by Susan Meier
Piper’s head should have been spinning, but, really, hadn’t the town, the customers, and even Cade himself been preparing her for this?
“Your little slip? Good God, Lonnie! This isn’t like using the cheater app for Words with Friends! You claimed he was your son’s father! You ruined his reputation. Forced him out of town.”
“His dad forced him out of town.” Lonnie drew a long, shaky breath. “Piper, I was still in high school when I had Hunter. I had had this thing with a guy who… I was a kid. A stupid kid. I made a lot of mistakes as far as Hunter was concerned.”
Her chest froze. Her legs went numb. Her faith in Lonnie began to shimmy as if on a foundation of Jell-O.
“What kind of mistakes could justify accusing Cade of something he hadn’t done?”
“I got pregnant by a married man. Someone who was in his twenties, with his own family, when I was sixteen. It was stupid, idiotic. When we realized I was pregnant, we both panicked. If we’d told the truth, we would have ruined his family. His whole life.”
Piper’s tight chest shuddered with an emotion so fierce she couldn’t even identify it. Her best friend hadn’t just lied to her. She’d held back an entire section of her life. An affair with a married man.
“So you ruined Cade instead?”
“I didn’t ruin him. I was giving him an out. Cade was a sad, lonely guy who needed somebody. In return for him saving me, I was a great girlfriend. When he wanted to get married to give Hunter a home, I suspected he was the one who wanted the home. And I knew I owed him.” She drew a harsh breath. “At the time, it didn’t seem like I was cheating him. It actually seemed like everything was fitting together.”
“But you let people believe for twelve years that he was Hunter’s father!”
“Because he wasn’t around for it to affect him! Now that he’s home for a whole year, working with you, I’ve been thinking about it. And I know I can’t use him anymore. And it’s also not fair for you to believe he did something that he didn’t do.”
“When were you going to tell me?”
Lonnie sighed. “Soon.” Her voice broke. “I knew the truth would come out. I just wanted to protect Hunter’s real father.”
“He was a guy in his twenties who had sex with a high school girl, and you’re still protecting him?”
“Actually, I’m protecting his family. He has a wife. Daughters. He could be the scum of the earth, but they don’t deserve to be hurt.”
Piper fell to her sofa. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“You could start off by saying you don’t hate me.”
“I don’t.” She didn’t. She could remember back to high school, to planning Lonnie’s wedding to Cade and remember how young they all were…how immature. The consequences of the situation Lonnie had gotten herself into were far, far beyond her ability to deal with at her age.
“I would like to beat the crap out of Hunter’s father. But it’s not my choice how you handle it.”
“Once the news breaks, my mom’s going to call. I have to decide what to say, how to break the news. What to tell and what not to tell or even if I should tell anybody at all.”
“Well, you better figure out everything soon because Bunny Farmer’s got the scoop and it will be a miracle if she doesn’t print a newsletter.”
“I’m so sorry, Piper.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t hate Lonnie. But she sure as hell was having trouble with being lied to, being used, and she couldn’t even fathom what Cade felt. “Like you said, you were just a kid.”
“At the time everything made perfect sense.”
“Yeah, well. You have to fix this for Cade.”
“I swear I will. But you said everybody was figuring it out anyway, so maybe, for once, I can let the rumor mill do something good. Let it clear him. It’s going to be hard enough explaining things to my mom and dad.” She burst into tears. “That’s about all I can deal with right now, Piper.”
She started to cry in earnest and Piper’s anger began to ebb. What a mess.
She squeezed her eyes shut and said what any true best friend would say…
“I’ll talk to Cade.”
Sobbing now, Lonnie said, “Thanks. And Piper… I owe you.”
Piper disconnected the call, feeling like her head was about to explode. She stripped off her grocery store clothes, took a quick shower, and slid into an orange tank dress before combing out her hair.
She sucked in a breath and did what needed to be done. She walked to her car, started the engine, and drove to the fund-raiser.
Parking in the lot for Saint Mark’s church, she shut down her engine and headed for the church hall. She could have waited until tomorrow, but then she wouldn’t have slept.
At the door, Sandy Wojak, seventy-year-old head Dinner Belle, greeted her. “Hey, sweetie, what a nice surprise!”
Piper smiled. “I just thought I’d unwind a bit after work.”
Taking Piper’s five-dollar admission fee, Sandy smiled. “I heard business is booming.”
“Yes. It seems Richard was right.” She paused, realizing how weird that sentence felt coming off her tongue. But the night was young. Things were about to get a lot weirder. “With an O’Riley and a Hyatt at the helm, we’re getting everybody’s business.”
Sandy patted her hand. “Good for you, sweetie.”
With her money paid, she ambled into the semi-dark hall. Lights from the DJ’s equipment lit the dance floor. Candles on the tables made the seating area glow.
A quick scan of the room showed her where the Donovans were sitting. Not giving herself time to panic or chicken out, she walked over.
Ellie and Finn sat beside LuAnn on the far side of the table. Cade sat with his back to her. People from neighboring tables leaned in to talk to Finn, Ellie, and Luann. Ted Lawson paused beside Cade’s chair, chatted for a few seconds, then took his empty punch glass and walked on.
Wow. Five years ago, if the Donovans attended a church function, their dad was the center of attention, and LuAnn and her sons sat quietly beside him. Tonight, they were actually mingling.
When she reached their table, she put her hand on the back of Cade’s chair, maybe for support, maybe because it felt normal… At this point, who the hell knew what normal was anymore?
“Hey,” she said to the group in general.
Their conversation stopped as if frozen in time. An O’Riley had never so casually addressed a group of Donovans before.
Well-loved-businessman Finn was the first to recover. He said, “Hey,” before he bounced out of his seat and pulled out a chair for her. “Piper! Cade told us you weren’t coming.”
He’d talked about her? To his family?
She let that knowledge settle in as Cade rose and faced her.
Finn said, “Have a seat.”
Holding Cade’s gaze, she shook her head. “No. Actually, I need to talk to Cade about something.”
“Oh, no, honey,” LuAnn Donovan said, patting the chair Finn had pulled out. “Talk business tomorrow. Have a glass of punch with us. The DJ’s going to start soon.”
Piper blinked at LuAnn. It was easy to see that for Cade’s mom, the Hyatt/O’Riley war was over. Part of the past. But more than that, Piper had never known the woman to be anything but silent standing by her man. Now, she was comfortable, easygoing in her pale pink top and blue jean capris.
“Um…this isn’t about business.”
Finn grinned. “Really?”
Cade said, “Just stop, Finn.” He pointed toward a back exit. “Let’s go.”
He led her to the door, slapped his hands on the spring lock release, and escorted her outside. Crickets chirped. The air was heavy with an approaching storm.
He turned and said, “All right. What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until morning?”
She stared at him. He’d spent so many years away she didn’t consider him the kind of guy who just hung out with his family. Yet here he was, at a fund-ra
iser, drinking punch. Almost as if he was making up for lost time. And maybe he was.
She cleared her throat. “I have something really difficult to tell you.”
“So…spit it out. That’s how we’ve managed to get through our first five weeks. By just being blunt. Be blunt.”
“Lonnie told me you’re not Hunter’s father.”
She didn’t know if it was shock, but he burst out laughing. “No kidding.”
She slapped his forearm. “Stop, Cade. This is traumatic for me.”
“It was traumatic for me the week I was here for my grandfather’s funeral. It was traumatic for me at Finn’s wedding, the first few days I worked at the store, every time I walked down the street. It was like being a serial killer on parole. But everybody’s figured it out now. Lonnie didn’t do anything great or special by admitting it. She’s just covering her ass with you.”
“She was a scared kid.”
“Yeah. Me too.” He drew in a breath. “Thanks for telling me.”
“I am so sorry, Cade.”
He looked away, then caught her gaze. “I know you didn’t know, that you’d trusted Lonnie.” He smiled wryly. “As much as I wanted to blame you, I also knew you’d been as duped as I was. So I’m sorry for being as distrusting as I was with you in the beginning.”
Moonlight spilled out over the cars in the parking lot. She and Cade stood staring at each other. As she gazed into his dark eyes, the same pull toward him snuck up on Piper. Her stomach tightened. Her breath shivered into her lungs. Her blood slowed to a crawl. But this time her physical feelings were tempered by something more. Never in a million years did she think he’d apologize to her.
He broke their stare, and his gaze rippled from her head to her toes. “Hey, look at that. You’re a girl.”
She stepped back, out of his reach, the way she always did. Except this time unease tightened her breathing, as if she’d done something wrong. “I think from the way you’ve flirted with me, you’ve always known I was a girl.”
He laughed and closed the distance between them. “That I did.” He took another step. “You just look so darned pretty in a dress, I got sort of tongue-tied, and the words came out wrong.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not as if I can wear dresses at the store.” She took another step back to get out of his reach, and the feeling of being wrong washed through her again. He wasn’t Hunter Simmons’s dad. He hadn’t deserted a child. He’d left a woman who was cheating him, using him. And his family had all but welcomed her to their table. The Hyatt/O’Riley feud no longer existed.
There was absolutely no reason in the world she couldn’t like him.
“Maybe, if you did, we’d get some of the old geezers to shop with us.”
His voice had dropped to an intimate whisper. The blood in her veins began to sing. The shiver in her chest became a full-scale quiver. With the moonlight and the softness of his voice, she knew this wasn’t just about sex. Something more important was happening between them.
Possibilities swirled around her, sending fear from her overactive brain to her overeager body. This was a guy who’d been God knows where for the Marines. He lived in Montana. Ran a ranch. Probably dated hundreds of women.
And she’d dated six guys. Almost married two of them. But didn’t really have the kind of experience a man like him would expect from a woman.
“I gotta go.”
She turned and raced away, her thoughts a spinning pool of confusion.
She had absolutely no more reasons to hate Cade Donovan. And no reason to stay away from him.
And absolutely no idea what to do with him.
Chapter Twelve
Monday morning, Cade woke antsy. For weeks, he’d been living with the knowledge that people were figuring out he wasn’t Hunter’s father. The fact that Lonnie had admitted it shouldn’t mean anything.
But it did.
Not because of the town. Because of Piper. Now that Lonnie had come clean, there was no reason for them to stay away from each other. All those little fantasies he had about her? He couldn’t see any reason not to act them out.
He bounced out of bed with a laugh, but as he dressed for work, other thoughts crept in. She’d admitted she was embarrassed about being the runaway bride. She hated being a laughingstock.
He frowned. Those things might come into play, but all they had to do was keep their affair a secret, and they could have all the fun they wanted.
Twenty minutes later, he met Piper at the entrance to O’Riley’s. “Mornin’, sweet cheeks.”
She rolled her eyes. “I told you to stop calling me weird names.”
She reached for her keys and he lightly pinched her cheek. “You cannot ruin my good mood this morning.”
As the door opened, they walked in to the scent of April Johnson’s glazed doughnuts.
Refusing to look at him, Piper said, “Think I’ll go back and get the tray so she doesn’t have to bring it out.”
“Fine. I’m going to the office.”
She scampered away, and he watched her for a few seconds before he headed to the cashier’s cage. He might be ready, willing, and able, but it seemed she needed some time to process everything that was happening. Still, they were going to spend a night together, and it would probably be soon. He might have to seduce her, but he wasn’t going to push her. For as vivid as his fantasies were, she had to be as onboard as he was.
Looking for his grandfather’s proof to keep his mind occupied, he spent an hour pulling files from the drawer, examining them, and putting them back. With every folder he read, the odds increased that he was getting closer to finding the thing that would clear his grandfather’s name. About the sixtieth file, though, he suddenly realized that the proof that exonerated his grandfather might hurt Piper’s dad—which would hurt Piper.
He paused, sucked in a breath. Was finding this proof really necessary? They were working well together. No one cared about the stupid Hyatt/O’Riley feud anymore. Why was he doing this?
She stepped into the office as he shoved the file back into its place.
“Why are you looking at those old files again?”
“Curiosity?” Her nose wrinkled as she walked over, as if she needed to confirm for herself that he was reading files so out-of-date the IRS probably wasn’t interested in them anymore.
“Curiosity about what?”
She met his gaze, and as always happened when they were in a quiet room, alone, connecting like normal people, their attraction sparked. She automatically pivoted to race away, but he took her arm and turned her to face him. The smoothness of her skin nearly did him in. The surprise in her eyes almost made him laugh. Now that everything was settling between them, did she really think he’d ignore their attraction?
He smiled. “At this point, I’m kind of curious about everything.”
“Even old files that mean nothing?”
Her voice was deep, smoky, telling him she was as turned on as he was. The knowledge seeped into his soul, pushed him beyond temptation, and told him this was it. Their moment. He was going to kiss her.
Still, he gave her the choice. Slowly bringing his other hand to her shoulder, he gave her another few seconds to move away. She didn’t.
Nudging her a few inches closer, he absolutely told her what he was about to do. She stayed where she was. Green eyes huge with something that was part fear, part curiosity, she simply gazed up at him.
So he began to lower his head. Slowly. Giving her plenty of time to say no. Then his lips touched hers gently and everything inside him stilled. She was soft, sweet, perfect. Thunderous need swam in his blood—
And she bolted. In one quick move, she got herself out of his arms and three feet away from him.
“We can’t.”
“I say we can. The door is closed. We’re not by the window. Nobody’s going to see us. And we’re both so damned curious that if we don’t soon satisfy this urge, we’re going to say or do something out there.” He pointed at
the sales floor. “And then Bunny Farmer will print a newsletter.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “This isn’t funny. Our past might be resolving itself, but we’re partners. We’re not supposed to kiss.”
He shook his head. “Darlin’, there ain’t no accounting for hormones.”
“You think that’s all this is?”
“Absolutely.”
“And you think hormones are okay?”
“I think hormones are wonderful. Fantastic.” He took a few steps toward her as if she were a skittish mare, happy to take things as slowly as she wanted.
She spun away and raced to the door. “You do whatever the heck you want with the files in the drawers. I’m stocking green beans.”
…
Before he could reply, she ran out of the office, through the cashier’s cage, where she slowed herself a bit in case anybody was watching and would wonder why she was running.
She walked back to the box of canned green beans, her legs like rubber, her arms shimmying. The man could get her blood going with only a look. And his lips touching hers? Holy cow. She almost melted.
Which was why he tempted her. He wasn’t just attractive. He was sexy. And the way he called her “darlin’”? Good grief, she could have thrown herself at him.
But she hadn’t. She’d kept control.
Right.
That one-word grouse was her inner bad girl. She’d been quiet lately, but today she was pissed. Worse, Piper’s good girl was edging over to the other shoulder, siding with her bad girl.
What would it hurt if we kissed?
She sniffed a laugh. Lots of things.
Like?
Well, her sanity. Just because their past was resolving itself, that didn’t mean pursuing their attraction was a good idea. They worked together. Saw each other every day. Was she going to kiss him every day?
Her inner good girl swooned.
She shook her head, trying to clear it of the nonsense. Cade was her partner. And for all she knew, he’d be leaving at the end of their year together.
So? That doesn’t mean you can’t kiss him. It’s not like you want to marry him.
She stopped putting green beans on the shelf.
