8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
Juliet
S now finally arrives in Evergreen Heights.
Icy flakes tumble from the overcast sky, covering the grass in the estate’s backyard with growing inches of snow.
Piper’s happy shriek fills the air as she dodges a small snowball that I toss her way. She stuffs her mitten-covered hands into the snow, scooping up enough to make a baseball-sized snowball. She throws it at me.
I turn so that it hits my side before letting out a dramatic shout. “You got me!”
She giggles and flops onto her back before moving her arms and legs. “I’m going to make a snow angel!”
I smile as I watch her, snowflakes adorning her eyelashes and a rosy color painting her cheeks. I bundled her up as much as I could because I knew that she would be insistent on playing outside in the snow.
We don’t really have a yard where we live, but Frank always reminds me that Piper can play anywhere at the estate. I think he misses the noise and activity that used to fill the halls and the grounds. Nowadays, it’s so quiet here.
“Beautiful!” I tell her.
“Can we play tomorrow too?” Piper asks me, nearly breathless from swinging her arms and legs so much so quickly.
“I’ll have to check the weather. There might be a snowstorm coming soon.”
“Yay! More snow!” she cheers before pushing herself to her feet. She smiles down at her snow angel.
I’d rather not deal with the dangerous conditions that come with a storm, but I’ll just have to see how bad it gets. Maybe it’ll hardly be anything at all.
“Hi!” Piper calls out.
I turn to see Leo heading our way. For once, he’s wearing normal clothes. Just an insulated, hooded coat, winter trousers, and boots .
We haven’t spoken much since our last argument that happened a few days ago. He’s either out in town or holed up in the study looking over paperwork. He doesn’t see his dad all that much, and Frank never asks to see him.
I get why they’re upset with each other, but it’s still hard to see a father and son have such a rocky relationship. I remember when they were actually pretty close back in the day.
But everything changed when Leo’s mom died during our senior year of high school.
“Need something?” I ask him when he’s within earshot.
Leo shakes his head, keeping his hands tucked in the pockets of his coat. “Just saw you guys out here. I like your snow angel, Piper.”
Piper beams, tilting her chin up proudly. “Thanks!”
“Reminds me of how we spent winter breaks,” Leo comments as he glances over at me, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Nostalgia stirs deep in my chest as memories flood back to me .
Drinking hot chocolate in the library. Baking cookies in the kitchen. Exchanging gifts in secret for Christmas. Sneaking kisses for New Years.
I loved spending winter break at the estate.
“We liked hiking through the forest the most,” I reply before looking toward the trees that we used to disappear in so much.
“Our favorite spot.”
I can’t tell if he sounds bittersweet or nonchalant.
Before I can move the conversation along to a safer, less emotional topic, a snowball sails past me before exploding against Leo’s chest. My eyes widen. “Piper! He wasn’t playing.”
Leo quickly overcomes his surprise and scoops snow up into one hand before tossing it underhanded at Piper.
Piper squeals as she twists out of the way. “Snowball fight!”
I’m frozen in place at first as I watch the two of them throw snowballs at each other. Everything just happened so fast.
Leo forms a snowball in his hand, but he doesn’t throw it at Piper. He chucks it at me, hitting me in the shoulder .
Snow splatters onto my face from the impact, ripping a gasp from me. “You didn’t!”
Leo smirks. “Oh, I did.”
Piper laughs and tosses a lumpy snowball at me that hits me on the thigh.
“That’s it,” I say before shoving both my hands into the snow. I grab two handfuls and fling them at both of them, showering them in white powder.
Leo shakes his head, getting snow out of his hair before retaliating.
I throw so many snowballs that I lose count. My arm muscles start to burn from the exertion, but the excitement and adrenaline keep me going. This almost feels like old times when I laughed until I couldn’t breathe and nothing mattered but the current moment.
I haven’t felt like this in so long.
“I surrender! I surrender,” Leo chuckles as Piper strikes him in the back. He dramatically lowers himself to his hands and knees, breathing heavily with a grin on his face.
It’s freezing out here, but my face and chest feel warm. I bend over to catch my breath, my eyes lingering on him .
I haven’t seen that smile in such a long time. It’s such a nice one. The way his eyes crinkle at the corners and the crease of his single dimple take me back all those years ago.
Honestly, he’s still the most handsome man I’ve laid eyes on.
“I win!” Piper quips before plopping down onto the ground next to him.
Leo lifts up onto his knees and reaches out toward her. “You’re losing your mitten.”
My heart stops as he gently adjusts her mitten, sliding it down onto her hand.
Beyond our complicated relationship, he’s a dad tending to his daughter. He just doesn’t know that.
“Thank you,” Piper says as she smiles at him.
“You’re welcome,” Leo replies as he smiles back.
My heart restarts, pounding quickly. What if he looks too closely and realizes that she looks a little like him? She has the same color hair as him.
“I want Mr. Frank to come out and play,” Piper tells me with a hopeful look on her face .
I try not to frown as I shake my head. “He’s resting, baby. Maybe he can sit on the porch and watch you play when it’s not so cold.”
Sometimes, Frank feels up to being wheeled outside, but he mostly spends his time in bed. Too much movement and exertion put so much pressure on his already weak lungs, and he doesn’t have the energy to move that much.
“Oh, okay,” Piper replies, sounding a little disappointed.
“I can stay out here a little longer. What do you want to do now?” Leo asks her, staying on one knee so that he’s closer to eye level with her.
Piper hums in thought, swaying side to side. Like most kids, she can barely stand still for more than ten seconds.
She then gasps, her eyes growing wide. “Can you help me build a snowman?”
“I used to build the biggest snowmen. Just ask your mom. They were bigger than both of us,” Leo replies as he glances my way with a twinkle in his eye.
A tense smile crosses my lips as I nod. He’s not wrong. I used to sit on his shoulders to put the rocks and carrots on their faces .
We’d spend hours outside together during winter break, finding any excuse that we could to hang out. Hiding behind our snowmen to steal kisses. Disappearing in the forest to hold each other without anyone seeing.
I always wanted to have children with that version of Leo. Technically, that did happen. I must’ve gotten pregnant from the last time we were together before he left town.
That version of Leo would be so happy about Piper, but he’s so different now. He may be good with her, but that doesn’t mean that he wants to be a father to her. That he wants to stick around in the town he can no longer stand to raise her with me.
He deserves to know about his own child, but I’m terrified of the possible outcome of that. I’m even scared of the possibility of him wanting to stay and raise her with me.
What if I get attached to him again? What if he decides we’re not good enough to make him happy, and he leaves again?
He wouldn’t just break my heart. He would break his daughter’s heart too, and it’s my job to keep her safe from everything that I possibly can .
My mission is to help people, and I do that well, but he’s the reason why I can’t trust anyone.
I can’t be broken like that again.
“You can build a snowman another time, Piper. You have some homework to finish up, remember?” I tell her as I motion for her to come here.
Piper sticks out her bottom lip and crosses her arms. “I don’t want to do homework. I want to build a snowman with Leo.”
“We won’t take long,” Leo says with a slight frown.
He’s not helping. This would be easier if he acted indifferent or awkward around her.
Instead, they’ve already started bonding over one little snowball fight.
I feel like an awful person for not wanting him to bond with his own daughter because of my own fear.
“She has a lot to do,” I tell him before giving Piper a firm look. “There will be plenty of days to play in the snow. We’ve already been out here for an hour. ”
“But he just got here,” Piper pouts, planting her feet in the snow.
She’s such a good, sweet kid most of the time, but there are moments when she’s insanely stubborn.
A gust of cold wind blows over us, making Piper shiver and hold herself tighter.
“See? It’s getting colder. You need to go inside before you get sick,” I say before walking over to her and taking her hand.
Piper whines. “But I’m having fun. I don’t want to go inside.”
She hasn’t pouted like this in a while.
“No arguing, Piper,” I tell her as I pull her toward the house.
Piper looks over her shoulder at Leo and waves goodbye. She really wants to make me look like a monster.
“Another time,” he promises her.
Piper nods and finally walks alongside me.
I glance back at him as his brow furrows in confusion. He probably thinks that he did something wrong, but that isn’t really the case. I’m the one keeping a big secret from him.
I’m the one terrified on the inside and scrambling to maintain control on the outside. If that means distancing myself and Piper from him, that might be what I have to do.
At the end of the day, I have to remember that he’s most likely going to leave again. Getting her attached to a man who’ll just disappear will do more harm than good.
I’m still dealing with the damage that he left behind the first time.