The only thing that kept Piper going was the thought of Thursday. That was the one day of the week that the entire town shut down. It was like the old days when everything would be closed on Sunday, and people were forced to spend time together. Piper decided to put her therapist’s recommendationsinto practice and go on a special outing each Thursday. Sometimes she would drag Sunny or Lorna with her, and sometimes she would go it alone. She was learning how to assimilate back into society, forcing herself out of her home’s comfort zone. She knew that reopening her parents’ shop would take its toll on her mental health; she just didn’t realize how much of a homebody she became until she forced herself out each week. At first, the trips out were almost painful. She found herself watching her phone, hoping for any excuse to go back home and shut the outside world away. But she reconnected with old friends from high school and even went to lunch with some of them. Over time, she learned to enjoy her Thursdays and eventually looked forward to her days off. Sunny was just as much of a driving force behind pushing Piper back into the land of the living as her therapist was. God bless her, Sunny didn’t expect anything in return.
Piper’s twenty-sixth birthday was coming up on Thursday, and Sunny planned out a whole special day. She contacted a high adventure company called Rocky Mountain High, owned by friends Taggart and Torren Harrison. The twins were very popular; both played football in high school, and both were extremely good-looking. Tag was the quieter of the two. He always seemed to be brooding about something. Torren liked to have a good time, especially with women. He didn’t seem to take anything seriously in life or business. Torren dated his way through town while Tag kept to himself. Piper couldn’t remember seeing Tag with a girl on his arm, although she was sure he wasn’t a monk. Tag intrigued her since he often looked the way she felt. When he came into her shop, he seemed to be mad about something or other, always staring at her but never really talking to her. She could never hold his stare for long, breaking eye contact and feeling flushed. It was almost like he was trying to see inside her, straight to her soul, and that wasthe last thing she wanted. She didn’t want anyone to see just how much of a mess she had made of her life in the past thirteen years. Still, there was something about Tag that made her think about letting down a few of her walls. She felt safe around him, which said a lot because the man was a mountain. He had to be around six feet five, and his arms were larger than her thighs. His jet-black hair and crystal blue eyes made him all the more ominous-looking. He seemed oblivious to the way that all the women in town looked at him and quite obviously liked what they saw. That’s probably why Torren had so many dates—most people couldn’t tell the two apart, and he didn’t seem to mind picking up his brother’s slack.
“Well, well. Look who’s sitting in the corner booth staring at you again.” Sunny seemed to love sticking her nose in Piper’s business. Especially since Sunny seemed to think that Taggart Harrison should be Piper’s business. Piper scooped out a cone of peanut butter ripple ice cream and handed it over to the lady waiting.
“I can’t stop him from coming into my store, Sunny.” Piper motioned to the waiting customer to meet her at the register. She rang out the family of four, all the children smiling and licking at the rainbow sprinkles she rolled their cones in. She couldn’t help but smile back at them. She loved how her little ice cream shop seemed to make people happy. No one left her place without a smile on their face. Well, no one except Tag. He never seemed to smile, especially around her.
“So, are you ready for our little day trip? Tag is leading the group, and we have a hike planned with our friends. It’s going to be epic, Pipe!” Sunny spun around in a twirling circle, drawing the attention of everyone in the shop. She never seemed to mind people taking notice of her; she would just ignore it.
Piper groaned, thinking about having to spend the whole day with Tag. She was hoping that Torren would lead the group;that would be so much easier than having to deal with Tag’s moodiness. In the past year, Tag asked her out fifty-two times. He would stand outside her shop every Monday morning and ask her on a date. And every Monday morning, she turned him down. She was starting to feel bad about having to crush his spirit because that was exactly what it felt like she was doing. Fifty-two rejections, and he was still showing up to ask her out every Monday. She hoped that after the first few times of turning him down, he would take the hint and look elsewhere, but she was wrong. Besides being incredibly good-looking, he was also the most stubborn man that she had ever met. She chanced a look over to where he sat in the corner booth, only to find him watching her again. Honestly, if she didn’t know Tag, she would be afraid that he was stalking her. But he didn’t have a mean bone in his giant body. He stood and laid a few dollars on the table, throwing away his bowl of half-eaten ice cream. Sunny grabbed Piper’s arm as they watched Tag walk out of the front door of the shop, the little bell ringing overhead as he left. He didn’t even look back. No good-bye, nothing.
Sunny turned to face Piper. “You need to tell him yes, just once, Pipe. You are destroying that beautiful man’s spirit, and I can’t take it anymore.” Sunny was always a little overdramatic.
“Well, here’s an idea—you date him. That way, I can get on with my life and stop having to come up with creative new ways to tell the guy no. You’ll be able to satisfy that itch that you seem to think that I have, for yourself.” Piper pretended to be busy wiping down the counters, but Sunny knew her well enough not to believe her distraction.
“How many times have you said no, Pipe?” Piper froze; she knew that she was about to get an earful from her best friend.
“Fifty-two times.” She cringed, waiting for Sunny’s shouts.
“A whole year?” Sunny’s whisper startled her more than a shout could have. Her response made Piper feel small andashamed. And for what? She turned down the only gorgeous, single guy that she wanted in a very long time. She never really dated in high school. After school was over, she and Sunny took off for a grand adventure, traveling from place to place. Piper never found the need for a boyfriend; she was too afraid that she would have to tell someone what happened to her family and have him think of her as a freak. Her life was comfortable, predictable, and just what she needed—safe. A boyfriend would just complicate everything.
Her aunt often tried to point out a cute guy, but eventually gave up. There were even rumors around town that Piper was a lesbian. She was fine with that; at least that lie would keep her from having to deal with the truth coming out—she was a coward. She never kissed a boy, and at almost twenty-six, people would label her a freak. She would rather be labeled a lesbian than a freak any day. She heard the way people whispered about her; how they all pitied her after her parents died. Sunny and Lorna were the only people in town not to treat her any differently after she returned home from New York all those years ago. Everyone in town knew what had happened. In a place as small as Harvest Ridge, everyone knew each other’s business. Piper kept to herself, and that’s the way she wanted it to stay.
Sunny grabbed Piper’s hand, drawing her back to their conversation. “Piper, I hope that one day you see that you’re worth the trouble of someone asking you out fifty-two times. When he asks you the next time, take a chance and say yes. You deserve some happiness. Tag’s a good guy, just give him a chance to prove that to you.” Sunny dropped Piper’s hand and pulled her in for one of her infamous long hugs and then turned to leave. Piper watched as her friend left through the back door to the alley that joined their two stores. She couldn’t think about the possibility that Sunny might be right. If her friend had her way, Piper would open herself up to someone who would havethe ability to hurt her. She couldn’t let that happen. If she let Tag in and lost him—she didn’t know if she could live through that. Better to never love at all.
Chapter Two
Tag threw his keys on the counter by the front register in his little store. He couldn’t have the satisfaction of slamming the store doors behind him since Torren had them open today, letting the unusually warm air in. Spring in Colorado was unpredictable. One minute it would be snowing and the next, sunny and 85 degrees. It’s what made him love the state so much and what made his job so dangerous. Taking groups of people out into the wilderness and keeping them safe from the elements was probably the biggest challenge he and Torren faced.
They loved being outdoors; it’s what drew them to open a high adventure company. Their grandfather, Dane, taught them everything he knew about survival in the wild. They would often spend weeks hiking in the mountains, kayaking down a river, and living outdoors. After their mother died, when he and Torren were six years old, their father took off. In twenty-four years, he and Torren didn’t hear from their father, not even a birthday or Christmas card. They were both better for it. Their grandfather stepped in to raise them, giving them both everything they needed to become the men they are today. Whentheir grandfather died two years ago, Tag persuaded Torren to take a chance and open a high adventure store. They sold everything a person could want or need to either go it on their own or take a trek up a mountain as a group. He was damn proud of the way they invested the money that Dane left them. Tag knew that his grandfather would have approved.
At the sound of Tag’s keys hitting the counter, Torren peeked out from the back storage room. “Well, somebody has their shorts on a little too tight. What’s eating you today?” Tag was used to Torren’s teasing, but he didn’t want to deal with it now. This morning, he waited in front of Piper’s store to ask her out again. Today was the first anniversary of the first time he asked her on a date. He knew not to get his hopes up since she had turned him down fifty-one times before. But today, he allowed himself some hope. That was his first mistake. His second was sitting in her little ice cream shop, watching her bend over the huge freezers to scoop ice cream. He had a raging boner for most of the morning. All he wanted was a chance, but Piper wouldn’t even give him that. Sure, he heard about the little girl whose parents were killed in New York City while on a family trip. He even felt bad for her when he saw her around town with her aunt. He knew what it was like to be left, but he always had Torren to talk to about his parents. Piper only seemed to have her aunt and Sunny. He was four years older than Piper, so he didn’t hang around with her. There was something about her eyes that drew him to her. She had the most beautiful, sad blue eyes he had ever seen. She had always been tall and thin; he often wondered how she could eat so much ice cream but stay so thin. Every time he walked into her shop, she was eating ice cream. She usually kept her long, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, but on Thursdays, she would let it hang loose around her face. He loved Thursdays. When he would see Piper walking down the street on Thursday, her hair hanging loose around herface, he would catch a glimpse of that young, sad girl, and it gutted him. He got to know both Piper and Sunny a little better over the past few years. They even took a few trips with him and Torren in the past, but his brother was usually the guide for local day trips. Tag volunteered for Piper’s birthday trip, wanting any excuse to be around her. After this morning, he was having trouble remembering what the point was. The day trip was happening this Thursday, and he was no closer to Piper agreeing to go out with him. He wasn’t sure what his next move should be, but he knew that telling Torren would be the worst mistake ever.
“Just had a bad morning, that’s all. What were you up to?” Tag motioned to the backroom that Torren had just come from.
“I was just getting a few things together for a white-water trip. I have that group of six businessmen coming in from the East Coast today. We leave first thing in the morning. This is usually your thing, man. Why the sudden change in plans?” Torren asked.
Tag shrugged, trying to play it off. “I just needed an easy week. I guess I’m a little burnt out with all the long trips I’ve been taking lately. I wanted a change of pace.” He hoped his brother believed him, but he could tell by the mischievous glint in Torren’s eyes that he didn’t.
“Yeah, right, Tag. It wouldn’t have anything to do with the two gorgeous women who happened to book a day trip on Thursday, would it?” Torren slapped Tag’s shoulder and walked around the front counter, grabbing some life jackets from the display wall. Tag groaned, knowing that his brother wouldn’t let it go. “Seriously, Bro, I think that you need to move on. Piper hasn’t given you any indication that she’s ever going to say yes.”
Tag staggered back as if his twin brother slapped him. “How did you—”
“How did I know that you have wasted the better part of a year chasing after a woman who isn’t into you? Dude, I’m yourtwin brother. I know everything about you. Plus, you talk in your sleep.” Torren couldn’t seem to help his smile; he even chuckled at his brother’s expense.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. Besides, who says she’s not interested in me? I think I’m wearing her down,” Tag said.
Torren laughed, “Sure, if that’s what you want to think, Bro. Listen, I’m just saying that there are plenty of willing women in town who would love to go out with you. Just don’t be so blinded by one stubborn woman and not see all the other possibilities.” Torren slapped Tag on the back again and headed back to the storeroom.
Maybe his brother was right. Maybe it was time to move on from asking Piper out week after week, only to be politely turned down every time. How many more times could he watch the woman that he so desperately wanted smile, shake her head, and walk away? He needed to move on. And, if that was going to be possible, he was going to need to start dating again. He pulled out his phone and found a dating app that he knew Torren would never be caught dead on. He downloaded it to his phone and started to create a simple profile for himself. He didn’t want to include too much information; he thought it was best to leave something to talk about on the first date. He added a current photo of himself from a hike he went on last week.Done.He stood there for a few minutes debating whether he should take his profile down when Torren reappeared from the back room.
“I’m off, Tag. I’m meeting everyone at the launch site to go over everything, and I’ll be in touch every two hours while I’m gone. You good, man?” Tag nodded and tried for a nonchalant smile. Torren just laughed and waved him on his way out the door. Yeah, nonchalant was just not his thing.
After a long day at her shop, the last thing Piper wanted to do was have a girls’ night in, but she had promised Sunny and their new friend Maddie. Jack and Maddie moved to town a few months back, and they all became instant friends. Maddie was fast becoming someone whom Piper trusted. That was a small circle, so Piper was grateful for the new friendship. Sunny showed up first, bearing some yummy-looking dessert with chocolate smeared all over the top. Maddie ran up the pathway shouting something about bringing pizza, which won her a cheer from both Sunny and Piper.
“I’ve got the wine,” Piper added. “Well, Sunny and I get wine—sorry, Mads. You had to go and get pregnant and ruin all of our fun.”
Maddie smiled and palmed her barely there bump as if it were the best thing she had ever seen. “Yeah, that’s what happens when you can’t keep your hands off your hot husband.” Sunny and Piper both groaned at their friend’s bliss, and they all filed into Piper’s cheery little kitchen.
