––––––––

Piper

––––––––

“You look like hell, Piper.” Jo scoops me into her arms. “Cry, child. Just let it out.”

I do. I knocked on her door as soon as I made my way up the stairs to my apartment. I was going to go straight to bed, but I needed comfort and since Bridget lives in Queens and is likely fast asleep, Jo was the only person I could think of to go to. I’m grateful that she’s still awake.

She shuffles us both into her apartment before we break the embrace.

“I’m going to make some tea.” She points at her sofa. “You sit down and wrap yourself in that blanket. You’re wet and cold.”

I didn’t care that it was pouring rain when I stepped out of Griffin’s building. I just wanted to get away so I rushed to the nearest subway stop. By the time I was on the platform, my dress was soaked through and clinging to me.

I’m not a true New Yorker yet. I don’t listen to the forecast to know when to carry my umbrella with me. Hell, I don’t even own a fucking umbrella.

I don’t belong here. I shouldn’t be here. My life in Denver was never this complicated.

“The kettle is on.” Jo wraps her arm around my waist to push me in the direction of her sofa. “Kick off your shoes. They look like they’re strangling your feet.”

I do as I’m told before I sit on the sofa while she wraps a soft blue blanket around my body.

“Lean back and close your eyes for a minute.” Her hand brushes across my forehead. “I’ll get the tea and be back in a flash.”

I nod as I look up. “I miss my mom.”

“I know, sweetie.” She smiles down at me. “I miss my daughter. She’s overseas right now. I think fate brought us together.”

I sob. “I think so too.”

“I’ll take care of you. We’ll mend your broken your heart.”

I lean back and close my eyes, wishing I’d never delivered that damn sketch to Griffin’s place tonight. I saw a part of his life he didn’t want me to see and now I’ll never understand the pain that lives inside of him.

***

I open my eyes to the low hum of the television. I look over at Jo. She’s resting her head in her hands.

“Did I doze off?” I snuggle under the blanket as I glance at the two mugs on the coffee table. One still has a tea bag and liquid in it. The other is empty.

Jo smiles. “You were out for about an hour. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever see him again,” I whisper. “I think it’s over.”

She runs a hand over her hair pushing it back from her forehead. “What happened?”

I sigh heavily. “I went to Griffin’s apartment tonight to surprise him, but he wasn’t home. A friend of his was there.”

She waits patiently for me to continue.

“His friend took me into Griffin’s home office. There were these beautiful paintings there. They’re striking. All of them are tones of gray with rolling waves, and hills. There are ghost-like figures and abstract forms. It was gripping. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.”

“Did Griffin paint them?”

I shake my head. “No. I don’t know who did.”

I don’t bother bringing up the blonde woman in the photograph because I can’t fit her into the picture. I have no idea if she’s a part of Griffin’s life now or if her memory was born in his past.

“I take it Griffin found out that you were in his home office without him there?” Her voice softens. “It upset him, didn’t it?”

“He found me in there.” I close my eyes to push back my emotions. “He looked so vulnerable, so lost. I just wanted to hold him, but he told me to go.”

She clears her throat. “Maybe he wasn’t ready for you to see that part of his life.”

“I can’t change the fact that I saw it.” I exhale as I look back at her. “It doesn’t change how I feel about him.”

“How do you feel about him?”

“I think I love him,” I admit.

She moves closer to the edge of her chair. “If you do, find a way to show him that.”

“I don’t know how.” I swing my legs over the side of the sofa until I’m sitting upright. “I feel as though I saw a side of him tonight that I never knew existed.”

“You’re not talking about the fact that he told you to leave, are you?” She rests her cheek against the back of the chair.

“I know why he did that.” I tuck the blanket around my legs. “He felt exposed. I’m talking about the paintings. They are so intense. He has them hanging in his office. They must speak to him in a way.”

“Or they remind him of something or someone.”

“I wish I knew what or who.”

“Give Griffin time, Piper.” She lowers her voice. “Let him accept that you’ve seen a part of his world he obviously wants hidden. He’ll come to you when he’s ready.”

Or he won’t. Time will tell and until then, I’ll find a way to move on with my life.