After Lorna moved out, she and Sunny went through the house, painting all the rooms bright, happy colors. Her kitchen was her favorite; it was a lemon-yellow color. It reminded her of her best friend and made her smile even on her darkest days. They took their plates piled high with food into Piper’s family room, which was painted a pretty sky blue. In the corner, she kept her dad’s brown leather chair, which Maddie claimed. They all sat down to devour their pizza. Since they could never agree on a topping, they always settled for cheese pizza. It was still good enough to groan over, which they all did.
About halfway through dessert, Sunny filled Maddie in on Piper’s day of breaking poor Tag’s heart.
“Fifty-two times,” Maddie repeated after Sunny updated the number of denials. “I just don’t get it, Piper. You have eyes, and I’m pretty sure you can see how beautiful that man is. Why not say yes? Unless what I have heard about you in town is true. In which case, never mind.” Maddie seemed determined to know the truth. There was no way Piper was going to get out of this discussion.
“I’m pretty sure I can guess what they are still saying around town. To answer your question—no, I am not a lesbian. Not that any of that matters, but it has nothing to do with why I keep turning Tag down.” Piper was hoping that would be enough to keep Maddie happy. Unfortunately, it was not enough to keep Sunny quiet. Her best friend knew everything and could probably guess the reason poor Tag never got his “yes”.
“You’re just being a big chicken, Piper. I know that you’re afraid of losing someone close to you, but we all are.” Piper tried to interrupt, but Sunny held up her hand to stop her from speaking. “Piper, if you don’t take a chance, you’re never really going to experience life. Do you think your parents would want you to live like this? Do you think your mother would want you to be alone for the rest of your life because you live in fear of losing someone? They both would want you to be happy and in love with someone who can give you that happiness. I know that terrifies you, but give Tag a chance. I know you think he’s hot; I see the way that you look at him when you think he’s not watching. Just say yes, Pipe.” Piper couldn’t stop her tears; she stood and went into the kitchen. Maddie tried to follow, but Sunny stopped her.
“Just let her go, Maddie,” Sunny said. “She’ll be back in a few minutes and pretend that everything is fine again.” Hearing the disappointment in her friend’s voice as she left the roomtore at her heart. But Sunny was right. She needed to get herself together and pretend that everything was all right; it was how she got through these past thirteen years.
Sunny couldn’t help but feel sad for her friend. Maddie didn’t know the whole story from Piper’s past, but she was still a good friend to them both.
“She just needs a swift kick in the ass,” Sunny growled. She was pacing in front of where Maddie stood, trying to get her temper in check. Sunny was usually a pretty easygoing person, but when Piper was hurting, she wanted to fix everything for her. Piper’s phone chimed on the coffee table, pulling them both back to the present. Sunny glanced at the incoming message and choked back her laugh. Piper signed up for one of those dating apps, and she received a notice that someone was a match in their area. Sunny couldn’t help herself; she picked up Piper’s phone and opened the message.
“Well damn,” Sunny said, holding up the phone for Maddie to see what she found—a message that Taggart Harrison was a match for Piper. “I could have told them both this, but no one listens to me.” Sunny shook her head and laid the phone back on the table.
“Why would Piper be on a dating app if she doesn’t want to date anyone?” Maddie asked. She had a valid point.
Sunny picked up Piper’s phone again and looked at Tag’s profile. He was a man of few words. He said that he was looking for an “outdoorsy” woman. Sunny was pretty sure that wasn’t even a word. And for his ideal date, he wrote, “Someone who likes pizza”. Yeah, Tag was a simple man. He knew what he wanted, and he just asked for it using as few words as possible.Sunny smiled, a plan forming in her head. She knew that these two belonged together; she just needed to make sure that they had a chance.
“How about we just give them a little push?” Sunny silenced Piper’s phone and slipped it into her pocket.
“What are you doing? Piper will know that you have her phone.” Maddie seemed a little panicked at the sight of Sunny stealing Piper’s cell.
“No, she loses this thing about five times a day. I can’t tell you how many times she’s left it in my bakery after a visit. I’ll just leave it there when I’m finished setting up a little date between her and Tag. She won’t even question her phone being at my place.” Maddie’s smile told Sunny that she was on board for helping to throw Tag and Piper together. Sunny instantly knew she liked the new girl.
“Guys, I’m sorry for my outburst.” Piper returned as if on cue from the kitchen with her eyes dried and a smile plastered on her face. “So, what did I miss?” Piper asked. Sunny couldn’t help but laugh. Maddie pulled Piper into a tight hug, and they all fell to the sofa to finish their desserts. It was as if Piper’s life wasn’t about to change, but Sunny knew better. As soon as she could get home, she was going to set up two people who deserved some happiness, and hopefully, they would find it together. Whether Piper liked it or not, this was going to be for her own good.
Chapter Three
Tag jumped at the chime from his phone. He was working in the storage room after store hours to get everything together for Piper’s trip. It was going to be Piper, Sunny, Maddie, and her husband, Jack, going on the hike. He had been getting to know Jack since he moved to town a few months ago, but he still felt they needed one more guy to even out the group. Truthfully, he hoped they wouldn’t mind his best friend, Aaron Steele, tagging along. He needed someone there who knew what went through asking Piper out weekly and being turned down flat each time. Aaron knew everything, and he was the only one who could run interference if Tag needed it. Plus, it didn’t hurt to have a firefighter on the trip just in case of an emergency. Aaron knew the local area about as well as Torren and Tag did. He could just tell Piper and Sunny that he needed Aaron on their little trip as backup; it really wouldn’t be a lie. It was best to lead groups out with another team member. They didn’t hire summer help yet, but the season would soon be in full swing. It was time to look at some of the applications that college students dropped off. Fornow, he knew he could rely on Aaron to give him a hand with Piper’s day hike.
Tag pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and saw that someone was a match on his dating app. He needed to swipe right if he liked the person, left if he didn’t. He felt a moment’s panic at having to make a decision when Piper’s profile picture popped up on his screen. Piper was on a dating app? How was that possible? He didn’t ever see her with anyone, not even as a teenager. She was either with Sunny or Lorna, or was alone. Tag stood frozen in place, clutching his phone. He broke out in a cold sweat and felt sick to his stomach. If he swiped right, would she want to go out with him? If not, he didn’t know if he could stand her rejection again. If he rejected Piper and swiped left, he might never get another chance with her. God, what if someone else wanted to go out with her? He would never forgive himself for not taking one more chance on Piper. He couldn’t stop himself; he swiped right, which automatically opened a dialogue with Piper and honestly scared him shitless. Her comment popped up immediately.
Hey, so when and where do you want to meet?Piper asked.
Tag took a minute just staring at her message. No niceties, no formalities, she just got down to the nitty-gritty. He could deal with that. In fact, he preferred things that way. He was a simple guy. He didn’t want to get into anything too deep with Piper for fear of scaring her off, especially now that she was finally giving him a chance.
I’m up for whatever.Tag texted.
That way, she could come up with what they would be doing. He wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible.
How about we do that new Escape Room over in Estes? We can grab pizza after.Piper offered.
Piper must have read about pizza being part of his perfect date. Geez, now he wished he had put a little extra effort into hisprofile. He wanted to take Piper someplace nice. Maybe even a local lodge to have a nice dinner, even get dressed up. The past year of begging her for a date gave him time to think of what a perfect night with Piper would look like. Hell, he dreamed of booking a room in the lodge after dinner and showing Piper just how much he wanted her. But he knew that would scare her away.
Sounds good, I’ll pick you up at five tomorrow evening. Can you find someone to cover your shop?He asked.
Lorna will cover for me, but I’ll meet you at the Escape Room. I have an errand to run first.Piper typed back. Tag knew that she was avoiding spending extra time alone with him, but he would take it.
See you there. Tag said, logging out of the app, not quite sure how he felt about the whole thing.
He started to wonder why Piper had a change of heart. After fifty-two times of turning him down, why did she change her mind now? He decided not to question it. He would take the win and find a way to convince Piper to give him a chance.
The next day, Piper felt emotionally drained. She had a fitful night filled with nightmares. Most of them involved her parents, much like the ones that plagued her every night since their murders. Last night, she dreamed about Tag. He was standing on the edge of a cliff trying to reach her, but he couldn’t. She was screaming for him to help her, but he just laughed at her. He walked away, leaving her to fall to her death. She woke just before she hit the rocky ground and was unable to fall back to sleep. It was going to be a long day, especially since hers began at 4 am.
She decided to get dressed and head over to Sunny’s bakery. Maybe a freshly baked pastry and some coffee would make her feel better. Just seeing Sunny usually helped her mood. She had the whole morning to spend with her best friend since Scrumptious didn’t open until 11 am. Honestly, she could eat ice cream for breakfast and had in the past. But today’s overcast skies and cool temperatures made her crave coffee, pastry, and Sunny’s company. Piper grabbed her keys and realized her phone wasn’t sitting in its usual place on her entry table.
