“I haven’t had the heart to get rid of it yet. So, now it sits next to your bike.”
“I’m going to sell it,” I said and told her my plan. And when I was finished, she said. “You know the last time Wheeler was here he spent hours working on it for you. I guess he knew you’d need to sell it. He was always intuitive.”
I eyed the thick leather cover on the bike where it was positioned in the corner. I flashed back to the many times I’d watched him carefully clean and treat the bike before putting it away. The two of us riding off in it. I looked away.
“I wish I could do something else to afford the last few semesters at college and the semester abroad. After what happened with mom, I’m out of ideas. If I do this, I can go into my program and even if I only last a year, I could get the recommendation to help give me a leg up in finding work after college. I can’t pass that up,” I explained to her and myself.
“I understand. You have to live out the path you’re on before it changes,” Luna said. “Let’s get you settled in the house.”
I followed her out of the garage and over to the side door where she ritually, or superstitiously, rang a cowbell as we removed our shoes. The upstairs had two more bedrooms, and the attic was her studio where she did the sewing for her Etsy mail order.
Between the restored furnishings and pattern covers was a photo journal of generations of Rowe’s lives on the farm. The most professional looking pictures on the walls were taken by my mother at the height of the Sixties and Seventies. There were a few embarrassing nude shots hanging in the hall that I used to complain about. But not today. Not anymore. I understood the carefreeness that could happen in such a moment. I’d lived it with the group. With Brody.
I smiled wistfully as I passed by them and headed over to the back room where I normally slept. I put down my bag, sat on the bed and removed my phone to send a quick message to Jorge to let him know I got here okay. When I turned on the phone, it beeped. One new voice message from Doc.
“Hello, Piper, it’s Doc. Sorry about upsetting you. I have a friend that will be up around your way. He said he could come down and assess the bike in a couple of days. Just send me your Aunt’s address.”
I quickly texted him back the directions and a thank you. I took a deep breath and sent a reply to Brody’s earlier message.
Doc found a potential buyer that sounds promising. I need to sell it, so that will work out for the best. Please tell Seren I said hello.
He surprised me by texting back right away.
Tell her yourself. She would love to hear from you. Cole said he tried to invite you to the wedding.
I smirked. Cole’s call was an invitation? I replied.
That explains the warm fuzziness I got from his voice messages.
He responded.
Warm fuzzes. Mmm. That sounds sexy. Keep going.
I burst out laughing.
Hardly. I’d say it was more like an annoying scratch I couldn’t reach.
He responded.
Tell me where, and I’ll help you soothe it.
I giggled and let my mind wonder on what it would be like for Brody to go searching my body. I had a few places I would love for him to touch again. No. I couldn’t think about that. He dumped me. I wrote as much in my reply.
Stop making me laugh. You broke my heart. So you’re the enemy now.
My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for his response. It had come out bitterer than I meant now that I reread the text. Why did I send that? I scolded. Had I gone too far? Luckily, my phone buzzed again with another text from him.
Hurting you was the last thing I ever wanted to do. I don’t want to be your enemy.
I let go of the air trapped in my lungs.
You’re not. Sorry. I’m not good at this transition to being cool together.
I wasn’t ready to write “friend.” In fact, I wasn’t even sure I could be his friend. While I was mulling it over, he sent back.
Neither am I. I can’t stop thinking about you.
I smiled. Good. I wrote back.
I’ll call Seren today. Congratulations on your wedding.
He responded.
I’m not marrying Seren and Cole. I’ll tell Seren to expect your call.
What was his involvement? I wanted to ask but didn’t. Instead, I called Seren. She answered on the first ring.
“Piper!” she squealed. “I knew you would call! Cole tried to contact you, but he said you didn’t call him back.”
“Yeah. Well yeah,” I cleared my throat. “Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding!”
“Well, actually we’re already married. We had a civil marriage ceremony at the courthouse here early. I needed to get under his medical benefits because I need more medical tests.”
My heart stopped. “Medical tests?”
“I’m fine. This is why I didn’t want to tell anybody about tests before the wedding, but with Cole and Brody around, I can’t keep anything to myself. They are making such a fuss. You know how Brody is. Cole is worse.” She giggled.
“Well, they love and care about you, of course they will fuss. I’d be fussing if I was there too. You taking it easy?”
“Yes, I am. So, about the wedding. Will you come and be one of my bridesmaids? I’m not marrying Brody if that will help you decide. I’m sorry for what happened at the hospital—” she said.
“Don’t be. Brody made his decision. I’ll be fine…I’m fine,” I chewed my lip. “I’ll come to the wedding.”
“What wedding?” Aunt Luna asked making her eavesdropping at the door known.
“Great. What about being a bridesmaid?” Seren asked.
“I’ll come, but I shouldn’t be in the wedding. Cole doesn’t like me,” I said to Seren as Luna waved her hands in front of me like she was landing an airplane.
“Tell her I’m an ordained minister. Ask her if she has decided on her dress yet? I have dresses she can use for bridesmaids, and from my almost weddings that she might want to see. My greenhouse flowers make lovely corsages.” She had on her capitalist hat now.
I furrowed my brows at Luna. “I can’t hear.”
“I heard her. I’d like to see the dresses and her ideas for corsages. I’m planning two weddings because I don’t know how well I will feel, but I’ll have to decide soon because I want to have it in a couple of weeks. It’ll either be in Vegas or the backyard at Brody’s lodge,” she said.
“He lives in a lodge?” I grinned imagining lumber jacked Brody absent the flannel and tight jeans. Yummy.
I pinched my brow. Focus. “When is the wedding?” Luna asked.
“Soon. Maybe within the next two weeks, if everything works out.” I returned to my conversation with Seren. “I’ll send a photo of the dresses,” I said loud enough for Luna to hear and motioned for her to take a seat on the bed.
“Yes. You must come and visit too. Before the wedding if you can,” Seren said.
“I’m working here,” I said. “I’ve got to sell my bike too.”
“Will there be lots of guests?” Aunt Luna asked.
I smirked. Her code for available men. “Mostly military men,” I said throwing off her war activist radar.
“Ohhh,” She got a dreamy look. “Well, they are working their karma and dharma. I’m open.”
I shook my head. Oh god. “I better go now. It’s great speaking with you and congratulations. I’ll send everything over soon.”
“He loves you. Talk to you soon.” She hung up before I could say another word.
I covered my face with my hands. I knew, and I loved him, but as he told me, “loving isn’t enough.”
“Oh, Piper. I know it’s hard for you, but it’s still unclear to me what is going on between the four of you. I’m picking up your pain, and sadness, but tell me everything,” she said and smoothed back my hair.
I took a deep breath and told her all I could, from meeting him to where we were now. She actually didn’t interrupt and spoke at the end.
“From the story you shared, he’s been hurt, and he’s scared. You telling him you love him and are willing to be a part of his life is just words. He would need to be shown a way.”
“He dumped me without even being willing to try.”
“Why try, when he has people right before him that accept him, and what he has to give? You are on a path that will be forever altered if you do choose him.”
“Why? I can go to school and have my career. When I finish we could be together,” I frowned. “It’s better to try than to give up. I don’t give up.”
“I know that, Piper and I’m proud of you, but what about the other thing you haven’t addressed. His life has two people in it that will be just as important to him. What you need to ask yourself is if you are willing to share?”
“I’m not physically sharing Brody. You know how shitty that was for mom. Besides, I’d grow to resent Seren, and I can’t let that happen. She’s my friend, and I love her.”
Aunt Luna smiled. “See? You’re already sharing his heart. He’s a loyal and devoted friend. If sex with anyone else was off the table, would you share? Would you let him put Seren ahead of you if she needs him? Would you be open to Cole too?”
“I love Seren, and I understand their relationship, but I guess I’m selfish. I want to be important too. I can be friendly to Cole if he’s friendly to me, but I’m not having a sexual relationship with him. If Brody offered me to him like Cole did Seren, it’d break my heart. Mom was so hurt by dad.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to judge Cole. I think you’re being too judgmental. Your parents grew up at a different time. Sharing was par for the course. Your mom was into sex swapping, but later she tried to put conditions on Wheeler, but for him, it was too late in their relationship. He loved her but loved their freedom too. According to you, Brody didn’t share you at that orgy, but then again Cole may be different. Anyway, you have a lot to think about before the wedding.”
I sighed heavily. “I do.”
“Alright, enough counseling for now. We will have lentil stew for lunch, and then we send the stuff over to Seren, and you can start working on my catalog. It’s quite a mess,” she warned.
“Hey! Family here,” I whined. “What happened to my rebalancing?”
“Oh yes,” she said. “Massage afterward. And you can tell me more about what’s going on. I can give Seren acupuncture and a cleansing massage before her wedding. I can do the corsages as a gift. Oh, I’m so excited.”
I needed to think of a gift. My phone buzzed again. This time with a message from Matt Carson.
You at the farm? It had a little emoticon that was a cow.
I laughed and sent back.
It’s a tree farm
He replied.
Sorry, I forgot. Anyway. Once you’re settled. How about we Skype and practice conversational Spanish?
I wrote back.
We can do that by phone.
But we won’t get the body language with it. And I love seeing your body….language.
I frowned and sent back.
This isn’t that type of work. If that’s your game, I’m not playing it.
No games. God. It was sort of a joke. You’re beautiful, and I would like to work on it together, any way you want to do it.
I replied.
Phone is fine
He responded.
If I behave for a while can we upgrade to Skype?
Matt wasn’t giving up. Like Brody. My heart hurt. Brody gave up on us. And like Aunt Luna said, he didn’t need to try when he had what he wanted before him. I hunched my shoulders. He wouldn’t give me a chance. Maybe Jorge was right. If things turned out differently, I’d end up just as lost as my mom was with my dad, although I didn’t quite exactly see the similarity. Nevertheless, I sent the reply back to Matt.
Maybe.
Chapter Seven
Piper
“TIME TO GET up,” Aunt Luna sang as she shook me awake.
“What time is it?” I grumbled.
“Seven,” she said in a tone as though I’d overslept.
“Can’t the changes to your catalog wait for a more reasonable hour, or are you ready to give me that massage you promised when I arrived?” I pouted.
She had the nerve to laugh. “Sorry. I’ve just been excited to have your help. I only have you for a short time before you go back to college.”
I gave her a bleary-eyed scowl. She was as bad as my dishwashing supervisor at my day labor job. If it hadn’t been enough having me send Seren a billion pictures and links to her Etsy catalog; she had me working non-stop over the last two days entering six months of hand-written notes into her computer.
“If I go back. I offered to come earlier, but you turned me down. The work shift is ten ’til six with lunch and breaks. I’ll see you in three hours.”
A huge grin spread across her face. “You’ll get your massage, but right now you need to get up and get dressed.”
I curled into a ball. “Where is your compassion? This is my first soft bed after sharing a thin mattress with Jorge and sleeping without the sound of Eric clicking on his computer mouse.”
“I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t important. Come on. Get dressed,” she said pulling the duvet off.
I crawled out of bed and was about to pull on a pair of sweatpants when she snatched them away.
“You might want to wear something more presentable. Remember you need to be open. Brush your hair and actually, I’ll fix mine.” She smoothed her hair in place and pinched her cheeks.
I rolled my eyes. A man was here. “What’s his name?”
“He introduced himself as Mr. Wolfe, I think. So get dressed. Maybe put on one of my sundresses I have in the closet and please fix your hair,” she insisted.
“Why should I? He’s buying the bike not me. If he comes at a decent hour; he gets nice hair and clothes,” I said and petulantly made my hair more of a big tangled mess.
Aunt Luna snickered. “You’re your mother’s daughter.”
Her comparing me to my mother worked to make me grab the brush she held out for me to take and rake it quickly through my long hair. Ouch. Moving on.
A quick clean up in the bathroom and I came back out wearing a tank top and another pair of sweatpants.
She frowned. “At least put on shoes.”
I shrugged and slipped on my sneakers as I grabbed my phone. “This’ll have to do.”
“That it will,” she agreed.
I followed her downstairs and outside to the barn. Once we walked inside, I didn’t see anyone waiting. Was this a joke? Aunt Luna appeared as perplexed as me.
I turned around in a circle. “Just great. This guy wakes me from sleep without a phone call and can’t wait for me to come downstairs?! I’m surprised Doc didn’t send me a message.”
I was about to leave and head back to bed, when the buyer stepped out from behind the camper van, stopping me in my tracks. My pulse and breath sped up as I met his silvery-gray eyes in his beautifully sculpted face. He did that flip of his dark wavy hair off his forehead that was just too downright sexy for seven in the morning. His sleeves were short on his tight t-shirt showing off the tribal tattoos on his well-built arms. Damn him. My buyer was Brody.
A grin spread across my face. “Mr. Wolfe?”
He ran his tongue suggestively over his full sensual lips, and a shiver went down my spine. “You like wolves, Sprite,” he teased.
I flashed onto a memory of us, in and out of our costumes at the paranormal party, and I shifted on my feet. Oh. Yes. I had a thing for wolves now. I touched my warm face and forced myself to look over at Luna, who now had a cat-ate-the-cream smile on her lips. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He wanted to surprise you. I gave you a hint to get a dress, but.…” she giggled.
I glanced down at my nipples that were now poking out of my thin tank top and folded my arms. “I wish you would have hinted harder. I look a mess.”
“You look beautiful,
” Brody said softly.
Our eyes connected and the space between us intensified.
“It’s just like I told you yesterday. He—” she said.
“Please don’t say anything else,” I cut her off and gave her a lethal glare that I hoped would close her trap. My body may have wanted him at hello, but sensible Piper was in the driver’s seat now.
She walked over to Brody and clutched his bicep, getting a free feel of his muscle. And didn’t that bother me? Even though I knew Aunt Luna was harmless, she had a man addiction, and I still had his body set on territorial. Mine.
I took a deep breath and shifted my gaze downward. No. He wasn’t mine. He doesn’t want me.
“Well, since you’re part of the family. How about breakfast?” she asked.
“I’m sure he is just passing through,” I said.
His smile disappeared, and so did Aunt Luna’s.
“You want me to look at your bike and go?” he asked.
I fidgeted. No. I wanted him to stay, but instead I said, “That’s why you came. Right?”
He turned away from us, and my eyes dropped to his butt. He had a great ass, and it was filling his dark jeans, oh so right. Physically, everything was right about Brody. He was muscular, firm perfection. It was all the other parts of our lives that had gone wrong between us.
“I do, but I’m not in a rush,” he finally said. “What I’d like to know is why you are selling the bike now?” He turned and met my eyes again. His gaze was intent on willing me to spill every secret I had. My mouth opened to tell him, but my pride wanted to keep the reason to myself. But of course, Aunt Luna didn’t have such hang-ups and launched right into sharing all of my business.
“Her stepfather blackmailed her by making her send a photo of herself, and her mom found out. So, to cut a long story short, she’s been cut off financially and can’t afford to go back to school. I’d love to help, but well my money is mostly tied up in the farm so.…”
Piper Dreams: Make It Happen (Dream Series Book 2) Page 8
