Page 75 of The Weekend Crashers
“Can this wait a few hours?” she says.
Hannah Elise runs her hand through her mass of loose curls, looking at her with doe eyes and saying something about not sure if she can get a train ticket for later in the day and her return trip tomorrow is too late. “I’m so sorry, Belinda. I just hate my day job so much and this is a bigopportunity for me. And I don’t expect to get paid for the weekend, obviously.”
The money is the least of Belinda’s concerns. Hannah Elise has two workshops left on the schedule. Belinda has a thought: Maggie Hodges. She did a fine job teaching the bachelors’ intro class. She was patient, methodical and inventive with her troubleshooting tips. And Belinda liked the way she made a point to show how a mistake could, in a different pattern, turn out to be a useful technique.
Belinda can really use Maggie’s creative problem-solving right about now.
Piper walks along Main Street, the bustling and vibrant brick paths dusted with gold and crimson leaves fluttering from old maples and oaks. The door to a nearby bakery is propped open, and she smells cinnamon and freshly brewed coffee. The contrast between the bucolic town and her state of mind is jarring.
She keeps mentally replaying the scene with Gretchen, who looked at her with disgust.Your face! Is that why you’ve been ignoring my messages? If so, you should have just told me. I wasted a whole day coming up here.
People stroll along the sidewalks, wrapped in cozy scarves and wool coats. The rhythmic clink of bicycles passing by reminds her to pay attention, not to get completely lost in her thoughts. She walks past the canal, water reflecting the amber hues of the trees that line the banks. A street vendor calls out to her, trying to sell her on caramel apples, warm cider and jars of local honey. Piper stops for a cider.
She turns left, onto the street with the vintage shop. The familiar path reminds her of how she felt two days earlier when Gretchen first left a voicemail. Arguably, Piper is in a betterplace now, forty-eight hours later. She’s been honest with herself and with Maggie. She ended her business relationship with Gretchen. So why doesn’t she feel more relieved? She sits on a wrought-iron bench across the street from the vintage shop. She’s wearing the Doc Martens Maggie bought for her. And she regrets her harsh words during the argument back at the inn. She knows her mother isn’t trying to control her life. She was just lashing out because of the pressure she put onherselfto make her mother’s years of sacrifice worthwhile.
She checks her phone and sees a missed call from Ethan. They haven’t spoken since their awkward conversation last night about Cole. She tries him back and is relieved when he answers.
“Hey—sorry I missed your call,” she says.
“No problem, but I’m on the subway so I might lose you,” he says.
“I miss you too,” she says quickly, then realizes that’s not what he said.
“You doing all right?”
“I’m fine,” she says unconvincingly. Then she tells him about Gretchen’s surprise appearance, and quitting, and the confrontation with her mother. But she feels bad telling him about the fight with her mother since he’s been knocking her all weekend.
“I’m proud of you.”
“For what?”
“Making your own decisions. Living your own life.”
“I was mean to my mom.”
“Piper, I’m sure you weren’t. Telling her something she doesn’t agree with isn’t being mean. Having boundaries isn’t mean. You were just speaking your truth.”
She looks around. Couples push strollers and college kids are taking videos and a guy on a bike is decked out in gearlike he’s peddling in the Tour de France. And she thinks, sure, Ethan applauds her truth when it’s directed at Gretchen and Maggie. But how much would he like it if she vented her frustration withhim?
“Ethan, did you change your mind about us planning a future together?”
“Why would you ask that?”
Should she admit to finding the ring? Not now. Not on the phone. So instead, she says something else that’s bothering her. “I’ve felt really disconnected from you all weekend.”
“Is that why you’re hanging out with that guy Cole?”
Piper feels bad he’d even think to ask that. “Absolutely not.”
He’s quiet. Doesn’t he trust her?
She swallows hard. Everything in her life feels uncertain. She’d thought two things were rock solid: her relationship with her mother and her future with Ethan. Now that foundation seems cracked.
“Ethan?” The call’s been dropped. They’ve lost their connection.
Literally.
Maggie waits impatiently for Hannah Elise to show up for the Fair Isle Hap workshop.
