When Piper rolled over in the California king bed Monday morning, she reached out, searching for Aiden, but her hand landed on empty Egyptian cotton sheets. He’d already gone to work. In his place, however, she found a little box of her favorite chocolates—and two big lazy balls of fur. It seemed Colin and Sophie had joined her in a snuggle session at some point that morning.
As tempted as she was to eat chocolate for breakfast, she thought a balanced meal would better prepare her for another full day at the center. It was Zoe’s turn to open early—well, to show up, since no one was allowed inside the building yet. Piper had planned to arrive at the same time; however, she was currently transportationless. As it was, she didn’t know how she was going to get to her telegram gig.
Aiden’s collared shirt was still lying crumpled on the floor where she’d stripped it off him the night before. She slipped it on and headed for the kitchen. After pulling out some ingredients for an omelet, she headed to the sink. While she washed the vegetables she tried to organize her day, but her disloyal mind wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, it wandered back to her night spent with Aiden.
Things couldn’t have been more perfect. They were finally on the same page together. Together. The word instilled a calm in her, a fullness. Rather than feeling as though she’d given something up, had become dependent upon this other person, she felt stronger for it. It wasn’t about being reliant or needing help. She was part of a team. They were definitely headed in the right direction.
As she stared out the window above the sink, something red caught her attention in the driveway. It was her VW Bug. Abandoning the vegetables, she ran upstairs to throw on some clothes—she remembered to make a mental note to pick up some more underwear that day—and headed outside.
The fresh new poppy red paint job sparkled in the late morning sun, hiding any evidence of Laura’s love note. Piper rounded the car and noticed the passenger window had been fixed.
Grinning, she opened the VW’s door to have a look, and a wave of pine freshness hit her. It had that new car smell to it. All the broken glass had been cleaned out, every nook and cranny. Her old VW Bug looked like new. Well, sort of.
She went back inside for her phone and texted Aiden while she continued to make breakfast.
You fixed my car!
A few minutes later her phone chimed. I was able to get it into the shop early. Tamara drove it back this morning. Are you mad?
Piper’s mouth twisted at the mention of Tamara’s name. For a brief second, she worried about sabotage. How hard would it be for the girl to cut her brakes? As she considered her response, she received another text.
I also had them address that check engine light.
But it’s been there forever. It could have waited.
Until when? When you were on your way to your exam, or your first day at work, and it exploded?
It wasn’t going to explode:P
Your car? Yes. It would have.
Ha-ha. Don’t hate the car just because you’re jealous.
She stared out the window at her perfect VW and knew she wasn’t mad. It was actually a very thoughtful gesture. It also fixed her transportation issue.
Thank you. To show she was sincere, she added a:).
You’re welcome. X.
Relying on others wasn’t really her thing. It didn’t come naturally to her. She avoided being indebted to anyone—you know, except for the bank, the credit card company, and the taxman. But with Aiden she didn’t feel indebted, at least not since they’d talked it over. It was about give-and-take, and she looked forward to doing nice things for him in return. She went to get ready for work, smiling as she imagined how she would pay him back when he got home that night.
That smile remained there as she crawled into her VW Bug with Colin and headed to her telegram gig—only after testing the brakes. It didn’t even disappear when she noticed that, instead of the same Katy Perry CD that had been stuck in her ancient stereo deck for the last two years, she heard the radio tune in. Startled, she glanced down to see her old one had been replaced with a brand-new, very expensive-looking system. Even then, her smile didn’t waiver … much.
They headed across town in her pine-fresh car to the UCSF campus to tell someone they did a “super” job that year. She’d considered bringing Sophie, but Colin was enough of a handful as it was. He didn’t match her Supergirl costume, but she’d never had to explain his presence during the occasional performance in the past. Everyone would just call him adorable and want to pet him. He’d lap up the attention while Piper would rake in the tips, which were always better when he was with her—because apparently he was cuter than she was.
On her way to the rescue center, she began to think that life was starting to turn around. Sure, she’d been evicted, all her stuff was destroyed, and she was nearly killed a couple of times, but her contentment surrounding Aiden overshadowed all that. As though that giddy joy could get her through anything life could throw at her, even when she took on way too much.
Snorting, she shook her head at her pathetic self. She was starting to think like Addison. But maybe now she understood what her friend was talking about. All those sunshine and rainbow feelings when it came to love.
Love. There wasn’t even a hint of sarcasm in her attitude as she thought of the word. Was it too soon? Was it possible? With Aiden, she felt anything was possible. With him, nothing was too much.
Of course, there were still those doubts, those questions plaguing Piper, about his work, about why he’d been so secretive, doing everything he could to keep her in the dark about the center. But every doubt she’d had so far always turned out to be something silly and insignificant, something that could be explained away. And this was probably the same. She determined that when Aiden got home that night from work she’d talk to him about everything that had been bothering her. There had to be a simple explanation for everything. Right?
But her life was never that simple, as it decided to remind her the moment she pulled into the rescue center parking lot that afternoon. The smile that had been lingering since she woke that morning melted from her face. Lording over the lot was a sign with the title in big, black glaring letters. Rezoning Application.
She parked the car and frowned at Colin. “Rezoning for what?”
Colin leaned against the passenger window, staring at the sign in the same confused way she was. He glanced over his shoulder and gave her what was most certainly a shrug. “Beats me.”
Piper slipped on a light coat over her costume and grabbed her backpack with her change of clothes. They jumped out of her car, marching over to the ten-foot sign. Colin sniffed around the pinewood post before raising his leg and letting the sign know exactly what he thought about it.
Piper stared at the enlarged map at the top, at its lines and measurements, over and over, trying to understand what she was seeing. Or rather, trying to find some other explanation, some way to deny what it was telling her. With a shaking hand, she slid her sunglasses on top of her head as though that might make things clearer.
The plot of land in question encompassed not only the Dachshund Rescue Center but several of the surrounding properties as well. They wanted to change the classification from commercial to residential. She read the details of the proposal, thinking there must be some mistake, but it confirmed what the map told her. They wanted to build something where the rescue center was. Her beloved rescue center.
Holding out a steadying hand, she leaned against the sign, her breaths coming faster and faster. Right in front of her face, she found a note at the bottom of the sign that said: Further information can be obtained from Caldwell and Son Investments Ltd.
Of course, she thought, tears prickling her eyes. Because the only person who could apply for rezoning was the owner. Her boyfriend.