He wished sometimes that he was that kind of guy. The kind who just felt things for a moment, expressed them and then moved on, but he never had been. He knew he was ruled by intellect and not passion—normally. Piper hadn’t been wrong in any of the things she’d said the other night except when she’d been talking about him.
She didn’t know him at all if she thought he’d be influenced by age. That he couldn’t see the woman she was. What was he missing? Something he had said must have convinced her he didn’t want her long-term.
“All rise,” the bailiff said, and Brian stood, making sure his client did, as well. He knew he had to push his thoughts of Piper to the back of his mind until they were done in court.
He charged a respectable rate and his client deserved his full attention. So he did his job, ensuring his client was awarded as much monetarily from the breakdown of her marriage as she was entitled to. He also helped her get the custody agreement she wanted and tried to negotiate her desired move out of her neighborhood, but her husband wasn’t about to budge on that front. The judge suggested that they either accept each other’s terms or go to mediation, which they’d done three times already. Finally, thinking of Piper and the fact that she’d summarily ended their relationship, he turned to his client during the recess.
“Do you think you’ll want to move?”
“No. My kids love that house and it’s their home. I just hate that he won’t let me,” she said.
“We can go back to mediation or we can let him think he’s won this and ask for more money,” he told her. “I think I can get more for you if you have to stay in that house. At least the HOA fees.”
“Sure. I don’t want him to think he’s won,” Karen said. “God, I sound so petty, don’t I?”
“You sound like someone who is dealing with a complex breakup. Everyone is petty when that happens.”
“Thanks,” she murmured. “But surely that’s not the case with you.”
“Me more than most,” he admitted. But the truth was, he didn’t want to hurt Piper; he wanted her back. But first, he needed to figure out what he’d missed.
“I doubt that, Brian. You’ve been so fair the entire time. That’s the thing about this. I didn’t want a divorce. I liked our life. He’s the one who cheated and made it clear he won’t stop. I think I want to hurt him because he didn’t like our life.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. But I don’t have to tell you that the law doesn’t work like that,” he said gently.
“No, you don’t. I just wish it did.” She sighed. “Okay, see if you can get more money and I want a stipulation that if he moves out of the county, I can move wherever I want.”
“I will see what I can do,” he said, gathering his notes to go and talk to the other lawyer.
Forty minutes later they had more money and the proviso that Karen had asked for, and he looked at the couple as they both stood in the courtroom. The animosity was gone. There was nothing left to argue about and they both seemed to know it. Brian decided right then that he definitely preferred what had happened between himself and Piper to this. He vowed that if he got married, he’d never end up here. But, of course, Karen hadn’t expected to end up in divorce court either.
So was that why Piper was reluctant to take things to the next level? He hadn’t been talking about marriage or anything like that. He’d simply wanted to date. Yet, at the same time, it felt like there was more between them than just sex. But maybe he’d been wrong. Did it stem from watching Ava allow his uncle Keith to protect her and help her out? And what had really gone on between those two?
He reached out to Keith via text and asked if he had time to talk, then headed back to his office. The statue Brian had won at Boots and Boas had been delivered and his assistant had overseen its placement in the center of the lobby. Brian stopped and looked at it. Saw the pain and the yearning and truth in the expression on the figure in the sculpture and knew he had to do whatever he could to get Piper back into his life.
He called her number instead of texting to see if she’d answer. The call went to voice mail, but he got a text a moment later from her.
Piper: I am not ready to talk.
He thought of a million different responses but none of them felt right, so he took a picture of the sculpture and sent it to her.
Brian: You’re brilliant.
He pocketed his phone and walked away from the statue, pretending that seeing it didn’t cause a cascade of feelings that he didn’t want to have, but did anyway. Because the woman who had crafted it, the woman who’d seen so deeply into the fact that Xavier was two different men, hadn’t trusted him enough to show him hers.
Spending time with her nieces always made Piper feel better. She’d been keeping Ava company when Harley and Beth had called to see if she wanted to join them for pedicures. It didn’t escape her attention, however, that they had waited until Ava was at a meeting with her lawyer before extending the invite. She understood it, yet at the same time wished there was some way she could fix this for them all.
“What color are you thinking?” Harley asked. The youngest of her sister’s two daughters had medium-brown hair that she wore long and straight. She had green eyes and an easy smile. She was a very natural and earthy girl.
“I was thinking something midnight blue,” Piper replied. Brian’s eyes were dark and black, but there were times when she caught the slightest hint of blue in them.
“I like it. I was thinking something in either red or maybe a festive autumn color,” Harley said.
“Like orange?” Beth teased her. Her eldest niece had dark blond hair and always had highlights in it. She was tall and sophisticated.
“All I can see now is something pumpkin colored,” Harley said.
Piper smiled at her niece. “You should have brought Daniel...he has a good eye for color.”
“I would have, but he and Grant are having a little daddy-son time,” Harley informed her. “As well as packing up. The move to Thailand is taking a lot of hard work. We have to decide what to keep and what to store. We have a shipping container and movers coming to get it all arranged, but I honestly feel like I’m never going to get it all finished.”
“I’m glad you took the time to come today. You definitely can use a break,” Beth said.
“Me too. Seeing you and Grant married makes me so happy. You are perfect for each other,” Piper chimed in. “I mean, you’ve been through a lot together and clearly are on the same page.”
“Are you not on the same page with someone?” Harley asked as they all took their bottles of nail polish and were led to the pedicure chairs.