Chapter 9
PIPER
“Ilove him,” I say again, stronger this time. Looking right at Mackenzie. “I'm in love with your brother.”
Mackenzie’s face goes through about seventeen different emotions in three seconds.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Completely serious.” My voice is shaking but I don't look away. “And I know how this looks. I know it feels like a betrayal. And Kenz, I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I didn't plan for this.”
“This is unbelievable. My best friend and my brother. How am I supposed to…” She stops, pressing her fingers to her temples. “God, this is so messed up.”
“I know,” I say.
“Do you?” She looks at me, and the hurt in her eyes makes my chest ache. “Because it really doesn't feel like you do. It feels like you forgot everything I told you. Everything he did.”
“I didn't forget.” I take a step toward her. “But I heard his side too. And Kenz, he's not the villain you think he is.”
“Don't defend him to me.”
“I'm not defending what he did. I'm just saying, there's more to the story. He was drowning under all that pressure. He made a mistake trying to fix things. A huge mistake, yes, but he's been paying for it for two years.”
“Good. He should pay for it.”
“For how long?” The question bursts out of me. “How long does he have to be punished? How long until you can even consider forgiving him?”
“That's not your decision to make.”
“You're right. It's not. But Kenz, he's your brother. And yeah, he screwed up. But he loves you. He misses his family. And he's sorry. Really, genuinely sorry.”
“He told you all this.”
“He did. Because he's actually talked to me. Actually opened up. And he’s kind and caring and he took care of me when I was hurt. He brought me art supplies your mom left here. He made me cinnamon toast because he wanted me to feel better.”
Mackenzie's quiet for a moment.
“I didn't want to fall for him. I tried not to. But being here with him, I couldn't help it. And these feelings are real. I think maybe they were always there, buried somewhere, and I just didn't let myself see it because I knew it would complicate everything."
“You're right about that,” she says.
“I know. And I understand if you can't forgive me. If this ruins our friendship. But Kenz, don't you want your family back? Your brother back? Because he wants that. He wants you back in his life. He just doesn't know how to fix it.”
Mackenzie is quiet for a long moment. I can see her working through it, see the walls she's built starting to crack.
Then she looks at Callum, who's been standing silently this whole time, watching us.
“You really love her?” she asks him.
“Yeah,” he says simply. “I do.”
“And this isn't just some fling? Some revenge thing because I cut you out?”
“No. My feelings for Piper are real. And they're not going away.”
Mackenzie studies him, then looks back at me. “You're sure about this? About him?”
“I'm sure.”
She lets out a long breath. “This is insane.”
“I know,” I say.
“You two are insane.”
“Yeah,” he says.
“And I'm still processing all of this. I'm still hurt. And I'm not ready to just forgive everything.”
My heart sinks, but I nod. “I understand.”
“But, if this is real, if you two are actually in love, then I need to figure out how to deal with that.”
Hope flutters in my chest. “Really?”
“Don't make me regret it.” But there's the smallest hint of softness in her voice now.
“I won't. We won't.”
She turns to Callum. “You hurt her, I'll kill you.”
“Understood.”
They stare at each other for a long moment. Years of hurt and anger and misunderstanding between them.
Then Mackenzie says, “I'm sorry too.”
Callum blinks. “For what?”
“For cutting you out completely. For not even trying to hear your side. I was angry. I'm still angry. But maybe I could have handled it better.”
Callum crosses to her slowly, carefully. “Can I hug you?”
She hesitates, then nods.
He pulls her into his arms and she starts crying. I realize this is the first time they've hugged in two years.
I step back, giving them space. Wiping at my own tears.
When they finally pull apart, Mackenzie laughs. “This is the weirdest weekend of my life.”
“You and me both,” Callum says.
Then we hear it. The rumble of an engine outside.
We all turn to look out the window. Headlights are coming up the driveway. A big truck, official-looking, pushing through the remaining snow.
“Oh my God,” Mackenzie breathes.
The truck pulls up and a man gets out. Tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a park ranger uniform. Even from inside I can see he's ridiculously attractive.
Mackenzie's face lights up. “He came back for me!”
She runs to the door, throwing it open. “Weston! What are you doing here?”
“Wanted to make sure you were okay,” he calls back. “Thought I'd come check on you.”
“You're the best!” She turns back to us, grinning. “Okay, you two. This is enough weirdness for one weekend. My hot ranger is here and I'm going to escape with him while I still can.”
“You're leaving?” I ask. “Now?”
“Hell yes, I'm leaving. You two clearly need to talk. Figure your stuff out. And I…” She looks at the ranger through the window. “I need some good company.”
“Are you sure?” Callum asks.
She grabs her coat, starts pulling on her boots. “Positive. You two have fun being snowed in together. I'm going to go have an actual vacation.”
She hugs me quickly. “I love you. But I'm still processing all of this. Give me time, okay?”
“Okay.”
Then she hugs Callum again.
“Take care of her,” she says, pulling back.
“I will.”
Then she's out the door, running through the snow to the park ranger’s truck. We watch through the window as she climbs in.
The truck backs down the driveway, and just like that, she's gone.
Callum and I stand there in the sudden quiet.
“That was…” I start.
“Better than expected?” he offers.
“I was going to say 'a miracle.'”
He laughs, pulling me against him. “Come here.”
I bury my face in his chest, breathing him in. “I can't believe I just told your sister I love you.”
“I can't believe you love me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I'm the screw-up. The guy who ruins everything.”
“You don't ruin everything.” I pull back to look at him. “You saved me. In about seventeen different ways.”
“You’re just trying to flatter me.”
“I'm serious. You saved me when I fell. You took care of me. You reminded me what it feels like to be alive and to feel something real.” I cup his face in my hands. “You didn't ruin me, Callum. You woke me up.”
He kisses me slowly. When we finally break apart, we both sigh.
“So what now?” I ask.
“Now?” He grins. “Now we figure out how to make this work.”
I take his hands. “Being here with you, sketching again, I don't want to go back to 'fine.' I want to actually live. With you. And doing what I love.”
He pulls me closer. “Okay. I’ll be brave with you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m going to the firefighter academy. Finally becoming what I always wanted to be, instead of the rancher everyone expected.”
I throw my arms around him. “We're really doing this?”
“We're really doing this.”
“We're insane,” I say.
He lifts me up, my legs wrapping around his waist. “But I'd rather be insane with you than practical without you.”
“That's the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me.”
“Yeah? Wait until I get you back in bed.”
“Promises, promises.”
“Oh, I keep my promises.” He's already dragging me toward the bedroom. “Let me show you.”
And as he kicks the door closed behind us, as he lays me down on the bed and covers my body with his, as he whispers "I love you" over and over, I know this is right.
Messy and complicated and absolutely perfect.
This is what it feels like to really live.
And I'm never going back.