Don’t worry, I still have the Garbage Pail. Or should I say, it’s at least in the family. My mom drives it when she feels like visiting Bert, who may or may not be her boyfriend. It’s hard to tell. She says that after you get divorced, you’re allowed to have friends without putting a label on it, and I think that’s smart considering the hell she went through with my dad.
But I also know that when I mention his name, she gets that damn twinkle in her eye. It says a lot without her having to say anything.
I open the door to the SUV and get in the passenger side. Harrison, looking as sexy as ever in a black denim jacket and those ever-present aviators, leans over and gives me a lingering kiss.
“How was school?” he asks me as we pull away.
“Good, good. The old me would have had her purse puked in.”
“Ah. One of those days, then.”
“Wouldn’t trade it in for anything. How are you doing?” I ask.
He gives me a quick smile. “I’m all right.”
While work has been great for me, Harrison’s been going through some things.
The biggest one is that Monica and Eddie are moving back to England. Monica is six months pregnant and is set to go home before it gets too complicated to fly, so she can have her baby back there.
I’m terribly sad that they’re leaving. Both of them, but Monica especially, have become such good friends over the summer that it’s going to be hard not to have them next door. From weekly dinner parties with my mom—and then later with Bert—to Netflix and gossip sessions on the boat, to hikes and the occasional dinner in town (with the entire world watching), there was always something to do, always something to look forward to. I’ve been getting teary-eyed thinking about it these last few days, and I know it’s really going to hurt when they’re gone.
But for Harrison, it’s far more complicated. Not only are Eddie and Monica his friends, and the people he had sworn to protect, but he’s stepped down as bodyguard.
Actually, it happened about a month ago, when Eddie and Monica first announced when they were leaving. Harrison and I had a big, long talk about what to do next, and as much as I love him, I was fully prepared to have to say goodbye to him. I wasn’t about to make him choose between his job and me, especially when so much of his guilt over his past was tied to it.
To my surprise, that’s exactly why Harrison chose to stay. He said he didn’t want to be tied to a job where he felt he was in it only to reconcile with himself and to make amends. That wasn’t fair to himself, and it kept him in a never-ending cycle.
Besides, it’s not what he wants to do with his life.
Harrison’s dream shouldn’t come as a surprise. He wants to open a bakery. In fact, he’s been in talks with one of the more prominent bakeries in town, which is in the midst of selling. I’m not sure he can make this deal work, but he’s been trying every day to find just the right place, then set up his business.
“No luck with the bakery?” I ask him. Their asking price is quite high, even for an established spot, so Harrison was hoping he could get them to come down.
He shrugs. “They said no. Might not be in the cards.”
“You’ll get there,” I tell him. “Maybe that’s not the space for you, maybe you’re meant to have a better location. Maybe the timing isn’t right.”
“That’s a lot of maybes, Piper.”
“But you know it’s true. It’s going to happen. Just have faith.”
He grumbles something and concentrates on driving.
Even if he doesn’t have faith, I do. He’s amazing at baking. He’s been literally working on it nonstop, perfecting his technique, and I’ve gained a solid ten pounds because of it. Not that I’m complaining. I’ll handle those ten pounds if I can keep eating the delicious treats that he makes. But honestly, he’s good. He’s a pro. He just needs the right shop and his business is going to take right off.
He often asks me how I can be so sure, but I just point to him and tell him he’s got to start doing TikTok baking recipes. But shirtless.
He hasn’t listened to me on that one yet. Doesn’t matter, though: Harrison is a media darling, especially after the news of us went public. With my speech going viral, combined with the protective incident at the Blowhole and the whole sex-in-the-lake thing (and naked butt pictures), plus adding in the years of fanfic and people generally lusting over him, Harrison Cole is literally one of the most searched people on the internet. Even though his whole baking dream is a secret for now, once we get the business plan approved and buy the right place, people will be lining up at our door from all over.