14. Piper
PIPER
My kitchen looked like a flour bomb had exploded. Olive’s pigtails were dusted in white, and I probably looked like I’d gone prematurely gray. Despite the mixer malfunction, we’d triumphed, and our stack of pancakes stood tall, teetering on a plate as bacon sizzled in the pan.
“Mom, you look like Mrs. Claus,” Olive giggled.
I picked up a knife and checked out my reflection. “What do you think? Should I go white?” I smoothed my hair.
“It’s not too far from your hair color now.” Olive pointed to her head.“I look like a skunk!”
I grabbed her and sniffed her neck. “But you smell like cookies. Yum.” I scooped her into my arms and pretended to take a bite out of her neck.
“Do you think that’s enough?” I pointed to the stack of pancakes with the spatula.
“Maybe for me.” Olive crawled onto the tall barstool and pulled the platter of pancakes in front of her.
“Sweetheart, if you can eat all of those, go for it.”
Growing up, my mom never would’ve made pancakes—too many carbs. When Olive poured half the bottle of syrup on her pancakes, I squeezed her shoulder. “That’s going to give you a lot of energy.”
“I know.” She nodded. “Can we go to the splash pad today?”
“You bet. Anything you want, kiddo. We could go to the beach, hit the splash pad, go to the mall…” I stabbed three pancakes and added them to my plate next to the sliced melons.
“Splash pad!” She grinned and bopped up and down on the stool.
“You got it, kiddo.” I hated the splash pad but knew there would be a day in the future when Olive would choose to go to the mall with her friends. It wasn’t far off, and I knew when it happened, I’d find myself wishing for the days of dancing around in the jets of chlorine-soaked water.
“Anywhere but the hockey game.” Her voice was low.
I paused with my fork midair. “You don’t like hockey?”
“Ewww. Boys.” She scrunched her face, and then a serious look took over. “Mom, why did the handsome neighbor leave you tickets?”
She had been listening.
I panicked. What did I tell her? Taking a deep breath, I decided to tell her the truth. “Remember the night Pussy was missing and I spent all that time looking for her?”
“Yeah?” Olive stuffed way too many pieces of pancake into her mouth.
“Well, the neighbor helped me look for her. He’s a nice man who plays hockey.”
She tilted her head, chewing on my answer and the pancakes. “But why did he give you hockey tickets?”
To say I was stumped was an understatement. Why had Gideon left me the tickets? “I’m not sure, sweetie.” It was the truth. “Maybe he had some extra lying around and didn’t know who else to give them to.”
“That’s probably why.” She kicked her feet, adding to the scuff marks on the side of the island.
They were going to take some elbow grease to scrub off if we ever moved out.
“Unless he thinks you’re cute and wants you to be his girlfriend.
That’s the reason Tommy asked Ariana to go to his lacrosse game. ”
Where had my five-year-old gone? I was not ready for this kind of comment coming out of her sweet mouth. Was it a mistake letting her hang out with Ariana? What other twelve-year-old girl things was she learning?
“Oh, really?” I kept my tone even. “What did Ariana say to… Tommy?”
“She said she’d rather go to her pickleball lesson than watch a boy throw around a ball.”
Phew. I relaxed, mentally returning Ariana’s name to the good-influence list. “Well, I think Ariana is onto something. Let’s get ready for the splash pad.”
“What about this mess?” Olive pointed to the kitchen.
I waved at it. “What’s more important? The splash pad or the dishes?”
“The splash pad!” she squealed.
My mother would’ve died before leaving a crumb on the counter.
I remember her turning friends away who dropped in to say hi, just because the house wasn’t in pristine condition.
I didn’t want to put that on Olive either.
The dishes and the demonically possessed hand mixer could wait until we got back.
Olive had no idea what she’d stumbled upon with her comment about Gideon. Because, like her, I wondered why Gideon had left me the tickets. And unfortunately, I’d come up with the same reason as my five-year-old. Gideon wanted something from me.
I shook my head. Analyzing it was pointless. All that mattered was the little girl in front of me. The one smearing sunscreen over the haze of flour on her face.
Hours later, our bathing suits hung drying on the balcony, and the kitchen was cleaned.
With Olive napping on the sofa, I finally had some time to myself.
My eyes settled on the Loreena Lamb book on my shelf.
I pulled it out and sat gingerly on the sofa, careful not to disturb Olive or the cat.
A faded bookmark fell from its place somewhere in the middle of the book.
It didn’t matter what page it had been marking; since it had been years since I’d opened it, I was going to have to start from the beginning.
Both Olive and I jolted awake as the doorbell rang.
The book had fallen onto my chest, still open to page four.
Groggy, I folded down the page and checked my watch.
How long had we been napping? The only people who would knock on my door were the Lockelhursts, and it was rare that they would interrupt me on my day off.
Sure enough, I could see Judith’s white hair in the window at the top of the door. Worried that something serious had happened, I bolted from the sofa and yanked open the door as fast as I could.
“Judith? What’s going on?” My palm pressed into my chest as I caught my breath.
Tangerine lipstick brightened her smile, a perfect match to her outfit. “Everything is fine, dear. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
That’s when I noticed Judith wasn’t alone. Gabby and Lisa were on the stairs behind her. In no world did the trio on my doorstep make sense. “What are you two doing here?” Was I dreaming?
Lisa nudged Gabby, who nodded in response. “Can Olive come to the club with us? We’re going to play pickleball.” Gabby was dressed in the cutest white tennis skirt, her pink socks pulled up to her knobby knees.
Olive materialized at my side before I could answer. “Mom, can we?”
Blinking, I was still trying to make sense of why Judith was with them.
“I guess we could go for a little bit.” Why hadn’t Lisa called first?
My mind went into “mom mode,” trying to figure out how we could fit in a few hours at the club, have dinner, and still get ready for bed in time.
“It’s a school day tomorrow, so we can’t stay too long. ”
“We won’t keep her out too late,” Lisa said.
Confusion seemed to be my new best friend. “Keep her out too late? I’m coming too.”
Mrs. Lockelhurst put her hand on my forearm. “No, dear, you don’t need to come. It’s a private lesson with the Myers sister, the older one. I can’t think of her name.” She fanned her face with the tail of a silk scarf that was tied to her handbag. “Lisa is going to take the girls to the club.”
“Janie. It’s Janie Myers.” Gabby squealed. “Olive. Get your stuff.”
Olive darted from my side and disappeared into her bedroom. “What the h—heck is going on?” I self-censored, mindful of Gabby. Olive had already bolted to her room, her dresser drawers slamming.
Mrs. Lockelhurst and Lisa shot each other a conspiratorial look.
Judith ran her fingertips over a black pearl necklace.
“The girls have a lesson tonight; that leaves your schedule completely open. We’re going to a hockey game.
” She stopped tracing her necklace to pull a hat from her handbag.
As she put it on, I noticed that her outfit wasn’t tangerine; it was orange—tiger orange.
The growling mascot of the Toronto team burst from the logo on her hat.
It should’ve looked tacky next to her silk tank top and wide-legged Florida lady pants, but somehow, it all… worked.
Lisa pumped her eyebrows behind my eccentric boss.
She knew what she was doing, bringing in Judith as a reinforcement.
If my boss wasn’t standing in front of me, I would’ve told Lisa there was no way in utter h-e-double hockey sticks that I was going to set foot inside the Miami Barracuda’s barn.
But Mrs. Lockelhurst, Judith, my boss taking me to the game? Could I say no?
My face burned, and I did my best to shoot fire from my eyeballs at Lisa. “What happened to your date with Keith?” I tried to hide the frustration from my voice.
Judith picked up a shopping bag and thrust it into my arms. “Keith is feeling a little under the weather. Go put this on. And hurry, Olive’s lesson starts soon.”
“Coming!” Olive shouted, her sneakers squeaking on the tile floor as she returned to the door, dressed and ready for the courts.
“Fine.” I closed my fingers around the paper handles of the shopping bag. I had been completely railroaded by my boss and best friend. It was obvious that saying no wasn’t an option.
“Good. I’ll go start the car.” Judith’s eyes sparkled, and she skipped down the stairs like someone half her age.
“Lisa.” I seethed. “How could you?”
She held up her hands. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“Nothing.” I crossed my arms, the bag crumpling against my body.
“Judy called and asked if Olive would like a few lessons. That’s what the surprise was supposed to be.”
“Judy?” I blinked. “I don’t believe you.” I opened the bag and pulled out a Miami Barracuda jersey. “You’ve got to be fu—dging kidding me.”
Lisa took Olive’s hand. “Fine, so what if she told me her scheme? She wants you to get out and have some fun.”
The bag dropped to the ground as I turned the jersey around. “Fun? Then how do you explain this?”
“Oh my God.” Lisa clapped her hand over her mouth. “I swear I didn’t know anything about that.”
The name Bailey and the number seventeen were plastered across the back in bright white lettering. “I can’t wear this.”
The revving of an engine interrupted us. “Have you got a water bottle?” Lisa looked down at Olive.