“He was pretty upset. I’d never had a cross word with him in my entire life. He just seemed annoyed from the moment he approached me. It escalated from there.”
Piper flinched as if he’d struck her. “So he went snowmobiling after this awful fight?”
“Yes. The way we left things wasn’t good, but I promise you, we would have mended things if he—”
“Hadn’t been killed?” Piper’s tone was as emotionless as her expression. It felt as if Piper had thrown a grenade down on the ground and it had exploded in his face. There was nothing he could say to dispute her father’s heartbreaking death. In her eyes that made him guilty. He could see it emanating from her eyes.
He nodded. “Yes. In a million years I don’t think either one of us ever imagined those would be the last words we ever exchanged. And I’m more regretful about it than anything else in my life. I loved Jack, Piper. I considered him a friend.”
Piper’s lips were trembling. “Then why didn’t you tell the truth? Or didn’t you think it mattered?”
“Of course it matters. I was afraid of losing you. That’s my only defense.” He shrugged. “It may sound as if I acted terribly, but it deeply affected my life. I left town and everyone I love because of it. It was never something I forgot about. It’s been with me this whole time.”
She shook her head fiercely. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me the day of the crash. That’s not how you treat someone you care about!”
“You know how much I care about you. Working together has been amazing. And we’ve become so much more than friends.” Braden reached out to grasp her hand.
She recoiled from his touch. “I can’t trust you. You lied to me for years about my father’s final moments. What you did was cruel and self-serving. You kissed me, all the while knowing you were harboring this terrible secret.” She ran a shaky hand through her hair. “You told me he was happy before the crash and that’s not true. That gave me so much comfort, and now I know it was nothing more than a fabrication to cover up what really happened.”
He reached out and lightly grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye. “No, Piper. That’s not true. He was happy and joyful before we argued. Everything I told you was true.” He winced. “I left out the part about our argument, which was incredibly wrong and foolish of me. I’ve blamed myself for Jack’s death for a long time, but in the end, I think it was just an accident. A terrible, heart-wrenching accident.”
Piper glared at him. “One that forever altered my life...and caused my family unbearable pain. It wasn’t just an accident to us. It was a bomb that went off and destroyed our family. We lost our very foundation. We were ripped apart at the seams.”
“I—I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, wishing he wasn’t so clumsy with his words. He’d inadvertently made it sound as if Jack’s death was insignificant when in reality it had been catastrophic to all those who loved him. He couldn’t even begin to put into words how deeply it had affected him. He’d been broken in the aftermath of Jack’s death. And to this day, he still wondered if Jack crashing his snowmobile had been his fault.
Piper ducked her head. She wrapped her arms around her middle and began to rock back slightly. She looked as if she was in a different world, far away from his reach.
“Piper, don’t shut down on me. What’s been blossoming between us has been incredible. I know you feel it too.”
“Anything I’ve felt for you makes me ashamed now.” He reached out to touch her, but she took a step backward. “Go away, Braden! I can’t stand to look at you. You don’t belong here.”
“Please, don’t say that. I know you’re angry, but we can talk this out. I can fix this.” He heard the pleading tone in his own voice.
“There’s nothing to fix, Braden. Nothing at all. And there never will be!” Piper took one last look at him before turning away from him and heading back into the Snowy Owl. Her angry strides mirrored everything she’d just said to him. He knew he would just be wasting his time to ask for mercy. She was done with him.
He deserved every single bit of her censure and disdain. Everything had blown up in his face just as he’d decided to tell Piper his secret. Timing was everything in life. If only he’d had the courage to speak up earlier. Perhaps he could have salvaged their friendship.
The verse from Luke had been echoing through his mind for weeks now. “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” His truths had come to light, and now, just as he had feared for the last four years, he’d lost Piper. And somehow it felt way worse than in his darkest imaginings.
He had no idea how to move forward without her in his life. She was the sun everything revolved around. Piper was the one who knew him best—warts and all. Their friendship had always been special to him, but now he felt so much more. Somewhere along the way he’d fallen in love with her. It was overwhelming to know his heart was wrapped up in someone so completely it no longer belonged to him. But it didn’t matter because he’d lost her.
There was no doubt in his mind that Piper wanted nothing to do with him from this point forward. She’d radiated pure rage and disgust. Throughout their lives Braden had always known exactly what to do in order to make Piper come around after little squabbles and arguments. This time felt incredibly different. It felt like a door had slammed shut on him, one he had no way of ever opening up again.
Chapter Twelve
The last few days had been pure torture for Piper. She couldn’t stop thinking about Braden, even though she was still convinced that she never wanted to lay eyes on him again. It was a horrific realization to know she’d lost so much in one fell swoop. She would never get over this rift between the two of them. Her life wouldn’t be the same without her best friend in it.
She looked around the diner and took a steadying breath. She really needed to keep it together and remember what she’d been fighting for this whole time. This evening was the grand debut of Pie in the Sky, and she needed the celebration to go off without a hitch. Not having Braden at her side would be a painful reminder of all that had transpired between them. Piper wasn’t sure the ache would ever go away, but she needed to put one foot in front of the other and keep the focus on increasing profit.
Thankfully, Jorge was back at work, and along with Otis, Birdi
e, Clara and her regular wait staff, they would be ready to show off the pies tonight. The Snowy Owl would be open for regular dining, but they would be celebrating her new venture and heavily promoting the pies.
Thanks to Elena, everything in the diner looked festive. She’d placed balloons all over the establishment, along with a few fun signs. Everything matched up with their Christmas decor. Birdie had placed colorful ribbons on each of the pie boxes, giving the baked goods a celebratory look. Piper stood back and surveyed the row of pies she’d placed on the counter. Despite the situation with Braden, she couldn’t help but feel excited.
Her mother, who’d agreed to help out tonight, joined her at the counter. “Where’s Braden? He was the one who encouraged you to focus on pies in the first place. I thought he’d be the first one through the doors.”
Piper winced at the mention of his name. She was trying so hard to push him out of her heart and mind. “He won’t be coming around anymore,” she answered quietly. She didn’t want everyone to hear the news. The last thing she needed was to be the subject of town gossip. She took her mother’s hand and led her through the kitchen into the back office.
