Chapter Twenty-Four #2
or Barclay’s theories on his parenting weaknesses. What’s Aidan supposed to do now? He doesn’t have a time machine to go back
to the past and find a perfect relationship to model for his son. And really, maybe staying single hadn’t been a choice so
much as an unfortunate inevitability. He never found someone he was interested in, or had enough in common with; not many
people in their thirties could relate to being a widower. He’d met women who were divorced, but never one who’d lost her husband.
So while he’d had a few decent dates here and there, a few nascent relationships, nothing ever felt like a true connection.
At least, not enough of one. So at some point along the way he’d figured, why bother?
“I’m not hitting on Piper, if that’s what you mean,” Cole says, practicing his arm follow-through.
“Okay. Good. Because chasing unavailable women is a fast track to misery.”
Cole drops his arms. “Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s true. And I don’t want to see you making avoidable mistakes.” He glances at the rest of the group to make sure
no one can hear them. Between the loud music and the sound of metal hitting targets, he feels comfortable enough to continue.
“You’re not a kid anymore. Choices you make matter. They can have repercussions that last a long time. Longer than you can
imagine.”
“So he told you.” Cole casts a baleful look in his cousin’s direction.
“Don’t be upset with Scott. He’s concerned.”
“Dad, you’re right: I’m not a kid anymore. So I don’t need Scott’s ‘concern.’ Or yours, for that matter. I don’t do my personal
life by committee.”
Cole walks away just as Barclay calls out for Aidan—he’s up next. Aidan holds up one hand, gimme five. Then he looks around for Cole and spots him heading towards the bar. Aidan follows, threading his way through another group.
When he’s close enough, he reaches out for Cole’s arm.
“Hey,” Aidan says sharply. Cole stops walking. “Want to tell me what this is all about?”
“Not really. I don’t need more negative input.”
Aidan frowns. “That’s why you’re not talking to me about this? Because you can’t take a little ‘negative input’? That’s disappointing—to
say the least.”
“No, Dad. It’s that I don’t want to upset you. I don’t tell you about all the ups and downs of my relationships because mostly
they’re not that important. And yes, this relationship was important to me—extremely. But it was a stressful situation because
she was married. And I didn’t want to put that on you.”
Aidan didn’t know what he’d expected to hear, but it wasn’t that.
“Married? How old is this woman?”
“I know what you’re thinking, and no, she’s not older and there’re no kids involved—nothing like that. We met at a party for
mutual friends and it was just one of those things.”
“So you weren’t only hiding this relationship from me. You were hiding it from everyone.”
Cole crosses his arms. “That’s accurate.”
“Did that feel right to you?”
“Yes, actually. It did. Being with her felt right. And nothing has felt right since. And no offense, but why would I take
relationship advice from someone who hasn’t had a relationship in years?”
Before Aidan can process the comment—and how it cuts deeper because of Barclay’s talk last night—Cole asks him for the car
keys. “You can get a ride back with Grandpa.”
“Come on. Don’t leave.”
Cole is stone-faced. Aidan knows how futile it is when Cole’s buttons get pushed. It’s like a storm he has to ride out. His mother was the same way, and Aidan told him so once.
He gets his jacket from the coat room and hands over the keys.
“See you later?” he says.
Cole turns around. “So far this trip is a little too much family togetherness for me. So let’s just call it a day.”
Piper never realized her shameful lack of upper body strength until now, mid–axe throw. And it’s humbling. She missed the
target the first time around and her shoulder blades already feel like she needs Advil and a heating pad. But more surprising
is the rage she feels with each release of the heavy tool. She has to resist the urge to yell out, Take that! At first, the burst of anger is accompanied by thoughts of her manager. This, at least, makes sense. Work has been a big source
of stress to her, probably more than she’d admitted to herself before now. But then, on her last throw she thinks of . . .
her mother. She releases the axe and it finally lands on the target.
What’s that about?
There’s no time to unpack it: Kalli’s up next, and Barclay calls out to remind them it’s the final turn for each team. Piper
watches Kalli then glances at the scoreboard: They need a minimum of four points.
Her phone buzzes with a text from Hannah Elise.
Hey—every piece I posted you wearing has sold already. Time later to shoot a few more? Lmk xo
Hannah Elise is giving her too much credit. The knitwear sold because it’s special. And she doesn’t want to shoot any more videos. It feels like work—the last thing she wants to think about. But she’ll go tell Hannah Elise in person. She doesn’t want it to seem like she’s blowing her off.
The bachelor party erupts in shouts and cheers. She turns back to look at the scoreboard, and sees they lost. And although
the whole thing was kind of a joke, just for fun, she’s a little disappointed.
“Ladies, you lost the battle but not the war,” Barclay says. “These men still have to best you at your own game. So what’s
it going to be?”
Piper looks at her mother, who looks at Belinda. Knitting can’t be “scored” like an axe game. What’s success in knitting?
A project takes days, weeks or months. They need a metric.
“I wish I had a beginner’s workshop for the boys today, but I don’t,” Belinda says. “It’s not a fair competition to ask them
to keep up with anything more advanced.”
“Well, if you can’t give our team an arena for competition, I’d say that’s a forfeit,” says Aidan’s brother-in-law.
In the middle of this, Kalli pulls her aside.
“Do you know where Cole went?”
Piper is momentarily confused. Why is Kalli asking her? But then, she gets it: People see them hanging out and think they’re
hooking up. But if she had an engagement ring, people wouldn’t assume that.
“I have no idea,” Piper says, looking around. There’s no sign of him. “By the way—Cole and I are just friends.”
Kalli gives her a weird look like, obviously.
“Do you think he left?” Kalli says. Piper repeats that she doesn’t know.
“I can text him if you want,” she offers. But Kalli backtracks, says she was just wondering. That it’s “not important.”
By the time Piper turns her attention back to the group, a solution for the knitting competition has been found: Belinda will add a beginner’s workshop to the schedule after all.
“But I need a volunteer to teach it, because I don’t have a moment free.”
A hand shoots up. Piper is surprised to realize it belongs to her mother. Sure, Maggie’s always up for making things more
fun. But even for her, this seems impulsive. And Piper suspects this has nothing to do with a desire to teach or facilitate
the competition, and everything to do with spending more time with Aidan.
“Maggie. Perfect,” Belinda says with a big smile. “As they say: Let the games begin, Or, in this case, continue.”