Chapter 45 Piper
FORTY-FIVE
Piper
“Mom, I want to stay,” Ollie begged.
“You can’t, buddy. Aunt Grace is going to take you back to Silver Ridge. You need to sleep, and if you feel well enough, there’s school in the morning.”
“School?” He spit that word out like a curse. “But what if Dad needs me? What if you need me?”
I hugged him close, knowing I absolutely would need him. His humor and his big spirit and the way he cut through the b.s. of adulthood and spoke the truth. My son was such an amazing kid.
About half an hour ago, I’d taken Ollie to Danny’s hospital room to see him. Danny had never looked so diminished. Helpless. Ollie had cried and held his dad’s limp hand, and it had cracked my heart down the middle.
Danny had to make it. For Ollie. He owed it to our son to survive.
“I’m the mom, and that means I have to take care of you. I have to make this decision for us. That’s just how it is. Even if it sucks.”
It wasn’t an easy decision, sending Ollie home. But I was afraid he’d hear someone talking about Grayden and the suspicion around what had happened. On top of the stress of seeing his dad hurt and just being here, that would be too much.
Ollie’s mouth ticked up just a little at the corner. “It does suck. But you’ll be here at the hospital with Dad? He doesn’t have anyone else.”
“I’ll be here.”
Not for Danny. He hadn’t earned my loyalty. But I would do this for Ollie. Because Danny was my son’s father, and Ollie couldn’t do this himself.
“I won’t be alone,” I added. “Uncle Callum’s on his way. He’s bringing dinner for me.”
“I guess I could make a card for Dad.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Ollie looked up at Grace. “Can we get art supplies on the way home? And chicken nuggets?”
She ruffled his hair. “Sure can. And I’ve got some cookie dough at home. We can bake cookies together.”
Ollie shrugged. “I guess that could be cool.”
“If you want, you can come back to the hospital tomorrow,” I said. “Instead of school. Okay?”
I hugged him one more time, and then Grace. “Please tell me if you hear anything about Grayden,” I whispered in her ear.
“Dane’s working on getting a lawyer here for him,” she murmured back. “For now, we just know Grayden’s still at the police station. But we’ll be okay, Piper. We’ll figure this out.”
“You stole my lines.” I’d always been the one telling her we’d be okay. But right now, I wasn’t so sure.
My insides were twisting all over the place as I pulled back. I waved to them as they walked toward the exit. There were messages on my phone, and I kept skimming over them. But none were from Grayden.
Memories echoed in my brain. Like the day Grace and I found out, in our first year of high school, that Grayden had been arrested. That feeling of despair and loss.
I couldn’t take it if today ended the same way.
About twenty minutes later, the door to the family waiting room opened. “Dinner delivery has arrived,” Callum announced.
He walked in laden with takeout bags. His easy smile and backward cap were familiar sights, and they calmed me.
“Thanks. You’re a lifesav—”
My voice cut off as I saw who’d just walked in behind him. Ashford.
And Teller. Holy crap. My big brother was here.
“Teller!” I rushed over to him and closed my arms around him, squeezing my eyes shut as tears threatened. “How did you—What are you doing here?”
“Grace has been texting the group thread since this morning. The minute I saw her first message, I got my butt in gear. Knew I had to be here for you.”
“But what about Ayla? She’s on tour. She needs you.”
He laughed softly. “She was the first to insist I come to Hart County. She sends her love. Luckily we were in Salt Lake, so it was a quick trip for me. Arranged a private flight and got here as soon as I could.”
I put my face against his shoulder. Tears leaked into his jacket. “Thank you.”
Remembering Callum and Ashford behind me, I wiped my eyes and turned around. “Hey, Ashford,” I said. “Thank you for coming.”
He glanced down sheepishly. “I’m here for you. Always.”
I reached out for a hug. A flash of surprise crossed Ashford’s face, but his embrace was as fierce as my brother’s had been. Ashford wasn’t the effusive type when it came to emotions. But I’d never doubted that he cared about me and Ollie.
I was frustrated with him for his stubbornness about Grayden. But that would never diminish the love I felt for Ashford.
“Grace really wants to be here too,” Callum said. “We were conferencing on the drive. How would you feel about Ollie staying at Ashford and Emma’s place tonight? Zandra’s planning to join them, and Dane was talking about going over there.”
“Fine by me,” I said. “Sounds like a full house.”
But this was what we did. We banded together when things got tough. I’d joked about this being the Lonely Harts club, but none of us were ever alone.
Except Grayden, my heart reminded me.
Ashford glanced around the waiting room. There’d been an older couple in here earlier, as well as a family with a baby, but they’d all disappeared.
“People are saying Grayden’s the one who attacked Danny,” Ashford said. “Is there any way that’s true?”
Callum’s arms crossed, his frown giving little away.
I felt my expression go hard. Bright, hot anger rose to the surface of my skin. “Do you want it to be true?” I asked. “So you can get rid of him once and for all?”
Ashford shook his head. “That’s not fair.”
“A lot isn’t fair,” I countered.
“We’re not making any assumptions,” Callum said. “I don’t think Grayden could have done this. But there’s obviously a lot we don’t know. Grace said Danny’s been harassing you? You didn’t tell us?”
A heavy hand rested on my shoulder. My big brother. “We’re not trying to gang up on you,” Teller said. “You don’t have to talk about this right now. You should try to eat. You’ve been here all day, right?”
“I have.” My voice wobbled, and I cleared my throat. “I’ve sat through a doctor telling me Danny might not survive. I’ve answered awful questions from rude, incompetent police.”
Teller’s eyebrow lifted. He knew I was talking about his department.
“And I’ve been worrying all day about Grayden,” I went on. “Because I know he didn’t do this. I know it in my heart and my gut and my soul. He told me earlier he’d found Danny hurt, and Grayden doesn’t lie to me. He…”
I felt the three of them staring at me.
Callum knew Grayden and I were dating. I had no idea what he’d told the others. It wasn’t something I intended to keep from Teller.
But there was no way I could describe what Grayden meant to me. How everything had shifted between us over the last few days.
Grayden had been some part of my life since the day I was born. First as my best friend’s brother. My older brother’s best friend.
And then, as a terrible absence.
It would be impossible to explain how important he was to me now, and how quickly it had happened. Grayden’s good heart, though? To me, that was beyond question.
Suddenly, I knew what I had to do.
I grabbed Teller’s sleeve. “I need to talk to you.”
We went out to the hallway. There was a vending machine area with terrible coffee, and I found a deserted corner. The hum of quiet activity and other nearby voices filled the air.
“Do you have anything to share about you and Grayden?” Teller asked.
Ugh. He was using his dad voice. Teller wasn’t even a father yet, but if and when he and Ayla decided to start a family, he was ready.
“We’re dating. He wants to be with me, and I…I want to be with him. Ollie likes him a lot too.”
Teller wiped a hand over his face. “Piper, I realize what a big deal it is for you to be open to a relationship again. But why him?”
“I’m not a teenager rebelling with the local bad boy. Don’t treat me like one.”
Teller held up his hands. “I just don’t understand how this happened.”
“I hardly do either. Grayden and I just fit. It’s our history and who we are now. Everything. You and Ayla weren’t a likely couple, in case you forgot.”
He gave me a look. “Grayden has a history of violence. Did you forget that? Chief Nichols is interrogating him right now because he’s suspected of putting your ex in this hospital. I know you don’t believe that, but…”
“If you knew everything, you would have as much faith in Grayden as I do.” Then the wording my brother had used clicked in my mind. “Wait, have you spoken to Chief Nichols?”
Teller glanced around. “I have. Yes. I called her on my way to town. She gave me an update. Very unofficially, since I can’t be involved in the investigation given my connection to Danny and Grayden.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“Piper, I can’t—”
“Spill it.”
He put his hands on his hips. “There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence. Grayden’s motive is clear. He’s protected you in the past. He’s had confrontations with Danny.”
I groaned. “And I’m the one who told Nichols about it.” I’d been trying to do the right thing, and I’d given the police information to use against Grayden.
“But Susan—I mean Chief Nichols—is far from certain,” Teller said, dropping his voice even lower.
“She couldn’t tell me much, but she’s seeing what she can get from questioning Grayden.
The department is working on gathering evidence.
They also have to investigate the possibility that you were involved, regardless of how ridiculous we know that is. ”
“What? Me? You didn’t lead with that?”
“I didn’t want to scare you by mentioning it first thing.”
But if Grayden was worried I might get pulled into the investigation, what would he do to protect me?
God, I hoped he wasn’t that foolish. Not after everything he’d been through in his past.
I poked my finger into Teller’s chest through his jacket. “You’re going down to the station, and you’re going to help Grayden. I don’t care how. You’re going to do it.”
This was why I’d pulled Teller aside in the first place. He knew everything about police procedure. There had to be something he could do.
“Piper, I cannot interfere with this investigation. It would be a gross violation of my duties as a member of Silver Ridge PD.”
“Then quit! I don’t care! Grayden is alone down there. He didn’t do anything to Danny. I know it. If I didn’t have to stay here, I’d be at that station right now raising hell.”
“I’m sure you would,” Teller said with a smirk.
“So you’re going to do it for me. Don’t you dare argue. Get down to that station and help the man who was once your best friend.”
Before it was too late.