One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,35

“You probably ought to go home. I’m not good company in any case. I’m sorry. This was a bad idea.”

“It’s okay. I always carry spare sweats in my car. I’ll change, too, then we’ll talk.”

Minutes later, both back in casual attire, Piper poured large steaming mugs of coffee for both of them. Curling herself into a corner of the couch and tucking her bare feet beneath her, she waited for Taylor to join her. “This wasn’t the ending of the night I had hoped for.”

“Me, either. But at least your eyes didn’t go crossed tonight, right?” he asked, trying to tease a smile out of her.

It worked, and her lips curved upward, but the movement evaporated quickly. “You’re right. I just wish that phone call had come a day later.”

Taylor could imagine. He’d rather have had Piper in his arms all night long while they discovered pleasurable moments. One afternoon of intimacy with her wasn’t going to be enough. She had invaded his day, as well as his night dreams, and he’d woken up in a sweat more than once in the last week. She’d had a more profound effect on him than any other woman he’d been with. Normally, he would have escaped that sort of entanglement quickly, but for now it worked.

“So tell me why she’s leaving school for a man.” He sipped and watched.

Piper heaved out a sigh and focused on the rim of her cup. “She met this guy, Eduardo something-or-another the first day there. He’s got big dreams of having his own restaurant, apparently comes from a family with their own, so he thinks he knows it all already. He’s also abandoned school to jump in with both feet. She must really be smitten to go this far overboard.” Piper covered her face with her hand. “It wasn’t what they wanted.”

Confused, Taylor frowned. “What who wanted?”

“Our parents.” Piper sighed and looked up at him. “I made a promise when they died that I would see Elizabeth through school and set her up where she can be independent, where she’ll have an education and won’t be living in the gutter.”

“You made a promise or they made you promise?”

“I made the promise. They were already dead by then.” She shivered at the power of the memory.

“What happened?” Taylor reached over and placed a hand on her leg in silent support.

“They were killed in a car accident. Eight years ago on the way back from their second honeymoon.” Piper’s lower lip trembled a second as she spoke, then seemed to gain control of herself again.

“I’m so sorry, Piper.” He moved closer to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him for a moment, seeming to draw strength from the connection with his body, then straightened.

“So am I.” The pain in her whisper said it all.

“You’ve been the strong one your entire adult life, haven’t you?”

“I’ve had to be. There was just the two of us, three including Aunt Ida.”

“It’s made you stronger than I think you know.”

“Our lives would have been completely different if they hadn’t died then.”

“You’ve been raising your sister this whole time?” That amazed Taylor. Piper couldn’t have been more than a child herself, and then to have that responsibility thrust on her, as well as losing her parents. His respect for Piper jumped several notches. She was one tough woman. Taylor looked at his watch that still ticked down the minutes and seconds of his time with Alex. “I can barely deal with my nephew for six weeks and you’ve had the responsibility of actually raising your sister for, what, eight years now?”

“Me and Aunt Ida. My mom’s sister. We lived with her while Elizabeth was in high school, and I was off on assignments earning money to keep her there and pay the mortgage. My parents didn’t have a guardianship set up, so when they died it fell to me by default as her closest living relative. I was of legal age. Just graduated from nursing school. There was no way I could just hand my sister over to the state, so for me there was no choice in the matter. Any plans I might have had came to a screeching halt.” All the fears she’d harbored over the years now came flooding back to her. She was older than Elizabeth, she was responsible. She’d had to make something of herself instantly so that her sister could, too. They had only each other as Aunt Ida was aging and