Page 10 of Tyler

“I loved him. There was no way I’d leave,” she said, remembering Zane’s expression when she’d told him that after he’d tried to be stoic and break it off with her.

“He was a lucky man, unlike my brother,” Rylee said, anger sparkling in her eyes.

Piper narrowed her gaze. “What do you mean?”

And which brother? Gabe or Ty? Or perhaps a different one, she wanted to ask but didn’t.

“When Ty was in his hospital bed, busted up and on the verge of being booted out of the Navy, his fiancée finally showedup, but not to comfort him. No, she stopped by to give him back his ring. Can you believe that?”

“What?” Piper blinked and worked to catch her breath that had suddenly gone shallow. The woman left him at the lowest point in his life?Poor Ty.Tears sprang to her eyes, but she blinked them away. He wouldn’t want pity. “Why would she do that?”

It just didn’t compute.

“Because she’s a bitch,” Mel answered before Rylee could.

Stef nodded. “Absolutely.”

“For sure,” Christa stated.

Abby frowned. “With a capital B.”

“Yeah, she’s a big bitch,” Rylee grumbled. “Ty said at least it’d happened before he was tied to her.”

Piper agreed, but she knew there was still pain behind his words.

“For sure,” Christa repeated.

“What can we do to help him feel better?” Stef asked the question that had rolled through Piper’s head, but she’d refused to voice lest they’d jump back to suggesting she was the answer.

“What about rescue work?” Abby asked. “The shelter is always looking for volunteers. Or maybe the sanctuary could use a hand.”

Brandi and her husband, Kade, owned the shelter. Piper helped out there several days a week. She especially loved the cats, and if she’d had her own place, she would’ve adopted a few by now.

As for the sanctuary, she hadn’t volunteered there yet but was looking forward to it in the future.

“The shelter is gearing up for another adoption event for Valentine’s Day,” Mel said.

Rylee’s face brightened. “I bet Ty would like to help. I’ll have Lyndsey suggest it. He’s not going to turn her down.”

“Not unless he’s stupid.” Mel grinned. “And we just established he’s smart.”

“Then it’s settled.” Rylee sat up straight. “We’ll get him to volunteer and maybe working with the animals that are thrown into a new chapter in their lives will help him to cope, too.”

Piper blew out a breath and smiled, happy they’d tabled the notion that she was Ty’s answer to happiness.

The guy needed to make peace with himself and his situation before he could truly open up to a relationship.

Piper knew this because she was just like him, floundering in a new town, with a new job, trying to find her footing. She had to face a few realities before even thinking about letting a man into her life.

Not that she was interested in starting a relationship with anyone, not even her sexy neighbor that her fingers itched to capture on canvas. No. She had her own self-reflection to do, and she knew it was going to cause her to open up and feel things she’d buried for years.

But she was finally ready.

She was also ready for more donuts.

Piper reached for another and caught Rylee grinning at her. “Sharing coffee in the morning is nice. Thanks for inviting me. And I know my building is a little further away, but I hope you’ll let me host a week ofcoffee morningsonce the gallery is renovated.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

---