After Us (Next Generation #6) - J.M. Walker Page 0,76
her cheek and placed a soft peck on her mouth. “I thought this would be easier. They never tell you how hard love can be. My parents never taught me this shit.”
Piper laughed lightly. “Neither did mine. My parents had it hard in the beginning. My mom told me. I’m sure most parents don’t talk about that.” She looked at me then. “They probably want their kids thinking they had the happiest of marriages and so on. But not mine. They wanted to be honest with me. They just never said how hard it could be.”
“I want to finish reading the letter.”
Her breath hitched. She handed it to me. “You can finish it on your own if you want. I just go on to tell you that I love you.”
Holding the letter tight in my hands, I continued reading it. She was right. Her words proved how upset and hurt she was. Nothing I didn’t already know was in it. She went on to say how she loved me and couldn’t wait to see me. The letter ended with her saying that she would never send me the letter but would wait for me to read it when I got out of jail. She had also promised in it that she would show me that we were meant to be together and she also thanked me for saving her life.
I placed the letter on the coffee table and pulled her against me. Petting my hand over her head, I kissed her temple. No words passed between us. We just sat there in silence. But the words from her letter dug into my heart, threatening to rip it out and stomp all over my feelings for her. She thought I would be mad. No. I wasn’t mad. Not in the least. In fact, I was almost relieved. Relieved that it wasn’t just me second-guessing everything. Our love for each other was very real but everything else made me question whether we were strong enough to get through this.
My phone buzzed, vibrating on the coffee table in front of us but I never moved to answer it.
“You going to get that?” Piper asked softly.
“No. They can wait.” I kissed her head. “This is more important.”
My phone buzzed again, the person who was calling, clearly not getting the hint.
Piper sighed, reaching for it and handing it to me. “Looks like someone wants to speak to you.” She stood, a cold draft suddenly billowing around me.
“Mercer,” I said, answering the phone.
When no response came, I frowned. “Hello?”
The call disconnected before I could demand to find out who it was.
I stood, following Piper into the kitchen. “Have you noticed anything weird while I was gone?”
“No.” She frowned. “You asked me this already.”
“I know. But I need you to think really hard.” I pulled out a chair from the dining room table and sat before patting my knees.
Piper came toward me and lowered herself onto my lap. “Did something happen?”
“People know who you are.” Even though it made sense that her name was out there, it still didn’t sit well with me.
“That’s not a good thing, is it?”
She was smart. Fucking hell. “No, baby.” I leaned my forehead against her chest. “It’s not.”
“What does it mean?” she asked, brushing her fingers through my hair at the back of my neck. “Should I be worried? I’ve stayed home and only went out if I had to. I know you were defending me but of course my name made the news. It’s why I don’t watch a lot of TV. I didn’t want to see it and be constantly reminded of that night.”
“I get that.” My head snapped up. “But you let me do the worrying. You hear me?”
Piper slid off my lap and began pacing.
“What is it?” My heart picked up speed the longer she didn’t answer me.
“I remember seeing something odd when I was at the grocery store before you came home. I didn’t think anything of it but now, it makes sense.” She stopped, facing me. “There were a couple of women standing by the produce section. They were whispering and looking at me when I walked by with Brynlee. I don’t know what they were talking about, but they kept staring at me. So they were obviously talking about me. But I’ve never seen Price around. It was in the news a few times that he was taking a vacation or a break from politics. I didn’t know you could do that while being