Chapter Thirty-Two
Maggie checks the room and Piper’s not there. Now she’s getting angry. This is just inconsiderate. And fine, yes, Maggie did
spend the night out. But Piper basically insisted. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to go incommunicado. And to ignore Gretchen
like that? And also: Why didn’t she mention that her manager wants her back? The whole situation is disturbing.
She’s mulling all of this while she takes the stairs back down to the lobby—at the same moment Aidan is heading up. Her stomach
does a little flip.
“Hey. Sorry I ran off like that,” she says. “I’ve been trying to find Piper.”
“No problem. And also, what a coincidence. I’m trying to find Cole.”
Their eyes meet. Oh? Oh.
“You don’t think. . . .” Under normal circumstances, Maggie would never imagine Piper cheating on Ethan. But Piper and Cole
both chose to stay back at the inn last night. And now they’re both apparently missing from their respective groups. So it’s
hard not to at least consider the possibility.
“At this point, I have no idea what my son is up to,” Aidan says.
His eyes have flecks of gold and burnt umber as if they’re reflecting the season itself. Autumn Aidan, she thinks. Two days ago, this man was a stranger. And now? What? They aren’t together. They’ll probably never see each
other again after the weekend. But in this moment, at least, it’s something. And he must feel it too, because he leans forward
and kisses her. It’s even better than she remembered from last night.
“Mom?”
She turns around to find Piper and Cole making their way up the stairs. She’d be embarrassed—busted, as the kids say—but she
notices something odd about Piper’s face. There’s a streak of makeup, maybe lipliner. It takes a few seconds for Maggie to
comprehend that the bright red mark on Piper’s cheek isn’t cosmetics—it’s a bloody scratch.
“What happened to your face?” she says, aghast. Piper’s hand immediately flies up to cover it.
“Where were you two?” Aidan says to Cole.
“Why do I feel like we just got caught breaking curfew?” Cole says.
“I don’t know. Why do you?” Aidan says.
“Hey, folks,” Barclay calls from the bottom landing. “Aidan, I’ve been looking all over for you boys. Did you lose track of
our itinerary? It’s time for fishing.”
“Excuse us,” Maggie says, taking Piper by the elbow and steering her down the stairs, past Barclay, into the lobby. Ignoring
Gretchen and then messing up her face? “Are you trying to destroy your own career?”
Maggie stops walking. That’s exactly it: Piper is sabotaging her career. She’s been quiet quitting. Except when her manager
shows up on their knitting retreat, it’s not so quiet anymore. And now she, Maggie, is involved. And so she’s going to fix
it.
When Maggie and Piper leave, Cole takes it as his cue to do the same. Aidan follows him up one flight of stairs to his room on the third floor, where Cole doesn’t invite him in.
“Dad, not now,” he says. “I’m dealing with something.” His voice is low in consideration of other guests on the floor.
“I know you’re dealing with something. Did you invite your girlfriend to come here this weekend?”
Cole’s jaw pulses in the way it does whenever he’s stressed or irritated. After a pause, he unlocks his room and waves him
inside, closing the door behind them. The space is tidy—Cole’s always been remarkably neat. He takes after his mother in that
way. The thought of Nancy gives him a sense of urgency; he owes it to her not to bungle this conversation.
“I didn’t invite Kalli this weekend. I had no idea she’d be here. And actually, it turns out to be exactly what we needed.
Except for Scott and his unwelcome opinions. But then, you know that. I assume he’s the one who told you about my personal
life.”
Aidan wants to say, Why didn’t you tell me about your personal life?
“I think Scott just wants what’s best for you. He’s getting married. He probably knows a thing or two about navigating relationships,
and how hard it can be under the best of circumstances. Why make things harder for yourself getting involved with an unavailable
woman?”
“She is available.” Cole shakes his head. “This is why I didn’t tell you about her months ago. I didn’t want to upset you.”
Aidan doesn’t buy that for a second. Cole knows he’s handled a lot tougher things than a relationship he might not approve
of. This is something else. Cole is embarrassed by the situation he finds himself in.
“I think you didn’t want to tell me because you didn’t want to admit you were doing something wrong,” Aidan says.
Cole gives a small laugh. “It never seemed wrong to me. I’m sorry you haven’t met anyone since Mom. Maybe you forget what
it feels like to fall in love.”
That stings. Aidan feels a flash of defensiveness. But then, Cole might be right. Regardless of all that, he’s still not happy
with the way this all unfolded.
“I’m troubled you think I’d judge you over your relationship. I might not always agree with your choices, Cole, but I want
you to feel you can talk to me.”
Cole looks skeptical. “And what would you have told me if I said I was in love with a married woman?”
He’s never heard Cole use the word love about a girlfriend.
“Well,” he says carefully, “I would have told you that I just don’t want you to get hurt. I know we can’t always control who
we have feelings for. But some choices are less likely than others to lead to a good outcome.”
“No one knows what’s going to lead to a good outcome,” Cole says. “Look at you. You did everything right. I can’t imagine
finally finding the right person, marrying them, and then losing them.”
Aidan feels stricken. The last thing he wants is for his son to feel sorry for him.
“Yes, it was difficult. But Cole, that has nothing to do with my concern for your relationship choices. Any parent would feel
the same way.”
Cole shakes his head. “Dad, I get it. Hell, I’d want to play it safe after all that too. But that’s not my approach. I’m willing
to get hurt. To me, with Kalli, the upside is worth it. I don’t expect you to agree or understand, and I’m sorry if it upsets
you. So I’ll respect your choices if you can respect mine.”
“I’m not playing it safe,” Aidan says. He’s reeling. It’s like someone just held up a mirror to his face, he looked into it, and the reflection is not his own. He doesn’t like the feeling. Not one bit. And he’s going to do something about it.
Maggie is walking through the lobby so fast Piper needs to trot to keep up with her. They pass Lexi and Dove on their way
to the Purl, a workshop that at this point Piper and Maggie will miss.
“You two coming?” Lexi calls out.
Maggie doesn’t slow down, leaving Piper no time to answer. She just gives a half wave, half thumbs-up, and keeps walking a
step or two behind Maggie.
Piper really wishes her mother would back off.
“This doesn’t need to involve you,” she says.
“That would be a lot more convincing if your manager hadn’t crashed our weekend,” Maggie says.
“Ex-manager.”
“Not according to Gretchen,” Maggie says. Piper follows her around the corner into the wide stone hallway leading to Bucks
Tavern.
“So now you’re on her side?”
That stops Maggie right in her tracks. She turns to look at Piper.
“Since when are there sides? I don’t know what’s going on with you, but I’m not going to let you throw away this opportunity.”
“It’s not your choice!” she says, louder than she intended. The words just burst out before she could modulate her voice.
And the effort to contain them leaves her shaking.
Maggie looks hurt and shocked as if Piper smacked her across the face. Worse, she says nothing. They just stand there looking
at each other for what feels like an eternity. Piper can’t take it anymore and continues walking without her.
“So you’re quitting?” Maggie says from behind her. “Just like that? I have to say, Piper, that’s extremely disappointing.”
Piper turns around, her heart pounding. “Well, I knew that was coming.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Maggie crosses her arms, her expression stony. Piper can’t remember the last time she had
an argument with her mother, and she’d do anything to hit the pause button, to save both of them from the painful and unfamiliar
experience of being in conflict. But she can’t. There’s only one thing to do, and it’s something she should have done when
she first met Gretchen, and that’s be honest with her mother—and herself.
“It means, from the moment I told you about meeting Gretchen, I knew on some level I’d end up disappointing you. Because I
never wanted that job. I did it for you.”
“Don’t put this on me! You’re the one who doesn’t even appreciate the opportunities you have in front of you.”
“I do appreciate opportunities in front of me. I’m simply not choosing the one you would choose. And you have to learn to deal with that instead of trying to control my life.”
She brushes past Maggie to find Gretchen. She can’t wait to tell her she’s done.