“It’s not vegan.” Zoe rolled her eyes. “It’s organic, and I—”
“Yeah, yeah. I want the good stuff.”
Zoe stifled a laugh. “Your stash of processed sugar and trans fats will be here waiting on you.”
“Great. See you soon.”
Hard to believe Piper and Zoe’s mother, Nola, were twins. Physically alike, yet different. Aubrey took after their mother, while Zoe and Piper shared many similarities.
One of those was a love of planting. Zoe had a green thumb. Aubrey seemed to kill plants just by glancing in their direction. A sad smile creased Zoe’s face, but the memory didn’t hurt this time. It was a wistful wish for what had been.
Piper arrived to find Zoe bent over the back row of lavender.
“Couldn’t wait for me, could you?” her aunt griped.
Zoe straightened and placed a hand on her hip. “Seriously? This from the woman who once replanted all my daylilies because I’d dared sleep past six on a Saturday?”
“Try seven thirty, missy.” Piper gave a mock glare. “You know I don’t have time to waste.”
True. The woman Zoe aspired to be ran the shoe purchasing line for several upscale retailers downtown. Talk about busy. Between flying to Italy and New York, Piper had little time to garden in her own space.
“Now, what do we have here?”
After showing her aunt the troubled area in the back, Zoe left to bring out the tray she’d prepared. She dragged a towel off the warm plate. “Ta-da. Freshly baked cinnamon rolls, courtesy of Pillsbury. Some hot Earl Grey tea, with honey and a dash of milk, and some processed fake meat sausages for protein—I think. Just in time to clog your arteries before heart health month starts at work, am I right?”
Piper beamed. Long, black hair with one fashionably thin streak of white, worn up in her traditional French braid, and a clear, rosy complexion made the woman look a decade younger.
After taking a big bite of a sweet roll, Piper shook a finger at her. “It’s a wonder your mother tolerates that smart mouth for long.”
“Yeah, I know.” Zoe grinned, then sobered, recalling her last conversation with her mother. “She’s on me big time lately. With Aubrey…gone…Mom is desperate to have me settled and partnered up. Man or woman doesn’t matter so long as I’m thinking about getting married and having a family.”
“That’s my sister. Open to any sexuality, race, or religion…as long as you say ‘I do’ at the end.” Piper chuckled.
Zoe groaned. “She just wants to make sure I’m ‘not alone.’” She ended with air quotes, tired of her mother’s constant prodding.
Piper shook her head in sympathy. “I feel for you, sweetie. Nola always has been more of a maternal figure. She would have had a whole brood of kids if she hadn’t suffered complications after you two fought to come out.”
“I keep telling her she should thank me,” Zoe teased, focusing on the positive. “Kids are expensive.”
“Exactly. Why do you think I choose to remain single and rich?”
“Because you’re a woman of loose morals who’d rather bang her way through Seattle than commit to a loving man or woman?”
Piper nodded. “That’s verbatim what your mother said to me last month. Good recall, Zoe. You even got her inflections down pat.”
“Thanks. I aim to please.” She watched Piper scarf down bad carbs like a pothead downing Doritos. “So I’m taking that self-defense class at the gym.”
Totally not what she’d planned to talk about with her aunt, but God knew she couldn’t mention Gavin to her mother without Nola shoving her into a wedding gown.
“Oh?” Piper perked up, her blue eyes sparkling. “So was Hunky Marine trying to show you how to ‘manhandle’ the enemy again? Did you take my advice and volunteer to be his victim?”
Zoe fought a grin. “Yes and no. Gavin’s good at teaching. He’s got quick reflexes.” She couldn’t help a smile, remembering how he’d ducked out of the way of her bag. “He’s also funny. He named his muscles.”
“His what?”
“His huge biceps or, as he likes to brag, his Guns of Steel.”
Piper laughed. “I like this guy.”
