“Yeah.”
Winnie shrugged. “Like I said, who knew.”
“Glad we don’t have to worry about percentages,” Gavin said to CJ, who smirked.
Piper closed her eyes. “Okay, first, it’s not the walk of shame when it’s your own house. And being of age, it’s never a walk of shame. Period.”
Winnie grinned. “You might want to turn your shirt right side out and try saying that again.”
Piper aimed another glare at Cam.
He lifted his hands in a sign of surrender. “You were the one sneaking out on me. I was asleep when you put that thing on.”
Gavin was looking pained. “I just realized you’re doing my boss. There’s a high ‘ew’ factor here.”
Piper looked down at herself. Yep, shirt was inside out. She put the life vest back on. “And second,” she said, while everyone was still laughing, forcing her to point at all of them, including Cam. “I’m allowed a life.”
“Amen, sister,” Winnie said. “And it’s good to see you going for it.”
Cam watched Piper turn to Winnie, the irritation draining from her eyes, replaced by an affection he knew was years and years in the making. “Thanks,” Piper said.
Winnie smiled back. “So . . . we’re okay?”
“We’re okay.”
Looking relieved, Winnie nudged her chin toward Cam. “So are you two a thing now or what?”
“Or what,” Piper said noncommittally, and gestured to the opened laptop. “What are you up to?”
“Oh! We’ve got a plan!” Winnie looked at her brother, who gave her a nod of encouragement.
“Should I be scared?” Piper asked. “Cuz I am.”
“You were right before,” Winnie said.
Piper blinked. “I’m sorry, did you just say I was right about something?”
Winnie rolled her eyes. “I know, I know, you’ve never heard that from me before.” She rubbed her tummy. “But guess what? I’m going to be a mom. A really great one too, and moms are mature. I’m trying to work on that. I want to be taken seriously, and before you speak, I realize I’ve never tried hard at . . . well, anything. But that’s going to change. I’m getting really good at fixing stuff. So . . . meet your new handywoman.” She gestured to herself. “Which is me, in case I wasn’t clear.”
“And I’m taking over cooking duties,” Gavin said. “And not just because you suck at it, but because I miss cooking.”
“You’re just saying that because I messed up the chocolate chip cookies the other night,” Piper said.
Gavin nodded. “Never let a recipe tell you how many chocolate chips to use. You measure that shit with your heart, Piper.”
“Noted. But you don’t have to do it all. I can always get Girl Scout cookies.”
“You mean buy ten boxes at a time and eat them alone in the pantry?”
“Hey,” she said. “It’s called supporting young female entrepreneurs.”
“Also,” he went on, “Winnie and I want to rent out the cottages and turn this thing into a B and B, like Grandma’s parents did a million years ago. I mean, they’re even furnished. Besides, my blueberry pancakes should be shared with the world.”
“One hundred percent correct on that,” CJ said around a bite of pancake.
“And something else that should be shared with the world,” Winnie said. “My newly found handywoman skills.”
Piper gaped at them. “Do you have any idea how much work goes into running a B and B? We’re not Great-Grandma. We’d need a website, and an accounting program, and a whole bunch of other stuff I can’t even imagine.”
“I know,” Gavin said. “And I’ve been building a website. It’ll be ready by next week. And I’ve got a good bookkeeping program. I can set us up, just like I’m doing for Cam at the marina. It wouldn’t require any work from you. For once, I can step up and do something for you for a change.” He gave a lopsided smile. “Look, we all know our childhood was . . . well, royally fucked up. But look at us making something of ourselves regardless.”
CJ was looking as impressed by Gavin as Cam felt. But Piper looked . . . dizzy. She turned to Winnie. “What about your still-unnamed baby daddy? How’s he going to feel about you sticking around here instead of going back to Santa Barbara? Is he going to relocate to help you? Is he even interested in being part of the baby’s life?”
Tell her, Cam willed. Because the longer Winnie waited, the bigger the feeling of betrayal would be, and Winnie would be taking Cam right down with her.
“All that matters is that I’m staying here,” Winnie said, disappointing Cam along with Piper, if her expression was anything to go by. “I’ll figure out everything else later.”
“Me too,” Gavin said.
Emmitt looked at Cam. “Any interest in making like these two, and sticking around for your old man? I’d love that.”
Cam grabbed two plates and held them out to Gavin to fill. “Thinking about it,” he said, unwilling to hide a damn thing from Piper—that he could control, anyway.
His dad beamed.
Piper whipped her head around so fast to stare at him that Cam was surprised it didn’t just fall off.
“I put in a transfer to be DEA West Coast,” he said. “San Luis Obispo office. It’s a long shot. I’ve got no idea if I’ll get it. But yeah.” He shrugged. “It’d be nice.”
“When did you do that?” Piper asked.
“Last week.” He didn’t want to be two thousand miles away, worrying about his dad, about Winnie. Piper . . . He’d known what he needed, wanted to do, almost from the moment he’d set foot in Wildstone.
Piper came closer, and with her back to the room, asked softly, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Haven’t had much time alone.”
She shifted even closer and whispered, “We had plenty last night.”
“After you freaked out about me extending my leave, I thought I’d wait and break it to you gently if it happened. Besides, we were . . . busy last night.”
“No really,” Gavin said. “Ew.”
Piper didn’t take her eyes off Cam.
“Do we have a problem?” he asked.
The look on her face told him they did indeed have a problem, a big one. And he knew why. She’d been comfortable with this thing between them when it’d been temporary. But if he stayed, it suddenly made their no-strings fling complicated.
And she hated complicated.
Emmitt went to the fridge to pour some more OJ. He turned to Piper. “Need anything?”
“Actually, yes. I need my sister to be realistic about what she’s facing. And I need my brother to understand that putting too much pressure on himself right now is a bad idea. And I need them both to be honest with me when shit happens, because how can we be a family if we’re not honest with each other?”
“I feel like he was just offering you a refill, not counseling,” Gavin stage-whispered.
“Food’s getting cold,” Emmitt said, and everyone started eating.
Cam was impressed. He had no idea his dad could command a room without trying.