coming up. But first we have to go to the grocery store.”
“Can we get gummy bears?” she asked excitedly.
“I think we can pull that off.”
They drove to the grocery store. Sophie was singing along to the radio.
“I’m just going to make a quick call.” Piper stepped outside the truck and called Harley.
“Hey, Trig. Miss me?”
How can I miss you when I’ve done nothing but think about you? She decided to skip over his question. “Hi. I’m at the grocery store with Soph, and she asked if we could get hair dye for crazy-hair day at school. I wasn’t sure if Delaney would mind.”
“Nah, she’s cool. They did that last year. I think Jolie had pink streaks for a week.”
She looked in the truck window at Sophie, who was fiddling with the radio, and said, “Great. Are you okay? You didn’t fall and mess up your other ankle or anything, did you?”
He chuckled. “Not yet, but my ass has a nice bruise on it. It might need some attention tonight.”
“And that’s my cue to end this call.”
“Why? Because now you’re thinking about my ass?”
“Goodbye, Harley,” she said, humored by the big lug’s cockiness.
“Hey, Pipe?”
“What? And no, I won’t massage your ass.”
“Sure you will.”
“Goodbye, Harley.”
“Wait!”
“Harley! You have ten seconds. I’m on a tight schedule, and Sophie’s waiting.”
“Give Soph a squeeze from her uncle Harley, and I just wanted to tell you that Jiggs missed you today.”
She felt herself smiling.
“And I might have, too,” he added.
Her stomach flip-flopped as it had that morning when he’d said he didn’t want to cockblock her from himself. Darn it. She couldn’t afford to be flustered when she was with Sophie. “You’re just bored. I’m glad you’re doing okay, though.”
“Well, other than a certain throbbing appendage—”
“Harley!”
He laughed and said, “I meant my ankle. Damn, Trig, get your mind out of the gutter.”
“That’s a little hard to do when you can’t keep your clothes on!”
“I knew you thought about me all day.”
“Ugh!” She ended the call and shoved her phone in her pocket. Maybe she’d meet the guys at the pub tonight after all. It was either that or deal with a roller coaster of emotions that made her want to smack—and kiss—Harley.
When Piper grocery shopped for herself, it took ten minutes and her list was only seven or eight items long. She and Sophie shopped for almost an hour and bought six bags of groceries. Sophie was a great helper, checking items off their list and chatting the entire time, which was a lot more fun than Piper’s solo trips—and a great way to keep Piper’s mind too busy to think about Harley’s confessions.
When they arrived at Chapter One, Aurelia’s bookstore, Aurelia was ringing up a customer. Aurelia had purchased the Harmony Pointe bookstore last spring, and Piper and her crew had renovated it for her. The bookstore was thriving, and Piper was sure it had a lot to do with the literary-related events Aurelia held, like readings and children’s story times. Chapter One had a warm and welcoming vibe. Aurelia and Willow had partnered to bring books into Willow’s bakery and baked items into the bookstore, and Aurelia had decorated each area of the store to match the genre it housed. The children’s section boasted a large mural, and the classics section was decorated with ornate moldings, rough-hewn wooden shelves, and antique furniture. Even the reference and nonfiction areas carried their own theme—classic library style with heavy wooden furniture and leather reading chairs.
“Soph, why don’t you go pick out a book for yourself, and I’ll see if I can find one for your mom,” Piper suggested.
“Okay.” Sophie waved to Aurelia as she passed the register.
Piper headed for the romance section, stopping on her way to look through a display of journals. She had kept a diary when she was younger, and she wondered if that might be something Jolie would like. It might give her a private place to vent. She wasn’t sure what Jolie’s favorite color was, so she chose a simple red leather diary with a heart-shaped lock, and then she went in search of a book for Delaney.
Piper scanned the titles, though she had no way of evaluating them because she didn’t read romance. That was Bridgette’s thing.
“Uh-oh,” Aurelia said as she approached, looking cute in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that had REAL-LIFE WIFE. FICTIONAL POLYGAMIST written across the chest. “Piper Dalton in the romance section. Has hell frozen over?”
“Possibly. There’s some strange shit going on in my life right