Chapter 11

Sawyer brought the coffee pot over to the table, filled his cup then held it up to Piper, "Do you want a refill?" he asked. "There's still plenty left."

Looking up from her laptop, she shook her head, "If I drink that now, I'll be up all night," she said. "I'll just stick with my water, thanks."

Sawyer glanced over at Mary, who was playing with Reese in front of the big fireplace at the back of the room. "I wasn't planning on letting you sleep tonight anyway," he said, grinning at her. "You might as well have some."

Piper's cheeks turned the shade of pink he loved so much, "Sawyer, stop that. You know I can't think when you do that," she said, then shivered. "We still have to finish the summer schedule, and it's already late."

After taking the coffee pot back, he gave Piper a kiss, then sat down next to the table and opened his computer, "Okay, I'll behave, let's get this done," he said. "We're going to have to do something different this summer. You and I aren't going to be able to trade off like we usually do."

Piper looked up from her computer, "Why not?" she asked. "We always do it that way."

"Well, not this year, I'm not willing to be away from you that much," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "With the old schedule, we'd hardly get to see each other, and that's not going to work for me, not this summer."

She studied him for a second, "I see your point," she said, a pleased smile spreading across her face. "So, do you have a different plan?"

"We'll put Hank in your place," he said. "He knows this ranch as well as we do, and I trust him to make the right decisions if one of us isn't there."

"That could work, Hank's been a strong leader from the day we hired him," she said, not looking up from her computer. "If I plug him in and merge our schedules, it will work, but I think we should talk to him first before we finalize this. There may be some dates that don't work for him."

"There's enough in the budget to offer him a small raise to go with the new responsibility," he said, then hesitated. "And I was thinking we might be able to offer him your cabin too; that is, if you agree to move in here with me."

"You want me to move in?" she asked, her face full of surprise. "I didn't expect……I mean……what about Helen? You're still fighting for custody of Reese; won't it bother the judge? I don't want to do anything that will make things worse."

"Piper, I'm not letting Helen come between us again," he said. "We're both adults, we're in a committed relationship, Reese already knows and loves you, so I can't see the judge having any problem with it."

"Well, when you put it that way, I don't think I can say no," she said, a smile spreading across her face. "You don't think Mary will care, do you?"

"Did I just hear my name?" Mary asked, walking over to them with Reese in her arms.

Reese reached for him, and he plopped her down into his lap, then shoved everything on the table away from her busy fingers. "I was just asking Piper to move in here with us," he said. "She's worried that you might object."

"Object?" Mary asked, a big smile on her face, then shook her head. "It's about time, that's what I have to say, but maybe you two should just get married and get it over with while you're at it."

Piper's eyes got big, "Oh, I don't know……"

"Let's just take this one step at a time," he said, giving Reese a kiss on the cheek. "What do you think, sweetheart? Won't it be fun having Piper right here with us?"

Reese looked up at him, then over at Piper, and held out her arms, "Piper, Piper, Piper," she chanted until he handed her over.

The toddler snuggled into her arms with a big yawn, then put her head down on Piper's shoulder, "I guess that's your answer," he said, grinning at her. "It looks like someone is ready for bed."

"I'll take her up," Mary said. "You two finish what you're doing."

When they were gone, he looked over at Piper who was still smiling, love shining in her eyes, "We never talked about Reese," he said. "I know you care about her, and that you've been in her life since she was born……you're the closest thing she has to a mother, but if you don't……"

She reached over and took his hand, "Sawyer, I love Reese and I'm going to be the best step-mom I can be," she said. "I hope someday we'll have some kids of our own, but I promise I'll never treat her any differently. She's got a big slice of my heart, and that won't ever change."

"I thought so, but I just had to check," he said, wondering why he'd ever thought any differently. "Now, let's get the schedule done so we can go to bed. I'm going to show you just how grateful I am that you're in my life."

Piper studied him for a second, her eyes filled with desire, then she snapped her computer shut, "This can wait until tomorrow," she said, slightly breathless. "I'll never be able to concentrate now."

He laughed, got to his feet, and pulled her out of her chair and straight into his arms. Threading his fingers through her hair, he pinned her to his chest and kissed her until her knees began to wobble. When he swung her up into his arms and started for the stairs, she rested her head on his chest, and for the first time in a long time, everything felt right with the world.

***Piper***

Piper slipped the plate of crisp bacon into the oven to stay warm, then broke the eggs into a bowl, whipped them until they were light and fluffy, and dumped them into the hot skillet. When they were finished, she turned them out onto another plate, shoved that into the oven next to the bacon, then turned her attention to the pancakes. Humming as she worked, she didn't hear Sawyer sneak up behind her, and let out a little cry when he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Oh, you scared me," she said, turning around in his arms and smiling up at him. "Good morning."

"Hmmm……I'm not sure if it is yet or not," he said, then kissed her until she was breathless. "Okay, now I'll agree with you."

She laughed, "Breakfast is almost ready," she said, looking behind him. "Where's Reese?"

As if on cue, Reese started calling out for Sawyer, "She was sound asleep when I came down here," he said, shaking his head. "I'll be right back."

She was just setting the last plate of food on the table when Sawyer came back in with the baby, Reese took one look at her, threw out her arms, and squealed with delight. "Come here, you," she said, taking the squirming toddler. "Are you hungry? I made us a big breakfast. We're going to have a busy day today; we're going to need the energy."

After settling Reese in her booster chair, Piper filled her favorite plate with some eggs, a slice of bacon, and a pancake, cut everything up, and set it in front of the child. "Here's your fork, sweetheart," she said. "I'm going to go get you some juice."

When she looked up, Sawyer was watching her, a look on his face she'd never seen before, "You're going to be a wonderful mother," he said, walking over to her and pulling her into his arms. "I can't wait to see you with our baby in your arms."

She looked up at him, too overwhelmed to speak, feeling tears stinging her eyes again, "I can't think of anything I want more," she finally managed to say.

Sawyer started to kiss her but before his mouth reached hers, the back door flew open, and Helen came striding into the house. "Sawyer, I'm not giving you a divorce, do you hear me?" she screamed, then came to a stop and stared at the two of them, her face full of shock. "I knew it, I knew it, you lying bastard, now I'm really not giving you a divorce. You're going to be married to me forever."

Reese began to fuss as soon as she saw her mother, "Maybe you should take the baby and go upstairs," Sawyer said, gently pushing her behind him. "I don't want her to see this."

She stared at Reese, who was staring at the three of them with wide eyes, her bottom lip beginning to tremble. "It's okay, sweetheart," she said, lifting the child into her arms. "We're just going to go upstairs where it's quiet."

"Get your hands off my child," Helen screamed at her. "I'm her mother, give her to me. I want her right now; I'm taking her away from here."

"That's enough," Sawyer said, his voice deadly calm but laced with anger. "You're not capable of taking care of her, Helen, she's not going anywhere with you. I want you to leave now, we have nothing to talk about. I'll see you in court tomorrow, and you can say anything that you want to then."

"Oh, I'm going to have plenty to say, I can't wait until the judge hears about this. He's going to love it," she sneered at them. "How long has this been going on? How long have you been sleeping with my husband, you little bitch?"

Just then Mary emerged from the hallway that led back to her room. She walked over to Piper and took Reese out of her arms, "I'll take her upstairs," she said. "That woman should be locked up."

"Answer me," Helen screamed, then shook her head. "It doesn't matter, I was right, and now I have the proof. You've been having an affair, sleeping with the help, how disgusting. I'm going to take Reese away from you, I'm going to make you sorry you ever made me have that brat."

"Helen, that's enough," Sawyer roared. "I've heard enough from you, I want you out of my house, we're finished, we were finished before we even started. You tried to trap me with a baby and it didn't work. For once in your life, you didn't get what you wanted, get over it and move on. You don't belong here, you never did."

"You ruined my life, you and that brat," Helen screamed at him. "You turned me into a drunk and a drug addict, everyone has turned against me and it's your fault, you and that bitch. I should have gotten rid of her when I had the chance, but it might not be too late. I'm going to destroy you, Sawyer, I'm going to ruin your life like you ruined mine."

"You ruined your own life, Helen," he said, shaking his head. "You wanted more than you could have. I won't take responsibility for that any longer. Now I want you to leave my house and get off my property before I call the sheriff and have you arrested for trespassing. You're not welcome here now, and you never will be again."

Slipping into Sawyer's arms, Piper looked at Helen and for a second felt sorry for her, "Let it go, Helen," she said. "It's time for you to move on, you had your chance and blew it, Sawyer is mine and you'll never come between us again."

Helen let out a cry of anger and frustration, "You're both going to be sorry," she said. "I never lose, and I'm not going to this time."

She turned and stormed out of the house, leaving a heavy silence behind her, but Sawyer just pulled her closer, "It will be over tomorrow," he said. "The judge will grant the divorce whether she wants it or not."