Piper
I awoke the next morning next to a snoring Jolie, her rainbow-colored hair plastered to the side of her face. I wondered what it took to sleep with that kind of total abandonment. I hadn’t slept that well since I was a child and my parents were still alive. Except recently when I’d slept in Cade’s arms.
I’d been disappointed that Cade hadn’t come for me last night, hoping he’d knock on the door and ask me to sleep in his room. For over a week, I’d been in Cade’s bed, his arms like a vise grip around me, keeping me safe. Never pushing me for more, just holding me. Patient.
But I was tired of being patient. I needed to talk to him about what I’d said the night before. I’d meant it when I’d told him I loved him, but since I’d woken that morning, I’d yet to be able to find him. He wasn’t in the gym or the office suite. I’d asked Levi and the guys, and all of them said they hadn’t seen him since early that morning.
My watch told me that I had to meet Will in an hour, and I still needed to get a shower and try to cover up the blistered and bruised skin at my temple. Cruz had placed a bandage on the worst part, but the bruising had spread down the side of my face this morning and would require a crap ton of cover-up.
Fall had arrived in Atlanta, which meant unpredictable temperatures, but the forecast showed a warm day, so I opted for a white dress with teal polka dots, half sleeves, and wraparound waist. I paired it with brown and teal cowboy boots and large turquoise hoop earrings. I left my hair down and free, hoping that some of it would cover the nasty colors spreading across the side of my face.
When it was time to leave, I made a quick dash around the building again just to try and catch a glimpse of Cade before I met Will, but Ryder assured me he hadn’t returned.
I was bummed. It almost felt like Cade was avoiding me. I’d thought we had both been on the same page with things, that he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Hadn’t he said that? That he’d never leave me? That we’d always be together?
And yet, he was nowhere to be found.
I contemplated his change of behavior all the way to the park where Will had texted me to meet him. He was picking up sandwiches so we could eat and stroll through Piedmont Park. He’d said he had something important to discuss with me and wanted me to keep an open mind.
Great. He was probably going to try to convince me to go back to Virginia with him, but that wasn’t going to happen. Unless Cade decided he didn’t want me here, I planned to spend the next days and weeks showing Cade how sorry I was for wasting so much time and how much I loved him.
I parked my car on the street and locked it, heading towards the bench where I saw Will waiting for me. He stood when I reached him and kissed both cheeks, taking my hands in his.
“You look beautiful.”
I couldn’t help the blush that spread across my cheeks. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
I never understood why Will hadn’t remarried or even dated. His response was always that he was lucky enough to have found the love of his life once, and he wasn’t about to tempt fate a second time. I’d always thought it was sweet that he’d held on to Anne’s memory that way. But now I wondered at how lonely Will really was. He needed a partner in life. Someone to challenge him and muss up his perfect hair.
“Whoa, girl. Where’d you go?”
I laughed and shrugged, sitting down on the bench. “Just thinking. You should start dating.”
Will chuckled warmly and took my hand in his. “Not this again.”
“Really, Will. I’m not moving back to Virginia. I know that’s what you want to talk to me about, and I think you need to understand that I’m not leaving Cade. Not unless he doesn’t want me.”
A smile crooked his lips up, and he patted my hand. “I know. That’s not what I want to talk to you about. Want to eat first?”
“No, of course not. What do you want to talk to me about?” Will’s laughter was full and free, and I realized it had been a long time since I’d seen him do that. Jake’s death had hit him hard too, and I’d been too self-absorbed to see it.
“I thought you’d say that.” Will reached into the inside pocket of his navy-blue blazer that looked as if it had been tailored to fit him perfectly. He pulled out papers that were folded in half lengthwise and handed them to me.
I opened them and only caught the word “adoption” before I dropped them, and the tears swam in my eyes. “What—what is that?”
Will picked the papers up and started reading. Before he could finish, I launched myself into his arms, the tears spilling down my face washing off all that carefully placed cover-up.
“Do you mean it?”
“Piper Collins, will you be my daughter?”
I laughed through the tears at the craziness of the request. “I’ve always been your daughter, Will. Since the first time you took me in with my freckles and unruly curls.”
“Yes, you’ve always been my daughter, but now I want the world to know. I never pushed you. I thought you’d want to hang on to your parents’ name and wouldn’t want to replace them, so to speak, but Cade made me realize that by not formally adopting you, I’d been keeping you at arm’s length. Protecting myself from your possible rejection.”
Will swiped at a lone tear that trickled down his face before continuing. “But I needed to show you how much I love you. So, Piper, will you be my daughter?”
“Yes! Of course I will!” I threw my arms around his neck, squeezing him so tightly. When I pulled back to wipe my face, I shook my head in amazement. “You can adopt an adult?”
“You can. All you have to do is sign.”
I took the pen from his outstretched hand and shuffled through the papers, not needing to read the legal jargon for myself. I signed my name and handed them back to him. “So, does this mean I should change my name to Piper Fuller?”
“You can change your name to whatever you’d like.”
I thought about it for a moment. “Piper Jo Collins Fuller. I like it.”
“Just a minute before you make a final decision.”
I whirled around, finding Cade standing there in black slacks and a gray V-neck shirt that showed off the muscles he worked so hard on in the gym. “Cade?”
Had he come to stop me? I thought he wanted Will and me to reconcile? Why was he here? And why was he carrying flowers?
“What’s going on, Cade?”
He looked nervous, as if he was going to be sick at any second. His forehead was slightly damp with perspiration, and he looked entirely out of place in slacks. Thank God he’d kept the T-shirt, or I would be worried he’d been a victim of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
“How about Piper Jo Collins Fuller Montgomery?” Then Cade knelt on one knee, his hand going to his pocket as he pulled out a small black box. He opened it, and a glimmering princess cut diamond sat on a bed of plush velvet.
My hands covered my face as more tears spilled from my eyes, running rivers down my cheeks and falling to the grass below me. “Cade?” It was the only word I could manage around the sobs that had taken over.
“Piper, I know it’s soon. We haven’t officially even dated. But I’ve known since I was fourteen years old that you were my future. I’m willing to wait, to take my time and court you properly. But I need to know that you’ll eventually be mine forever. Will you be my wife?”
I knelt beside him, nodding my head in agreement, unable to even utter the words I wanted to say. Cade smiled, taking the ring out of the box and placing it on my finger. He pulled me closer, gathering me in his arms and kissing me senseless. When he pulled away, he wiped the tears from my cheeks. “So, is that a yes?”
“Yes. Under one condition.” The frown that marred his brow was so boyish it was comical. I giggled, placing my head on his chest and hugging him tightly to me.
“What?” His face fell as if expecting some condition he didn’t want to agree to.
“I cannot be known as Piper Jo Collins Fuller Montgomery. That’s quite the mouthful. How about Piper Fuller Montgomery? And we name our first baby Collins.”
“Our first baby?”
Laughter bubbled up inside me, spilling out over the park, floating on the air. “Yes! I want it all, Cade. And I want it all with you. I love you, so much. I’m so sorry—I’ve wasted so much time.”
Cade shook his head, taking my hands in his. “No. We’re not going to live in the past. We’re going to live for the future.”
Will cleared his throat, and I glanced up to see his eyes full of tears. Cade helped me stand and shook Will’s hand. “Thank you, sir, for giving me your blessing.”
“Thank you for making her so happy, Son.”
The two men embraced, clapping each other on the back like men do. And I stood back, watching the two men I loved most in the world, my soon-to-be husband and my father.
When Cade made his way back to my side, he whispered in my ear, “Let’s go home.”
My face broke into a grin so wide, I knew my parents could see it from heaven. I looked up into the blue, Georgia sky, silently sending them a message of love—telling them how much I missed them—then leaned my head against my fiancé’s shoulder.
“Let’s go home.”