Page 64 of Definitely (Maybe) Dating
Talk about crushing his heart. He knew his mom was stuck somewhere between denial and anger on the steps of grief. Her sons had moved on to acceptance, but Margo felt as if she’d been left behind.
“You know that’s not true,” he said, and Margo looked up. “I’m fighting to get Dad’s good name back, Owen’s running the bar, Rhett is doing what Dad wanted for him. And Clay? Dad would have lost his mind to see Clay play for the Seahawks. Don’t you see everything we do is somehow connected to Dad and doing right by his memory.”
“Maybe I do need to let go a little. I just don’t know how.”
“How about with this event? I met the girl who painted the garage door. She’s pretty special. Strong-minded and tough, and just needs someone to give a damn.”
Very much like another feisty female he knew, who had left the veranda and disappeared into the house. He knew she was nervous and irritated at his mom, and rightfully so. Margo had been a pill, and Piper had managed her with class.
He lowered his voice but stressed the immediacy of the moment. “I need you to vote in favor of this.”
Margo let out a suffocated breath. “As long as it’s tasteful art and not stolen road signs with graffiti.”
18
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Twenty minutes later,Josh found Piper in the kitchen, elbow deep in a sink of dishes. She was wearing black ankle boots, matching black pants that hugged her body to perfection, and a pretty yellow top, which reminded him of a pretty yellow thong.
Her hair was twisted up in an intentionally messy knot, leaving her neck—and that tattoo—exposed. He wasn’t sure what was more of a turn on, the tattoo or the mystery behind it.
He walked up behind her, his arms circling her waist. At the touch, Piper tensed as if startled. It was a brief, instinctual reaction to being caught off guard, but it told him another part of her story. A part that made his chest ache.
“Are you a Christmas fan?”
“Christmas?”
“The F. Fa la la?” he teased.
She laughed, but it was half-hearted. And he hated that. “Forget about it.”
“Can’t.” He nuzzled the back of her neck. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t take her attention off the dishes. “Patricia from the catering company was telling me how one of her servers called in sick, so I’m helping out.”
“Helping out or hiding out?”
“Maybe a little of both,” she said quietly. Her body was tense, nerves rolling off her in waves.
At the unexplainable need to sooth her, Josh curled his body around her like a shield. “My family is a lot to take in.”
“I figured that out.”
He feathered a kiss at the base of her neck, then rolled up his sleeves, grabbed a dish towel and started drying the clean dishes. She gawked at him as if he’d morphed into some kind of alien. “What are you doing?”
“Didn’t you hear? Patricia’s short-staffed.”
She reached for the rag, and he held it above his head. “Seriously, you don’t have to help.”
When she lowered her arm, he went back to drying. “You’re not the only person who likes to help people.”
Except, she didn’t only help people—she changed lives and she didn’t boast about it, like people in his office would. She actually made an impact on the same communities Josh had become a lawyer to protect. But since meeting Piper and Rebecca, he had begun to wonder if maybe he was missing the bigger picture.
He hadn’t busted his ass to be an errand boy to a mayor who believed Josh’s time was expendable. And throwing back a few with a guy who believed he was entitled to a different set of rules was as bad as being one of those entitled guys. Even more irritating, for all his diplomas and contacts, Josh had been acting like an idiot.
She stopped and looked him in the eye. “Please tell me the apple fell far, far from the Easton tree.”
Without wavering, he said, “I won’t make excuses for the way my mom behaves. She changed after my dad passed, and then when Kyle died it got worse.” He shook his head. “She gave in to the anger and loss.”
