Lights Out (26 page)

“He went into town,” Nanny said, heating up the food and pulling out plates from the cabinet. Her Nanny was in perpetual ready-to-feed mode.

Piper took a moment to look around, familiarizing herself with everything. Nothing had changed here, either. There were the same pictures, the same knickknacks in the same places. She walked through the kitchen into the door’s opening that led to the formal living and dining areas.

“Can we get our stuff out of the car?” Taylor asked, approaching Piper from the back of the house.

“Sure, then we’ll eat and I’ll show you around the prairie,” she offered, looking at her Nanny.

“Okay,” Taylor said, first to head back outside to retrieve her bags. Piper followed her out, taking a moment to call Joe.

He answered on the first ring.

“You’re there?” he said.

“Yep, about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Good drive?”

“Yes, the kids slept most of the way,” she said.

“That can be a positive thing,” he said, chuckling

“It’s not so bad. No arguing between siblings. You know how that can be,” she said, but did he? She had no idea.

“I’ll call you later, after we get settled. I’ve got to go eat. Nanny’s cooked enough to feed a small army,” she said, laughing.

He smiled and hung up, glad that she’d called.

* * *

Dinner done, she and her grandfather walked slowly behind the kids, who’d wanted a tour of the farm.

“So…how’ve you been?” her grandfather asked.

“Fine. The girls and the shops are keeping me occupied.”

“You like it. I can tell. How are their parents?”

“Getting their marriage back on track,” she said. “I don’t understand how it got off track in the first place.”

“Spoken from someone who’s never been married,” he said, and she laughed.

“Yeah, but still.”

“How about you? Any men in your life?” he asked.

“No, not really,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Don’t know. Busy. Hard to find someone that lives up to you,” she said.

“Don’t fool yourself, Renee. I’m no prince. Just ask your Nanny,” he said, laughing. “She could tell you some stories.”

“I know. We all have our skeletons, but I was holding out for someone that wants a family as much as I do,” she said.

“Well, I’m going to have to come up to Austin and look around for myself,” he said, smiling.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” she said.

“Nothing worth having ever is,” he said, squeezing her into his body. They continued to talk, catching up with the kids, who had gone into the barn and back out and were now headed to the old stables.

* * *

It was near ten when Piper took her cell phone back out to sit on the step. It was quiet and crisp out here, the sky clear, the stars visible and bright, and it was dark as tar, except for the light above the carport. But the reception was better out here. She called Joe.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she said. It was quiet for a second or two.

“So…” he said

“So…what?”

“So how was your day?” he asked, surprising her. He’d never asked her that question. She had been the one that always posed it to him on the nights he stopped by to pick up Shane, usually while he ate her food.

“Good. The kids met my grandparents and they liked each other. My grandfather gave them a tour of the prairie,” she said. “It looks the same, smaller, but still in good shape. He wouldn’t have it any other way. There are a few oil rigs that weren’t here before, but other than that, nothing’s changed much. I’m glad I came. I always am,” she said.

“Your grandparents mean a lot to you.”

“Yep. They took care of me when my mother decided child rearing wasn’t for her. They have been the biggest blessing of my life so far, but I’ve told you my history before. You don’t have to hear it again,” she said.

“I don’t mind. Not everyone is as lucky as you were to have someone to fall in and help,” he said. She noticed there was no anger in that statement. It was the first time he’d ever mentioned anything remotely about himself.

“We’re talking about you?” she asked.

“We are,” he said.

“Your mom and dad?”

“Alcoholics,” he said. It was quiet for a minute. “So what’s on tap for tomorrow?”

“Friends and some family will come over for dinner. My sisters from Houston and Margarite should be here by noon, then dancing tomorrow night. My favorite,” she said.

“I haven’t seen you dance,” he said.

“I can hold my own. Or, at a minimum, I can hang with you. I’ve seen you dance.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’m sure,” she said, detecting a change in his tone.

“Can we get together when I get back?” she asked, her answer to the change in tone of their conversation.

“As soon as you get back,” he said, in his firm and commanding way.

“Whew, I’m so with you there,” she said, and they both laughed. They talked a few minutes more before hanging up.

She stood up and entered the back door, locked it, and made her way to the bedroom she was sharing with her sisters. She looked in on Shane before finding her own bed, squeezed into the side, pushing Kennedy over to the middle. She dozed off, thoughts of Joe in her mind, wondering about his childhood, what he hadn’t said to her about it. She vowed to be patient with him, and then her dreams of Joe drifted into much more pleasurable territory.

* * *

She sat in the bedroom with all of her sisters surrounding her—all various shades of brown, all different, but the same. Samantha and Blair had arrived before dinner, but this was the first time they could be alone, just the five of them. She’d finished cleaning up the kitchen with her Nanny and her aunts while Margarite was sitting on the porch talking with her grandfather.

Taylor was pleased. Piper knew her sister well enough to tell. And Kennedy was in heaven. Finally, big sisters that dressed in the style she was accustomed to.

“So, did Taylor tell you that she plays a mean game of basketball?” Piper asked.

“No, she didn’t. You must have gotten your athletic abilities from me,” Blair said. “I made the varsity team my freshman year. Not that I’m bragging or anything,” she added, smiling.

“You did?” Taylor asked, now awestruck.

“I did. Maybe before I leave I’ll show you some moves.”

“When are you guys leaving?” Kennedy asked.

“This evening. Someone has to get back to see their boyfriend,” Blair said, teasing, looking over at Samantha.

“Whatever. No one looks at her, so it doesn’t matter,” Samantha said.

Kennedy and Taylor were taking it all in, happy to know that they weren’t the only sisters that bickered.

“To have a sister, or any sibling, for that matter, is to argue,” Samantha said, reading their minds. “You like us now, but just wait until I start riding your butt. Then see if it’s so great to have another older sister.”

“So, Piper, how are the shops of yours? Are we going to be rich soon?” Blair asked. They spent the next hour or so bringing each other up to date on their lives. They retrieved Piper’s laptop and spent another hour on Facebook setting up a group for the Knight girls’ private use, so that they could remain in touch privately.

Piper left them an hour later. Blair and Taylor were searching for a basketball to shoot hoops into the old rickety goal near the barn. Good luck with that, she thought. Kennedy was walking Samantha through her suitcase; clothing was always a subject open for discussion. Piper went in search of Shane.

She found him and her grandfather in the carport, zydeco music blaring, her grandfather dancing, with Shane laughing at his moves. She smiled. “What are you two doing?” she asked.

“I’m trying to teach this boy here some moves,” he said, shaking his head as if it was a lost cause, his eyes twinkling. “We are taking the girls out tonight, and he has to…What is it that word your age group says?” he asked, looking at Piper. She shrugged her shoulders.

“We have to represent?” Shane answered.

“Yes, that’s it. Shane has to represent himself tonight.”

“It’s just represent, Papa, not represent himself,” Piper said. She and Shane smiled.

* * *

Piper’s feet hurt. They had gotten stepped on by Shane most of the night, as she had turned out to be his dancing partner of choice for the evening.

The kids were in bed now, and she was making her way to the back step to talk to Joe after debating whether it was too late to call. It was twelve. She was calling. She dialed and waited through three rings. Maybe she should have called in the morning.

“Hello.” He’d been asleep, she could tell. Crap. She so wished she was there with that smoky voice, low and way sexy.

“Sorry, it’s me. Didn’t mean to wake you,” she said, rushing the words out. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“No, it’s okay. What’s up?”

“Nothing. We went dancing tonight, thought you might like to hear about it.”

“I would,” he said.

“You should have seen Shane. Didn’t think he’d ever stop dancing. I believe his shoe tread is still visible on my feet. God, they hurt,” she said and he chuckled, that low and sexy thing again.

“We’re just getting back,” she said, and continued to fill him in on the events of her day, about finding her sisters sitting around talking to each other, what it had meant to her, what she could see it meant to Taylor and Kennedy. And he listened.

“So, your turn. What’d you do today?” she asked, having wound down the kid talk.

“Nothing much. Stayed here and watched the games,” he said.

“Not too lonely.”

“Nope. Not lonely at all.”

“Are your mother and dad still alive?” she asked, prepared to be met with silence.

“My mother is. My father died before high school,” he said.

“Any grandparents?” she asked.

“None that stepped in,” he said.

Stepped into what, she wondered. It was quiet for a second. “Tough, huh,” she said, more statement than question.

“Yep,” he said quietly. “So when are you all heading back?” he asked.

“I hope to leave early, but I don’t usually get out of here till late. I’ll call when we get to my house. If it’s too late, you can pick Shane up Sunday morning.”

“That works.”

“Good night,” she said.

“Yeah. You, too.”

* * *

Joe’s car was parked in her drive waiting for them as Piper pulled into her driveway. It was near midnight. Talk about surprised. This was the last place she’d thought he would be, yet here he was.

The front porch light was on. Piper pulled into the garage and Joe stood in the door leading from the garage into her home, his look sexy and serious.

“Hey,” she said, smiling in pleasure as she got out of her car. He walked over to meet her.

“Hey,” he replied, smiling at her. “Need some help?”

“Sure.”

Both looked through the window at the three heads slumped over in slumber.

Joe carried in all three kids, all knocked out, deciding to let Shane spend the night. He put him into the bottom bunk in Taylor’s room.

Piper followed, putting the necessary luggage into each child’s room before she and Joe headed back downstairs and over to the couch. She yawned and leaned her head back against the couch.

“Long drive?” he asked.

“Yep, didn’t leave early like I should have,” she said. She yawned again.

“I’d better get home, let you get some sleep,” he said. He kissed her forehead and walked to the front door.

“Don’t get up, I’ll lock up,” he said, glancing at her one final time. “Really glad you’re back,” he said, before he turned and walked out the door.

It was the Friday before Christmas break and the last day of school before the two-week holiday. Piper had made arrangements for gift buying with her dad and Christine two weeks ago. They communicated daily concerning the girls, and she, Mac, and Christina made use of the school’s on-line service to check on grades and other school-related stuff. And they, like she and Joe, discussed and planned for them weekly.

Piper stood in the gym waiting for basketball practice to end.

“Hey, Joe,” she heard someone say and turned to see him enter. He saw her and smiled. Her heart skipped a beat.

He stopped to talk with another parent before making his way over to her. She lifted her face to his and caught herself. What was she doing? She smiled to cover that lapse, blaming it on the intimacy that they shared.

“Been here long?” he asked.

“Nope, about ten minutes before you arrived,” she said, admiring him up close. “I’m looking forward to the Christmas holidays.”