Beautifully Broken

I point at her through the phone. She may not be my responsibility, but she’s my friend. I don’t have too many of those so I try to take care of the one’s I’ve got. Besides, Jenny’s not a user. She’d cut off her left hand before taking a handout. But knowing this doesn’t stop me from offering. “Promise me you’ll come to me if shit goes south. I’m only a phone call away. You know I’ve always got your back.”

Jenny smiles and this time it’s not one of her show-pony smiles, but a genuinely grateful grin. “I know and that’s why I love you.” She flicks her hand. “Enough about me. What are you doing today? Please don’t tell me you’ve di

tched to wallow in self-pity again. Swear to God, I’ll hitchhike my way down there if you are.”

I chuckle. Always a flair for the dramatics. “First of all, you will never hitchhike. And secondly…”I flip the camera around to show her Piper. “I’m spending the day with this pretty lady.”

“Hi!” Jenny says waving at the camera like a lunatic, which is facing me again.

“That’s Piper.” Beautiful, wonderful, sweet Piper. I’ve never mentioned a girl to Jenny. While I’ve had my share of beautiful women, none of them have struck me as anything more than a fling.

Until Piper.

I can’t explain it and I don’t try to understand it but being with her feels right. She feels like home.

“Well I’m not gonna keep you any longer. Be good!” Jenny wiggles her eyebrows then hangs up. I set my phone face down on the counter and pick at the chips on my plate.

“So, it’s your birthday?” Piper asks, a sly smile on her face.

“Yup.”

She leans onto the counter, a long tendril of hair falling over her shoulders. “Any big plans tonight?”

Gretchen used to make a big deal out of my birthday. Surprise decorations that stopped being a surprise when I was ten. Cake. Presents. Some fun activity with my friends. Now she’s gone, today’s just another day. “You’re looking at them.”

Piper nods, the sparkle in her eyes fading. “My mom never celebrated my birthday. I’d never had cake until I went to live with Mamma T.”

If not for Gretchen, I probably wouldn’t have had cake either but it doesn’t make me any less sad for Piper. Birthdays are supposed to be fun. When I have kids, I’m going all out for them. Every year. Bounce houses. Bands. Balloon shaping clowns. You name it, they’ll have it. No child should ever feel the disappointment of their parents forgetting the day they were born.

“Who’s Mamma T?”

“Cooper and Logan’s mom. She took me in for a few years.” Piper flicks her wrist, dismissing the fact like it’s no big deal. But to me, it’s a bit of clarity. If she lived with the Harris’ as a kid, it’s unlikely she looks at the twins as anything more than family. “Let’s do something. It’s not like we can go to school today anyway.”

“For a girl who skipped yesterday afternoon, you’re all about your education. Aren’t you?”

She reaches across the table, stealing the other half of my sandwich. “Something’s gotta get me out of this town. It sure ain’t gonna be my looks.”

15

Piper

The leather seats of Rex’s Range Rover are comfy, but after two hours I’m itching to get out of them. Sitting still, the seat belt holding me down, only able to move a few inches is getting to me. The more I think about being trapped in the car, the worse my anxiety gets.

It’s nothing against Rex. He’s been great, singing along with everything from Dropkick Murphy’s to Brooks and Dunn. Not surprisingly, he’s got a set of pipes on him. But it’s the feeling of being restrained that’s bothering me. I shift in my seat for the millionth time, trying to get comfortable.

Rex hits his blinker, merging onto Interstate 75. “Fifteen more minutes, Babe.”

I nod, pulling at the strap across my chest. If not for the alarm signaling the seatbelt isn't fastened, I would have unbuckled ages ago. But the damn beeping every thirty seconds is annoying as hell.

After what feels like a lifetime, Rex parks along the side a huge, tan, dome-like-building with a bright yellow accent streak across the top half of it, ignoring the obviously marked front entrance. He gets out and runs around the front of the vehicle to open the door for me.

“I was gonna get that.” I slip my hand into his, allowing Rex to help me out. Contrary to what Cooper and Bane think, I can take care of myself. “I’m not a damsel in distress. You don’t have to do all this.”

Rex laces his fingers with mine, bumping the door shut with his hip. “All what?”

“You know. Opening doors. Helping me out.”

“Ah,” he says, those glorious dimples coming out to play. “You mean being a gentleman.”