A Moment on the Lips (A Whistle Stop Romance, #3) (27 page)

He barely recognized her as the sweet thing who had baked him a bear claw each morning or listened to him bare his scarred soul to her. Before him stood a meddling stranger. Someone who’d stolen his future from him.

Grief and pain collided within him. “Why? Why would you do this?”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“Was I not nice enough to you? Were you that worried about the competition?”

“No. No. It...it wasn’t any of that.”

He pressed his hands to his waist and blinked repeatedly. “I don’t understand how someone who says they’re my friend could do this.”

“I’m sorry. I...I’ll fix it—”

“No! You won’t! I don’t want your help. Every time I have something that’s important to me, someone I’m supposed to be able to rely on, to trust, comes along and destroys it. And in the process, they destroy a little piece of me.”

“I...I’m sorry.” She blinked and swiped at her cheeks. “I would do anything to erase this whole night.”

“I shouldn’t blame you. I should blame myself. I trusted you more than anyone. I opened up to you about the most painful experiences in my life. And that’s all on me. If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

Piper staggered backward.

He glared at her. “Stay away from me. I don’t ever want anything to do with you.”

A sob tore from her throat. She held a hand to her mouth and took another step back.

Good. She was finally getting the message.

In one night, he’d lost his home, his business, and now the woman he’d thought he loved. How could he have been so foolish? He knew what happened when he trusted others—what always happened—he paid a steep price.

“We were all wrong for each other. Just go away.” He turned his back to her.

Joe’s body started to tremble. He folded his arms across his chest as his gaze took in the black soot stains trailing up his building. Everything was ruined.

“Here. You need this.” A gentle female voice said before the woman draped a red blanket over his shaking shoulders.

He glanced over at the woman. Her warm smile and short, silver hair looked familiar, but he couldn’t put a name to the face. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. Nothing was making sense.

“Can I get you anything else?” The older woman sent him a worried look. When he shook his head, she said, “I think I should call the paramedics and have them take a look at you. I think you might be suffering from shock.”

Was that it? Was that why he’d been a monster to Piper?

“Come on.” The woman gave a tug on his arm.

At last, he regained his speech. “Thanks. I...I’m fine.”

She sent him a look that said he was about as far from fine as a person could get. And he couldn’t argue with her. But he didn’t think there was a thing the paramedics could do for him.

He continued to stand there. A tremor raced through his body as the shock and anger drained away. Adrenaline fled his veins, allowing exhaustion to take its place. The weight of grief and guilt settled on his shoulders, pushing him down, making it hard to keep standing.

His gaze sought out Piper, but she’d already disappeared. Good for her. She got away from him, because right now he didn’t even recognize himself. He couldn’t even recall half of the things he’d said to her. He knew whatever the words had been, they’d hurt her. The pained look in Piper’s eyes was the one thing his memory retained.

His gut reaction was to go after her, to apologize for his overreaction.

But he couldn’t do it. As hard as it was for both of them, it had to be this way. He’d been foolish to think he could have a relationship with Piper, with anyone. Past experience should have been lesson enough. People changed, and in his experience, it was never for the best.

Then why did it feel like she’d walked away with his heart in her hands? And why did it feel as though he’d just pushed away his one chance to write his own happy ending?

“Do you have someplace to go?” The woman was still standing there, as though watching over him.

She obviously didn’t trust him to his own devices. And he didn’t blame her. He’d taken a horrible situation and made it unbearable. No one should be around him.

Realizing the woman was staring at him expectantly, he decided he better pull it together long enough to answer her before she called 911. “I...I can go to my mother’s.”

“You’re Martha’s boy, aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“Can you walk there? Or should I find you a ride?”

His mother lived only a few blocks away. He’d walked there many times. “I’ll make it.”

“Lead the way.”

“But the building, I need—”

“You need to go rest before you cause more damage. Someone else will watch it.” She took his arm, and they started walking.

So she had heard how he’d spoken to Piper. He wanted to ask her what all he’d said in the heat of the moment, but he didn’t dare. He wasn’t sure he could cope with the guilt. He’d deal with it tomorrow. He’d deal with everything tomorrow. It surely couldn’t be as bad as tonight. Could it?

“We’re here.” The woman’s voice was calm and reassuring.

He glanced up to find they were standing on the porch of his mother’s small bungalow. The porch light flicked on, and then his mother was standing there in her robe. She ushered them both inside.

The two women spoke in hushed tones as he headed to the small guest room where he’d stayed when he’d first moved back to town. He’d just lain down on the bed when his mother rushed into the room.

“Thank goodness Mrs. Noel was there to bring you home.” His mother held out two pills and a glass of water. “Here, take these.”

He didn’t have it in him to argue. He’d done enough of that tonight to last a lifetime. He never ever wanted to raise his voice again. He never ever wanted to be responsible for putting such a pained look on someone else’s face.

His mother turned off the light and closed the door.

The events of the night played in his mind, blurring together into a gnarled mess.

Then the blackness of the night mercifully sought him out.

P
iper awoke to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee.

She glanced around, realizing the blinds had been pulled and the drapes drawn, making the room much darker than it really was outside. Oh my! There was sunshine sneaking through the cracks. She’d totally slept in. She jumped out of bed.

She glanced down at the large, pink, flowered nightgown Mrs. Sanchez had lent her. She was ever so grateful for the woman’s generosity, but right now Piper had to get to work. There were orders to fill. She rushed to throw on her jeans and T-shirt. The lingering scent of smoke on the clothing brought back the harrowing images from the prior night.

There was no work to get to. She’d be lucky if her bakery was salvageable after last night’s blaze. Then she recalled her confrontation with Joe. The backs of her eyes stung.

No. She couldn’t think about him now. She couldn’t fall to pieces. There were things to be done. People needed to be notified, starting with Hannah and Alison. Piper glanced around for her phone, but then she realized in the rush to get out of the apartment last night that she hadn’t thought to grab it.

Piper rushed from the bedroom and into the kitchen, where Mrs. Sanchez was sitting at the kitchen table with a pen in one hand and the phone in the other. She glanced up over the top of her glasses and held up a finger to indicate she would just be one more minute. Then she gestured to the coffeepot. That was a very welcome sight.

As Piper found her way around the kitchen, she glanced at the clock. It was nine a.m. Yikes! She must have been tired. She never slept this late. Ever. The fact she’d slept at all after everything that had happened was testimony to her exhaustion.

With a mug of steaming coffee, Piper took a seat at the table. She hoped to use the phone to speak with her employees. After which, she planned to head to the Poppin’ Fresh to see what could be salvaged. Something told her Joe was already there, inspecting what remained of his coffee shop. He wouldn’t be happy to see her again.

Mrs. Sanchez ended her call. “Sorry about that. There’s lots to do today.”

“There is?” Was there some sort of function she wasn’t aware of? She searched her memory but came up empty.

“Of course there is.” Mrs. Sanchez reached over and patted her hand. “Don’t worry, dear. Everything will be all right.”

“Could I use the phone? I need to call Hannah and Alison. And I...I left my phone in my apartment.”

“Sure, you can use the phone. But there’s no need to call either of them. They already know about the fire.”

“They do?”

Mrs. Sanchez nodded. “While you’ve been getting some much-needed sleep, I’ve been on the phone. Most of Whistle Stop knows about the fire, and everyone sends their love.”

“I’m sorry.” She seemed to be saying that a lot lately. “I didn’t mean to sleep so late. I guess I was more wiped out than I thought. But it’s not me that people should be concerned about. It’s Joe. It was his place that went up in flames.”

“Don’t you worry about him. He’ll be taken care of.”

“He will?”

Mrs. Sanchez sent her a knowing smile. “Let me get you some breakfast, and then we’ll head over there. Things always look better in the light of day.”

Piper really wanted to believe her, but she didn’t think there was anything that would make this situation better. “Thanks for everything, but I don’t think I can eat a bite.”

“But you have to eat something to keep up your strength. There’s going to be a lot for you to deal with today. Now, name your pleasure: eggs, oatmeal, toast, bacon?”

None of it sounded good to her, but she had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn’t be able to get away from the table without eating something.

As though Mrs. Sanchez sensed her hesitation, she added, “How about some poached eggs and toast? Those should be easy on your stomach.”

“Sounds good. Have you spoken to my mother?”

“She phoned here this morning. She was worried, but I assured her you were fine. She said she would be around later.”

Piper wasn’t looking forward to that meeting, especially if her mother found out that Piper was responsible for the blaze. Her throat tightened, and she blinked repeatedly. Luckily, Mrs. Sanchez was busy making breakfast and didn’t notice that she’d become worked up.

Piper swallowed hard. She didn’t deserve to wallow in tears. Nor did she deserve how nice Mrs. Sanchez was being to her. Maybe she hadn’t heard the whole story last night. That had to be it, otherwise she wouldn’t be bending over backward to help her.

Now Piper needed to ask the one question that was eating at her the most. “Did you hear anything about Joe?”

Mrs. Sanchez turned up the heat on the stove. “As a matter of fact, I haven’t heard anything about him. Perhaps he slept in, too. After all, that was a very traumatic night for both of you. I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t be sorry.” Piper couldn’t stomach the sympathy when she deserved nothing more than condemnation. “I...I started the fire.”

Mrs. Sanchez arched a dark brow. “I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true. It...it wasn’t intentional. But that doesn’t excuse my actions.” Piper stared down at the parquet tabletop, unable to face Mrs. Sanchez and see the disappointment in her eyes.

Mrs. Sanchez approached the table and sat down. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I heard what Joe said to you last night, and it was dreadful. He shouldn’t have said those things—”

“Yes, he should have. He’s right. I had no business being in his shop. I was doing exactly what I blame my mother for doing with me, meddling.”

“You were trying to take care of someone you care for.” The woman reached out a hand with gemstone rings on three of her fingers. She grasped Piper’s hand and squeezed. “Listen to me. He didn’t mean anything he said last night. He was in shock. He cares far too much about you to let this stand between you two. You make the perfect couple.”

If only Piper could believe that, but she couldn’t. He’d only spoken the truth. And now she must carry the burden.

She sniffed back the tears that were threatening to spill onto her cheeks. “Thank you for being so kind and understanding. I really don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve him.”

“You’ll see in time that things will look different.” Mrs. Sanchez stood. “The water’s boiling, so I need to get these eggs on. And we must get a move on. We don’t want to be late.”

“Late for what?”

“Don’t you worry. You’ll find out soon enough. Trust me. Things will look up for you soon.”

Piper highly doubted it. Things looked awful. Terrible. Devastating.

That’s how Piper pictured the scene in the town square. And if Joe was there, which he most likely would be, she didn’t have a clue what she’d say to him. No idea at all. Sorry just wasn’t enough.

♥♥♥

W
ere they all there for her?

Tears sprang to Piper’s eyes when she saw most of Whistle Stop’s citizens standing on the sidewalk in front of the Poppin’ Fresh Bakery. They carried mops, rags, buckets, and all sorts of cleaning supplies.

“What’s everyone doing here?”

“They’re here for you.” Mrs. Sanchez patted her arm. “When I spoke to the fire officials this morning, they gave the all clear on the bakery and your apartment.”

“They did?”

Mrs. Sanchez had a guarded look on her face. “It isn’t all good news. There’s water and smoke damage.”

Piper wasn’t sure what that meant, but she fully intended to find out as soon as possible. She scanned the mass of faces for one in particular—Joe’s. But she didn’t see him anywhere.

“I can’t believe so many people showed up to help.”

“As soon as they heard their favorite bakery was in trouble, they were more than eager to pitch in.”

“But what about Joe? He’s the one who really needs the help.” Her gaze strayed to his coffee shop with the broken windows. Guilt weighed heavy on her shoulders. “They should be helping him.”

“I promise that he’ll get help when the time comes. But it’s going to take a lot more than a mop and pail to fix up his shop.”

“Oh.” It was the only word she could muster as her gaze grew hazy with unshed tears.