Page 8 of Playful Summer

“Are you okay?” Emiko whispers to me.

“I don’t understand how he found me. It’s not like Maine and Montana are close to each other.”

“Could he have talked to someone you know back in Maine?”

“I don’t know. I mean I had a few friends, but they knew about him and never would’ve told him where I went.”

Emiko frowns. “I don’t like him and the fact that he’s here. Maybe you should come and stay at the house with all of us until he leaves.”

“No. I’ll be fine. He’s never come to my house and I don’t think he’ll do that here.”

“You know you’re being stubborn, right? I bet Paxton would tell you that you need to be at the house.”

“Besides. I won’t put yours and Lukas’ babies in that kind of danger. He was never violent, but in case he is now? No way. Those babies are too important.”

“You wouldn’t be putting us in danger. No matter how crazy he is. You’d be safe. Now I’m worried about you being there alone. I don’t like it.” She frowns at me some more.

“You know if you keep frowning like that, you’re gonna get early wrinkles on your forehead.”

“You’re a pain in my ass, Piper.”

I stick my tongue out at her. From where we’re positioned, every once in a while I can see Paxton. It usually calms me to be able to see him. But this time I can see him talking to Marc and the look on Pax’s face isn’t a happy one. I watch him roll the cart that the dollhouse is on into his office. Marc turns away and walks over here.

“Can we have dinner tonight? I’ve really missed you,” Marc says to me.

“No. Remember the restraining order? You’re not supposed to be near me. I’d really like it if you’d leave. I don’t want to have to call the cops.”

“That’s not a problem. I know you didn’t mean it. Plus we’re in Montana. It’s not like it counts here.”

He’s definitely delusional, I know for a fact that the restraining order is endorsable in any state I go to. But I don’t really know what Marc is like. If he’s willing to come all the way to Montana from Maine and break the restraining order, what else is he capable of?

I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Paxton and his oldest brother Lukas walking towards us. What’s even better is they have a cop with them.

“Sir, you’re going to have to come with me,” the officer says to Marc.

“Why? I’m not breaking any laws and I’m not hurting anyone.”

Officer Jared Taylor shakes his head and pulls out a piece of paper.

“According to this, Miss Piper Daniels has a restraining order out on you. District of Maine,” Officer Taylor says to Marc.

Marc laughs. “That doesn’t apply here. Plus, it wasn’t a real restraining order.”

We’re all staring at Marc and the look on his face is telling us that he’s serious. And suddenly I’m afraid.

CHAPTER FIVE

Paxton

I want to punch Marc. Then I want to throw him out of the store and Wintervale. I’ve never known anyone like him, I don’t know if he’s serious or really thinks the restraining order is fake. But he looks like he’s serious. It’s making me want to wrap Piper in bubblewrap so that he can’t hurt her.

Sebastiano: Hey bro, so we’re on our way. Zio Enea, me, Giacomo, Lorenzo, Francesco, Celestino, Noah, Eros, Kostas, Artemis, Isabella and Giovanna. You’ll need to pick us up at the airport tonight. We’re headed to the airport now

Paxton: Are you sure you can all take time off?

Sebastiano: Family. See you soon

We met the Mancini, Bastianini, Nikolaidis and Athanasiou families earlier this year. Some of them were on a road trip andstopped in Wintervale. I never thought they would become part of our family, but that’s exactly what happened. It still amazes me. They showed up on the five year anniversary of losing our parents. And during that time, we gained more family than we could’ve imagined.

---