She’d made her choice and she had to live with it.
Besides, better to walk away now before she made a huge mistake. She liked to think that she had life sorted and could roll with the punches. Even if this one was harder to recover from.
Running back to Royal wasn’t her style. She’d always prided herself on standing on her own, being able to find her place outside of her sister’s shadow. But when Ava called, sounding positively dreadful, Piper knew she couldn’t turn her back on her.
The trip was long and uneventful. By rote she drove to the Wingate estate, which, of course, had been seized and was no longer Ava’s home. Piper sat there in front of the mansion and the anger she felt toward Keith Cooper grew.
She knew that, at best, he’d taken advantage of her sister, but he’d been her sister and Trent’s friend. He’d been a strong shoulder for Ava, though maybe he should have worked harder to help the family sort out the suspicious activities at Wingate. That would have really helped Ava.
It didn’t help matters that she wanted to be angry at men with the surname of Cooper. She hated that Brian had pushed so hard and forced her hand. Made her have to admit that it was time to go back to her typical kind of guy. The kind who was divorced and already had a family or was still single because he hadn’t even wanted one.
She put the car in gear and drove to the house that her sister had rented. Ava had been staying with Keith until her children’s dislike of the way he tried to control her had finally gotten through to her. Piper took her weekender bag and went up the front steps.
Ava answered the door looking well put together and making Piper rethink the moto-style leggings and AC/DC T-shirt she wore under her leather biker jacket. Especially when her sister raised one eyebrow at her.
“It’s not a mystery why you are still single,” Ava said by way of greeting.
“They all have heard I’m your sister and are afraid to come too close,” Piper said, deadpan.
Ava gave her a slight smile and hugged her. “Thank you for coming.”
“You’re welcome,” Piper said. “I needed a break from Dallas anyway.”
Ava led the way into the house and told Piper she could drop her bag in the study off to the left. She went to the eat-in kitchen and offered Piper something hot to drink. She shook her head. “I’m good. After that long drive, I could use a walk. Want to go for a stroll around the neighborhood?”
“Not really,” Ava said. “But I will. Let me get changed.”
Piper waited while her sister went and put on her Lululemons, donned a baseball cap and a pair of dark glasses, and declared herself ready. Piper wanted to poke fun at Ava for dressing as if the paparazzi were lurking behind her well-trimmed hedges, but she knew her sister had taken a beating over the last few months and kept her mouth shut.
The neighborhood was gated and Ava’s privacy from the outside world was ensured, but the neighbors still talked about her. And while Piper knew her sister relished attention, she certainly did not want the kind she’d been subjected to lately.
“I hate this,” Ava admitted. “I don’t like not having a job to go to or being at odds with the kids. Nothing has been the same since Trent died.”
Piper squeezed her sister’s shoulder. This was exactly what she needed, someone else’s problems to focus on to put her breakup with Brian into perspective. “It hasn’t been. How could it be? You two were together so much that his death left a gaping hole in your life.”
Ava nodded. “It did. I can only guess that’s why I leaned so hard on Keith. I mean, as much as I want to say that he wasn’t acting honorably, I have to admit he did comfort me.”
“Comfort you? In what way?” Piper asked.
“Just as a companion. The trip to Europe did take my mind off my problems, and I let him handle things for me so I could just wallow in my grief and start to heal. He and Trent had been such good friends, especially when we were younger. It was nice to relive those memories and not have to worry about upsetting the kids by talking about their dad with them,” Ava said. “But that was it.”
Piper put her hand up. “That must have been nice. I don’t know what I would have done in your situation.”
“Count yourself lucky that you’ve never been in love and lost,” Ava said.
Piper stopped walking. Ava knew about her broken engagement and the fact that she couldn’t have kids. How could she say that Piper had never been in love? Sometimes Piper thought the fact that she’d been so in love had been the reason it had taken her so long to fall for a man again. To fall for Brian, who wasn’t the right guy for her either, because he had dreams that she wouldn’t deny him.
“What’s wrong?”
Taken aback, she swallowed past the lump in her throat. “You know that I was in love,” she said.
“Sorry, Piper, I thought we were talking about me. Could this just be about me for a few minutes?” Ava asked plaintively.
“When isn’t it about you?” Piper retorted. She had driven all this way to keep her sister company and Ava was being...well, very Ava about it.
“Sorry. You’re right,” Ava said. “I just don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m losing everyone important to me. The kids are distant and mistrust me because of Keith. And I’m snapping at you, which I know isn’t fair.”
Piper put her arm around her sister’s waist and hugged her, and was gratified when Ava returned the embrace.
“I’ll deny this if you repeat it, but I’m so lost.”
“I am too,” Piper admitted thickly.
They stood there for another moment, and for the first time Piper thought she really understood her sister. That they were both in the same spot and both connecting on a level she’d never expected.
“See? I can be supportive of someone else,” Ava said wryly.
“I’ve always known that,” Piper admitted. “You might not like the world to see it, but you care very deeply about your friends and family.”
“That’s right. I think that’s what got me into the mess with Keith. I was just so lonely when Trent died,” Ava confessed.
“It happens to everyone. But you’re on the right path now,” Piper said warmly.
She wished she could say more. Talk to Ava about Brian and everything that was going on right now, but this bond felt so new and Piper suspected it might be fragile if she mentioned a Cooper. The rivalry between their families was real even though when she’d been with Brian she’d never dwelled on it.
Brian was in court and needed to be on his A game, but instead he kept rerunning the night of the charity gala to figure out what he’d done or said to set Piper off. He knew that her emotions had been running high due to people talking about her and the Wingates, and he completely empathized with her for feeling that way. He would probably have gotten drunk and started a fight...except that wasn’t his way.