat of Margo’s car. They’d been driving for what felt like an hour. Knowing Margo, they’d driven around in circles to throw Piper off balance.
“Is there a reason I’m blindfolded?” Piper asked, grumbling. She had fought like crazy to not have her eyes covered. But Margo was good at begging until she got her way. They’d better be going to Disney World or something. Something amazing.
“Because then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Margo huffed.
“I don’t like surprises.”
“I don’t think it’s the surprise part you don’t like,” Margo commented. “I think it’s the fact that, for the briefest moment, you have to give up knowing what’s going on.”
Piper said nothing, knowing that Margo was right.
“How are you doing?”
“Right now I’m slightly annoyed,” Piper said. “This blindfold is itchy. My stomach hurts a little—”
“I meant, how are you really doing, Piper?”
She flopped her head back on the headrest. “Fine. I’ve been better, obviously.”
“I promise this day will get better.”
A promise like that would be hard to keep, but Piper took a deep breath, hoping. “Margo, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“I think it’s time I make some changes to Downing and Sons.”
“Hmm…am I going to need to start looking for a job?”
Piper chuckled. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just, I’ve spent so much of my time making sure the business was successful and strong after my parents passed away. It’s all I’ve known my whole life.”
“And you’ve done a wonderful job.”
Piper smiled. She had done a wonderful job. Almost too good of job. Thanks to Quinn, Piper now understood the need to live. And while she loved her work, she needed time for herself. It would take some time for her to get over the pain of losing Quinn, but once she did, she would need to move on…and up. And she would need some help. To live.
“Downing and Sons has operated with only three full times staff members for years. I think it’s time for us to change direction.” She twisted in her seat, probably looking a fool for trying to look at Margo with a blindfold on. “You love what you do as much as I do. You’ll graduate soon and will be looking for work. And I think I need a partner. Would you like to job?”
The car lurched to a stop. Piper almost choked on her seat belt.
“Are you serious?” Margo asked.
“I would like to look at you when I answer that question, Margo.”
“Wait, is this a ruse to get to take the blindfold off? It won’t work.”
“While taking off this terrible contraption would be nice, no, this isn’t a joke. I mean it.” Piper reached out, flapping her hand around until she found Margo’s arm. “You and I work well together. You’re a wonderful employee and would make an excellent co-funeral director. Together we can maintain lives outside of work and hire some new employees. What do you think?”
Piper was jerked forward into a bear hug. “I guess this means yes?” Margo was holding her so tight, she could barely spit the words out.
“Yes! Yes! Oh, my God, Piper. Thank you!”
Thankfully, Margo’s death grip subsided, and Piper slid back into her seat. “Are you crying?”
The car rocked back into motion. “Maybe,” Margo said. “This is wonderful news. And just what you need, I think. To help you, you know.”
With her heartbreak bubbling back to the surface, Piper sighed. “With Quinn gone, I have a lot to think about. It will be hard, but this extra time will help me heal and to grow even more. It’ll all work out. I’ve learned that.”
“You’re stronger than you realize Piper.”
Piper gave a hint of smile. She wasn’t so sure about that, but she was going to try. With Margo on board to help take over some funeral home duties, she would take some time for herself to live. Just what Quinn would’ve wanted.
“We’re here.” Margo’s voice rang out. Piper went to snatch the blindfold off her head. Margo’s hand stopped her. “Not yet. I’m getting out of the car. Count to one hundred and take it off.”
Piper pursed her lips. “This better not be some sick joke to get me to snap out of my rut, Margo. I’m working on it in my own way.”
Margo chuckled. “It’s not. You’ll love it, I promise. And again, thank you for the partnership. It’s a dream come true.”
“I hope I love it. And you’re welcome.” Piper imagined she would open her eyes and find herself in the middle of a football or something. Margo was a good employee and becoming even a better friend, but she had a strange sense of humor.
“All the way to one hundred,” Margo called out as the door slammed behind her.
Piper crossed her arms and counted. When she got to fifty, the suspense was killing her. Finally unable to stand it, she ripped off the mask and gasped. She was at the airfield. The same one Quinn had taken her to before.
Her hand flew to the steering wheel, as thought she was going to steer the car right out of the place. Then she realized she was on the wrong side of the car. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, going over the hangars, the black tarmac, wondering what on earth she was doing here of all places. There wasn’t anything fun or cheerful here. Definitely nothing to make her feel better. Only scary things…and memories she didn’t want to think about.
Clutching her churning stomach, her eyes landed on a bouquet of thorny stems perched on the hood and a set of really larg
e headphone-looking things next to it. She took a deep breath, willing her nerves to settle and got out. The summer heat slammed into her, licking over her skin and making it hard to breathe.
No, it isn’t the heat. It’s the location. The memory.
She clenched her eyes, trying her best to not hear Quinn’s voice telling her everything would be okay. Telling her to trust him. To just let them be. God, how she wished they could be now. She twirled around, looking for a sign of Margo or anyone else. Nothing. There wasn’t a soul stirring this late afternoon. It was only her and the blazing sun. And those gleaming stems and headphones. She stepped toward the front of the car, running her hands over the thorns. Plucking a card from the bouquet, she read the words.
Put on and listen.
She glanced around again, wondering if she was being tricked or something, not understanding anything. Hesitantly she did as instructed and slipped the monster headphones over her ears.
Instantly she heard crackle and fuzz. And then she heard Quinn.
“Dauntless to Tower,” Quinn’s voice instantly soothed her.
The headset crackled briefly. An unfamiliar voice responded, “Tower. Go ahead.”
“Requesting fly-by.”
“Affirmative.”
The line went quiet. Piper’s breath caught in her throat as she squinted and searched the horizon for Quinn’s plane. He was flying across the sky somewhere. As she finished that thought, Quinn’s plane crested the trees to her right, swooping low and a little too close for comfort. But Piper didn’t care so much about that at that moment. Had Margo brought Piper here to face the truth? No, there wasn’t any sense in that. Quinn had made it clear there wasn’t anything Piper could do. Which could only mean that Quinn had something to do with why she was standing on the heating blacktop, staring at a soaring plane carrying the man she desperately loved. The man she couldn’t have. She had beaten her demons, but he hadn’t beaten his, which again, she couldn’t blame him for.
But why would he bring her here and make her suffer at the sight of him?
The plane whizzed by dangerously close, making Piper jumped back against the car as the sound and rush of air that slammed against her. Quinn’s plane cruised around the tower and tilted up, darting higher into the sky.
The headset crackled. “Hello, Piper.”
She closed her eyes at the wonderful sound.
“Wave if you can hear me.”
After a brief pause, she did.
“Good. You don’t have a microphone, so I can’t hear you, but please listen. And watch.” The plane dipped and swirled, doing a complicated set of twirls and maneuvers Piper couldn’t even keep up with.
“Don’t be scared, Piper.” Quinn’s voice was calm, gentle.
Her heart wasn’t pounding because she was afraid. She knew, more than she knew anything that Quinn was safe in his plane. That he knew what he was doing and that he was being careful, even though it looked crazy.
Piper had had the chance to learn to live after going through her father’s box. She’d remembered a lot of things he’d told her growing up, but after digging through her memories, she discovered she’d blocked out some of the most important things. Her father’s motto, as she’d remembered it when her mother passed had been if you love, you could lose everything. But it wasn’t until she’d faced her memories that her father had said so much more. She’d forgotten that he father had also said but it’s worth it. Which is why she had gone to Quinn in hopes of fixing what she’d done. But Quinn could see right through her through her feelings and realized what she’d truly needed: marriage. And he hadn’t been able to give her that. Which made her even more confused about why she was standing in the middle of an airfield on a hot summer afternoon.
After coming to terms with the things in her father’s box, Piper knew that everything happened for a reason, and people leave this earth, not to make others suffer, but to make people stronger. Piper now believed that with every fiber of her being. Quinn had been in her life for a reason. When he’d left, it had been out of her control. No one was out to get her; no one was out to cause her pain. It was life. She had enjoyed what she could, like she should have. Like her father had always wanted her to do.
“I wanted to tell you three things,” Quinn said over the headset. Sweet chocolate, she loved his voice.
Blue smoke began to pour from the back of the plane as he spoke.
“One: I love you.” The plane darted up as Piper’s breath hitched. “I think that much was already clear.”
The plane dipped and pitched, drawing out some sort of pattern.
“Two: I was stupid. After everything you did for me, showed me, and changed for me, I was stupid and let you go. Your struggle was as hard as mine. I should have seen that sooner.”
Piper squinted, noticing the words that were beginning to form in the smoke.
“And three, Piper: I can’t live without you.”
She was going to hyperventilate. As Quinn’s maneuvered his plane, a phrase in the sky slowly appeared before her, and Piper was certain she was going to fall over.
Written right there, in all beautiful blue, were the words
“Wave your hands if you can read it,” Quinn called out.
Piper tried, finding her limbs to be as heavy as concrete. With great effort, she finally managed a single small wave.
“Good.” Quinn’s voice made it evident he was smiling. “I’ll be right down.”
The next five minutes felt like an eternity. Piper watched Quinn’s plane dive toward the ground, sliding onto the runway, tires squealing as he hit the brakes. She was only about a hundred yards from where Quinn’s plane came to a stop. Her heart thundered as Quinn killed the engine and popped opened the door to his plane.
Her thoughts shattered into a million pieces as he stepped out, dressed not in his normal flight suit, but a three piece tux. The black fabric hugged his lean shape, not a bit wrinkled from the small confines of the cockpit. As he slid off his helmet, his eyes met hers and held. A slow, deliberate smile pulled at his lips and his eyes glimmered under the now setting sun.
Sweet chocolate, she had missed that grin. That glint of passion in his eyes. Even though they were still fairly far apart, she felt a pull deep in chest, propelling her feet forward toward him. Before she knew it, Piper was at a dead run, arms out, running to the man who had somehow changed his mind. She didn’t care how or why, all that matter in that moment was that he had arranged for her to be here so that he could ask her to marry him. She still couldn’t believe it.
It was like she was floating across the tarmac, the only sound the whoosh of her pulse in her ears. Nerves of excitement rushed through her body, making her faster, more determined as Quinn stepped down from his plane and jogged in her direction.
A second later they collided and the sparks Piper had so desperately missed erupted between them as her lips found his. Instantly searching, needing, wanting things that words couldn’t even explain. His arms wound around her, tugging her so close she felt as though she could slip inside him.
Lips tangled, breaths exchanged, the entire world titled beneath her feet. It was him. It was this. Her entire life this is what she had been missing. And she wasn’t going to let it go again. Quinn had given her things that she’d never expected, and she was ready to face life with him. Forever.
“Piper.” The words were whispered against her lips. She melted against him, praying that this moment wasn’t a figure of her imagination. “God, Piper.”
He drew back slowly, stroking her hair, her cheek and grinning brightly.
“Quinn, I—”
His fingers landed on her lips. “Don’t. Not yet. I need to tell you something.”
Head spinning, Piper kissed him gently, carefully, like he’d always done her. “I’m waiting.”
Quinn pressed his forehead against hers. “This has been the longest two weeks of my life, Piper.”
“Mine, too.”
“I was wrong,�
�� he whispered, his head tilting, his lips brushing across her ear. “While Maddie was an important part of my life, you are, too. Maddie would want me to be happy, no matter the promise I made to her. Staying away from you was killing me. After a heart-to-heart, I realized I’d helped you overcome so much, only to leave you when you needed me most. Even when you wanted to help me, I couldn’t help myself. But now, I see…”
He eased back, the full force of his confession slamming into Piper.
“How much I needed you,” he continued. “How much you filled the void I’d been hiding from myself. We changed each other, Piper. We are what each other needs. And I want to marry you more than I want to take my next breath.”
“Quinn—”
Taking her hand into his, his knelt down on one knee, digging into his pocket and pulling out a shiny little box. Holding it up, Quinn only grinned. The tears came before Piper could stop them. Quinn was right; they had changed each other. He had made her see all the things she was missing, all the things she’d wanted but had been too afraid to see. And she had made him see that he could love and commit more than once in this short lifetime. The passion and love they shared could take them through their next lifetimes. They ached for each other, and needed something as small as a touch to quiet their nerves. Precisely as it should be. They were in love. And love, Piper knew, would last forever.
“Piper Downing,” Quinn said, holding the box out. It was then Piper noticed the shape of the box. It was a tiny little casket, decked out completely with details and chromes moldings. A little miniature. She chuckled as splashes of salty tears felt between them.
“Will you be my wife?” He popped open the lid, showing Piper an Until Next Time medallion and a beautiful gold ring encrusted with rows of diamonds. One big sparkling diamond dazzled beneath the sun.
“Will you love and cherish me, as I will you, in sickness and health, in stupid moments and decisions, always pointing each other in the right direction, with wild nights twisting in the sheets until death do us part?”
A full out laugh bubbled up her throat. All she could do was nod quickly, her vision blurry, her knees shaky. “Always, Quinn. Yes.”
Until Next Time Page 32
