Read Online Loving Piper by Charlotte Lockheart - Free Book Online Page B

you weren’t sure it was a good idea, but after I hung up from talking to you, I went ahead and asked Manny to meet me. So tonight’s the night, and he’s going to pick me up for dinner. I’ve suddenly got cold feet about interfering in Kathleen’s life.”
    “It’s a tough one, Piper. No matter what you do, it’s inevitable that either Kathleen or Manny is going to be furious with you? It’s just as dangerous to not be the messenger.”
    “My thinking, Dee, is that he is her father, after all. I know she hasn’t told him and I think he ought to know what’s going on with her. Maybe he’ll be able to talk to her. She’s certainly not confiding in me. I still don’t even know who the father is. And then there’s her second year at school, which is very close to starting now. What about that? She could be a mother by the end of second semester.”
    “Yeah, you’re right, let him in on the secret. I’ll say that for Manny, he might not have been right for you, but he did the right thing by Kathleen. When do the fireworks begin?”
    “He’s picking me up for dinner at about six. Surprise—we’re going to that little Greek restaurant, the one that’s been his favorite for seventeen years.”
    “You could never call Manny fickle, could you. He’s a lifer.”
    “Except for me.”
    “Yes, well, except for you. Wait a minute, you sound different, what just happened? You’re not having regrets about Manny…or anything like that, are you? Good grief, Piper, that was over so long ago, and after all, you left—”
    “Of course not, just stating the facts,” she said. Piper did not want to relive those old, awful days. “Okay, Dee, I’d better get ready, talk to you later.”
    “Call me anytime, Piper. Ciao, bella.” Deirdre said her goodbye in a way that reminded Piper of what a dear friend she was.
    After hanging up, Piper remained where she stood, and put her hand across her forehead. She had felt positively bereft for a moment in that conversation and it had taken her—and Deirdre—by surprise. She and Manny weren’t right for each other, had never been right together. And they had fourteen unlamented years of life after marriage to prove it. The single thing they had done spectacularly well was produce Kathleen.
    Still there was that momentary flash of loss, longing. Certainly not for Manny, but for an unknown person who could be what Manny should have been. Someone who would love and protect her, comfort her, laugh with her, make love to her. Another unruly sensation to be quashed. She absentmindedly stacked the piles of books and papers on her desk, preparations for the new school year. Yikes, the beast that rode in on the first week of September was whinnying increasingly loudly and about to come charging straight at her.
    “You need to dress for dinner,” she said, pulling off her lightweight khaki pants and sleeveless pink top. She stood in front of the closet, wondering what would be appropriate to wear. “Don’t be silly,” she chastised herself. “This is not a date, it’s a dinner with your very ex ex.” The man who had swept her off her feet when she was eighteen. And married her. Against her parents’ wishes, of course, but what did they know.
    This was the man who it turned out had not been right for her—or for anyone else until he stopped the drinking that was ruining him in every way—but had been unstinting in his care and love for Kathleen. This did not change even after remarrying and starting another family. Wrong time for Piper, but very right for beautiful, gentle Maria, his wife for the past twelve years. Manny and Maria, even their names together sounded more like a couple than Manny and Piper ever had been.
    It had been a long time since she’d dressed for anything other than vacationing or teaching. What would she wear if she was going to dinner with Rob. That prospect was more fun to entertain. Rob—her feelings for him were too new and tender to be shared