Wish You Were Here (14 page)

Ruby glanced at the bedside clock.
“About nine.”

“
Oh.” She blinked again. “I’m not going to school today?”

“
No, but that doesn’t mean you get to lie in bed all day. Go to your room and get dressed. Your dad’s gonna make pancakes after he’s done with his shower.”

“
Okay.” Piper slid out of bed, picked up the fire extinguisher, and carried it with her as she shuffled toward the door. She paused at the door and looked at Ruby, one eye half-squinting. “He’s not going to light the bananas on fire again, is he?”

Ruby laughed.
“No, baby. Not this time.”

“
Good.” Piper nodded and left, the fire extinguisher dragging along behind her like a wayward teddy bear. Ruby watched her leave, the smile on her lips fading as she did.

Damn.
She was gonna miss that kid.

Twelve

Freya
sat
on the edge of Nate’s bed, staring down at the hospital-blue pair of scrubs the nurses had given her to go home in, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that this outfit was her entire wardrobe at the moment. It was almost like being naked. No cell phone in her purse, no laptop slung over her shoulder in a bag matching her outfit, no three-inch stiletto heels to spear the competition with.

It was almost like being free.

There was a light knock at the door.

“
Come on in,” she said, pushing herself up off the bed. Her limbs were still a little achy, but considering the fact that she could be fried up good and crisp right now, she was okay with it.

The door opened slowly, tentatively, and Piper stuck her head in, her little brown eyes wide with uncertainty.

“You’re awake?”

“
Yep,” Freya said, smoothing the covers on Nate’s bed. “I was just about to come down.” She raised an eyebrow at Piper. “I heard tell of pancakes.”

“
Yeah, Dad’s cooking them now. He sent me to check on you and see if you were hungry.”

“
Starving,” Freya said. “Especially if your dad’s cooking.”

“
I’m glad you’re okay,” Piper said suddenly. The kid had a way of taking a conversation on a hairpin turn.

“
Me, too,” Freya said. “You were here, right? You were safe?”

“
Yeah.” Piper nodded, settling on the edge of her father’s bed. “I was scared, though. It’s freaky. You hear about fires happening like that, but you never think it’ll happen to you.”

Freya watched her for a minute, wondering how much Piper knew about the gasoline and the arson, then decided
to just play it cool. “Right. Freaky.”

Freya stood still for a moment, watching Piper, who sat with her legs kicking out in random circles. A sign, Freya had learned, that she had something she wanted to talk about. Freya sat on
the bed a few feet away from Piper and waited.

“
Are you going to go home now?” Piper said finally.

“
I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Freya said. “I haven’t really had much time to think about it.”

Piper raised her eyes to Freya
’s. “Are you in love with my dad?”

Well, hello, hairpin.
Freya sat up straight. “What makes you ask a question like that?”

Piper fought a smile and looked away, her cheeks blushing.
“Just because I’m a kid doesn’t mean I can’t tell when stuff is going on.”

“
Well…” Freya stopped when she realized she had no idea what to say to the kid. What was she supposed to say?
I’m not in love with your dad, but I’ve sure enjoyed the hell out of his penis recently?
“Well.”

“
He’s happy around you,” Piper said. “Even when he was angry at my mom, you’d walk in a room and he’d be happy again.”

Freya laughed.
“Not to toot my own horn, but I have that effect on a lot of people. It’s what happens with girls like us, Piper. We just bring happiness wherever we go. It’s completely out of our control.”

Piper lowered her eyes.
“I’m not like that.”

“
The hell you’re not,” Freya said. “Don’t get down on yourself, kid. If you let that bullshit in your head now, you’ll never get rid of it.”

Piper angled her head to look up at Freya, and a slight smile graced the edge of her lips.
“He makes you happy, too. I can tell.”

Freya pushed herself up off the bed.
“Those pancakes are gonna get cold if we don’t hurry.”

Piper stood up as well and
playfully bumped her shoulder into Freya as she passed. “You like him. You think he’s cute.”

“
Shut up,” Freya said, laughing.

“
You
love
him,” she said, in a teasing sing-song. “You want to
marry
him.”

“
Do not!” They walked out into the hallway and she put her arm around Piper’s shoulders. “And you’re gonna keep your big mouth shut around your dad or I’m gonna tell him all about Matt Hartley.”

Piper gasped and grabbed Freya
’s arm. “No! No!”

Freya cleared her throat and called down the stairs.
“Hey, Nate! I’ve got something to tell you!”

“
No! Nonononononononono!” Piper pleaded, pulling on her arm and laughing.

Freya held up a warning index finger at Piper.
“Are we at a détente?”

Piper blinked.
“What’s that?”

“
You shut up, I shut up.”

“
Oh!” Piper jumped up and down. “Yes, yes, yes! A
total
détente!”

“
What’s going on up there?”

Freya looked down to see Nate at the bottom of the stairs, a kitchen towel draped over his shoulder, watching them with a suspicious look.

“Oh... nothing.” Freya held her hand out to Piper, who shook it. “We’re just heading down for pancakes.”

She motioned for Piper to go first, and the kid practically bolted
down the stairs past her father. Nate watched Piper go, then turned questioning eyes to Freya, who took a more leisurely pace down the stairs.

“
What are you two up to?” he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

“
Oh, nothing. You showered.” She hit the bottom of the steps and reached up to touch the singed patch of hair on the side of his head. “You need a haircut.”

“
Great,” he said. “I risk my life saving you, and all I get is criticism on my hair?”

“
Play your cards right,” Freya said under her breath, “and you’ll get more than that.”

She looked up at him, feeling playful and giggly, but something in the way he looked back at her made her catch her
breath, and for the first time it occurred to her that maybe they weren’t playing anymore.

“
Well,” she said. “I’m starving.”

He nodded toward the kitchen.
“Let’s get you fed, then.” They walked into the kitchen together. Nate pulled out a chair for Freya and settled her in, then went to finish up on the pancakes. Freya slid her napkin into her lap, noticing Piper watching her with a smirk on her face. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and stuck her tongue out at Piper.

At least there was one person in that house she always knew how to behave around.

***

Ruby was quiet through most of breakfast, watching Nate and Freya flirt, and Freya and Piper tease each other. Much as she liked Freya, Ruby thought things were moving a bit fast with her and this family. There was too much going on, too much unresolved, and Piper was
too vulnerable. Nate could take care of himself—and it seemed he was doing just that—but Piper was not in a good place to be getting too attached to someone like Freya. There was also the business about the plate that needed clearing up, and soon, and Ruby needed to get the timing right on that so it didn’t make anything worse. Freya seemed a good woman, but she complicated everything, and they couldn’t afford more complications right now.

“
So, Freya,” Ruby said finally while Nate was occupied doing the dishes. “How are you feeling?”

Freya smiled.
“Better, thanks.”

“
Wasn’t your return flight today?”

Freya met Ruby
’s eyes. “No. It was open-ended. I was hoping to go back today, but—”

“
You’re not going, right?” Piper said.

Freya shifted her focus slowly from Ruby to Piper.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen yet.”

Piper grinned.
“Then you can stay!”

The sink turned off and Nate walked back to the table,
so Ruby leaned back in her chair and went silent. There would be time to broach the topic again later.

“
Piper,” Nate said, “don’t you have some homework to do?”

“
Nope,” Piper said. “You made me do it yesterday afternoon, remember?”

“
Well, go on up to your room and play for a while.” He raised his eyebrows at her, and seemed anxious for her to get gone.

Piper hopped up.
“Okay.” She turned to Freya. “Wanna play Playstation?”

Freya smiled and seemed about to take the kid up on it when Nate said,
“No, Pipes. I need to talk to both Freya and Ruby about something. Grown-up stuff.”

Both of us?
Ruby looked at Freya, who shot an equally questioning glance back at Ruby.

“
So you’re getting rid of me?” Piper shrugged. “Jeez. Just say so.”

She shared a look with Freya and headed out. Nate stood with his hands resting on the back of his chair, listening. He waited until the sound of Piper
’s door shutting came from upstairs, and then he sat down and looked back and forth from Ruby to Freya.

“
I’ve made some decisions,” he said. “And I wanted to talk to you two about them.”

“
This sounds like a family thing,” Freya said, starting to get up from the table. “Don’t include me to be polite. I can—”

“
No,” he said, putting one hand on hers. “This affects you, too.”

Their eyes locked for a second, some silent communication going on between them, then she nodded and sat down. Ruby took a sip of her coffee and waited to react until she knew what she was reacting to.

Nate sat back and rested his hands in front of him on the table, staring at them as he spoke. “I got a call from my partners at the restaurant. Lulu”—he looked at Freya—“she was my sous chef, and she took over when I left. Anyway, Lulu’s gonna walk if they don’t make her permanent.”

Freya sat forward.
“They can’t do that. It’s your restaurant. You’re the chef.”

“
I’ve been gone six months. Lulu’s made changes to the menu. Things seem to be working, and a good head chef isn’t easy to find.” He cupped his hands together and stared at them on the table.

“
So,” Freya said, “you’re going back, then?”

Ruby felt her back go stiff. Nate
hesitated for a moment and shook his head. “They offered to buy me out of the restaurant. I’m taking the offer.”

Ruby
’s stomach flipped with momentary elation, and she tamped it down. This wasn’t her family, and once they knew what she’d done, she’d be out on her rear, which was only right. Even if they were staying, there was nothing for her to get excited about. “Nate, that’s your livelihood. Why would you do that?”

Nate raised guilty eyes to hers, which was almost laughable, considering
what she’d done. ‘Course, he didn’t know about that yet, but still.

“
Look,” he said, “I know you wanted to move out to Oregon to live near your sisters, and the money from the sale of this place would have made that possible for you. But I can still do that for you. They’ve made me a generous offer.” He reached out and patted her hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”

She pulled her hand away.
“That restaurant means everything to you. Can’t they hang on for a little while longer?”

“
It’s been six months,” Nate said. “If I don’t go back right now, they’re gonna be without a chef, and that could kill the restaurant. And I can’t leave. I mean, this whole thing with Nikkie, the fire... I can’t leave Piper to go back to fifteen-hour days right now. The nanny I had has moved on to another family, so that means someone new with her all the time and it’s just not fair to her.” He gave a casual shrug, but his face betrayed the tension underneath. “And it takes the pressure off. Now I’ve got time to find this plate or whatever it is, and the money from the restaurant will give me some starting capital to fix this place up.” He glanced around, looking as though the walls were closing in around him. “I’ll make it work. Which means...” He turned to Freya. “I’m sorry. I won’t be selling the land.”

Freya looked confused.
“What plate?”

He ran his hand over his face.
“Right before she took off, Nikkie said something about a plate with a purple rim, and it fit the description of the thing Dad wan ted me to find but... I don’t even care about that right now. I just want to do right by Piper.” He paused for a moment, looking at Freya. “Sorry. I know this deal was important to you.”

“
What deal?” Ruby asked.

Freya took a moment to pull her eyes from Nate,
then looked at Ruby. “My father sent me out here to buy the place. That’s why I’m here.”

Ruby turned to Nate.
“You didn’t tell me about that.”