Page 87 of Forty and Fighting Dirty
That was Piper’s fault too. I’d gotten so used to being myself around her that now I didn’t know how I was supposed to act around everyone else. I took a deep breath and tried again, and this time my smile was a little easier, but it still felt entirely false.
“Hairball,” I explained.
“Oh no!” Erin took the carrier from me and waved me into the back. She set the cat carrier on a stainless steel table, opened the door, and gently coaxed the cat out with littlepss-pss-pssnoises. “Let’s have a little look, shall we?”
“I’ll sit out front,” I said. “I’ve got emails.”
“Sure,” she said. “Shouldn’t be long!”
I slumped into a chair near the front door and pulled out my phone. I’d meant to start tackling the rest of my inbox, but my fingers brought me right back to Piper’s email. A personal day, she said. She’d be back in tomorrow. I read the words a hundred times, trying to glean their hidden meaning. What was she trying to tell me?
It was impossible to do any real work. Every time I tried to focus on procurement or a new quote or one of the thousand tasks that were waiting for my attention, I just kept thinking about Piper.
She’d denied her connection to me when her ex questioned her. That stung. That was yet another rejection, and I couldn’t handle rejection. That was why I worked so damn hard to be the man everyone wanted me to be.
My heart squeezed so tight I could hardly breathe. The airin the veterinarian’s clinic was close and hot. I tried to inhale, but all I smelled was pet food and antiseptic and dog. I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes and tried not to let myself be swept up in the hurt of Piper’s denial.
When I’d told her I wanted her to be my girlfriend, she’d been more worried about what her sons would think. And then she’d denied it flat out when her ex asked. And why was her ex at her house, anyway? After everything she’d told me, she shouldn’t have let him in the front door.
My leg was jumping up and down, and I couldn’t take the heat and the smell and the cheerful sound of Erin talking to my cat. I leaped to my feet and shouldered my way through the door, gulping down the sharp, cold air of the outdoors.
“Rhett!”
I opened my eyes. Dave stood before me, wearing a navy beanie and a puffy black jacket. He pushed the edge of his beanie up with a gloved hand as he came to a stop in front of me. “Hey there,” he said. “Everything all right?”
“Just fine, Dave. Everything’s just fine.”
He grunted, pinching his lips in sympathy. “I’m guessing this has to do with Piper leaving, huh?”
My gaze sharpened.
He blew out a breath. “I tell ya, I couldn’t believe it when she told me. A real shame, especially after all the good work she’s done. Ollie told me the lodge is looking fantastic.”
I held up my hands. “What are you talking about?”
He blinked. “Oh. I didn’t—I thought…” He shook his head. “Gosh—I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Resisting the urge to grab him by the collar and shakeanswers out of him, I clenched my hands at my sides and spoke very slowly. “Start at the beginning. What’s this about Piper leaving?”
Dave put his hands up. His cheeks were pink from the cold, and his eyes were sad. “All I know is she came into the shop today asking about moving to California.”
“Moving to Cali—” I whirled toward my truck, then stopped and whirled back. “When? How? She can’t move to California! She works for me! Here! She works here! She lives here!”
Except I told her she’d have to leave her own home.
Icy cold panic brushed away the anger that had driven me so far. Suddenly, I saw the situation through fresh eyes.
Piper had been startled by her ex’s arrival, and she’d put her sons first. Nate told me she’d made her ex’s favorite dish—and it was his favorite too. He’d been so excited to see his dad. Piper would have wanted her boys to be happy, so she’d let him stay.
It had nothing to do with me.
When she’d denied being involved with me, it was because Nate and Alec were lingering within earshot. She wouldn’t want them to hear about our relationship that way. Hell,Ididn’t want them to hear about it that way. I loved those boys. I wanted them to love me back.
She’d been caught in a difficult situation, and instead of supporting her the way she needed, I’d turned on her. I’d told her that she had three months to stay in the house she adored.
I’d made her feel unsafe and alone and vulnerable—and I’d done it because that was how I felt.
Except I wasn’t a little boy who just wanted his mother’slove instead of her disdain. I wasn’t a young man who fell for the exact type of woman who would delight in exploiting all his vulnerabilities.
