One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,45

it. I let myself take what you had to offer for a time, but I know it was just a fantasy, not real life. I want more than that. I need more than what I think you’re willing to give to a relationship. Really, Taylor, our lifestyles are so not suited for each other, it’s not funny.”

Taylor remained silent, but his eyes smoldered with anger.

“See? You can’t deny it.” She took a backward step toward the door and pulled out her car keys. “I think I need to go now. It’s better for both of us this way, Taylor.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Really.”

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Alex?” he asked as he turned away from her.

“’Bye, Alex!” she called.

“See you later,” he called back.

“That’s not what I meant. You need to tell him you’re not coming back.”

Opening her mouth to protest, she knew he was right. It wouldn’t be fair to Alex otherwise. “Fine.” She strode past him into the living area where Alex was playing his game.

Taylor watched as she stooped down beside him. By the shocked expression on Alex’s face, she was indeed saying goodbye, to both of them.

“But I don’t want you to go,” Alex said.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I have to. Your mom’s coming back and you won’t need me anymore.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry.” She reached out and pulled him into a fierce embrace, leaving both of them with tears on their faces, and the knife that had twisted in Taylor’s heart shoved deeper.

This wasn’t what he wanted. Wasn’t what Alex wanted, obviously. Telling himself that he hadn’t used her to help him with Alex, he took a step forward, then stopped. Dammit, he hadn’t used her, but she’d been seriously helpful to him with Alex. He scrubbed his hand over his face, trying not to think too hard, but that was impossible right now. He wasn’t about to reach out to her again when she’d made up her mind. He watched as she ran out the door.

Alex rushed over to him. “She said she’s leaving.”

“Yeah, I know.” He gripped his jaw shut.

“Did you have a fight? Mom and Dad fight sometimes.” He looked down.

“No. Sometimes things just don’t work out between adults, Alex.”

“I like her.”

“Me, too.”

“I’m gonna miss her.”

Pain squeezed his chest as he reached out to Alex’s shoulder, needing that connection with family. “Me, too.”

Piper drove away from Taylor’s house, then pulled over to a side street and stopped the car under a lamppost. Covering her face with her hands, she cried. Over and over she’d told herself, Taylor wasn’t right for her, wasn’t the one she would be able to have a long-term relationship with. Unfortunately, her heart hadn’t listened.

She plucked several tissues from a box sitting on the passenger seat and covered her face with them. The pain behind her eyes was so sharp that she thought she’d faint from it.

“Dammit,” she cursed aloud. Once again, she’d done it. Set aside her own life to help someone else in need. Taylor had needed help, and she’d served herself up on a silver platter. Was she the ultimate enabler or what? Maybe she needed a counselor to figure out why she did things like this. Was he right? Was she afraid to live life, to reach out and really take what life had to offer, the consequences be damned? No. She couldn’t do it. The responsibility gene was deeply rooted inside her, and she couldn’t just let it go.

She sighed, then took a few deep breaths. She liked people, she liked helping them through difficult times, whether that was an illness, an injury, or a personal crisis. All kinds of people needed all kinds of help. And it helped keep her from thinking of how much help she needed in her own life.

Drying her tears, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes until the pain in her head subsided enough for her to drive home. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God. She was so stupid! Taylor and Alex were something that she craved so desperately. Or at least what they represented. She wanted a family, needed to belong, wanted all the complications that having a family required, and would cherish every minute of being a wife and a mother. Good times and bad. That’s what families were for, right?

Alex’s mother was going to come back, so he wasn’t going to need Piper. Taylor was going to move on to another woman, so he obviously wasn’t going to need her,