Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Here you go, ma’am.”

The barista handed the cup of tea to Piper. She sipped the boiling liquid and burned her lips as she walked to the booth. It still tasted amazing. Not double-shot-latte amazing—she had already drunk her fill of caffeine for the day, any more would kick in her fight or flight reflexes—but a delicious blend of lavender and berries, nonetheless. She often came here on breaks from work in the afternoons to have this brew.

Margaret Hitchens, real estate entrepreneur, mayor of Rocky Points, longtime friend of David’s, and Piper’s coffee date this morning, had a phone pressed to her ear. She nodded at Piper’s arrival.

Piper slid into the booth across from her and waited patiently, listening in as Margaret spoke to someone about an inspection gone wrong with one of the hundred-plus real estate transactions the woman’s company facilitated each month.

Hammered metal bracelets jangled on her wrists as she poked the air, rings glimmering on thin fingers. She wore a blouse covered in an abstract splash of paint that Piper could never pull off but that made the other woman’s face come even more alive as she ripped into some poor soul on the other end of the call.

Piper hoped she had this much passion for work at sixty. It was highly unlikely. The investigations at the law firm were interesting and varied in nature on a case-by-case basis, but she couldn’t picture going another twenty-five years doing it and looking as energized as Margaret did.

“Okay. Sorry.” Margaret put the phone on the table. “It never ends with these assholes.” She mumbled something under her breath, then tilted her head, smiling at Piper. “Hi.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m great.” Margaret reached out and grabbed Piper’s hand. “Geez, woman, you look beautiful. I must not see you enough in person because every time I do, I’m just floored by how incredibly beautiful you are. Those big brown eyes, that skin that looks like a baby’s ass. What I wouldn’t do to have that skin.”

Piper blushed. “Thank you. I was just thinking the same about you.”

“Don’t patronize me. So, how’s living with David going? His house isn’t exactly the one we found you up along the creek.”

“You’re right.” She smiled. Piper had loved being up the mountain east of town, otherwise known as Sunnyside. The house had been tucked in an aspen grove, with long views out some of the windows. But she’d been happy to rent it out to a young couple with two kids .

“But I love it out at David’s place, too,” she said. “We’re happy.”

“It’s tough to beat that plot of land David lucked into,” Margaret said. “Listen, tell him to just sell me a few acres, and we’ll put up some tasteful condos. Sell them for one point five, two million apiece, multiplied by ten or so. You guys would come out flush with cash on the other end.”

Piper smiled. “I, uh…”

“I’m kidding. Kind of. But seriously, talk him into it.” Margaret sipped her coffee, sitting back on the booth bench. “So, how’s it going investigating for the firm?”

“It’s going well. The hours are nice. Interesting work. The pay is good. I can’t complain.”

“Good. I’m glad.” Margaret put her hand on the table. “So, what’s up? What did you want to see me for?”

Piper tapped the manila folder she had brought with her. “Well, first of all, thank you for meeting with me. You must be so busy.”

“Please. No problem. Hit me.”

“Okay. Well, I just wanted to get your thoughts on the wedding plans.”

Margaret’s eyes widened. “Oh. Yes. Gimme, gimme.”

Piper opened the folder, unveiling a packet representing the last couple months of planning: floral arrangements, music, catering, tent-configuration maps, and seating charts. It was all here in a stressed-out stack of paper.

“I see you’ve been busy.” Margaret took the packet and started flipping pages. “What do you want to know in particular?”

“Well…” Piper sipped her drink.

Margaret looked up. “What’s wrong?”

“Well,” she said again .

“Well, what?”

“It’s just that I showed this to David, and it looked like…I don’t know how to describe it.” She picked out the computer-generated, full-color drawing she’d shown David the night before. “This is what the whole thing is going to look like.”

“Wow, I didn’t know they did this nowadays. Looks almost real.”

“Yeah, they took photos of the field in front of David’s house and superimposed everything over it with AI.”

“I see that.” Margaret made an unsure noise and then a face. She set down the paper and looked at Piper like she was going to tell her about the death of a family pet.

“What? What is it? What’s wrong with this? You’re acting like David did the other night.”

“Honey.” Margaret set both hands on hers. “This looks exactly like it did when he was going to marry Lauren.”

Piper stared, dumbfounded. “It does?”

“Yes.”

“I…I don’t understand. The flowers? The color-scheme? What do you mean?”

Margaret studied the picture again. “I mean, pretty much all of it. The whole layout and the location of the tents. I mean, it’s been a few years ago now, but this looks like an exact replica to me.”

“How? Why? What?” She felt defensive. “Here?”

“Yes.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Okay, let me ask this. Where were they going to be married?”

Margaret frowned. “In front of his house. The field in front. Just like this. ”

Piper’s face went slack.

“You didn’t know that?”

Her breath caught. The booth tilted. “No.”

Margaret squeezed her hand, and she reflexively pulled it away.

“How did I not know that?” she asked, her voice a whisper.

“David didn’t tell you?”

She shook her head, the memories coming back like a flood now. It had been her brilliant idea to get married in the field in front of his house. She had been ecstatic to tell him about her thoughts on the matter, the way the valley would open up before them all the way north as they got married out in the majestic surroundings of his home. It would be simple. They were going to move in together anyway, so she would have all of her stuff right there in the house, allowing her to get ready for the ceremony in comfort.

“I’m sorry, honey.”

Piper snapped out of her thoughts. “It’s okay. It’s…” She didn’t know what this was. Why wouldn’t he tell her?

“You used Debbie Gertman’s company for the planning?” Margaret pointed at an invoice.

Piper blinked. “I don’t know. It’s Chautauqua Valley Weddings. I’ve been working with a woman named Vanna.”

Margaret nodded. “I think that’s even the same planner, actually. I think Debbie does more of the corporate event stuff.”

Piper yanked the picture closer to her. “It’s the same planner that worked with Lauren before me?”

“Yes. ”

Anger flared inside her. “And she just let me make a spitting image of that wedding that crashed and burned.”

Margaret’s eyebrows arched in sympathy. Her phone buzzed, and she poked it silent. “I’m afraid so, honey.”

Piper’s face was red hot. David’s reaction, the way he’d frozen looking at the page. He said he was thinking about the case, and she’d believed him. To think the facial expressions of someone looking at photos of their upcoming wedding could have been mistaken for someone thinking of rotting, mangled corpses sucked the life from her.

“It’s okay,” Margaret offered.

“Yeah,” she said. She didn’t know what words were coming from her mouth. She was speechless.

“It’s not your fault. It’s these idiots’ fault. They gotta know better than this. I mean, come on.”

Piper stared through the coffee shop, in her mind, seeing David’s shocked face over and over again.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded.

“I can talk to Debbie for you if you want. There’s no way Vanna should have approved these plans without giving you a heads-up.”

“What? No. Thanks.” She raked the plans back and put them in the folder, not bothering to keep them in order. “I have to get going.”

“Okay.”

Piper stood, and Margaret rose with her arms outstretched.

“I’m sorry,” Margaret said. “I don’t know when to shut my mouth.”

“No, Margaret. I thank you. You’ve saved me a hell of a lot of trouble. ”

Margaret’s phone rang again.

“Bye,” Piper said, using the diversion to leave, forgetting to bring her tea.