“Bad news?”
“I just barely got Piper to agree to go out with me. I pushed for too much, didn’t I? Moved too fast. She’s scared.” This wasn’t Grace’s fault, of course. Just that her showing up gave Piper a ready excuse for why we couldn’t work out.
Grace’s mouth dropped open. Closed. Opened again. “She’s scared, yes. That’s true. But there’s no bad news. Not right now, I mean. This is… I’m still trying to get used to the idea.”
I exhaled. Alright. So I still had a chance. “I’m sorry. Not sorry for what I feel for Piper. But sorry this is hard on you. I know it’s complicated.”
“That’s the thing about love. It actually makes complicated things seem really simple.”
“I know what you mean. Wait, did you say love?”
What exactly had Piper said to her out there?
Grace gave me a hard look, sitting forward. “You know Piper and Ollie are a package deal, right? If you want to be with Piper, you have to think of her son too.”
I rested my arms on the table and scooted my chair closer. I couldn’t believe we were talking openly about me and Piper being together. It gave me a hell of a lot of hope. “Absolutely. Ollie’s an amazing kid. He detested me at first, not that I can blame him for being skeptical.”
“Kidsare honest.”
“Yeah, that’s something I admire about Ollie. The kid made sure I knew he had his eye on me.”
“Callum told me he saw you and Piper and Ollie having dinner at Hearthstone. But I didn’t think… I guess I just didn’t see this coming. Not even close.”
“Do you have a problem with it?”
Tears filled her eyes. “I’m just afraid of losing you again. I couldn’t take that.”
I reached across the table to put my hand on her arm. “You won’t lose me. No matter what happens between me and Piper. I came here for you and Callum and Ashford and our family, and I’m staying.”
“What about Teller? He and Piper are my family too.Ourfamily.”
I glanced at the table. This same damn table where Teller and I had sat so many times. “I haven’t spoken to him yet. I don’t expect him to approve of this. Of me with Piper. But I have to try, Grace.”
There were plenty of other factors too, and I wasn’t sure how much of that Grace knew. Like Danny’s threats and my need to protect Piper and Ollie from him.
I could’ve protected them as a friend. Set my true feelings aside and been the better man. Refused to risk upsetting the rest of our families. Refused to tarnish her reputation in Silver Ridge with mine.
But this, what I felt for Piper, was undeniable.
Grace sent a glance toward the back of the house, where Piper was on the phone with Ollie. “Are you in love with her?” Grace whispered.
“That’s where I’m heading.”
She blinked, and those tears hovering in her eyes fell. “Oh, Grayden. Then I want this for both of you. It won’t be easy for Piper, though. You have to be patient with her.”
“I’m planning on it. I’m glad she has you.” I already loved my sister like crazy, but I adored her all the more for being such agood friend. “Proud of you,” I said. “I’m sure Ashford and Callum deserve a lot of credit for how great you turned out.”
“Hey, I’m awesome all on my own.”
“Of course you are.”
She grabbed both my hands. “And you were around for plenty of important things when I was growing up. You were there for all of us when mom died. You stepped in when dad left. Nothing that happened afterward takes away from that.”
Dammit, now I was getting choked up.
Grace deserved the whole truth. Every ugly reason that I’d cut off contact when I was in prison.
She’d probably had enough revelations today. I wanted her to keep looking at me like I was the big brother she loved. But we’d just been talking about Ollie’s brash honesty. I could take a page from the kid.
