by Sandra Cox
At the top sits a small cottage balanced near the edge of the cliff. It’s just as Piper described it. I understand why she loves it here. I stride to the front door, Amy trailing behind me. With each step, tension mounts. I straighten my shoulders, take a breath, and knock.
Piper opens the door, a look of inquiry on her face. Inquiry changes to wonder and what I would like to think is joy. “Joel!”
I take a step forward. Somehow, she’s in my arms. I clasp her to me and give her a hard kiss. I feel the leap of her body against mine as she responds. Something elemental and wild as lightning passes between us. I can no more stop myself than I can stop the wind from blowing. The kiss goes on and on.
A throat clears. Reluctantly, I raise my head. A gentleman with white hair has inserted himself between us and…Tyler. Of course he would be here.
The older man holds out his hand. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m William Dunn, Piper’s grandfather.”
“Joel Eisler, sir.” I continue to hold Piper to me with one hand and reach out with the other. The old man’s grip is firm, but I can feel each bone in his gnarled fingers.
A throat clears at my elbow. “And this is my sister Amy.”
“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Joel. I’ve heard a lot about you. And you, Miss Amy.” He gets right to the point. “Is it safe for you to be here?”
“As safe as I can make it.”
Tyler’s hands are fisted, his body thrumming with tension. “Get your hand off my girlfriend.”
Piper starts to take a step back. She gives me a dazed look, as if she’s not sure where she is. My hand firms on her shoulder. I look at Tyler and bare my teeth.
He takes a step forward.
“Stop it, Tyler.” Piper pulls herself together.
Mr. Dunn stays between us. “Take it down a notch you two,” he commands. “There’s not going to be any of that on my property.”
I shift to the right so that Tyler and I are making eye contact. “Any time, any place,” I say softly.
Tyler lunges. Mr. Dunn grabs his shoulder. You can see in his face, Tyler wants to shake him off but is too respectful.
“I said stop it.” Piper steps away from me, her cheeks blazing with color. My hand drops.
Eying Piper, Mr. Dunn shakes his head. “There’s no fighting nature. But that doesn’t make it anything but annoying to deal with,” the old man says with asperity.
Piper spins in my direction. “Joel, why are you here?” She turns to Amy and gives her a hug. “I’m so glad to see you.” She reaches out and touches Amy’s short locks. “Love the hair.”
“Thank you.” Amy smiles shyly.
I’m momentarily distracted by the way Piper’s gleaming hair fans out then settles back on her shoulders. “Joel?”
I force my errant mind back on track. “I need to talk to you, Piper, alone.”
“Over my dead body,” Tyler is back in fighting stance, his hands still fisted, his knees flexed.
“That can be arranged.” Possessive heat surges through me.
Piper whirls, out of patience with both of us. “Tyler, please leave.”
He jerks as if he’s been slapped. “Please.” Her voice drops. “I’ll call you soon.”
“Tonight?”
“Tonight.”
He gives her a long searching look, face white, before he leaves, shutting the door hard enough to make it rattle.
Mr. Dunn turns to me. “Piper has told me about you. I believe you to be an honorable young man.”
Honorable dolph, I want to say, but hold my tongue.
“Because of that, I’m going to give you two some privacy.” He looks me in the eye, his message clear. Don’t screw this up.
“I understand, sir.”
“Amy, why don’t you come with me?” He straightens his stooped shoulders and walks away, Amy beside him.
Piper and I look at each other. I drink in the sight of her. Long legs, toned body, heart-shaped face. I tear my gaze away from her full, moist mouth and rest it on turquoise eyes the same shade of my own. I don’t know what she sees in mine but hers reflect confusion and a lingering hint of desire.
She clears her throat. “Why are you here, Joel? It’s been nearly a year since I’ve seen you. It must be important.”
What an understatement. “Can we walk on the beach?”
She hesitates.
“Don’t trust yourself?” I tease and give her an easy smile.
Instead of denying it, she answers in that matter-of-fact way that is uniquely Piper. “No, I don’t.”
“Well, now that I’ve been warned, I’ll be on guard to make sure you don’t have your wicked way with me.” I lean in and give her a couple of eyebrow wiggles. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes, grinning. I straighten. “There’s something I need to tell you and I could use the salt air while we speak.”
Immediately she goes still. “Is something wrong?”
I wait a moment before replying. “Something is very wrong and very right.” With a light touch on her elbow, I urge, “Let’s walk on the beach.”
She glances at my wrist and for the first time notices the watch. “You have a GPS.” From there her gaze travels to the long slash on my arm, still trying to heal. She makes a sound of distress. “What happened?”
I shake my head. “It’s nothing.”
She looks disbelieving, but doesn’t push it.
We move out the door. I follow her down a dirt track that winds to the sea, grabbing at an overhanging limb for balance. “The watch works just the opposite of yours. It’s a jammer.”
“A jammer?”
“Yeah, it breaks up the signals from my tracker.”
She turns her head, mouth open and eyes wide. “Are you on the run?” She scrambles down the familiar trail like a gazelle.
“You could say that.” I finger the nodules on the tree limb before I let go.
She doesn’t ask any more questions till we reach the bottom. The trail ends in the small cove where we’ve left the boat. Sand rolls into rocks lapped by bluish-gray waves. Overhead a gull circles and gives a raspy call. Another answers. Piper turns to me, waiting.
I take a deep breath of the salt air. It centers me. “When you were at the clinic, they harvested one of your eggs, didn’t they?”
The sun at her back haloes her. She puts her hands over her heart as if to ward off a blow and nods numbly.
“They took my sperm.”
Color drains from her face. “What are you saying?” she whispers.
“We have a child, Piper, a test-tube baby.”
Chapter 13
“No.” She sways, stricken. Pearls of perspiration sheen her forehead.
I take her arms and steady her. Her skin is like ice. “She’s beautiful, Piper, and so smart.”
“How do you know?” Her eyes are glazed, her face white.
“She looked at me and raised her hands against the glass as if trying to reach me.”
“But you said she’s a baby.”
“She is. A little baby. She still has an umbilical cord.”
“But not one attached to her mother.” Piper gives a laugh bordering on hysteria.
“Unfortunately, no. She’s floating in some kind of amniotic liquid.”
“How do you know she’s ours?”
“You only have to look at her, Piper, to know she’s yours.” I clear my throat. “And mine.”
She straightens, her eyes wild and filled with panic. “We have to get her out of there. He can’t have my baby.” Her fists are clenched, her breathing hard and fast.
I take her hands and massage her fists till they loosen. “I’m going to get her out, and I’ll bring her to you. I promise.” I swallow and push out the words. “I’m going to need Tyler’s help.”
Her intense gaze searches mine. Finally, her breath goes out and her body relaxes. “Okay. But you aren’t bringing her back to me. I’m going
too.”
Not if I can help it.
“I mean it, Joel. There won’t be any of the little woman staying safely at home while the big strong male goes after the baby crap.”
I love this woman. She’s just found out she’s a mother and is already fighting like a lioness to protect her cub.
She hunches her shoulders. “Do you think he knows where I live? Will she be safe here?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. But they captured you in these waters and I imagine you still swim here.” Her fingers have unclenched and now she holds my hands. I ignore the heat that surges through me at her touch.
“I am going with you when you go after her.” She leans toward me, gaze intense.
I run my hands up and down her arms. It’s like touching silk. “What you can do is get ready for her on this end and figure out where you’ll go if you have to leave. I think you will. Once she disappears, Stranger will leave no stone unturned to get her back. He made it very clear that she far surpasses us in ability.”
A small smile of pride creeps across her features. Then she frowns. “You’re sure she’s ours?”
I chuck her on the chin. “Past all doubt.”
“All right then. How are we going to get her out?”
I slip my hands in my pockets and lean back on my heels, enjoying the feel of the salty breeze. “You are just not hearing me, are you? I don’t want you to go.”
“I hear you just fine.” She changes the subject. “Would you like to swim?” Her glance goes to the foamy waves of the ocean. Something breaks the water, silver flashing in the distance. A dolphin.
“I wish I could.” For a moment, I remember our swims in the tank at the experimental lab. The infinity of the ocean with Piper would be a holy experience. I think she wants that swim as much as I do.
I turn back to her, lean in, and kiss her lightly.
“Joel, I…”
“I know, Piper.”
“Do you have anyone special?” She gives me a quick, troubled glance. I’m not sure whether it’s because I might have or I might not.
“I have all kinds of special people in my life.” Except the one I want. I don’t have you. I start back up the trail.
“Women find you attractive, I suppose.” She studies the ground as we walk and kicks at a small pebble. It tumbles down the hill, flinging a light spatter of dust in its wake.
“Humans find dolphs attractive, especially if they’re not trying to pass themselves off as geeks.”
She gives me a look. I wink at her. “Though, you could wear a sack and still look sexy.” I watch in fascination as a tide of red runs up her throat and floods her cheeks.
“Very funny,” she mumbles.
“Who’s joking?”
When we reach the top of the hill, I take a last look around, memorizing the cottage, the cliff, and the pines. Now, when I picture her at night, I’ll picture her here in this setting or in the ocean swimming with the dolphins. Sadness sweeps through me. Piper and I belong together, with our baby. We should be a family.
I hide my unhappiness behind a relaxed attitude and easy smile. I’ve hidden my feelings for so long it’s second nature. I stop. “Are you going to tell your grandfather?”
“Of course. He’ll have to know.”
“And Tyler.”
She pauses on the patio that leads into the back door. She moves her foot back and forth over the aged wood. I hope she doesn’t get a splinter. Finally, she looks at me. “He can be trusted. He’s proved that.”
I’d like to argue the point but she’s right. Damn it. “Yes, he has. And like I said, I think we’re going to need him to get the baby out.”
She looks at me in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s wait till he comes back—and I’m sure he will—and I’ll explain then.”
“Alright. Does Amy know?”
“Yes.”
She nods and opens the screen door. We step inside. “I’d better tell Gramps.”
“Since I’m the father of his great granddaughter, I thought I should be here when you tell him.” I force myself to add, “Unless you don’t want me around when you talk to him.”
She leans toward me. My heart beats fast. “You’re always welcome here. It means so much to me that we’re friends.”
For a moment, I freeze with despair. Friends. Then I remember the way she kissed me when she first saw me. My world rights. “Friends,” I say easily.
She gives me a searching glance before turning away. “Gramps,” she calls.
“In here, Pip.”
We follow the voice to the kitchen. The room is full of yellow paint and pinewood. Homey. He and Amy are sitting at the kitchen table. Amy is smiling. They look relaxed, like old friends. “Coffee’s fresh if either of you want a cup.”
“Mr. Dunn makes wonderful coffee,” Amy adds, sipping on hers.
“No, but thank you anyway, Mr. Dunn.”
“Gramps.”
Something in Piper’s tone catches his attention. He looks up. “What is it, Pip?”
“Remember when I told you they harvested my egg at the lab?”
“Yes.”
Holding his gaze, she says, “Joel and I have a baby.”
He clasps gnarled hands together over the paper. His knuckles are swollen with arthritis. The chair scrapes against the floor as he pushes it back. He walks to her and enfolds her. She buries her head against his chest.
I envy their relationship. I never knew my father. My mother died when I was four. I have Amy. We’re always there for each other, but there’s been no parental figure in our lives.
“Well,” he says finally. “It’s been a long time since there’s been a baby around. I’ve missed it.”
She lifts her head. I hear the anguish she tries to hide in her voice. “I may have to leave, Gramps.”
Sadness fills his face but all he says is, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Where’s the baby now?”
Piper explains. Mr. Dunn gives me a measured look. “And you think you can get the little girl out?”
“With some help.” My legs are splayed, planted firmly on the floor. Lips together, I hold his gaze.
He nods. “I don’t doubt it for a minute. You just let us know what we need to do.”
“I’m going to wait till Tyler gets here then explain my plan. After we get the baby, I think it would be safest for everyone if Piper and the baby disappear.”
“What about you and Amy here?” He points his cup at Amy. A few drops leak over the side.
“We’ll need to go too.”
He holds out his hand. “You’re a good man, Joel.”
I wrap my fingers around his bony, warm ones. “Thank you, sir.”
“Have you had anything to eat?”
“Not in a while.”
“Sit. Sit. I’ll fix you some grilled cheese sandwiches.”
Amy pushes back her chair. “What can I do to help?”
“You can get the chips out of the pantry, young lady. Joel, you can pour sodas. It just so happens, Piper and I haven’t eaten either. Pip, set the table, will you?”
Before I know it, we’re sitting down to eat. A small mountain of grilled cheese is stacked on a plate in the middle of the table. I’m on my third when Tyler walks in.
At sight of Amy and me, he stops.
“Join us, Tyler?” Mr. Dunn asks.
“No thanks.” His posture is rigid. I don’t blame him. I’d feel the same if I were in his shoes.
“Why don’t you grab a soda and come sit down?” Piper pats the empty chair next to her.
He gives a jerky nod and complies, his steps stiff. Ice tinkles as he takes a long drink, maybe giving himself time to compose. “I thought you were going to call me.”
“If you hadn’t shown up, I would have. Things got complicated.”
He sets the glass down carefully and turns his attention to me. “S
o what are you doing here?”
“He doesn’t have to have a reason, Tyler,” Piper puts in.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” His hand tightens around the glass.
Distressed, Amy stares at the ceiling.
“He’s a friend of mine.”
“Actually, a bit more than that. I’m the father of her child.”
“Joel,” Amy shushes me.
Mr. Dunn shakes his head.
Piper looks like she’s ready to strangle me.
Tyler is on his feet and starting to come around the table.
“Sit. Sit,” Mr. Dunn says testily. “Joel, I think you’d better explain to Tyler just what you’re talking about.”
“You’re right. Apologies.” I face Tyler. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“What I’m thinking is you’re a bald-faced liar.”
“I’m not bald and I’m not a liar. And I am the father of her child, just not in the conventional way.”
By now, Tyler looks more confused than angry.
Before I can say anything more, Piper jumps in. “Tyler, remember I told you they harvested my egg?”
He nods.
“Dr. Stranger used it to create a baby in the lab. Joel’s the father.”
Tyler’s mouth drops, along with the color from his face. “How do you know?” His gaze swivels from Piper to me.
“I saw her,” I respond.
“What makes you think she’s yours and Piper’s?” He looks like a fish that’s been tossed on the shore and left gasping for oxygen.
“All you have to do is look at her to know she’s Piper’s. She has her smile…and her blowhole.”
“And you?”
“She has the exact birthmark on her right shoulder that I have on mine.”
“So what are we going to do?” Tyler asks.
My respect for my rival increases. How can it not? So many men would wash their hands of this situation. Not Tyler. Part of me wishes he weren’t so noble. It would be so much easier to try to win Piper away from him if he was someone other than who he is.
“Since you and your uncle broke Piper out, the security has escalated. I don’t know if we could do it a second time.”
“What do you have in mind?” Tyler leans forward, a cautious look on his face.
