Page 40 of The Weekend Crashers
“Does Grandpa know about this?”
“Not yet. But you know your grandfather; he loves to mix things up.”
Cole narrows his eyes. “Dad. You better not be trying to set me up with someone. Because I will save you a lot of trouble and tell you that is not happening.” Then, something seems to dawn on him. He looks at him closely. “Unless... you’re settingyourselfup. And you need me as your wingman. In which case—no problem.”
“Absolutely not,” Aidan says, starting to get annoyed. He knows Cole is probably just teasing him, but it makes him uncomfortable. Even if he did find Maggie Hodges attractive—which, objectively she is—he wouldn’t be so tasteless as to pick up a woman at his nephew’s bachelor party. He has discipline when it comes to his personal life. Unlike his son, apparently.
He feels a tug on his line and gives a subtle pull to set the hook. Once he reels the fish from the water, he sees it’s a brown trout, its shimmering body a blur of golden-hued spotsand stripes. Aidan admires it for half a minute before gently releasing it back into the river.
“No one’s setting anyone up,” he says. “I just thought a friendly competition would lighten the mood.”
Cole raises an eyebrow. “Sure, Dad. Let me know if Grandpa buys that.”
Chapter Twenty
After lunch, Maggie drives Piper to the wilderness clearing where Aidan told them to meet. The ground is covered with a mix of rust- and gold-colored leaves freshly fallen from the towering hardwoods surrounding the clearing. Oaks, maples and birches line the edges, their branches half bare.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Piper said. “It makes me realize we don’t fully experience autumn in the city. At least, not like this.”
Maggie feels the warmth of contentment rush through her.
The air is crisp and carries the earthy aroma of damp leaves mixed with the faint sweetness of ripe wild berries that dot the undergrowth. In the center of the clearing, wild grasses and late-season wildflowers like goldenrod and asters sway gently. A white-tailed deer stands nearby, cautiously observing.
“So how do we find him?” Piper says, hands on her hips as she surveys the area.
“He dropped a pin,” Maggie says, squinting at her phone screen in the bright sun. “But now I think we’re walking in the wrong direction.”
Piper reaches for Maggie’s phone.
“Let me help. Why didn’t we plan to meet him outside the inn and follow in our own car?”
“Because they had to meet up with the others first,” Maggie says.
“Who’sthey?”
“Aidan and his son.”
Piper puts the phone down to her side and looks at her. “What son? You didn’t say anything about a son.”
“Say anything? You agreed to this so fast this morning I couldn’t get a word in if I’d tried.”
It was true. And by the time they were immersed in their first knitting workshop, it slipped her mind. Before she can explain this, she spots Aidan. He’s with a tall, good-looking young man with sandy-brown hair. His son? The young guy smiles at Piper as if he knows her. When they get closer, Piper says, “What areyoudoing here?” She’s unmistakably pleased.
“You two know each other?” Maggie glances at Aidan. Is Aidan in on this? Is it some sort of setup after all? But no, he seems surprised too.
“We met yesterday,” Cole says.
“Twice,” says Piper, and they recount a story of Cole borrowing her phone. “Your cheek looks better, by the way,” Piper says.
He replies with some sort of inside joke, and Piper laughs. How can they have an inside joke already? Somehow, Piper had a whole new friend she knew nothing about. A handsome young man. Ethan wouldn’t be happy. Although she has no doubt Piper’s interest in this young man, however attractive, is strictly platonic.
“So what’s the plan here?” Maggie says.
“The plan is, we have two hours to see how far we can get building a shelter. It’s a competition—the rest of our group is paired up. The team who gets the most done during the allotted time wins.”
“So... the rest of the bachelor party is teamed up and you two have... us?” Piper says. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re gonna lose.”
“Piper! What kind of attitude is that?” Maggie says. “We’ve got this.”
