Chapter Five
A few days later, Piper dragged herself out of Connie and through the front door of the house she shared with Emmett.
It hadn’t taken long for the simple act of walking in, dropping her keys in the bowl on the side table by the door and hanging her bag on the wall hook next to Emmett’s to feel natural.
She glanced around the tidy but basic lounge area with its long couch, oversized television and coffee table.
Emmett had made it clear that he was in the middle of renovations when she’d moved in, but she was also picking up on his minimalistic personality shining through in his decorating.
Although he did have an eye for detail if those ceiling cornices were anything to go by.
Still, the furniture she could fill this place with and the colour she would splash on the panelling.
Hello, Hamptons styling with a hint of green.
‘Do you ever get sick of so much white on the walls?’ Piper said as she caught sight of him in the kitchen. ‘It’s really bright and … clinical.’
‘Spoken like someone who just finished night shift.’
‘Guilty,’ she confirmed, sliding onto the stool across from him. ‘What are you doing?’
The intense gaze of his hazel eyes flicked up to her from the two pieces of gingerbread he was holding at a right angle, icing slathered between them.
His long hair was tied out of his face in a bun and his tongue was poking out the corner of his mouth.
She swallowed hard. Damn, he was good looking.
Her cheeks heated. She needed to get some sleep.
‘I have nineteen days to finish this gingerbread house to a standard that won’t embarrass me—or you, for nominating me for this—and trust me, it’s harder than it looks.
’ His head jerked towards the bin, where Piper spotted a package sporting the words ‘Gingerbread House Kit’ against a bright red background.
There was another one on the bench next to Emmett’s elbow.
‘Isn’t it cheating if you don’t bake the gingerbread?’ she asked, drumming her fingers on the benchtop.
‘You should’ve read the fine print before writing my name on the list.’ The tip of his tongue poked out the side of his mouth as he let the sides go. They leaned precariously too far left and he snatched at them again. ‘This ridiculous contest is being judged on the decorating, not the baking.’
‘Well, I hope you’re right because I wouldn’t want to have the wrath of Gloria come down on you if you’re not.’
A smile spread across Emmett’s face, lighting his eyes up when they connected with hers. ‘I can take Gloria, I’ve got broad shoulders. There’s a breakfast wrap in the sandwich press for you.’
Piper brought a hand to her chest. ‘A breakfast wrap? For me? Thank you.’
‘I was making one, so it wasn’t a big stretch to make two.’
She frowned. It was a big stretch for Heath. He was the king of making a meal for one and then blaming confusion over their conflicting rosters. Stop being petty and put Heath in the past already. She took a bite and groaned at the explosion of egg, bacon, cheese and some sort of amazing sauce.
‘Are you right?’ Emmett asked. ‘It could be a bit hot.’
‘It’s so good,’ she said before stuffing another big bite in and spinning around. His hands were hovering near the two sides of the gingerbread house that were now standing semi-straight. ‘Double thank you. This is just what I need before I crash out.’
Emmett slathered more icing onto the ends of two more pieces of gingerbread. He was on day shift, which meant Piper would be able to sleep in quiet. As long as his annoying neighbour didn’t mow for the third time this week.
‘Why won’t these stupid things stick?’ Emmett exploded when all four sides of his house fell down at once.
Piper couldn’t stop the giggle.
‘You think this is funny?’
His raised brow made her giggle louder. ‘At least you’ve got nineteen days to figure it out.’
He tipped his head back and groaned loudly, which was sexier than it should have been. God, she really needed to sleep.
A ringing came from the pocket of her scrubs, and she fished out her phone. ‘Hey, Mum.’
‘Piper, I just got off the phone with Carter and he said you weren’t coming home for Christmas.
Something about working shifts that are too close together?
I said you could come down on Christmas Eve, we could do breakfast and then you could fly home in time for work again.
It’s not ideal to be on a plane twice within twenty-four hours but we can make it work. ’
‘Oh, Mum, no. Please don’t get your heart set on this.
I can’t come home for Christmas this year.
I have a night shift ending on Christmas Eve morning then Emmett signed me up to sing in the choir at the Christmas Eve Bonanza, but don’t worry, two can play at this game.
I signed him up for the gingerbread house decorating competition. ’
Emmett sent her a withering glare that she smiled at.
Maree’s woeful sigh echoed down the phone. ‘You’re not coming home at all?’
Piper walked away from the bench, her smile slipping.
‘I’m sorry, Mum. You know how it is when you start a new job, especially at Christmas time.
There’s always a wait list for leave and the new girl isn’t going to be at the top of it.
I need to pay my dues before I can expect things like holidays over Christmas. ’
‘I know, but we’re always together at Christmas. When you had a shift, we worked around it to have a family meal. Even Carter would make sure he was there.’
‘Yes, and we could’ve if we weren’t in different states and I hadn’t moved so quickly.
I’m back on an early shift on Boxing Day so there really isn’t enough turn around.
I’m sorry!’ Piper flopped herself down on the couch and stifled her groan as the cushions absorbed her.
Emmett definitely knew a thing or two about comfort.
‘I hate that you’re so far away,’ Maree continued softly. ‘I like having all my family together. It’ll be Indy’s first Christmas with us and she’s going to miss out on your wonderful decorations.’
Piper looked around the living room. There was no tree, no tinsel and a beautiful fireplace without any stockings hung from it.
Pathetic really. Emmett obviously wasn’t the decorating kind, and she couldn’t summon the enthusiasm this year.
‘Indy might like a quiet Christmas. She’s had a lot of change in the last twelve months.
I know I’m looking forward to a quiet one this year. ’
‘I suppose …’ Maree’s voice trailed off into acceptance and relief trickled down Piper’s spine.
Her mum had always tried to hold her and Carter so tightly to her and when their dad died, the tightness had reached suffocation levels.
Jonathan coming along and staying around had helped a lot, but Piper’s moving away had probably set all that progress back.
‘It’s just too soon for me to come back to Sydney. Maybe next year. Or you guys could come and stay with me. I should have my own place by then.’ Piper swung her legs to the ground, forcing herself to sit up.
‘Ah, shit!’ Emmett’s groan stole Piper’s attention, and she pressed her lips together at the sight of the piece of gingerbread that had cracked in half.
‘That’s a long time to stay away, Piper. What did Heath do to hurt you so badly?’
Reality crashed into her chest, and she folded forward, pinching the bridge of her nose. ‘It’s more what I did or didn’t do, I guess. Just leave it, Mum. It’s over and I’m not looking back.’
‘Honey, you and Heath were together for nearly three years. There’s no salvaging that?’
‘None. Honestly, it was probably over a long time ago, but we just weren’t in the same space at the same time to call it.’ Heat rushed to the back of her eyes and she took a deep breath, desperate not to cry. ‘I don’t want to talk about it anymore.’
‘Okay, we can talk about something else.’ Her mum’s voice was strained.
‘I’m crabby. I just got home from night shift. I need to shower and sleep.’
‘I was pushing,’ Maree said, her voice a little lighter. ‘I just want to see you happy like your brother, because I love you so much.’
‘I know, Mum. It’s okay. I love you, too.’
Piper hung up the phone and stood. The memory of standing in the kitchen of their city apartment swamped her.
The phone had been hanging from her hand as she reeled from the conversation she’d just had with the hospital’s board of medical directors.
Was she aware of Heath’s addiction? How long had it been going on?
Why didn’t she report it to her line manager?
So many questions that had caught her off guard.
Didn’t Heath tell her they’d be calling?
Humiliation had burned through her. How did she explain to a board of people who obviously all had their lives and relationships together that she had no idea about anything they were talking about?
It was a disaster; the first time she’d actually stopped to take stock of her life and realise she didn’t like any part of it.
Tears welled in her eyes. How could she not see it? Something that bad. She may as well have been walking around with her eyes closed for six months. Or had it been going on longer? The tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks.
‘Piper?’
Emmett’s voice was hesitant. She couldn’t see him through the blur of her tears.
‘Are you crying?’
It wasn’t hesitancy. It was … dread.
‘I believe so.’ She blinked in time to see Emmett jump to his feet and look left. His head swivelled right then he looked back to Piper.
‘Tissues!’ He snatched at the box sitting on the counter beside the microwave as he took a couple of steps towards her. ‘Here.’
He thrust the box at her and either it slipped or he thought she had it, because it flew from his grip straight into her stomach.
‘Shit, I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s okay. It’s just a tissue box, it didn’t hurt.’ She sniffed and took a couple of tissues out. ‘I’m sorry, Emmett. You didn’t sign on for tears.’
She wished those were the magic words to make them evaporate but they just poured out more quickly.
Wiping them away with the tissues, she jolted at the touch of a hand on her shoulder.
Emmett was standing right there, patting her like she was his dog, a look on his face that said he’d prefer to be anywhere else. Major whined at the back door.
‘I’ve got to get to work.’
She nodded. ‘Okay.’
The awkward patting stopped and she heard the faint sounds of the front door opening.
‘Bye. Get some sleep.’
The door slapped back in its frame and Piper buried her face in her hands.