Always and Forever (9 page)

“Slow down, Piper,” Dad instructs then leads me to the table to sit. “Now start from
the beginning.”

He and Mom sit also and I tell them about going to Kade and Amelia’s, specifically
what Peyton said and finish with the firehouse confrontation. Afterward there’s silence
for a few moments until Mom breaks it.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like Brody at all.”

I look at her through swollen eyes. “He didn’t deny it.”

“You haven’t slept,” Mom notices. “Come on. Let’s get you to lie down and rest before
you collapse.” She helps me up and starts leading me to my old bedroom but I stop.

“I wanna be here with you and Daddy.”

She nods and takes me to the couch instead. I sit while she goes and gets a pillow
from somewhere then brings it back and orders me to lie down. She covers me with an
afghan and that’s all I remember until several hours later I hear her talking.

“I know. That’s what I said. Uncharacteristic. Uh huh. Yes. Uh huh. Oh, I think it’s
a great idea. I’ll have her call you when she wakes up. How’d Addie do at Mommy’s
Day Out?” I hear her laugh. “She’s going to have to learn to share. Sounds just like
you when you were little.”

“Mom?” I call and she looks over at me from the dining table. “I wanna talk to Greer.”

I sit up and she gets up still talking. “Okay, yes. Hang on, here she is.” She hands
the phone to me with a sweet smile.

“Greer?” Annnnd I start crying again.

“Hey, Pipe. Oh, honey, don’t cry.” Then I hear Greer start crying too. “It’s all gonna
be okay,” she says through her tears. “I promise. Shhh.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper as my tears ebb some. “I can’t face him. I can’t.
It’ll tear me apart even more.” I wipe my face with the sleeve of my hoodie and hear
Mom cluck her tongue at me. The next thing I know, she’s handing me a box of tissues.

“Here’s what you’re gonna do,” Greer answers. “Clay and I have a two-week package
to a resort in the Adirondacks that we can use any time and we’re giving it to you.
After we hang up, I’m gonna book your flight for tonight out of Richmond. You can
have two weeks to yourself to go to the spa or ski or shop or ice skate or snowmobile
or if none of that works, you can just hang out in your room. Watch crappy reality
TV and call for room service. If you want, I’ll even add another week. Addie and I
can come up for a couple days if you want us to. Okay?”

“I don’t know. The store…”

“Mom said she’ll work and she has friends who can help out too so you don’t have to
worry about anything. Sound good?”

I think about it for a moment knowing if I stay here, all I’ll do is mope around and
there’s the possibility of running into Brody at every turn. Or I can go to the resort
and mope but not have to worry about seeing him. Problem solved. “Yes.”

“Great. Go home and get packed then head this way so you can stop by here and we’ll
talk. Then I’ll drive you to the airport. I love you, sweetie. See you soon!”

“I love you too.” We hang up, I give Mom a hug and tell her I love her (Dad’s already
gone to work so I’ll call him later), and then I head home to get things sorted.

Chapter 7

“The Mane Event. How can I help you?” Ryan answers as I drive to my house.

“Hey, I’m on my way home from Mom and Dad’s and wanted to let you know I’m heading
to a resort in the Adirondacks for a couple weeks,” I inform her.

“That’s awesome! Wish I could take some time off and go with you but I’ve got too
much shit going right now.”

“You can fly up and take a three-day weekend,” I suggest when I pull up to my house
hitting the garage door opener and driving inside.

“Maybe.” I hear her flipping through her appointment book. “I don’t know, Pipe. The
high school’s Winter Ball is next weekend so I’ve got tons of girls coming in. Fuck.”

Damn it. “Well, it doesn’t have to be the weekend. Maybe midweek? Sorry. I don’t mean
to pressure you, but it’d all just be better if you came with me.” I get out of my
car, close the garage door and go inside my house.

“Wish I could.” She sighs. “But you can call me any time, honey. You know that. Day
or night.”

“Thanks, Ry. Okay, just wanted to let you know what’s going on.” I take a breath.
“I saw him,” I whisper.

“Saw him?”

“In my head… with another woman.” My breath catches. “It just about killed me.”

“Oh, Pipe. God, I hate this so much for you right now.” We’re quiet for a moment before
she says, “But you need a break.”

“I need a break,” I agree.

“Yeah. You’re gonna be fine. Promise.” I hear her moving around some. “Jesus. Agnes
Wagner’s here for her face peel. Swear to God, she’s so old and her skin’s so thin
I just know it’s gonna peel off with the mask one of these days and I’ll freak the
fuck out.”

I chuckle. Leave it to Ryan to instantly cheer me up. “Let me know how it goes with
Mike,” I remind her.

“I will! I hope he’s gonna take me somewhere nice!” she says excitedly. “All right,
be safe. Text me when you get there. Love you.”

“Love you too,” I reply. “I will. Bye.”

After hanging up, I grab my suitcases out of the hall closet and commence to packing.
I’m not sure if this trip will help but it’s damned sure better than staying here.

~~~

“Addie dabbie-doo!” I pick up my niece and spin her around in Greer’s living room
making her squeal in delight before pulling her close to hug her tightly, burying
my nose in her neck to take in her baby smell. Man, best smell in the world. I pull
back and make a face at her and she chortles, smacking me in the face with both hands.

On the way to Richmond, I elected to ignore my pain for now and put my pouting on
hold until I get to the resort that way I can get it all out without bothering everyone
else.

I blow a raspberry on Addie’s neck and she pulls her shoulder up, tipping her head
down and her sweet little toddler giggles soothe my soul. God, they should so make
soundtracks of babies laughing to help people through the grieving process. I guarantee
they’d sell. I set her on the floor and plop right down with her to play with the
million toys she’s got spread out everywhere.

“I called Mom while you drove here and got the details. Dang, Piper. What the actual
eff?” It always makes me chuckle when Greer censors herself around Addie.

This time I don’t chuckle. Instead I sigh. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t wanna
talk about it right now, okay?”

“Fair enough.” She sits on the floor with us. “Clay’s been hinting that he wants
another baby.”

This is a shock. My head whips around to look at her. “Wow.”

She laughs. “I know. I could have two in diapers if I’m not careful.
That
would be fun.”

Greer’s four years older than I am. She and Clay, who’s four years older than she
is, started dating her first year of college and got engaged a year later. Three years
after that, they married just after he’d graduated optometry school and she’d gotten
her bachelor’s degree. I loved how they did things. After marrying, they’d waited
eight years before having Addie because they said they wanted to do things together
for a while, just the two of them, which they did and I was way jealous (of course,
not in a really serious jealous
kind of way). They’d gone to Paris, taken cruises, you name it, they pretty much
did it. They
also bought a gorgeous house, got the cars they wanted, ate out whenever they felt
like it, pretty much lived it up before deciding to have kids, which I thought was
smart. And now they’d given me my adorable niece.

“Addie, you wanna be a big sister like your mom?” I ask her but she’s busy banging
an orange plastic star on a bucket whose lid has different cut-out shapes on it. “You
know, so you can lock your little brother or sister in a closet and tell him or her
there’s a clown in there with them?” I glare at Greer as she cracks up.

“Oh, my God, I forgot about that. That was so mean! But you learned to stay out of
my room, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, after having nightmares for a whole year afterward. You
were
mean!” I look at Addie who’s now (furiously at times) trying to cram the star into
her slobbery mouth. “You’re not gonna be mean like that, are you sugarpuff? You’re
a lot nicer than
my
older sister, I just know it.”

I stay for an hour then it’s time to head for the airport.

“Make sure to call once you get there,” Greer says after helping me get my luggage
out of the back of her SUV.

“I will.” I walk to the back door and open it hopping in quickly to tell Addie goodbye.
“You be a good girl for Mommy and Daddy, okay?” She gurgles something unintelligible
to me as she chews on the now saliva-covered shortbread cookie Greer gave her then
holds it out toward me. “Oh, it’s okay, honey. I’m good. You eat it. I love you, Addie
dabbie-doo.” I hold her hand with the cookie and kiss her chubby cheek. “Bye, baby
girl.”

I come back out and close the door then hug Greer. “Thank you. I love you.”

“Love you too. It’s all gonna be good. Okay? Again, don’t forget to call,” she says
in my ear.

I pull back and smile at her. “I won’t. Love you guys.” I pull the handles up on both
suitcases and roll them into the airport hearing Greer holler after me that she loves
me and to be safe. I turn back with a smile and nod then go in and the doors into
the airport close behind me.

~~~

“I need to fly more often,” I tell Ryan when I’m settled in my room. I’m lying on
my king-sized bed that’s posh as heck with its puffy comforter and lush pillows. I’d
already called my family to let them know I made it so lastly I’m talking to Ryan.
“That’s the most action I’ve gotten in a year, having that TSA officer feel me up.”

Ryan snorts. “Too bad they can’t hire guys who look like Charlie Hunnam or Tom Hardy
to do it. I’d be flying at least once a week and I’d make damn sure to ‘accidentally’
leave my keys in my underwear.” She cackles at this and I chuckle and shake my head
as I roll my eyes.

“You’re such a nut.” I so love my best friend who constantly keeps my mind off all
the bad going on in my life right now. “You should see this place, Ry. It’s amazing.
It’s like a luxury lodge. My room is huge!”

“Yeah, yeah, rub it in while I was stuck here having to give Alice Jenkins a pedicure
today. You know how crusty her toes are. Ick!”

I chuckle. “So, have you heard from Mike?”

“Nope. It’s after seven and nothing. But it’s okay. I’m good being single. I mean,
I’m a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need anyone,” she answers. “Yep, strong…
independent… woman… who needs to get fucking laid for Christ’s sake,” she adds with
a groan. “Wow. Totally negated that first part, huh?”

“Kinda sorta,” I answer with a chuckle.

“But I did forget to tell you he was totally giving me ‘the eye’ Monday night at Taekwondo
lessons.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. All us students were paired up and we were sparring, you know? Wearing those
ugly head guard things? So I’m pretty sure he was watching me when the kick spin I
did that was meant for my partner accidentally landed on the instructor’s chin, who
incidentally wasn’t wearing a head guard, and knocked him to the mat.”

“Oh, shit.” We both start laughing and I laugh even harder when I picture Ryan in
one of those silly helmet things, flinging her long leg around to knock the dude down.

“Jesus, so embarrassing,” she mutters through her chuckles now.

“At least you got Mike’s attention,” I offer with a snort.

“I’m sure I did. It’s what I live for, to have him notice what an idiot I am.” She
huffs out a laugh. “‘Kay, I’m glad you made it safe. I’ve gotta get out to Josh and
Camille’s to babysit because they’re going to Richmond to eat and see a movie. And
that, ladies and gentlemen, is the amazing Friday night of twenty-eight-year-old Ryan
Stratton.” She makes a roaring sound as if an audience is cheering making me chuckle
again.

“Have fun. Let me know if he calls.”

“Will do. Love you. Just relax and take care of you, got it?”

“Got it. Love you too. Bye.”

After I hang up, I look around the huge room. There’s a small kitchen, a sitting area
with a big screen TV, a desk with stationary and pens and a fabulous fireplace (Clay
and Greer know how to do it up right, I tell you). I grab the three-ring binder off
the nightstand that has the lodge’s brochure in it and start looking at all the activities
that are offered to me during my stay. As I go through it, I see lots of appealing
things to keep me occupied and decide that tomorrow morning I’ll eat a magnificent
breakfast, go to the spa and have a facial then a massage. After that, I’ll drive
my rented SUV and go into town, get some groceries and ski gear, come back, eat lunch
then hit the slopes.

That sounded like an amazing plan. I keep flipping pages (there’s a lot of stuff to
do here!) and as I’m doing so, pull part of the comforter over me continuing to check
out everything that’s offered. I don’t know when it happens but it’s so nice and cozy
in the room and the comforter’s so soft and thick that I fall into a deep, dreamless
sleep and, thankfully, don’t wake until the next morning.

~~~

Today has been amazing. I did everything I planned to do except at the spa, where
I not only had the facial and massage, I also decided to get a Brazilian wax. I’d
never had one, Ryan gets them and brags about how awesome they are so I figured why
not? I’ll just sum the experience up in one word: Ouch. But all burning of tender
bits aside, I honestly do feel a bit sexier.

After going into town, I came back, put away my groceries and made myself a sandwich,
then went and had a freaking blast out on the slopes. And even knowing I’d be sore
in the morning it was so worth it because it kept my mind off everything. When I finished,
I returned to my room to remove my new and totally cute black ski pants and white
ski jacket hanging them on the rack of the portable clothes dryer that’s set up in
the huge bathroom.