“You are a very rich woman now, Miss Flynn. If you need anything else from me, please be in touch.” He handed her his business card along with her grandmother’s letter. “All funds will be wired into your accounts by tomorrow, the start of business. I will set up a meeting for you with the estate auctioneer. He will help you go through Agnes’s things and decide what you would like to keep and what you would rather part with.” He stood and offered Piper his hand. She suddenly felt panicked at the thought of being alone in Agnes’s home.
“Can you tell me of a decent place to stay? Nothing too pricey.” Piper shook his hand, not letting go for fear that he would leave. Mr. Ketchum laughed, pulling his hand free to find his cell phone. He called his assistant and, within minutes, hada hotel suite reserved in Piper’s name. He also offered his driver until she could find her own. She gathered her things, followed Mr. Ketchum out, and locked up behind herself. She smiled at the doorman who helped her with her bags into the car. She would never get used to people waiting on her, doing things for her. She was a self-reliant woman, always was. Mr. Ketchum seemed to notice her discomfort.
“Get used to it. This is your new normal.” He told his driver about the arrangements that he had made for Piper, and they rode to the hotel in silence. Piper couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in just twenty-four hours. She went from being irrationally terrified that the only man she ever loved was dead to staying in a suite at the St. Regis. She was staying in one of the most luxurious, expensive hotels in New York City, yet she was consumed with thoughts of Tag. She wondered if he had asked where she was. She wondered if he even noticed that she had left town yet.
Mr. Ketchum delivered Piper to the St. Regis and helped her check in. She was truly out of her element, and her lawyer seemed to notice. She was thankful to have his help, but she was also dog tired and ready to collapse into a big, white, fluffy bed. Luckily for her, he was a very observant man and left, telling her that he would call on her in the morning. She thanked the young man from the front desk, who insisted on helping her to her room, and gave him her last five dollars. She couldn’t believe the suite—it was practically the size of Agnes’s home. She didn’t miss the surprise on Mr. Ketchum’s face when she asked for a place to stay, but staying at her grandmother’s apartment was out of the question. Tomorrow, when she felt fresh, she would call the auctioneer and make plans for selling it. She turned Agnes’s letter over in her hands. Piper wanted to read her grandmother’s words, but was also afraid of what she had to say. Would she treat her with the same coldness that she showed hermother? Piper remembered her mom saying that Agnes never really had a conversation with her. She just wrote her off from the start, not giving her a chance.
“It’s now or never, Piper. Stop being a chicken,” she said to herself. Piper opened the envelope and took a deep breath. Her grandmother’s handwriting looked so much like her father’s. Piper could feel her emotions bubbling up, but she was able to choke back her tears. She needed to read the letter, and then she could break down.
My dear Grand-daughter,
I know that this must all be a shock to you, as we have not had a proper relationship prior. I’m hoping that you have been able to look past my inadequacies as your grandmother and accept my estate. If that is the case, you probably have questions. I hope that this letter will answer a few of them for you. Others are probably better left unanswered. First, I must apologize for not being able to care for you after your parents’ deaths. My dear Andrew was my only child. When he decided to go to Colorado State University to study journalism, I was so pleased. I believed that he would work here in the city after he got his degree, but I was wrong. He met your mother and stayed in Colorado. I was beside myself with grief. I blamed your mother for my sadness, something that I regret to this day. I didn’t realize how wrong I was. Seeing your mother in the police morgue made me face my flaws only after it was too late to make any amends. I was so overcome with my grief and shame that I couldn’t face you, a twelve-year-old child who needed me. I’ve never been able to forgive myself for the way that I just left you in that police station waiting for your aunt. I didn’t feel that it was my place to contact you after I chose to walk awayfrom you. Each year that passed, I longed to send you a card or phone you. I wanted to know about the young woman who grew up without me, but my inept inability to forgive myself stood in my way. I hope that you were able to find some form of happiness even after such a great loss. I know that your father would have wanted so much joy for his only daughter. He would have wanted you to grow and flourish into a kind woman, unlike his mother. I remember how much in love he sounded whenever he spoke of your mother. He truly loved her. I know that he would have wanted you to find that kind of love in your life.
Finally, I want to leave you with a little wisdom that I have gleaned from my long, lonely life. I have pushed everyone that I have loved from my life to protect my pride. I have regretted that decision for a very long time. I gave up my son, his wife, and my only granddaughter, in my arrogance. My life is marred with regret and desolation. If I am afforded the luxury of leaving you with any advice, it would be to not follow my example. Blaze your path, my dear Piper. Find love and happiness and fill your life with both, every day.
Fondly,
Your Grandmother, Agnes
Piper put the letter back into the envelope and shoved it into her purse. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Agnes’ final words to her. She needed time to process everything that happened to her over the past two days. It felt more like two months had passed since she walked away from Tag. All she could think about was showering and sleeping. When she finally crawled into the massive bed, she thought about calling home. Piper looked at the clock—it would be about one in the morning back home, too late to call Sunny. She wouldcall her in the morning to let her know that she was safe. Piper closed her eyes, expecting to see images of the monster that killed her parents, but she only saw Tag. Her nightmares took on a new face. Images of Tag lying dead at the bottom of a cliff played through her dreams nightly now. Her only consolation was that he was alive and well back in Harvest Ridge. For now, that was enough.
Chapter Seventeen
Five days have passed since Piper left town. Tag was going out of his mind, not hearing her voice or being able to touch her. He went over to Piper’s old house a few hours after she broke up with him. He wanted to talk some sense into her, needed to tell her how much she meant to him. Tag knew that if she would just listen to him, he could convince her not to let her fears rule her life. Everyone had fears; he just needed to prove to her that happiness waited for her if she fought hers. When he didn’t find her at her old house or her ice cream shop, he headed over to Sunny’s bakery, where he found Lorna. She was giving Sunny a piece of her mind, her hands on her hips, yelling at the top of her lungs. When she got to the part about Piper leaving town, Tag panicked. “Piper left? Where the hell did she go?” Both women turned to face Tag. Lorna’s face showed the tears she shed with worry about her niece. Sunny groaned and smacked her head with her palm.
“This is just what I needed. Thanks, Pipe.” She looked towards the ceiling as if talking to a ghost. “I know where she went. I know that she is safe, but beyond that, I can’t tell youwhere she is.” Sunny locked her jaw, her stubborn attempt at keeping Piper’s secret.
“Just tell me where she is, Sunny. I’m her aunt. I have a right to know that the woman that I raised as my own is somewhere safe.” Lorna’s tears started anew. Sunny rounded the counter to put her arms around Lorna, who buried her face in Sunny’s shoulder.
“She’s safe, Lorna. She decided to go to New York to settle her grandmother’s estate. She just needed some time.” She looked at Tag as she spoke.
“Where in New York? Give me an address, Sunny,” he begged. Tag could hear the heat in his voice, and he couldn’t hide his anger. He needed to get to Piper. He wanted to be with her. He said he would go with her if she changed her mind about settling her grandmother’s estate. He felt like he was breaking another promise to her, even though he knew she didn’t give him a chance to be there for her. He knew the demons that she was facing in going back to New York, and she shouldn’t be facing them alone. But Piper shut everyone out. Tag knew that Piper’s refusal to let anyone in was her way of coping with her fears, but that didn’t make him hurt any less.
“Tag, I can’t tell you her address. I promised her when we were nine to never break the best friend code. If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call you. I won’t betray her.” Tag turned to leave the bakery, knowing that Sunny wasn’t going to give up Piper’s address. He would just have to get it another way. He growled as he pushed the door open to step out of the shop.
“Just give her a day or two, and she’ll come to her senses,” Sunny shouted after him. He didn’t want to sit around while Piper came to her senses, so he would do the only thing he could think of—he would talk to Torren.
Watching Piper walk away from him, leaving him standing in the middle of the road—broke him. He wasn’t sure how to pickhimself up and move forward. Torren told him to go out and find another woman to forget Piper with, but that would never happen. He should have known better than to go to his brother for advice on women. Piper was the only woman he wanted, which was something Torren just didn’t understand. Tag was back to square one, and he wasn’t sure what to do next.
After two more days of wallowing in his anger, Tag decided that if he was looking for sound advice, he needed to ask Aaron. His best friend told him that he needed to get himself together and go after his girl. That would be a whole lot easier to do if Tag knew where she was. He was pissed that Piper walked away from him so easily without even looking back. He was angry that she didn’t contact him, at least to let him know that she was still alive. A part of him knew Aaron was right, but he let his stubborn pride and anger get in the way. He decided to wait her out. Piper needed to come to him if she wanted him back. He wasn’t going to chase her halfway across the country and beg her for another chance. She was the one who broke up with him. She was the one who left him and went to New York—breaking his heart. She left him.
That same stubborn pride and anger were what got him through three more days without Piper. It was time to get himself together and figure his shit out because if he was being honest, he couldn’t see his future without her. She was the other half of his heart. Figuring out how to get her back was another problem. When Piper dug her heels in, she wasn’t one to budge easily. He needed reinforcements. God help him, he needed Sunny to help him figure out what to do about Piper. If it wasn’t for Sunny’s persistence and butting in, they would have never gotten together in the first place. If anyone would know what to do, it was Sunny. The problem was getting her to give up Piper’s whereabouts without feeling like she was betraying her best friend.
Since Piper took off, Sunny came into his store every day to check on him. At first, he met her concern with anger. If Sunny cared about him, she would have told him where he could find Piper. All he needed was an address, and he would be on a plane heading to her. Tag could feel Sunny’s resistance wearing down. Each day, she seemed to find it harder and harder to look him dead in the eye and refuse to tell him. Today was the day—he was determined to find out exactly where Piper was hiding. God help him, Sunny was his only hope.
He walked into the town’s only bar and found Sunny sitting at a booth in the corner. She was about halfway through a plate of loaded fries. “Hey, you’re late!” Sunny was going for angry, but her smile gave her away.
“Yeah, sorry. I had to wait for Torren to show up at the store. Being on time isn’t his strong suit.” Sunny rolled her eyes and nodded to the seat across from hers. Tag slid into the booth and stole one of her fries. When the waitress came over, he ordered a burger and a beer.
“You look like shit, Tag.” Sunny looked him up and down disapprovingly. “Have you slept or eaten since she left? Each day you’ve looked worse and worse.”
“Barely,” Tag admitted. He ran his hands through his already disheveled hair. “What do I do, Sunny? I can’t get her out of my mind. I know she said not to follow her—hell, she said a lot of things. I just—I need her.” Tag felt like he wanted to cry; he needed to get himself together. Admitting out loud just how much he missed Piper only made him even more miserable. “She’s turned off her phone, and I can’t reach her either. It’s like she’s just disappeared from the face of the earth,” Tag whispered.
Sunny took a sip of her water. “I’m not sure what to do. I do know that I have never seen Piper happier than when she waswith you. She needs you, Tag. I don’t give a fuck what she told you. She was letting her fear talk, not her heart.”
“What are my options, Sunny? She won’t answer any of my phone calls, and she is half a country from anyone who cares about her.” Tag took his beer from the waitress and drank down half of it. “We just need a plan. One that will knock Piper on her ass and show her what a jerk she’s being,” Sunny said. Sunny finished off the rest of her fries and shoved her plate to the side. “I say you get on a plane, Tag. New York is gorgeous in the summer, you’ll love it.” Sunny leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her tiny frame.
“Sure, Sunny. I’ll just jump on a plane and fly to New York.” Tag took a big bite of his burger and groaned. It was the first real food he had had in days. “I’ll just wander around the city shouting Piper’s name. I’m sure I’ll find her in no time.” Sunny laughed as Tag took a swallow of his beer to wash down his burger.
