Saving Simon (Tarnished Saints Series Book 5) (29 page)

“Is that like a discharge?”

“It is the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for officers but they don’t strip them of their rank or rating.”

“So he can never go back,” she added.

Thad nodded his head sadly. “That whistle symbolized all the dreams Simon had as well as the relationship he had with Ma. But now, I guess none of that matters anymore, does it? Oh well, I’ll be right back with your shoes. Just throw the whistle in the drawer if you will. I don’t think he’d want it back anymore now anyway.” He left her alone as he walked out to the sailboat to get her shoes.

She clasped the whistle in her hand, and bit back the tears that were ready to stream forth. Simon had lost so much and she felt as if most of it was her fault. She walked over and opened the drawer, dangling it from the chain, ready to drop it inside, but stopped when she saw the ledger book and invoices for the business. She picked up a paper and looked at it, wishing she had seen these before her father and maybe she could have done something to save the marina, just like Simon wanted.

She didn’t drop the whistle into the drawer after all, because she realized that putting this in the drawer and walking away would be like giving up on Simon.

She didn’t know if Simon really loved her or not, and right now she no longer cared. She couldn’t stay mad at someone she loved. Even with all the awful things her father had done over the years, she’d never stayed mad at him either. But now he put Simon behind bars and she couldn’t just walk away and say and do nothing.

She had to do help Simon, and not just out of the mess he was in, but help him with everything in his life. He’d saved her life and now she knew the only thing she could do to repay him was to save his life in return. She could tell that he’d given up on himself, but hell if she had.

She looked out the door and saw Thad climbing aboard the sailboat. She quickly put the chain around her neck and tucked the whistle under her shirt and slammed the drawer shut. She had an idea how to help not only him, but the entire Taylor family and even the townspeople of Sweet Water. She only hoped she wasn’t too late, because someone had to save Simon before he self destructed.

She headed over to her car, not waiting for Thad to come back with her shoes and sped out of the parking lot on her new mission of Saving Simon.

Chapter 22

Three days later, Simon lay napping in the sun on his sailboat with his Skipper’s cap pulled down over his face and his feet up on the seat as his boat drifted lazily in Thunder Lake.

All his brothers had pitched in for his bail, and as soon as Zeb got back from St. Louis, he’d started negotiations with Mr. Westbrook’s attorney. Since the charges still weren’t dropped and Simon wasn’t allowed to go out of Sweet Water until they were, he’d decided to just go isolate himself on his sailboat in the middle of the lake where he couldn’t hurt anyone and no one could tempt him to get angry again.

He’d had time to think while he was out here, and being on the water always cleared his head. He knew now that he was wrong in what he did and he was so sorry that he’d hurt Piper. He’d wanted to phone her and tell her this, but part of the negotiations for his release involved no contact with Piper at all. He didn’t want to risk it and end back up in jail, so he hadn’t tried to do it.

He just needed to keep his nose clean until the trial, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to stay out in the middle of the lake much longer before he had to go in for supplies. The ice in the cooler had melted days ago, not that it mattered because the beer was all gone the first night anyway.

What little food he’d brought with had to be eaten or go rancid, and his supply of drinking water ran out yesterday and he had been scooping out water from the lake and boiling it on his little stove to use. He’d also been swimming in the lake, using the water to bathe in. The funny part was, none of this mattered. He felt so calm and serene on the water as if it washed all his worries and anger away.

He thought he heard some kind of shrill noise, and lifted the rim of his cap, listening with not only his ears but his eyes and sense of smell as well. His senses all seemed to be more acute when he was living on the water. He got a glimpse of Piper’s beaded sandals on the seat across from him. Thad told him she’d come to pick them up, but left without them. They’d been keeping him company for the past three days and he’d even held on to them like a damned security blanket when he went to sleep at night.

He’d laid looking at the stars all night and just wondering what it would have been like if he had ended up marrying Piper. Would they have had lots of children or just a few? Would they have had little boys who liked to sail or little girls who were afraid of the water? Either way wouldn’t have mattered to him.

The only thing that mattered was that he would be with Piper for the rest of his life. Whether they lived on a boat, in the city, or in one of those damned lake cabins like his brothers, he knew he could be happy just being with her. He dreamed of her every night and even just now when he’d been taking a nap. He swore he heard her giggle and this only made him feel lonelier for her then he felt to begin with.

Then he heard the noise again, and his heart started beating faster as he realized it was the sound of his Bosun’s Whistle. Thad had told him that Piper stole it, and he figured she just wanted the pleasure of dumping it somewhere where he would never find it again.

He jumped up and pushed back his hat and shaded his eyes from the sun and looked toward the shore. Sure enough, there in the distance, he could make out Piper standing on the pier in front of the marina, blowing on his whistle and waving her hand excitedly in the air. Thad was next to her and motioning with his hand for Simon to come to shore.

Quickly, he jumped up and raised the sails, turning his boat and excitedly headed for shore.

Piper was standing there waiting for him when he docked, and she looked happy and excited. Thad reached out and caught the rope, helping him to tie up the boat.

“Simon!” She didn’t wait for him to get out of the boat. She jumped over the side and into his arms, the force of her body crashing into his and knocking them to the wet floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him passionately.

He pulled away and looked at her and then kissed her again before he got to his feet and brought her with him.

“Pippa, I can’t see you or contact you or I’m going to be arrested again.”

“Not anymore. My father dropped all charges.”

“What?” he asked, looking up to the marina, realizing there were quite a few cars in the lot and some of them he didn’t recognize. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

“Come with me and you’ll find out,” she said excitedly and dragged him out of the boat and down the pier to the marina.

“I thought you hated me. Why did you come back?”

“I never left.”

“I don’t understand.” He stopped when Piper opened the door and the first person he saw was her father standing inside scowling at him. “I don’t think it’s a good idea if I go in there. If your father gets me mad, I might label him again.”

“He’s not going to get you mad. Matter of fact, I think you’re going to be very pleased. There are some visitors here to see you.”

“Simon, it’s about time you got off that boat and back on dry land,” came a familiar voice from inside the marina.

“Philip?” he asked, as his brother came over to give him a quick hug. He looked up to see all the rest of his brothers there as well as Cat. “What are you doing back from France so soon?”

“Well, when Piper Skyped me and told me what was going on, I knew I had to get here right away. I brought some people with me you might want to meet.” Philip pointed to two women Simon had never seen before. One was middle-aged and the other looked to be a few years older than Piper.

“Simon, I’d like you to meet my mother, Cecile, and my sister, Amy,” said Piper holding out her arm and beckoning the women toward him.

“So nice to meet you,” he said, shaking both of their hands in turn, and keeping a close eye on Piper’s father at the same time.

“I’m so glad to meet the love of my daughter’s life,” said her mother.

“You’re even cuter than Piper said,” added her sister with a giggle, and then walked away looking very embarrassed.

“I don’t understand,” said Simon. “Pippa, I thought you said your mother and sister haven’t been back since they left the States nearly ten years ago.”

“We haven’t,” said her mother. “But we’re going to be living here once again, and things are going to change with Westbrook Enterprises starting right now, since I am half owner.”

“Like what?” he asked, once again glancing over to Piper’s father.

“She convinced my father not to buy the marina,” Piper told him.

“So there’s no hotel coming in and no restaurants to compete with me,” Levi added from across the room.

“Mrs. Glover?” he asked, spying her standing next to Levi. “You decided not to sell after all?”

“Oh, no, I sold it, Simon,” the old woman told him. “There’s no way I could run this by myself, nor do I want to. I’m going to be buying a house in town and staying in Sweet Water. My sister is doing better and will be living here with me. Thank you for watching the marina while I was gone.”

“You’re welcome.” His heart dropped in his chest to hear this news, as the whole time he’d been floating around the lake he’d been thinking of making Mrs. Glover an offer on the marina if the deal with Piper’s father somehow fell through. Now he could see he was too late, as he’d missed his window of opportunity. If he did decide to stay in Sweet Water after all, he would have no job, and that would never work if he planned on asking Piper to marry him.

“So am I free of all charges?” he asked, looking toward his brother, Judas.

“Yes and no,” said Judas, making no sense at all.

“Zeb, what’s going on?” he asked looking over to his brother who was acting as his attorney.

“Mr. Westbrook agreed to drop all charges if you went for counseling for your anger issues,” Zeb told him.

“He did, did he?” Simon felt his blood boiling already.

“Daddy is going to be going with you, since he has some issues as well,” added Piper.

“What?” Simon looked at her and shook his head. “No,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Look, boy, I don’t like it either,” growled her father, getting the attention of every one of Simon’s brothers in the room. “I mean . . . Simon,” he said, and Simon realized this was the first time he had called him by his name. Maybe things could change for the better after all. “The fact is, it’s either this or my wife divorces me and takes everything I’ve worked so hard for, my entire life.”

“So now you know how it feels, huh?” Simon smiled at him sarcastically.

“My father’s also going to marriage counseling,” Piper whispered into his ear. “I’m hoping to be able to get my family back together.”

“Really.” He was impressed to see how much work Piper had gone through to make things right for all of them.

“Since my daughter explained how much you mean to her, I’ve decided to agree to the marriage, though I’m not crazy about the idea,” Mr. Westbrook told him.

“Marriage? What marriage?” he asked, feeling very confused, and as if this were some kind of shotgun wedding.

“Simon, will you marry me?” Piper blurted out, taking his hands in hers and looking him in the eye. The entire room went quiet.

“Pippa? Is this some kind of joke?” he asked, looking at every face in the room but not a single person was laughing.

“I love you, Simon, and I don’t want to live without you.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart, but this is really awkward.”

“Dammit, Simon, put your ego aside and say yes. After all, this is what you’ve been waiting for your entire life.” This time it was Thad who spoke up and it was out of character for Thad to be talking like this and it made Simon laugh. Before he knew it, all his brothers were laughing as well, but no one else in the room joined in.

“I don’t think it’s anything to laugh about,” said Cat. “Piper put her heart out there just now and all you men are laughing at her? What’s the matter with you?”

“Pippa, don’t think they’re laughing at you because they’re not,” Simon explained to Piper. “They are laughing because when we were younger I always told them that I was going to wait for a girl to ask me to marry her or stay a bachelor my entire life. Of course I was ten at the time, but my brothers never let me forget it.”

“Oh, really?” Piper looked relieved.

“Really. And yes, I will marry you because I’d planned on asking you the same thing as soon as I got myself out of the big mess I was in.”

“Simon, I’m so happy.” She jumped up and kissed him and he scooped her up into his arms. He reached out a hand and picked up the whistle hanging around her neck and did a series of blasts on it.

“What’s that mean?” she asked.

“It means I’m not going back to the cruise ship after all, and I’m hoping you’ll agree to live in Sweet Water even if your husband is jobless.”