Chapter 4 - Piper
FOUR
Piper
Grayden was here. In Silver Ridge. Right outside.
I couldn’t figure out how to feel.
The moment we heard Callum say his brother’s name out on the porch, Grace was the next to jump up and run for the door. She squealed with joy and leaped into his arms.
I followed but didn’t go outside, glancing through the front window at them instead. I caught a glimpse of the tall man hugging Grace.
A tall, rugged, rough-around-the-edges man who was even more handsome than when we were younger.
I remembered him with a buzz cut and a clean-shaven face. But now, Grayden’s brown hair had grown to almost his chin, all tousled and messy with a slight wave to it. His beard was in need of a trim, and he had far more lines around his eyes and mouth than before.
A tattoo of black roses peeked up the side of his neck.
But all that toughness was softened by his wide grin as he talked to his sister.
I startled when Ollie tugged the edge of my sweater. “Mom, who is he?” Ollie must have noticed the tension, because he was whispering. “Maisie asked who Grayden is, but her dad didn’t answer.”
“You don’t need to worry about that right now.”
“But—”
I walked Ollie back to the dining room. Behind me, I heard Grace and Callum talking loudly outside. Dane brushed past me, and it sounded like he’d shut the door, dampening the sounds of their voices.
But in here, it was like time had stopped. Ashford was just staring into space with a look of sheer horror on his face. Like he was watching a train wreck that was on fire and about to get eaten by Godzilla.
Emma stood up, grabbing Maisie’s hand. “Hey, Maisie-doodle. I just realized we haven’t called my dad and stepmom to say Happy Thanksgiving. Come help me.”
“But Emma, I’m still eating. And Daddy’s—”
“Your daddy needs a minute.” She didn’t let Maisie argue, just ushering her down a hall toward one of the guest rooms.
Ashford hadn’t broken free of his catatonic state yet, but storm clouds were gathering behind his eyes.
I turned to Ollie, who looked like he was ready to rush outside and find out for himself what all this fuss was about.
“Ollie, go play with Maisie for a while.”
“No way! I want to see what’s going on. What is all this?” He tried to push past me, but I held on to his shoulders.
“This is a grown-up moment. Just listen to me for now, and I’ll explain later.”
“Grown-up moments suck balls.”
“Excuse me? Oliver Carmichael, get your butt out of this room and go with Emma and Maisie. Right now.” I jabbed a finger toward the hallway.
Ollie stomped off. When he was gone, I turned and saw amusement dancing in Zandra’s dark eyes. “Grown-up stuff does suck balls sometimes,” she murmured. “That’s objectively true.”
I snorted a laugh, covering my mouth.
But once Zandra and I got outside, I wasn’t laughing. Especially after Ashford finally made his entrance. Said what he said.
The look on Grayden’s face… There’d been a glimmer of hurt before he shut down, turning to stone.
Then Ashford stormed into the house, and Grace tried to follow and argue with him. By the time Grayden had left and everyone else was back inside, it felt like a bomb had dropped in the middle of our Thanksgiving.
What the heck had Grayden been thinking, showing up like that?
But also…wow. That had taken some nerve.
Emma, Zandra, and I dished up pie for the kids and put on a movie for them in the guest room. Then we joined the adults gathered around the dining table. Half-eaten plates of food sat haphazardly at our places. The gravy had congealed.
The wine glasses, though? Those were empty. Any minute and Dane would break out the expensive whiskey.
Grace glared across the table at Ashford. “It didn’t have to be like that,” she said.
“Agreed. It would’ve been better if he didn’t show up and ruin our night.”
“Not what I meant. If anyone ruined our night, it’s you.”
“Me?” Ashford leaned back in his chair. Emma put her hand on his leg, and I wasn’t sure if she was comforting him or trying to stop him from saying whatever he was about to say.
“Grayden’s trying to fix things,” Grace said. “So we can all be a family again.”
“Not my family.” Ashford’s volume rose. “He’s a killer, Grace.”
“It was involuntary manslaughter,” Callum said calmly. “A bar fight that got out of hand. You already know that. He served his time.”
“But has he explained everything else that happened back then?” Ashford glanced from Callum to Grace and back again.
“After he got arrested, he refused to defend himself, shut us out, wouldn’t even talk to us.
Probably because he was guilty as sin. Grayden cut himself out of our lives.
Has he said one single thing to excuse any of it? ”
For several long seconds, there was no sound except breathing and the faint sounds of the kids’ movie in the other room.
“No,” Grace muttered. “We forgave him anyway, and we’re letting him tell us the rest when he’s ready.”
“Then nothing has changed. I don’t want him around my kid. You invited him inside with zero regard for how I’d feel about it. What the fuck was that?”
Dane put his hand on Grace’s shoulder. “Hey, could you not talk to her that way?”
“This is between me and my sister, not you,” Ashford snapped at him.
“If it involves Grace, it involves me.”
“Guys, can’t we just let it go for now and try to enjoy the rest of the evening?” Callum asked. Zandra opened her mouth like she wanted to speak, though she held herself back.
But Grace and Ashford were getting into it again. I’d never seen them so angry at each other. And Dane and Ashford looked ready to come to blows, even though they were supposed to be best friends.
Geez, this was going downhill fast.
Maybe it was a good thing Teller wasn’t here too. When it came to Grayden, I didn’t know which side Teller would be on. But I could guess.
I jumped up, grabbed my wine glass, and whacked my spoon against it. Everyone’s head turned at the high-pitched clinking.
“Okay, okay! Quiet, please! We’re all going to shut up and stuff our faces with pie for the next hour, or so help me, you’re all banned from Silver Linings for the next week.”
Grace frowned at me, and Ashford’s jaw stayed tight.
Zandra stood. “I’m with the coffee lady. I can’t live without my pistachio lattes.”
“Agreed,” Callum said, taking a deep breath before his usual grin slid into place. “I made a killer pumpkin pie. Everyone needs to try it.”
Zandra poked his shoulder. “You seem to forget I made the pies while you sat on your ass and played with our new kitten.”
“I supervised!”
A glimmer of a smile crossed Grace’s expression. Dane kissed her temple. Emma leaned into Ashford, whispering in his ear, and he nodded.
There. The problem wasn’t fixed, but at least we could take a break before the inevitable next round.
While everyone was busy clearing the table, I grabbed Grace’s hand and tugged her down the hallway toward the laundry room. “Hey, I’m sorry it all went down like that,” I said quietly.
“Me too.” Grace hugged me, and I rested my cheek on her head. “I tried texting Grayden after he left to see if he’s alright, but he hasn’t written back. I don’t even know if he has a place to stay.”
“I’m sure he’ll figure it out. He did show up tonight out of the blue. He had to expect it might not go well.”
Grace looked like she wanted to disagree, but then nodded. “Yeah. I was shocked to see him. But it felt good to hold him.” Her voice faltered. “He’s my brother, Piper. I hadn’t hugged my brother for half my life until tonight. It isn’t right. I just want this to work out. It has to.”
“It will,” I said firmly.
“You always say that.”
“I’m always right. Sometimes it just takes a while for the rest of the world to catch up.”
Dessert helped everyone settle down. We shoveled pastry crust and sweet fillings into our mouths, taking comfort from all those calories. I poured cups of coffee from the carafe I’d brought and declined Callum’s offer to spike it. Didn’t want to be tipsy when I drove Ollie home.
After more hugs and lingering goodbyes, I grabbed my container of leftovers and managed to get a yawning Ollie into the back seat of the car. He was tall enough to be out of his booster, but still too small for the front.
Of course, the first thing he said when I started the engine was, “Mom, I want to know who Grayden is.”
Shit.
Whatever I said to Ollie, it would probably get back to Ashford’s daughter Maisie. Those two were so close. As good as cousins. And I didn’t want to ask him to lie to his friend. What kind of example would that set?
Though I did stretch the truth sometimes myself for perfectly legitimate reasons…
I bought myself a minute or two by studying the road and tapping my fingers on the steering wheel. “It’s one of those complicated family things, Ollie-bear. Grown-up things.”
“Mom,” he whined.
“Hold on, I’m getting to it, okay? Just let me explain.”
Ha, like all this made sense to me. But I was the parent. I was supposed to have all the answers, even though I was still trying to figure out life myself.
“The thing is, Grayden is part of the O’Neal family.”
“How?”
Well, I couldn’t avoid it, could I? “He’s the oldest brother. It was Grayden, then Ashford, Callum, and Grace.”
“I didn’t know they had another brother! Maisie doesn’t know either!”
“Yeah, that’s the complicated part. Ashford doesn’t talk to Grayden anymore. And he doesn’t want Maisie to talk to Grayden.”
“Why? Is he bad?”
“He’s…no. He’s made some mistakes, but I don’t think he’s bad. Grace and Callum don’t think so.”
“What did Grayden do? Why doesn’t Ashford like him?”
Phew, couldn’t we just have the where-babies-come-from talk again?
“Grayden hurt someone. He had to go to prison. I don’t know exactly what happened. It was a long time ago.”
Ollie’s face scrunched up. “So Ashford thinks Grayden would hurt Maisie?”
“I don’t think so. Not exactly. I think Ashford’s afraid of getting hurt himself. His heart, I mean. Because of…a lot of things.”
Nice and awkward there, Piper.
How did I explain to my nine-year-old that us adults were carrying deep wounds that rarely showed on the surface? That Ashford, a man Ollie idolized, had once been a scared kid who lost his mom and dad.
Sure, I could say those things, but how did I make Ollie understand?
“Families are complicated,” I finished. “We’re all just doing our best, even if we mess things up. Ashford, Grace, me. And Grayden too.”
“And Dad? Even though he didn’t take me on our trip today like he said he would?”
Ugh. I wished Danny would live by his better instincts instead of his worst. I had zero faith where my ex was concerned.
“I hope so,” I said. “I do know your dad loves you. Very much.”
Ollie looked out his window and nodded, but a crease remained between his little eyebrows.
Snow fell in big, soft flakes, gathering on the windows and the edges of the windshield beyond the wipers. The world was a blur of white and shadow until we got closer to Main Street, where there were more street lights.
I drove slowly past a gas station on the edge of the commercial district, mindful of the ice on the road. A figure emerged from the tiny convenience store. Tall and broad shouldered, with a knit cap pulled over his messy hair.
My heart did a strange stuttering dance.
Grayden held a small shopping bag in his hand. The gas station shop was probably the only business open tonight, given the holiday. I watched as he walked at a casual pace toward an old, beat-up Dodge parked on the curb, seeming not to mind the snow gathering on his jacket and hat.
He reached the truck. But instead of getting in the driver’s seat, he opened the rear door of the extended cab and climbed into the back.
Wait a minute. He wasn’t…
“Mom?” Ollie craned his neck to see what I was staring at. “Why are we stopped? Is the storm getting bad?”
“Uh, no, it’s not too bad to drive. But I need to pull over for a moment.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to check on something really quick. Okay? Just stay in the car.”
Turning the wheel and pressing the gas, I steered my Subaru to the same curb where Grayden was parked, but with my hood facing his. My car was probably too low for my headlights to blind him, but I switched them off just in case.
“Stay in the car,” I said again to Ollie, hoping he’d listen.
Then I got out and walked toward Grayden’s truck.