Ironically, I remember once parking in this exact same spot nine years ago. After deciding to extend my stay in Maple Crossing, I rented out a truck and I used to wait right here when picking up Piper.
She runs down from the porch with a huge grin on her face. One big enough to cure the world of all evil.
Jeans. T-shirt. She keeps it casual. A fresh breath of air, like the oxygen levels out here.
The part of Long Island I’m from is overcrowded. City air is full of nitrogen. Here it’s perfumed with the floral scent of wildflowers and Piper.
I pack up the truck, slamming the door harder than necessary with a glance at the ambulance. It’s slightly ahead of the truck, the doors closed to prevent people like me from trying to see in.
There was enough soot on Piper’s face for me to draw pictures with it. My chest contracts when I think about how much smoke she could’ve ingested. That coughing sounded nasty, like it was shredding apart her throat.
I stare at the ambulance as annoying memories surface.
Wondrous eyes looking up at me between the trees.
She trips over a tree root, and I catch her instinctively, not thinking much of it…until those bastard eyes are seeing straight through my soul.
The lingering touches. The positive way my cock responds to?—
“Caleb,” Marco calls. “Job done.”
I turn around, take one more look at the ambulance, and figure this won’t be the last time I see Piper. She’s still in town. And now, after being called out to save her house, I somehow feel responsible for her, like I want to save her.
3
PIPER
I dressin lost-and-found clothes and check out of the hospital the next morning with Sonny’s hand tightly squeezing mine.
These sweatpants are not the only things lost and found…
Caleb Rourke now apparently works for the Maple Crossing Fire Department. Did the senior role in the New York City Fire Department not live up to his standards?
I wobble over to reception with my son and enough guilt to last a lifetime, and sign on the dotted line.I consent to being released.
But where the fuck do we go from here?
I should give the stove company a call in the meantime and see if the compensation money will cover costs to recover my house.
But my father was never the frugal type when I was growing up, and loved to splash the cash on properties that were way out of his budget. So I know it’s gonna be an expensive job.
There might be something cheaper on the market, but it feels wrong. We’ve always called that place home.
But our home, according to Caleb, is gone.
And so were my panties yesterday when I saw the only man I have ever loved, alive in action and looking even more irresistible than before.
Not the time or place, Piper.
I slip the paperwork back to the enthusiastic receptionist and flash her a half smile.
“Where are we gonna live, Mommy?”
“Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll figure something out. Jessy has some clothes that the two of us can borrow in the meantime.”
“I don’t like girls’ clothes.”
“Her nephew is your size. It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”
