Piper (Queen's Birds of Prey #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,49

branches she’d put there were hollow, so the water could slowly flow out of them into the beautiful colored cups at the tip of each branch. She was almost afraid to turn it on, fearing it wasn’t going to work. Or worse yet, it wouldn’t be nearly as beautiful as she thought it would be. She wanted Grant to see it first.

Can you come out here please? I need you to see something. He asked her if she was all right. Yes. Just finished this, and I wanted you to see if it works with me. Unless you’re busy. I can understand that.

No, I’m not busy. He laughed. Do you have any idea how long you’ve been out there, love? She told him a few hours, at least. You’ve been there for three days. Three days. I talked to Remi about it, and she said I shouldn’t bother you, but to take you food out once in a while and make sure it was close enough for you to find. Then I was to leave. Right now, it’s three in the morning. I’m on my way.

No. It can wait. Grant told her it couldn’t. He wanted to see it as well. I’m so sorry about this. I had no idea. I’ve done this before, but I’ve usually been the only one that would be worried about me eating. I can’t wait for you to see this. I hope it turns out all right.

Grant smiled at her from the doorway. As he made his way to her, she noticed that he did look like he’d just gotten out of bed, and she hated even more that she had bothered him. He assured her that it was wonderful that she wanted him to come out.

“I’ve hooked up the water to it. I’m not sure how I did that, as I’ve never done anything like this before. But I guess I know enough.” Piper asked Grant to turn the water on. “But step back, so it doesn’t fall on you if it’s wrong.”

The water coming through the tubes was starting to spurt and make noises. Just as she was ready to turn it off, Grant told her to wait. There would be air in the lines. As the water began to reach the highest level, it started to flow over the glass cups just as she had imagined it.

“Piper, this is wonderful. The water, as it comes out, blends in with the glass perfectly. It reminds me of dew on the grass in the morning.” The sound was also just as she imagined it would be. Like the trickling stream they’d all played in as birds while with Dante. “This is magnificent. Thank you so much for sharing this with me first. I cannot believe how lovely this is. I hope you plan to put it in our front yard. This would be such an amazing piece of work.”

She was giddy with excitement. The fact that he loved it as much as she did only made her more excited to see what else she could do with working for her own pleasure. Glancing over at the birds she was doing, Piper knew she had only one more bird to do, and that was of herself. Even the castle was finished up.

“What is going on with this piece?” She walked over to where he was. There was a line that she’d been working on. The metal hadn’t been working the way she wanted it to, she told him. “What was the plan? Because I can see this working in a couple of things I have going right now. Remember me telling you about the things in my trunk? There were several tapestries that I would love to hang. If you’d not mind, I can make these into the perfect hangers.”

“Sure. I can even decorate the ends of them should you want. The ends will need to be fixed so that the hanging item doesn’t fall off the rod.” She picked up the longest one at about three feet. “These would work out well for them too, as they won’t rust or make any sort of marks on them. Thanks. I didn’t want to have to toss these out, and I love that idea.”

Grant told her what other things were in his trunk. When they made their way into the house, he showed her some of the things he didn’t understand. The book, handmade and full of recipes, was perfect for him. Dante had made