She gazed down at him and pulled the blanket over his chest, letting her hand linger there, feeling his heart beat against her palm. Harley Dutch, what are you doing to me?
He shifted, and she snapped her hand away, feeling like she’d been caught with it in a cookie jar as his eyes fluttered open and his lips curved up.
“You know I love you, right, Pipe?” he said groggily.
She swallowed hard, knowing it was the medication talking, and stood stock-still as his eyes closed. She exhaled with relief.
Those pain pills were going to kill her before Harley even had a chance to heal. She just knew it.
CHAPTER FOUR
THERE WERE THINGS Piper had always counted on, like her family having her back, work bringing more satisfaction than any man ever had, and her younger sister Willow’s baked goods making everything in life seem better. She was exhausted after staying up all night wondering why she’d been attracted to Harley, and as she climbed from her truck and headed for the back door to the bakery, she was counting on the promise the baked goods held.
As she pulled open the door, country music and the scent of sugary goodness wafted out of the kitchen, easing her tension. The counters were covered with cooling racks filled with baked goods. The work space in the middle of the kitchen was littered with bowls and baking accouterments. Willow stood at the counter across the room with her back to Piper, talking on her cell phone. Her thick blond hair hung in a pretty braid down her back. A sense of comfort embraced Piper. She had breakfast with Willow several times most weeks before work, and today it was exactly what she needed to remind herself of her own reality. What she felt last night for Harley wasn’t reality. It was guilt, or empathy for his being hurt. But it wasn’t real.
Willow turned and held up a finger, listening to whoever was on the phone. She looked cute in cutoffs and a long-sleeved shirt. She had a body like Marilyn Monroe and was the curviest of her sisters, while Piper had a body more like Kristen Bell before she had babies.
Willow mouthed, I’ll be right off. Then she turned around and continued working at the counter. She spoke so softly into the phone, Piper couldn’t make out anything she said. There was a time when Piper had wished for all the things her sisters had that she didn’t, like Willow’s voluptuous body and overly peppy outlook, Talia’s height and academic prowess, and Bridgette’s sweet, patient demeanor and ability to talk anyone off a ledge. But those desires had waned around the same time Piper had realized she needed to be in control of her own well-being. She’d not only accepted her thin straight hair, narrow, boyish hips, small breasts, and enjoyment of working with her hands, but she’d embraced them all. She imagined it was easier to be taken seriously when men weren’t ogling her body and trying her patience. She liked things just as they were.
Or at least she had until her siblings had each fallen in love, leaving Piper as the last unspoken-for Dalton. She told herself she wanted it that way, but her crew’s comments had drudged up the insecurities she’d been trying to ignore. The time with Harley had magnified all of it, leaving her even more confused.
Willow ended her call and spun around with a plate of baked goods in her hands. She arrived at the bakery most mornings between four thirty and five o’clock to start baking for the day. “Bridgette texted and said you SOS’d her, needing advice about Harley and his nieces, so I made you all your favorites.” She put the plate on the counter between them and pushed it across to Piper.
Piper tried not to drool over the pastries: a Boston cream doughnut, a cinnamon roll, and a chocolate croissant with powdered sugar on top. “You’re a goddess!” She grabbed the doughnut and took a big bite. Sweet chocolate and creamy custard melted in her mouth as Bridgette came through the door.
“Sorry I’m late.” She put her purse on a chair and said, “I see Willow hooked you up. I texted Talia, Aurelia, and Remi last night, but Talia and Aurelia were both slammed this morning, and Remi and Mason left for the city last night.”
“I don’t need the cavalry. I just need a little advice.” Piper took another bite of the doughnut, then carried the