One Summer in Santa Fe - By Molly Evans Page 0,60

it.”

Taylor glanced down at the cake. “I was going to throw it out. Doesn’t seem like it’s edible anymore.”

“Letting cake go to waste stinks.” Alex watched as Taylor tossed the cake into the trash and bundled it up to take outside. “You miss her, don’t you?” he asked, wiser than his years.

“Yeah, but your mom will be home soon. She’s healing well.”

“I meant Piper.” He shrugged and looked away from Taylor. “I miss her, too. She’s cool.” He returned to the living room and turned off the television.

Unable to speak through the lump in his throat, Taylor took the bag of trash to the Dumpster outside. He needed a moment alone to collect his thoughts, which had scattered at Alex’s insightful statement.

The night sky had pushed daylight away. The stars, so visible in the high desert sky, popped out here and there, as if waiting for someone to see them. The sight, the beauty of the night sky, the loneliness of it, left a hole in his chest. This beauty had once been enough to fill him. Now he knew better. Piper was the one who had filled him, completed him, and Alex was right.

He missed her. Commitment and responsibility no longer seemed to be things that interfered with his life, but things that he needed and wanted in his life. Like Piper.

Piper packed up her unappealing lunch of leftover tuna salad and tossed it into the trash. She had a few more days to explore Santa Fe before her contract extension began. Surely there were wonderful places to eat, exotic foods to try, retail therapy to be done. Determined now not to waste her time off, she grabbed her keys, her purse and opened the door.

Taylor stood there with his hand raised. “Uh, hello.”

“Hello.” She paused. He looked as yummy as ever, but his eyes were as wary as her heart felt. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk to you.” He lowered his hand to his side and shoved it into his trouser pocket. He was dressed casually, as if he were on the way to the golf course.

“I was just about to go out for lunch.” That was direct without being rude, wasn’t it? If he didn’t want to join her it was an automatic excuse to leave. She wasn’t testing him so much as giving him an opportunity to step up to the plate.

“Mind if I join you? I’d like to talk.”

Looking into his eyes, she couldn’t say no and a flutter of relief swept through her. He’d been through hell the last week or so with his sister’s accident and continued care of Alex. He probably hadn’t had a decent meal in that time, either. Green chile cheese fries were great, but it wasn’t sustainable nutrition for anyone. Who was she to deny him a good meal now? “Sure.”

“Where were you going?” he asked, and led her to his car.

“Nowhere special. I was just going to drive around until I found a place that looked good or I was too hungry to care what the food was like.” Now, with him so close, her appetite for food had fled somewhat.

Taylor gave a quiet chuckle. “Let me take you to my favorite lunch spot.” He started the car and headed out into the steady flow of traffic.

“I thought that was the hospital cafeteria,” she said with a teasing arch to her brows. The banter between them felt like old times, but with a certain amount of strain that just didn’t feel right. Maybe there was no going back to what might have been between them.

“Hardly. This is a hallmark of Santa Fe. The original inn was built 400 years ago when this area was settled. The food there is outstanding and the atmosphere is whatever you need it to be.”

“Take me to it.”

After a short, quiet drive, Taylor parked and escorted her into a hacienda, a pueblo-style, wooden-beamed and stucco building that looked as if it had once been a private home on the outskirts of town. Gardens and private terraces offered a sense of privacy for a number of tables and the waiter led them to one of these secluded alcoves. Alone and nervous now, Piper took a seat. If they had still been lovers, this table for two surrounded by a tall fence veiled in lush ivy would have been a perfect place for a romantic rendezvous. But now she didn’t know what they were, and the scene lost its charm. They ordered