When in doubt, use the stuffed cat. Worked every time.
She seemed to calm down after that. But it had been short-lived, when Audrey had mentioned the football game. Piper had shut herself in Audrey’s bedroom and refused to go, and hadn’t opened the door until Audrey had promised ice cream on the way home. Every mom in America would probably smack her wrist for using bribery, but it had worked, so win for her.
So here they were, both tired and cranky and wanting to go home. But she was here for Cameron and Piper and furthering their bond, and all that sappy shit. Yeah, she was in a bad mood, but not all of it was because of her day with Piper.
No, most of it was last Sunday’s encounter with Cameron in his kitchen. He’d gotten to her. Again. And she’d allowed him.
Yes.
He’d whispered it into her ear with such passion. Such conviction. For a flicker of a second, she’d contemplated saying yes in return and allowing him to whisk her away and do delicious things to her body. Of course, it would have been a mistake. She’d known that even as she’d stood in the cradle of his thighs while he’d skimmed his lips over her ear and inhaled the scent of her shampoo.
The man was good. He’d had her whimpering and reduced to a puddle of mush without her even realizing what had happened. That made him dangerous. Then again, she’d known that about him since clapping eyes on his blue gaze shaded by a low baseball cap.
The game moved on to the fourth quarter, and Piper started griping about how bored and tired she was. Normally Audrey wasn’t a huge fan of giving a kid an electronic device for entertainment, but she decided to make an exception. She passed her cell phone over, and Piper pulled up a coloring app.
“How’s she adjusting?” Stella asked.
Audrey ran a hand over Piper’s downy soft hair, trying to remind herself how little she still was. It was easy to get caught up in the everyday activities of settling into Cameron’s guesthouse and worrying about Piper starting school that sometimes Audrey forgot to cut Piper more slack. She was such a sweet girl who’d taken everything in stride. Sometimes Audrey would catch a flash of grief in the little girl’s eyes and it would take all of Audrey’s strength to hold herself together.
“Today’s been tough, but overall she’s been an angel,” she answered Stella.
Annabelle spun around on the bleacher. “Cameron’s never really talked about his sister before.”
Audrey shrugged and tried to follow the action on the field. “They weren’t very close. She was a lot younger than him.”
“His dad taking off probably had a lot to do with that,” Brandon commented.
“To be honest, Dianna was pretty tight-lipped about it,” she told them. “She was really close with her mom, but she and her dad…” Audrey shook her head. “I don’t know, they had a complicated relationship. Her dad wasn’t your typical affectionate, hands-on type. And then when she found out she had an older brother, it changed their relationship.”
“She didn’t find out about Cameron until later?” Annabelle wanted to know.
“No, she always knew about him. From what she told me, he’d come to visit once every few months when she was little. But by the time she was eight or nine, he stopped coming around.” Audrey glanced at Piper to make sure she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. “She told me she thought Cameron was a distant relative or maybe just a family friend. Her dad didn’t let the cat out of the bag until she was a teenager.”
“Guy was a selfish asshole,” Brandon commented.
Stella ignored her husband’s comment. “So you and Dianna were friends, but you never met Cameron?”
“I didn’t meet Dianna until high school, and by then Cameron had been out of the picture for years. All I knew was that she had an older half brother who lived hours away.” She shifted a look from Stella to Annabelle. “She never talked about him.”
“That had to have been really hard for her,” Annabelle commented.
Audrey pondered Annabelle’s words for a moment. “I think she felt like she’d been cheated. I mean, she had this whole other family that her dad had kept from her. She and Cameron could have been really close if the situation had been handled better. But instead she died never really knowing him. He wasn’t even at her funeral.”
“That’s not Cameron’s fault,” Stella pointed out.
“Oh, I know,” she agreed. Then she blew out a weary breath. “Actually, at first, I did sort of blame him. I kept thinking, ‘What sort of brother doesn’t come to his own sister’s funeral?’ I hated him on principle because I’d see Piper crying herself to sleep with no other family to comfort her. All I could think was how unfair it was.” Audrey wrung her hands together, trying not to go back to that dark time. “But then the fog of grief lifted, and I realized that it was probably just as hard on him as it was on her.”
Annabelle placed a comforting hand on her knee. “Piper’s really lucky to have you.”
“What about Piper’s dad?” Stella wanted to know.
Around them, the crowed went crazy as the Bobcats scored a touchdown, bringing them ahead of the other team. Audrey clapped on cue, but didn’t stand with the rest of the fans. “He took off when he found out Dianna was pregnant. He’s never expressed any interest in Piper.”
“What about Cameron’s dad?” Annabelle questioned. “Is he still around?”
“Yeah, but his health is really bad. He’s on oxygen and lives on state assistance. And Dianna’s mom died a few years ago, so Cameron’s really the only family Piper has.”
“That’s not true,” Stella said as she nudged Audrey’s thigh. “She has you.”
Piper would always have Audrey no matter how far apart they were, but her heart still squeezed at the thought of leaving. She loved Piper and wanted what was best for
