6. Ren
Chapter 6
Ren
I leaned back in my chair, relaxed now that we had settled everything. I would have told her I was proud of how she had bounced back from her earlier upset, but I was afraid it might come off as condescending, so I didn’t and decided to ask her about the bookstore instead.
“Now, about the bookstore where we met. Is it the one on Sycamore? Petals and Prose? I noticed it the first time I drove into town. It looks amazing. Like it’s dusty and old and full of weird books.”
She nodded, and a nostalgic smile crossed her face. “That’s the one. My grandpa opened it ages ago. He’s a big reader and a poet as well. My sister, Cara, manages it for him. Our grandparents own several businesses besides the inn. They’re kind of like the entrepreneurs of Honeybrook Hollow.”
“I love that,” I said, genuinely impressed and intrigued. “How many sisters do you have?”
She sighed, and her eyes shifted to the side as if she were about to get into something scandalous. “Paige, plus three half-sisters. Cara and Lucy are the same age, but they have different mothers—you can figure out for yourself what happened there. And then there’s Eliza. Our dad is obviously a big, huge cheater. Hence, my totally unhinged reaction to Richard cheating on me and his efforts to control my reaction to it and keep Cody from me. I can’t believe I fell for his bull crap?—”
I reached out to pat her hand in solidarity. “Not unhinged. Totally justifiable. My father was also a cheater. I have zero respect for men like him.”
She turned her hand palm up and laced her fingers with mine. “Paige told me that you are basically a crusader. Violet told me even more about your family, though not in a gossipy way; she adores you. I’m sorry about your dad. No kid deserves to grow up the way you did.”
I nodded, feeling a familiar pang of anger.
My father was abusive—a gambler and a cheat. He was always coming and going. When he was gone, we could be ourselves and breathe. But he always came back when he needed money or a place to crash. He kept that up for years until I was old enough and strong enough to make him stay away for good. He died about ten years ago, and he was not missed.
“It’s my mission to help any woman stuck with men like my father. It’s Jake’s, too.”
“Now, that I love,” she said, her eyes lighting up in admiration. “And that’s what Lyla’s Place is for—to honor your mom. Let me know if there's anything I can do. I would love to volunteer, or maybe I could organize a cupcake fundraising drive or something. It probably won’t bring in as much as the charity dinner donations, but I’d be happy to do it.”
“That would be amazing. You are amazing.”
“Thank you. I think you are, too. I’m glad we are finally getting to know each other. We’ve been in the same orbit for a while now.”
“I’m glad too. I’m trying to slow down. That’s one of the reasons why I moved here. That, and to be closer to Jake and the rest of my family.”
“You needed to stop and smell the roses?”
I chuckled at the cliché. “Something like that.”
“I’m doing that too. That’s why I moved into this house. I need to learn to—I don’t know, relax or something. I’ve been working too much lately.”
“Exactly. I’ve never really taken the time to stop and appreciate the little things. Sometimes, I forget how important it is to just…pause. This is why Jake is making me take the rest of the week off. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.”
Her grip on my hand tightened briefly, a silent affirmation that she understood me. She smiled softly, a gentle warmth spreading across her face as she released it and picked up her pen. “Well, I am actually growing roses on the side of the house. Feel free to stop and smell them anytime if you ever need to take a pause.”
“Thank you. I might take you up on that.” I cleared my throat and snapped out of the flirty haze we’d found ourselves in. “Am I holding you up? I know I stopped by unexpectedly.”
“Um, no.” She grinned at me with a shake of her head. “I’m the one who barged in on you first. And I didn’t even bring you any coffee. It’s all good. All I had to do today was work on plans for the bakery’s grand opening, but I’ve lost the motivation, if I’m being honest. Richard pretty much wrecked my day. I tried to let it go, but I’m still mad at him.”
“Would you like me to go with you to pick up your dog? I'm happy to help you out in any way I can. And I mean it. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“You're sweet, but no. I’m going to let it go for today and think it over. He wants me to have lunch with him after we take Cody to his vet appointment to talk things through. I’m going to text him and tell him I’ll go. He promised I could take Cody home with me after.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I—no, I’m not. But I don’t want to make this get any uglier than it already is, and I really don’t want him to sue me or whatever else he can do.”
“I think you should talk to Paige.”
Her lips quirked at the corner. “So, you’re telling me you’re in favor of making this ugly?”
“I’m in favor of whatever or whoever helps you stand up for yourself. I’m not trying to push you into anything, but Paige will keep your best interests in mind.”
“Paige will lose her mind. And that’s not what I want. She’s been through enough lately. I can take care of this myself.”
“Okay. I wasn’t trying to imply you couldn’t?—”
She met my eyes. “I know enough about you to know that. Don’t worry, Ren. I just don’t get why he’s pushing so hard for me to forgive Dana. He has to know that’s never going to happen.”
“I think you’re amazing. He probably does too. He has to know how badly he fucked up.” Afraid I’d revealed too much, I looked away from her gorgeous eyes, shifting my focus back to Smog, who I swear could read my mind by how he looked at me right before he stood and darted out of the room. Yeah, buddy, wanting to be near Piper was entirely too easy.
“Thank you.” She breathed, her cheeks turning pink. “I still feel like a fool, though. That’s why I didn’t mention the lunch thing before.”
“I don’t blame you for trying to keep the peace. Do I believe he’s trying to manipulate you? Yes. You love Cody, and he’s taking advantage of that. The issue isn't you; it’s him. But you’re nobody’s fool, and you can take care of yourself. Just don’t try to handle this alone.”
“I won’t. I don’t even want to. I just want things to go back to the way they were. I mean, I don’t want to get back together with Richard. But I could do without this newfound determination of his to have us all be friends or whatever.”
“Honestly? Things can’t go back to how they were. But that doesn’t mean it can’t turn out okay.”
“You’re right,” she murmured, looking at me through her lashes. “Enough about Richard. I’m sick of him. Let’s change the topic. Are we really doing this?”
I let out a nervous laugh as liquid heat spread through my chest. “I—yeah. I think we can help each other out.”
“Who are we telling? Of course, Paige knows it’s fake; it was her idea, but what about Jake? And Violet is my best friend. I can’t imagine keeping this from her. And I have three more nosy sisters. And don’t even get me started on my mother. God, and my grandparents?—”
“We probably shouldn’t tell anyone. Can Paige keep a secret?”
“Yes. We keep all of each other’s secrets. I’ll just avoid the topic with everyone else. Say it’s casual, or like you told Richard, we’re seeing where things go. It could work. I don’t like lying, but the more people who know, the greater chance that we’ll get busted.”
“That sounds good to me. And remember, this is supposed to make our lives easier. Say the word if it starts feeling too complicated, and we will reevaluate the situation. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“Good. Now, when is Cody’s vet appointment?”
“Why?” She eyed me suspiciously.
“So I can make sure to be home when you get back to keep an eye on things.”
“I’ll be okay,” she finally replied. “I know I wasn't okay earlier, but I am now. I swear. You don’t need to protect me. This isn’t part of the deal.”
“You’re right. It’s not part of the deal?—”
“Are you sure you don’t have a rescue kink? She interrupted. “I promise I can handle this myself. I’ll be okay.”
I paused, considering her words. “Rescue kink? No. Wanting to make life easier, safer, and better for women in every way I can? Absolutely. I’m a protective guy. I admit it. But I won’t apologize for it.”
Her head snapped back, and her eyes widened. “Okay. Wow.”
“I know you can handle him on your own, but why should you have to?”
“Well then. Okay. Thank you, Ren.”
I shrugged in answer, my cheeks heating in awkward embarrassment. If we spent any more time together, I might start to like her, and then every word I said from now on would only serve to make it obvious.
“Okay. Fine, it’s Monday afternoon. It is the last appointment of the day, so Richard won’t have to miss work. I should be back by five. I appreciate this.”
I grunted in response, irritated that she still had to deal with him. “Anyone would do it. He’s an asshole.”
“No.” She looked me dead in the eye. “Anyone would not do it. My father never could be bothered with me or any of my sisters. You are a good man, Ren.”
I shook my head, not letting her words sink in, trying to dispel the sudden warmth infusing my chest.
“Thanks,” I muttered. “You’re pretty special yourself. And I’m sorry about your dad. Seems like you wanted yours to stay around when all I wanted was for mine to stay gone. You deserve someone to stand up for you, Piper. We all do.”
“Do you always know what to say?”
I gave a half-smile, the corner of my mouth lifting. “Fuck no.”
Our conversation drifted into a comfortable silence, each of us lost in our thoughts.
My ability to be near her and function normally was rapidly diminishing. It was then that I knew I had to get out of here.
“I better get going,” I blurted.
“Oh.” She seemed surprised. “Okay. I’m glad you stopped by. We can talk more about all of this later.”
“I’ll text you.” Texting was safe. I didn’t have to look at her while I did it, and I could be very careful about what I said without giving away how attracted to her I was.
With one last look at her, I slid out of my chair, hesitating as I stood by the table.
This was all fake. It was all for show.
But no matter how many times I tried to convince myself of these facts, I still only halfway believed them.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?” She looked at me expectantly, and I found myself wanting her to expect things from me. Real things.
Why not. What could it hurt?
“Do you think we should have dinner together tomorrow night?” I should have left it at that and made this real, but I chickened out. “Like a practice date? So we can iron out any kinks before the real deal.”