“It was so nice to finally meet you,” Paige said. “And you’re welcome any time. We have a book club every month. Jax’s dad is the writer Jack Hill and he comes sometimes and talks about his work and signs books, if you’re interested.”
Piper shifted Preston in her arms. He must be heavy.
“Thanks, I’ll think about it,” Piper said. “I have a sitter, so I’ll see you tomorrow night.” The last part was for me.
“See you tomorrow. Bye Preston.” He was already asleep.
Chapter Eleven
The weather was looking iffy for the Sunday night class, but I had hope the rain would hold off until after class.
Everything was good, and most of my friends were there, along with Piper. She’d arrived early this time. Midway through Sun B, the heavens opened up and rain poured down on us, causing everyone to pack up their mats and run to their cars, trying their best not to get wet.
“Namaste everybody!” I yelled. “I’m happy to give refunds to anyone who wants one. You can just send me a request.” Several people waved on the way to their cars and I stood under the eaves of the ticket booth to make sure everyone was okay. I figured I could just hang out here and then make a run for it.
Lightning split the sky, making me jump.
“It’s probably not safe out here,” a voice said, and I turned and found Piper sheltering with me.
“Right,” I said. “Time to make a run for it.”
“You know…I have heated leather seats. My car is bigger than yours too.” My rental car wasn’t anything to brag about.
Was she asking me to hang out with her?
“I have the babysitter for another hour and I’m going to take advantage,” she said with a smile. “And I have snacks.”
That sealed the deal.
“Okay, on three,” I said, and we both counted down and ran screaming to her car. She’d unlocked the door and I flung myself inside, hurling my bag and my yoga mat into the back. I always brought an extra in case someone forgot theirs.
In spite of our speed, we were both drenched and laughing.
“That was less than graceful,” Piper said, wiping water out of her eyes. She still looked perfect.
Piper turned on the air and I fiddled with the seat.
“Okay,” she said, putting her bag on the console between us and pulling things out.
“Which one do you want?” She had two bags of kid’s snack crackers. I selected the one that was covered in cheese.
“Excellent choice. I also have yogurt covered raisins, pretzels, and supposedly healthy gummies. I’m dubious, but Preston loves them. Oh, and juice.”
“This is an arsenal of snacks,” I said. “I’m seriously impressed.” Not even my mom, or my sister or sisters-in-law had quite that many snacks at all times in their purses.
“I like to be prepared,” she said.
“As a mom, prepared is a good thing to be,” I said.
“I think so,” she said, opening a bag of veggie chips.
The rain drummed on the windshield, sliding down and disappearing. Every now and then a boom of thunder made both of us startle.
“Want some music?” Piper asked.
“Sure.”
Her car was so nice and had a killer sound system, and she turned it on and flipped through the options, finally settling on a soft playlist.
“Sorry, I’m always playing kid songs, so it’s hard to find my stuff,” she said.
The music and the rain and the thunder all combined together, and it was all a little intense. Or maybe it was being in an enclosed space with Piper.
I finished my snacks slowly as we listened.
“This is nice,” Piper said, adjusting her seat back.
“It is,” I said. “Julia used to get scared of storms and would get into bed with me.”
“She’s older than you, right?” Piper asked.
“Yes. I’m the youngest.”
“That’s cute. It’s nice how close you are. Sometimes I feel guilty that Preston will never have that. But then I remember that having another child just to give him a friend is a bad idea.”
“True. What if they hate each other? Just because you’re related, doesn’t mean you’ll get along.”
“That’s a good point, and you would definitely know about that.”
There was a pause.
“How old are you?” Piper asked, and I got the impression that the number mattered to her.
“Twenty-four,” I said. “And you?” I mean, I could ask her since she’d asked me, right?
“Older than that,” she said, smirking. “I’m thirty-three.”
It wasn’t that much of a difference. Not really.
The rain slowed and I could see the sky was lightening up a little bit.
The storm was passing.
“Did you want to go anywhere?” Piper asked. “I mean, nothing is open, I guess.”
It was true. Even the bar at the Pine State Bar and Grille was shut down now. Castleton wasn’t exactly full of night life.
“I’m fine right here,” I said, finishing my bag of snacks and moving on to the juice.
The rain finally stopped and we both peered out the windshield.
“Want to take a walk?” Piper asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
The entire beach was wet, and the sand stuck to our feet as we walked.
Piper looked up at the sky, glimmering with stars.
“The calm after the storm,” she said, and looked at me. Our eyes locked and I stopped breathing for a second.
The beach was deserted. It was just us. It almost felt like we were the only two people on earth.
Piper walked next to me, our feet walking in and out of the water. It was warm tonight.
We walked so closely together that every now and then our arms or hands would brush. I tried not to gasp every time it happened. Why was I reacting to her like this?
No, my crush had not been obliterated, but it was useless because she was both off-limits and not interested. Someone like Piper would never be interested in someone like me. Even if she was queer, she was so far out of my league, I might as well be trying to catch a falling star.
“I had fun on Saturday. It made me think that I need to get out of my house more. I tend to get so wrapped up in work that I only leave when Preston begs me to go somewhere,” she said.
Piper had never really talked about going out with friends or anything like that. I wondered if she had online friends that lived in other states, but I didn’t know about anyone local.
“I know Amanda goes to these cooking classes at Sweet’s Bakery. And there’s a knitting club at the library too,” I said.
“Oh, I know all about the knitting club. Natalie has been begging me to go forever.” She sighed and then looked at me. “Can I tell you something?”
“Always,” I said immediately. Was that too much? Piper didn’t seem to notice.
She leaned slightly closer.
“I don’t like doing new things that I’m not good at. I tried to learn how to knit and it was a disaster, so I gave up.”
I understood what she meant. I wasn’t exactly the same way, but I did prefer to do things that I was good at.