Almost Just Friends Read online

  “Told you,” Winnie said. “They’re making up for lost time.”

  Piper yanked her hands off Cam.

  Cam did not yank his hands off Piper. He kept them on her. His gaze too. “What’s up?” he asked their audience.

  “We could ask you the same thing,” Emmitt said. “Or question your sanity, going for a swim in February.”

  “Love makes you do stupid things,” Gavin said sagely.

  Winnie gasped, her head swiveling between Cam and Piper. “Love?”

  “Love,” Cam said firmly.

  Emmitt grinned.

  Gavin grinned.

  The old Piper would have rolled her eyes and denied it, and then said something snarky to chase everyone off. The new Piper could only nod with a dopey smile on her face, one that made Cam laugh.

  Winnie smiled, but it wavered. “Piper, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’d like to blame the Bean, but I’m going to be a mom, so I figure I should probably at least try to grow up. I just want you to know, you’re important to me. So important. I love you so much, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything sooner. That’s not on you, not even a little bit. It’s all on me.”

  Gavin nodded. “What she said. We are assholes, and we’re going to do better. You deserve that, and so much more.”

  Winnie nodded. “And the Bean loves you too. She can’t wait to meet her aunt.”

  “She?” Piper asked softly, throat tight. “It’s going to be a she?”

  Winnie’s eyes filled. “I found out today. She’s a she.”

  “Oh my God,” Piper said, and hopped up to hug her.

  Winnie squealed with shock when Piper’s wet clothes clung to her, but like only a sister would do, Piper tightened her grip. Smiling at the second squeal, she said, “I’ve got to say some stuff now.”

  “Uh-oh,” both siblings said at the same time.

  Piper pulled back to look at them. “What you two did for me, working to get the money to buy me out, that was”—she searched for the right words—“incredible. I’d asked the two of you to grow up, and when I wasn’t looking, you both did exactly that.”

  “So you’re not mad that we want to stay and run the B and B?” Winnie asked.

  “No, because you’re only doing what I wanted for you all along. To have lives that fulfill you. And I want you to know that I’m proud of both of you. Really proud. Winnie, you’ve made the best of a rough situation, and with those new handywoman skills, you’re a serious asset to the property. And, Gavin . . . your charisma and charm make people adore you—you’ll be amazing as the face of the B and B. I’m happy we’re not selling.” She drew a deep breath. “And while I’m confessing, there’s more. I thought I had to leave to find that fulfillment for me. But I was wrong. Having you guys back here, being together as a family as grown-ups, it’s”—she shook her head, at a loss for words—“everything. I . . . want to stay.”

  Gavin frowned, looking concerned. “But school—”

  “I applied to SLO,” she said. “It’s only thirty minutes from here. I’ll commute.”

  “Okay, but what does this mean for us?” Winnie asked, hands on her belly, looking uncertain.

  Gavin took Winnie’s hand in his. “I think it means we’re going to stay together.”

  Piper nodded. “I love both of you soul-sucking idiots. More than anything.”

  “Me too,” Winnie said, and flung herself back into Piper’s arms. “So . . . we’re okay? Like, we’re all finally okay at the same time?”

  Piper’s heart squeezed hard as she looked first into Winnie’s hopeful face, and then at Gavin, who looked relaxed and okay for the first time since . . . well, ever. And then at the smiling Emmitt. And finally into Cam’s eyes. “Yes,” she said, holding Cam’s gaze over Winnie’s head. “We’re all okay.”

  NOT AN HOUR later, Cam got a notice he was being deployed. Unusual, he told her, so close to having just gotten back, but not unheard of. And this time he’d be gone a month, unless his unit was released early.

  During the weeks he was gone, Piper kept herself busy, working on keeping Winnie sane and the baby she was growing safe, and watching Gavin come into his own right in front of her eyes. And when they opened the Manning B&B three weeks after Cam had left, their guests raved about their stay.

  Another week went by, and though it was now nearly April and officially spring, they got a hell of a winter storm. Again, there was flooding and the town was a mess. So was the lake.

  She and Gavin and some hired help were up to their knees in mud working with Emmitt at the marina. She was wearing one of Cam’s T-shirts, pathetically hugging the neckline up over her nose every few minutes to catch his lingering scent.

  “I swear, nothing smells better than the person you love,” she said.

  “Have you ever walked by a Cinnabon?” Winnie asked.

  Piper sighed, but suddenly she felt a change in her force field. Whirling from where she was, facing the lake, she stared up at the hill as a single figure worked his way down, in jeans and a sweatshirt, a duffel bag on his shoulder, moving easily and efficiently through the mud like nothing could stop him.

  She stilled, but her heart didn’t. He wore the usual dark sunglasses, but she could still see the fatigue all over him. Tousled hair, longer than she was used to seeing on him. At least a week’s worth of beard on his jaw. His expression fierce and intense, like he was still on a mission.

  “Cam,” she whispered. She tried to look half as graceful as he while moving toward him, but instead she probably looked like an elephant fighting its way through a lake made of peanut butter.

  He closed the distance between them faster than she took a few steps. Dropping the shovel she’d been holding, she launched herself at him. His arms caught her and lifted her off her feet. She was already wrapping herself around him when he murmured her name in a reverent rumble.

  “You’re home,” she murmured, pressing her jaw to his unshaved, rough one.

  “Yeah.” He buried his face in her hair, tightening his grip on her. “Missed you, Piper. Missed you so fucking much.” Angling his head, he sought her mouth with his.

  There was a whole lot in that kiss. Love, affection, relief, hunger—and she’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life. Pulling back, she looked him over for obvious injuries and thankfully didn’t see any. “I made you all dirty.”

  In spite of his clear exhaustion, he gave her a wolf grin and leaned in, for her ears only. “I’ll be returning the favor as soon as I get you alone.”

  “Hey,” Gavin called. “You kids going to help, or are you going to make out all day?”

  Winnie, also there “supervising” the cleanup, patted her now rounded belly. “The Spicy Bean says get your asses to work!”

  Piper very reluctantly started to pull free, but Cam tightened his grip, brushed a kiss to her temple, and then put his mouth to her ear. “Just remember, you’ve got a date later.”

  THE NEXT MORNING, Piper woke up slowly, a smile on her face. She was alone in the bed, no doubt because Cam was off swimming or rowing, or something equally nutty. She knew he’d come back eventually, and knowing him and his endless source of energy, he’d talk her into some additional cardio right in this bed.

  Not that he’d have to do much to convince her. Smiling at the thought, she looked at the time and found something propped up against the clock.

  A beautiful brand-new leather journal, along with a stack of stickers and three different packs of pens and a bunch of pencils.

  Her inner office-supply ho quivered and she fell in love all over again.

  “I hope the look on your face means you think I’m so amazing that you’re going to make breakfast.” Cam stood in the doorway in running gear, looking damp with exertion and smiling like he’d had fun—freak.

  As for the breakfast comment, he was teasing, and they both knew it. If they were eating with the whole gang, Gavin did most of the cooking. If it was just herself and Cam, well, he took up the slack t