Chapter 3 #2
Then Gran said, “Sullivan is mighty taken with Piper. He hasn’t been spending many nights upstairs.”
His grandparents had graciously offered Sullivan use of the small apartment above the diner when he’d arrived last fall.
It was interesting to hear that Sullivan hadn’t been using it much.
Both of them stuck by an unwritten rule that they didn’t spend all night with a woman.
They preferred coming home after sex and sleeping alone in their own beds.
If Sullivan had been staying over with Piper, their relationship was even more serious than Zane had realized.
“Well, I need to go finish cleaning up,” Gramps said.
“I can help with that,” Zane volunteered.
“No, you need to unpack and get ready to go see your friends.”
Gran fetched her purse and drove him to their nearby house.
She told him that Sullivan had made use of the woodworking shop in back, and he recalled how Sullivan’s grandfather had worked with wood.
How much Sullivan had enjoyed crafting things with his grandfather.
A flash of worry filled him. He didn’t want to lose Sullivan to the Bay, and he knew his dad didn’t want Wagner Enterprises to lose their top architect.
He put the thought aside, though, going to the guest room.
As he opened his suitcase, he stripped and pulled on a T-shirt and pair of shorts. The tension of work-related problems from the past few weeks seemed to melt away. While he would be working during his time in the Bay, it was good to be back in Texas again.
Sullivan texted him when he was approaching, and Zane went out to meet him.
They drove to the Bay Breeze Inn, and he finally met Piper.
She was five-four and had hair black as a raven’s, with clear blue eyes and a slender build.
He noticed how comfortable she and Sullivan were with one another, which Zane had never witnessed between his friend and another woman.
He feared Wagner Enterprises would lose Sullivan to Piper—and the Bay—and he would be helpless to stop it.
Selfishly, he didn’t want his closest friend to leave New York, but he told himself he would support Sullivan in whatever decision he made.
Even though Sullivan claimed he was returning to New York, there was a strong possibility that he might not go through with those plans.
After they had toured the B&B, the trio drove to a beautiful property sitting next to the water. He learned it belonged to Keaton and Layne Maxwell.
“Keaton is a self-taught artist,” Sullivan shared. “From Texas, but he moved to the Grand Tetons for inspiration. Then he decided to make a dream come true and moved close to the water.”
“It’s really inspired his art,” Piper added. “Some of his paintings hang in the house. You’ll really be taken with his talent.”
Zane was interested in meeting not only Sullivan’s friends but Piper’s, as well.
According to Sullivan, she had been part of a group nicknamed the Three Musketeers growing up.
One of them was now married to Keaton, while the other coached at the high school and was married to Carson, both friends of Sullivan’s.
Piper mentioned the others who would be at the barbeque tonight. Everyone seemed matched up but her friend Kylie.
“Kylie has become our d’Artagnan,” Piper said, referring to the Fourth Musketeer in the Dumas novel. “She was a year ahead of us in school and simply the nicest person in the Bay.”
They were admitted to the Maxwell house, and Zane could see why Sullivan had been drawn into a friendship with Keaton.
The artist had a similar demeanor to Sullivan, and he recalled Sullivan saying how quick-witted and intelligent Keaton was.
He made Zane feel welcomed. Layne appeared and was very friendly, assuring Zane how happy they were to have him with them this evening.
Other couples began arriving, and it was good to put faces with names.
The last to arrive was Kylie. Immediately, Zane was taken with how attractive she was.
Kylie had a mane of golden blond hair and penetrating, sapphire eyes.
She was probably five-six and had an athletic build, as well as smooth skin kissed by the sun, and wore jean cutoffs and sneakers.
He couldn’t help but think her the antithesis of every woman he’d gone out with in New York. Usually, he went for tall, model-thin, cool beauties, women who took an hour to put on their makeup and arrange their hair. Ones who wore designer clothes with ease.
Kylie was their complete opposite. She had a natural, fresh beauty, looking like the stereotypical girl next door. The only makeup he detected was on her lips. Her very kissable lips. Zane greeted her with a handshake, catching a whiff of warm vanilla wafting from her skin.
“It’s nice to meet you, Kylie.”
“Likewise, Zane.” Her eyes sparkled as if she had a secret and wasn’t quite ready to share it with him just yet, which intrigued him.
“Kylie, let’s go take your dip and chips to the kitchen,” Piper suggested, claiming custody of her friend and leading her away.
He imagined Piper was telling Kylie to stay away from him. Their heads were bent together as they left the room. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman had been warned away from him.
Zane circulated freely among the guests, finally finding himself back beside Piper. Since Sullivan was otherwise occupied, he took advantage of this time together to investigate just how serious his friend and this woman might be.
“You seem pretty close with Sullivan,” he said, taking a sip from the bottle of beer he held and watching her cheeks flush.
“We’ve spent a fair amount of time together.”
Her cryptic answer made him want to push harder. “Playing it close to the vest, I see.”
“Not really,” she said, her eyes flashing at him. “Sullivan and I met through our mutual friends. We hit it off. We’ve enjoyed hanging out.”
Zane got to the point of their conversation. “He seems to be reluctant to go back to New York.”
She drew in a quick breath and shook her head. “We’ve grown on each other, but we’re from very different worlds. Sullivan is creative and has an important job back in New York. That’s home to him. He travels internationally and has an apartment overlooking Central Park.”
Piper gave him a sad smile. “I’m a homebody who never finished college, looking for a job. We know there’s never going to be anything permanent between us. We’re just having fun, Zane. I’m sure you can relate to that.”
He hadn’t known she was a college dropout.
While he knew college wasn’t for everyone, it surprised him that Sullivan had invested time in Piper.
Yet he saw her appeal. She was a very pretty woman, enthusiastic and sweet-natured.
It was almost as if her years away from the Bay hadn’t touched the small-town girl, and she had remained true to her roots.
“I’ve never seen him this way. He cares for you, Piper.”