Wrapped in Lace

by Lane, Prescott

  *

  Drew’s fingers combed through my blonde hair. “Piper, sweetheart, we’re back.”

  I opened my eyes and sat up in Drew’s pickup truck. We were in my granddaddy’s driveway. I must have fallen asleep on the drive back from Charlotte, but I couldn’t remember even leaving the hotel.

  “Did you sleep at all last night? You were asleep before we were out of the hotel parking garage.”

  “I’ve been getting more exercise than I’m used to,” I said.

  He smiled and placed his hand on my neck, gently pulling me towards him. “We’ll have to find a place to work out later, but I need to spend a few hours with Mom and Nana first.” He pulled back and tilted his head. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m just tired.” I’d made my plan, and I wasn’t going back on it now.

  “Promise me you’ll go take a nap.” He placed his hand on my forehead like he was checking for a fever. I nodded in agreement. “Come by when you wake up.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  DECEMBER 27

  DREW

  The smell of apple pie filled the air as I walked into my grandmother’s house and followed my nose into the kitchen. If there was anything I missed about home, it was my Nana’s and Mom’s cooking. I walked through the open doorway and found them both sitting at the kitchen island—my mom coring apples, and Nana with her hands in piecrust dough. I knew I was about to be double-teamed.

  As a kid, I had all my serious mother/son conversations in the kitchen cooking something. My mom always told me if my hands were busy, my mouth would try to keep up. When Piper moved away, she and I baked for three days straight. When I got caught drinking at sixteen, we cooked pot roast. We made cobbler for the sex talk that Dad had screwed up, and sugar cookies when Pop died. But never before had my grandmother been there, too. This must be serious.

  I kissed them both on their cheeks, seeing my mom’s eyes were red. “Everything all right, Mom?”

  She simply nodded, and I looked at my grandmother. “Busy hands, busy mouths,” Nana said.

  “Mom always says that,” I said.

  “Who do you think she learned it from?” Nana asked. “Haven’t done this with your mom in a long time. We usually just drink wine now.”

  My mom laughed. “Might need wine today, too.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  Nana put her hand on my shoulder. “We tried to reach you. Rob took Ellie to the hospital yesterday. She was throwing up a lot. They gave her some fluids and meds. She’s home now.”

  “Piper and I were in Charlotte. I should’ve checked my messages. How are the babies?”

  “All fine,” my mom said, drying her eyes. “Same thing happened with Jack. She’ll be fine.”

  “That’s good,” I said as Nana handed me some dough then winked at my mom before leaving the kitchen. “Mom?”

  She slowly peeled the apple, the skin coming off all in one smooth piece. “I haven’t seen much of you.”

  Well, now I felt like shit. My mom was crying because she missed me. I was home, but not really. I hadn’t spent any time with them. “That’s why you’re upset? I’m sorry I. . . .”

  “No, baby.” She looked up, and her eyes were twinkling. “I couldn’t be happier about you and Piper. I’m glad you two are spending so much time together. I love her. You know that. Always have.”

  “I know, so why are you crying?”

  “Because I’ve held out hope that you and Rob would be close again. All these years, I’ve prayed every night for my boys to be like they used to be, and I’ve come to realize that’s not going to happen. It’s very hard for a mother to watch her sons fight.”

  I placed the crust in the pie pan then picked up a knife and started peeling apples. “I know this is hard on you.”

  “I had the kitchen ready for you that Christmas. I was so stupid thinking we’d bake our way out of that mess.”

  “No, Mom. That’s not stupid. I needed you and Dad both. I just couldn’t stay.”

  “I think back on that day, how it must have looked to you. It must have looked like we were siding with Rob and Ellie.”

  “I never thought that. You were in an impossible situation, and no one could’ve handled it better.”

  She reached out and held my hand. “Your father and I were livid with Ellie and Rob. You have no idea.”

  “Mom, I never was angry at you.” Tears started to roll down her cheeks. I got up and wrapped my arms around her, trying to hold her as tightly as she always held me. She turned the tables on me and wrapped me in her arms.

  “I couldn’t even look at your brother or Ellie, for months.”

  “You seem to have mended things with them now.”

  “It took a lot of time and tears, but your father and I have chosen unconditional love. It’s not been an easy road.”

  I knew my parents didn’t have much choice except to support Rob and Ellie. Rob was their son, too, and Ellie was just a teenager. And she was carrying their first grandchild. I had always understood that, but that didn’t change my feelings. “I won’t ever trust Rob again, Mom.”

  “I know. It just makes me sad.”

  “Me, too,” I admitted, returning to my stool. “That’s part of the reason I don’t come back here. Too many memories.”

  “You have other memories here with me, your father, Nana, Pop, Piper.”

  She raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew I was blushing. I sliced an apple in half and took a little bite. “It’s crazy, but she’s all I think about. It hasn’t even been a week.”

  “Your father proposed on our first date,” she said.

  I smiled, having heard the story a thousand times, my dad asking my mom to marry him at the end of every one of their dates for six months before she finally said yes. Then they got married the day after high school graduation. “I’m not proposing to Piper.”

  “Not yet,” she said, pinching my cheek. “But she’s the one.”

  “Mom?” I groaned. “I’m only twenty-five.”

  “That’s right, and you aren’t married, so keep the quarterback in his protective padding.” She laughed so hard she almost fell off the stool.

  *

  PIPER

  I walked across the snow-covered yard of Drew’s grandmother’s house towards the workshop in the back. I dropped my keys in my purse, seeing the pregnancy test still unopened inside. Still no period. I just kept telling myself this was impossible and to focus on the time I had left with Drew, but I still felt my stomach fluttering. I hadn’t seen him since he dropped me off yesterday. I’d fallen asleep and woken up fifteen hours later. He was leaving, and I was wasting our time together sleeping. I couldn’t get back to him fast enough. When I finally shook off the sleep, I was surprised to find several messages from Drew. They weren’t messages of a possessive kind. He wasn’t wondering where I was or worried I was avoiding him. They were simply sweet. I pulled out my phone and read them again.

  Sweet dreams, I miss you. Then a few hours later, U better be dreaming about me, and they better be naughty. Followed quickly by, Wish I was holding you while you sleep. There were at least a half dozen more.

  I slid open the door to the workshop, seeing Drew bent down sanding something by hand. I felt like I was spying on him, on some intimate moment, but watching his hand run across the wood, the muscles in his back rolling and flexing, I immediately felt my body heat. I think he felt it across the room because he turned to me and flashed me that smile of his.

  “Out!” he ordered, laughing. He threw an old sheet over the wood then hopped up, blocking my view of what he was working on.

  “I want to see,” I said, trying to tilt my head to the side, but he wrapped his arms around me, pushing me out the door, and tackled me in the snow.

  His lips landed on mine so softly, like a snowflake. I ran my fingers through his messy brown hair, the stubble on his face letting me know he’d been working all night. As our tongues met, all I could think was how much
I loved him. He pulled back, staring down at me, and I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing about me. He cleared his throat then helped me to my feet and wiped the snow off me before slipping his hands around my waist.

  “You look rested,” he said, his eyes so soft, his touch so gentle.

  “You worried?”

  “A little. I wondered if you were getting sick. And I didn’t like not being able to be there for you.”

  He was just so sweet, so charming. I would never get enough of him. “I’m rested now,” I teased, giving his butt a little squeeze. But his eyes still held worry. He lifted his hand to my forehead again. It was as if he could tell I was off in some way but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. “I’m fine.”

  “Did you eat?” he asked. My stomach growled, giving me away. “Piper, when’s the last time you ate?”

  I actually had to stop and think about it. “Breakfast.” He raised an eyebrow. “Yesterday in Charlotte.” I swear he growled before taking my hand and marching me through the snow, looking almost pissed off. If he was acting this way now, I was glad he didn’t know about the potential baby. He’d be a maniac.

  “What’re you hungry for?” he asked, opening the door to his truck for me and swatting my booty.

  “Pizza!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  DREW

  Of all the fucking foods in the whole world, she had to want pizza, and of all the fucking pizza places in the world, she had to pick this one— where I used to hang out every Friday night with Ellie. I opened the door for her, the aroma of fresh baked dough hitting us, and Piper’s stomach growled again. By this point, she’d missed three meals. I felt my muscles tighten with aggravation. I wasn’t sure why that was making me so crazy, but it was. I wanted to take care of her, not cause her to lose sleep and not eat.

  Piper must have sensed my irritation. Hell, I’m sure the people next door sensed it. “Why are you so tense?” she asked.

  “Because of me, you’ve missed three meals and were so exhausted you slept for over fifteen hours. I want to take care of you not. . . .”

  She rubbed the stubble on my face. “You didn’t sleep last night, either.”

  “But. . . .”

  Her lips landed on mine gently, then she leaned into my neck. “If I have to miss a meal or sleep, I can’t think of a better reason than you.” I nuzzled her nose with mine, holding her cheeks in my hands. I couldn’t argue with her logic.

  “Ahh!” A high-pitched squeal shocked us from our moment. I looked up, seeing Sabrina scooting out of a booth. She rushed over, pulling Piper into a hug. “You guys decided to come up for air?” she asked.

  I laughed and Piper’s honey skin turned rosy. “We get plenty of air.”

  “Panting, moaning, and groaning don’t count,” Sabrina said, making Piper blush even more.

  “Hey, guys,” Matt said, waving us over. “Come join us.”

  Piper and Sabrina started towards the booth, but I hadn’t forgotten our reason for being here. I needed to get some food in her. I held up my finger as I looked towards the counter. “Just let me order.”

  “We’ve got plenty,” Matt said, pointing to a half-eaten pepperoni pizza and some breadsticks.

  Piper and I scooted into the booth across from Sabrina and Matt. This was the same booth we sat in as teenagers. Things here never seemed to change. The place looked exactly the same, from the red vinyl on the booths to the black and white checked floor. I put three slices of pepperoni pizza and two breadsticks on a plate and placed it down in front of Piper. “Start with that.”

  “I can’t eat all that,” she said, transferring two slices and one breadstick onto a plate for me.

  I moved it back to her plate. “I want to see you eat all of that.” I knew my voice sounded short, but I couldn’t help it. I never acted like this before, but something was nagging at me. Piper simply rolled her eyes, smiling at me.

  “This is just like old times,” Matt said. “How many nights did we spend in this place?”

  I smiled, seeing Piper sprinkling her slice with Parmesan then taking a huge bite. “Too many.”

  “You know your high score still stands on that old PacMan machine in the back,” Matt said.

  “No shit?” I said, holding my hand up for the waitress and ordering a pitcher of beer. I turned to Piper. “Blue Moon, right?”

  Piper held her hand over her mouth, still chewing. “Just bring some water for me, please.”

  Sabrina and Piper caught up on the latest school gossip while Matt and I continued to relive our high school days. It wasn’t nearly as painful as I thought it would be. And he was kind enough to leave Ellie’s name out of it, bringing up mostly times that we shared playing football, or just guys hanging out. I forgot how much I missed this place, missed Matt. And it suddenly felt so good to be back here, but this time with Piper by my side. I stole a glance at her, and she flashed me a smile. I took her hand and lifted it to my lips.

  “Why don’t you do things like that anymore,” Sabrina said, elbowing Matt in the side.

  He held up her ring finger. “I married you so I don’t have to do that sappy shit anymore.” But then he lifted up her hand and kissed it. They looked so disgustingly happy, and I wondered if Piper and I looked that way to outsiders. I guess we probably did by the way my parents were always smiling at us.

  I wasn’t sure how much time passed as we laughed and carried on, but it was long enough for Piper to clean her plate, which made me happy. We were having so much fun that I didn’t notice we had company until Piper elbowed me gently. I looked up, finding Ellie’s brown eyes looking down at us.

  “This looks familiar,” Ellie said as Matt got up and kissed her cheek.

  Sabrina gave a little wave. “I hear it’s twins. That’s so great.”

  “Thanks,” Ellie said, but her eyes stayed right on mine. “Can we talk a minute?”

  Sabrina scooted out of the booth. “We were just leaving.” She leaned over and kissed Piper on the cheek and Matt did, too. “See you later.”

  The counter boy yelled that Ellie’s pizza was ready, but she motioned she needed a minute. “Should you be eating pizza?” I asked Ellie. “Mom told me you were sick or something.”

  She gave me a little smile, and I realized that sounded like I cared. Shit, I didn’t want Piper to think I gave a damn about Ellie. My only concern was for the babies. If anything happened to them, I knew my parents would be crushed. I hope Piper knew that was the only reason I asked. “It’s for Jack and Rob.” She turned her eyes to Piper. “Would you mind giving me a minute with Drew?”

  How dare Ellie dismiss Piper like that! No fucking way was that going to happen. I didn’t want Piper to think I was keeping anything from her, but I didn’t have to say a word. Piper flashed a wicked smile, saying, “I absolutely would mind.” That’s my girl!

  “Piper, I just need a minute of his time,” Ellie said, rubbing her belly. She was playing the pregnancy card. “Surely you can give me that?”

  “Drew’s only here for a few days, so his minutes are precious, and frankly, you’re wasting them.”

  Holy hell, Piper was ready to do battle. I wanted to lean back and watch the show. Too bad there wasn’t popcorn. Have to say, two women fighting over me wasn’t hurting my ego any, but my money was definitely on Piper.

  “Rob told me what happened to his face.” Ellie narrowed her eyes. “Maybe Drew would make some time for me if my legs were spread open on the bar.”

  I would kill Rob for telling her. I darted up, but Piper put her hand on my thigh, giving me a little head shake. “I guess when you screwed Rob it wasn’t on the bar. The bathroom stall, maybe?” she said.

  “How dare you!” Ellie started.

  “Oh, excuse me,” Piper said snidely. “I forgot you are probably the world’s biggest prude. Only in bed, with Rob on top, after you’ve both showered. And you probably only screw him once a month or so, or on the holidays, the good girl that you are!”

>   Ellie’s mouth dropped open. She really had no idea who she was messing with when she picked a fight with Piper. “Are you really going to let her talk to me like that?” Ellie asked me.

  “You started this, Ellie,” I said. “But you obviously aren’t going to leave us alone, so just say what you need to or move on. I have plans for Piper this afternoon.”

  Piper smiled at me. “Can’t wait.”

  “Disgusting,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes. “This is so sad, Drew. Really! We are adults.”

  “I don’t know what the hell you are talking about.”

  She motioned between Piper and me. “This! You’re better than this.”

  “Excuse me,” Piper said.

  “Ellie, I think you better stop,” I said. I’d be damned if I let Ellie insult Piper.

  “No, you should stop. Stop using Piper to ease your pain, distract you from dealing with your family, using her to try to get to me.”

  I saw Piper’s eyes cast down, hinting that she’d wondered about that herself. “I don’t know why you think this is any of your business, but Piper is my girlfriend, and I’d never use her.”

  “I was your girlfriend for four years, and you walked away without a thought.”

  “You screwed his brother,” Piper said, throwing her hands up.

  “Whether you like it or not, I’m your family now,” Ellie said to me. “And you are hurting your brother and. . . .”

  I didn’t hear anything else she said because Piper turned to me and whispered, “She still loves you.”

  Could Piper be right? It didn’t matter, but I’d never even considered it before. No way! She was pregnant with my brother’s babies. This had to just be hormones. I squeezed Piper’s hand and looked up at Ellie ranting. “Thank God I didn’t marry you,” I said. “I couldn’t stand to listen to you bitch every single day of my life. It almost makes me feel sorry for Rob. Almost!”