A SINGLE MOM & SINGLE DAD ROMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

PIPER

He kept shooting looks in my direction, and I knew something was up. Standing behind the counter, I noticed that his nervous gaze kept flickering over to me, never straying far from where I stood as he fidgeted, shifting his backpack around. He was watching me closely, without trying to be obvious about it. Although, those nervous eyes made him all the more conspicuous.

Those eyes – they looked familiar, yet I couldn't place them. He was young, probably somewhere around sixteen. He looked a little rough around the edges, like a kid who was familiar with trouble. Of course, given the neighborhood we were in, kids his age were known to get into trouble pretty often. I hated to make assumptions about the kid before he actually did something wrong, but it was hard not to. My hard-won experience taught me that I couldn't – and shouldn't – be too trusting.

I watched him as he moved toward the back of the store, hovering around the potato chips. He paced the aisle a few times as I stepped out from around the counter and quietly walked in his direction. The shelves protected me from view, but I used the mirror overhead to keep my eyes on him.

He obviously wasn't a criminal mastermind and wasn't very experienced at this because either he didn't see the mirror or didn't realize I was paying attention. He grabbed a bag of Doritos and stuffed them into his backpack as quietly as he could, before reaching for another bag.

I stepped around the aisle. “Hey, I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

The kid jumped, eyes wide, face frozen in fear as he dropped the backpack. It hit the ground at his feet with a loud plastic rustle and everything fell out, including the chips he'd tried to steal from my store. With my hands on my hips, I gave him the perfect disappointed mother look, and even though I wasn't technically that much older than him, it worked.

The poor kid stammered and looked like he was on the verge of tears. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –”

That's when it hit me – I did know the kid. Except the last time I saw him, he'd been just a little boy, not a teenager. Back then, he'd probably only been around ten or eleven. A scrawny kid with big, brown eyes and a soft voice. Five or six years had apparently changed him. A lot. What in the hell had happened to him over those years?

“Nolan?” I asked. “Nolan Jackson?”

His brown eyes widened even more, and his face blanched.

“Please just let me go,” he said, his voice still as soft as I remembered it. “I won't do it again. I swear it.”

He didn't remember me.. He'd been young, and I'd only met him a handful of times. Back then, I'd been a lot different too. These days, I was more mature, not nearly as made up and fashion-obsessed as I'd been back in high school. I'd have been surprised if he had remembered me to be honest.

“You know I can't let you go, Nolan,” I said. “I either need to call your folks or the police. I'll cut you a break and leave it up to you. So, what's it going to be?”

Nolan sighed and shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. I almost felt bad for the kid. Still, he was nearing eighteen and if he didn't learn lessons like this now, he was going to end up in bigger trouble down the line.

He stood there shaking his head, not looking me in the eye. It was like he hoped that if he took long enough, and showed me enough emotion, that I'd just drop the whole thing. So, I answered for him.

“I'm going to call your parents,” I said.

“I don't – my parents are dead,” he said.

Those words hit me in the gut like a pound of bricks. I'd known Mr. and Mrs. Jackson – albeit not very well. They were a nice, middle class couple with three kids and a small ranch house out on the edge of town. They hadn't been rich by any stretch of the imagination, but you never got the sense they were poor either. When I'd gone over for dinner – when I was right around Nolan's age, actually – they'd welcomed me with open arms. Mrs. Jackson had baked an apple pie after Shane had mentioned it was my favorite. They were incredibly nice, considerate people.

A lump formed in my throat, and tears welled in my own eyes. I stood there, rooted to my spot, my throat as dry as the Sahara. I wasn't sure what to do.

“I'm so sorry to hear that,” I said, my voice soft. “What happened?”

“Car accident,” he mumbled.

He looked up and then quickly looked away, staring at the floor he was standing on, as if he was counting the tiles. He scratched his chin and slowly looked up at me, defeat and fear plainly etched upon his face.

“So I guess that means you're going to call the cops, huh?” he asked.

I didn't want to call the cops. Getting Nolan in trouble with the police was the last thing I wanted to do. He'd lost enough already and starting him on that path with the cops – the path where he'd be labeled a troublemaker and constantly harassed – didn't seem fair.

“What if I called your brother instead?” I asked. “Would he come get you?”

Nolan nodded.

“Fine, give me his number then,” I said.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number as he recited it for me. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. Probably because he didn't recognize the number. So I left a message.

“Hey, Shane. It's Piper. Remember me from high school? Yeah, probably not,” I mumbled. “Anyway, funny story. I have your little brother here at C&S, the convenience store over on Willow and 10th? Yeah, well, he tried to steal some potato chips and I don't want to call the cops, so I need you to come pick him up.”

I left my number, along with the store number, and hung up. I stared at Nolan whose eyes were wide and frightened. He licked his lips nervously and I could see his hands trembling.

“If he doesn't call you back, then what?” he asked.

“Why don't you call him on your phone?” I said.

Nolan looked down at his hands. “I don't have a cell phone.”

“Oh,” was all I could think to say.

I felt stupid for assuming all teens had a cell phone of their own these days. It really put me in a tight spot though. I pondered what my next move might be if Shane didn't call me back, since I couldn't keep the kid there forever. As I stood there deliberating, the bell on the door chimed as another customer entered the store and started looking around. I had to get back to the front.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I answered it.

“Piper? Is that really you? Did you think I wouldn't remember you?” Shane laughed.

A smile pulled at my lips at the sound of the familiar voice. “Well, you never know. It's been a while,” I teased.

“How are you?” he asked.

The customer, an elderly woman, stood at the counter and scowled at me.

“I really can't talk right now, Shane,” I said. “But, if you wouldn't mind coming by to pick up your brother...”

“Tell that little punk I'll be right there,” he said.

His voice sounded tired and frustrated. With his parents gone, I had to think he was probably the one caring for his siblings – which couldn't be easy. Not that I knew what easy would be like myself. I was raising my own little monster, but luckily, she was only four years old and not into shoplifting yet. Never would be, if I had my way.

“Will do. See you in a bit,” I said before hanging up.

With a stern look at Nolan I told him, “Come with me,” I said, putting a growl into my voice. “Your brother is on his way down here to get you.”

Nolan dragged his feet, looking completely dejected, but followed me back around the counter where I rang up the elderly woman. She was a regular, knew me by name and she gave me the kind of look that said she was going to have a stern talk with my boss about me being on the phone.

Luckily, my boss was a nice guy – and would understand about me trying to prevent shoplifters since they were a problem in our neighborhood – otherwise I might be afraid of losing my job.

“Have a nice day!” I said to her.

The older woman shook her head, grabbing her bag of sunflower seeds and exited the store in a huff. I sighed and turned back to Nolan. He just stared at me, his eyes wide and a lost expression on his face. I was glad I hadn't called the cops on him. That would be trouble he didn't need. He was just a dumb kid.

A few more customers came and went, and I glanced at the clock. My shift would be coming to an end before long, so I hoped Shane got there in time. I had to get home before my mom had to leave for work. We split our shifts – she worked at night, I went to school in the morning and worked in the evening. It's what we had to do to make ends meet and make sure someone was at home with Olivia at all times.

The front door jingled as it opened, and in walked a familiar face. My breath caught in my throat as my heart stopped for a moment, then started to ache in my chest as Shane, the love of my high school life, stepped into the convenience store.

He still looked sexy as hell too – although, a little rougher around the edges than I remembered him to be. He used to be Walter, Kansas's star quarterback, back in the day. He'd always had a pearly white smile that was made for the front page of every newspaper. His smile was still perfection, along with those kissable, plump lips and the dimple in his left cheek. Chestnut brown hair fell just past his ears that was shaggy and in need of a trim, but it only added to the natural sex appeal that oozed out of his every pore. His brown eyes matched Nolan's, and they had a boy-next-door quality to them, even nestled into the chiseled features of his face.

My gaze traveled down his body, which looked to still be in tip-top shape all these years later. He wore a black t-shirt that hugged his chest tightly, showing off the muscles in his biceps as he moved his arms. He'd gotten tatted up since I last saw him, having a full sleeve on one arm and a half sleeve on the other, begging to be finished out. The colors contrasted nicely with his naturally tanned complexion.

My jaw was on the floor, and I knew it. Not only knew it but couldn't help it. I just couldn't stop staring. This was the Homecoming King to my Queen, the man on my arm for every dance our senior year. We parted ways on good terms, or as good of terms as one could expect when your dream boy gets a full ride scholarship to some fancy tech school in California and had to leave you behind. I didn't blame him, though. I'd planned on going to Kansas University myself, but things don't always work out like we'd planned them.

From the looks of it though, things didn't work out how Shane had planned them either.

“Hey, stranger,” I said once I managed to find my voice again. “I had no idea you were back in town.”

Yeah, the hurt in my voice came out a bit. I couldn't help it. We were a smaller community, and he had to have known I was still around – and yet he didn't come find me. I knew our teen romance was forever ago, but it still stung that he’d never even sought me out to say hello.

Shane's eyes moved over me, and he smiled brightly. He was clearly happy to see me.

“Hey, Piper. I had no idea you were around either,” he said.

I bit my lip and stared down at the counter, suddenly feeling foolish for assuming he knew. Walter was a small town, but large enough that not everyone knew everyone's business. I guess I couldn't really blame him after all.

“Yeah, KU didn't work out too well for me,” I sighed.

“Oh yeah? Sorry to hear that?” he said.

“It's alright. I'm attending classes locally now,” I said. “What about you?”

“Nah, couldn't handle school right now,” he said.

His gaze moved toward Nolan, and the smile on his face wavered a bit. His eyes were filled with regret and a hint of frustration. “Gotta take care of these knuckleheads,” he said. “And believe me, they're a handful.”

“Yeah, I'm sorry to hear about your parents,” I said. “I hadn't heard the news until – well, just a little bit ago.”

His smile fell even more, and he looked down at the ground. He shrugged and wouldn't meet my gaze, almost like he was afraid of what I might see in his eyes.

“It's okay. I tried to keep it on the downlow as much as possible,” he said. “Didn't want everyone in our business. You know how my dad was about his privacy.”

From the little I knew; his dad had been a very private man. I honestly couldn't remember much about him, except that he had Shane's brown eyes and chiseled features. He'd been the strong, silent type and hardly ever spoke the few times I was over at his house to see Shane. It seemed to stand to reason, based on what I knew that he'd want everything about him to be kept pretty private – including his death.

“How are you, Piper?” he asked, his face softening back up again. “I haven't seen you since I left for California.”

I ran a hand through my jet-black hair, which fell loose and straight over my shoulders. Biting my lip, I tried to think of some way I could explain my life in a way that didn't make it sound entirely miserable.

“Good,” I settled on. “I mean, except when I have to crack down on would-be shoplifters. That takes a little fun out of the day, to be honest.”

Nolan groaned. “Can we go now?”

“Thank you for not calling the police. I appreciate it, Piper,” Shane said, then stared daggers through Nolan. “This could have been really bad, Nolan. You know that.”

“Sorry, I didn't expect to get caught,” he said.

“That’s not the point. Wrong is wrong whether you get caught or not. You're almost eighteen,” I said. “Do you know what will happen to you when you legally become an adult?”

Nolan shrugged. “But I'm not eighteen now, so why does it matter?”

“Because it does,” Shane said, his voice tightening and his jaw clenching as he spoke through suddenly gritted teeth. “We have a lot at stake here, kid. Do you really want to go back into the system until you're eighteen?”

Nolan shook his head, but he was no longer looking at Shane. I just stood there, an awkward bystander, with my arms crossed over my chest. A customer came in, grabbed a couple of things and then walked to the counter. I rang them up, all the while listening to Shane scolding his baby brother.

I heard bits and pieces – about CPS, about putting their sister Emily at risk, all for a few bags of potato chips.

Then my heart broke when I heard Nolan say, “I was hungry, okay? So was Emily,” he said, his voice so painfully small. “There was no food in the house and you were nowhere to be found, so I had to improvise.”

My breath caught in my throat, and it took way too long to count out the cash the customer had handed to me. Were they really that bad off? I gave the customer his change and tried to look busy, not wanting to intrude on their talk, but it was hard not to overhear it, especially as both of their voices started to rise.

“I'm sorry, Piper,” Shane said at last, grabbing old of Nolan's arm and leading him away. “I wish we could have gotten together again under better circumstances, but I have to get going.”

“No, it's fine,” I said, brushing him off. “I'm just sorry again to hear about your parents.”

“Thanks,” he muttered, leading his brother out of the store.

I let out a breath. I looked at the clock and was grateful that my shift was over in five minutes, because the butterflies in my stomach were getting restless.

“Freedom, at last,” Marcy spoke up as she walked over to the time clock. “Well, for you, I mean.”

I laughed, feeling like I could collapse. It had been a long day, as most days were, and I was ready to go home and get some sleep. That was, if my daughter would let me.