Seeing is Believing (Cuttersville #3)(33)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“I’m sorry about the candlestick on the console table in the hall, Shelby. It seems to have fallen and broken.”

“What?” Shelby looked away, at Piper. “Oh, that’s okay. You know how clumsy I am.”

“Maybe it was Rachel,” Brady said, because he knew Piper would never say anything. “Didn’t she used to throw plates and stuff?”

Shelby’s eyebrows shot up. “Rachel? Geez, it’s been a while since she tossed anything. And her target is usually Boston.”

“I’m lucky that way,” her husband said.

With a few more murmured words and good-byes, Piper and Shelby went to the front door and Piper headed out.

“I think Rachel wanted to nail me, actually,” Brady commented when Shelby got back, not wanting his cousin to think Piper was to blame in any way.

“I don’t think she’s the only one who wants to do that,” Shelby said wryly.

Brady went for his coffee, ignoring that comment.

No one needed to know that the nailing had already occurred.

* * *

PIPER STOPPED FIVE HOUSES DOWN FROM THE MACNAMARAS and pulled out her cell phone. Dialing her best friend, Cameron, she bit her fingernail and glanced backwards, irrationally worried that someone might come out of the house and see her parked here for no apparent reason. But she didn’t like to dial and drive. And she had to talk to someone before she exploded.

“Hello?” Cam sounded sleepy and annoyed.

“Hey. Are you busy?” It was an inane question but now she wasn’t sure where to start.

“I was busy sleeping until thirty seconds ago. It’s the crack of my ass on a Sunday. And I know you’re not in trouble, because you’re never in trouble, so please tell me no one has died or been diagnosed with cancer.”

“No, no, it’s nothing like that. It’s just that, well, you know how Shelby has that cousin who lives in Chicago—Brady?”

Cameron hadn’t moved to Cuttersville until seventh grade. By then, Piper had had hair and Anita had left town, but Piper still hadn’t made any true friends. Cameron had strolled into middle school, fresh from the big city, his father transferred to the Samson Plastics plant in Cuttersville from New Jersey, a bridge ride from Manhattan. He had expensive and trendy sneakers and he was Jewish, which essentially made him an alien in rural Ohio. He and Piper had forged the bond of misfits, though Cameron had never lacked an ounce of confidence. He just had no interest in deer hunting.

“Yeah? The one who makes you cream when you mention him?”

Cameron was also incredibly straightforward. Piper grimaced. “That is not true.”

“Oh, come on. The guy was like your childhood fantasy, admit it. He was probably who you were thinking about when you humped your stuffed animals.”

That had her speechless for a second. It had never even occurred to her to hump her stuffed animals, and the fact that Cameron assumed that was commonplace was mildly disturbing. Not that she hadn’t masturbated, but she had named her stuffed animals. It would have been far too weird to take advantage of them like that. It wasn’t like they could give their consent.

“Anyways,” she told him pointedly. “He’s back in town. He showed up at Shelby’s unannounced Friday night.” In the rain. Then he’d taken his shirt off. Piper sighed in delight at the memory, goose bumps rising on her arms.

Cameron yawned. “Panty pudding time.”

Ew. Piper started to question why she had called him. But she couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, “I slept with him.”

The laziness left Cameron’s voice. “Really?” he asked in amazement.

“Yes. And I’m not sure what I should do now.”

“Sleep with him again. Unless it sucked. Did it suck?”

“No.” That, she could say most emphatically. “But it was quick. And quiet, because the girls were home. I feel terrible about that. I mean, what if we were caught?”

“Where were you, the kitchen table?” Cameron sounded delighted by the prospect.

“No. In the bedroom. With the door locked.”

“Then you wouldn’t have gotten caught. And you didn’t get caught. So don’t get stressed after the fact. Is he going back to Chi-town today? That doesn’t leave you much time to get another spread eagle in.”

“He’s actually staying for a couple of weeks. In the house that his grandmother is renovating. The house I just rented.”

“What? You’re moving out of your parents’?”

“Yes.”

“Hallelujah.” After they had both graduated from Ohio University, Cameron had moved to Cincinnati, which wasn’t the same as being a stone’s throw from Manhattan like his childhood, but it wasn’t cornfields and bait shops either. He had access to Thai food and an apartment of his own to keep meticulously clean. Cam was a neat freak who liked his privacy, and he couldn’t understand why Piper hadn’t followed the same path as him. “What brought this on? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that your girlhood crush shows up and suddenly you want to move out.”

“No, it’s probably not a coincidence. But I feel weird inside, anxious. What am I doing?”

“Listening to your lust. I mean your gut. Come on, don’t freak yourself out. Moving out will be good for you. You’re still close to your family and yet you can live your own life. Sleep with a man without feeling guilty. You’ve never been good at taking something for yourself, so here’s your chance.”

He was right. She didn’t take anything for herself. But giving was much more satisfying than taking. Unless it was Brady. She had definitely enjoyed taking him.

Piper glanced around the quiet street, forcing her shoulders to relax. Why was she so tense?

Because Shelby didn’t approve. It had been written all over her face. It was clearly why she had come home early.

Approval was very important to Piper.

But she found that suddenly her need to please herself was almost equally as important.

“You’re right.”

“Duh.”

She laughed. “And a bit of an egomaniac.”

“I’ve never denied it.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Cameron about being plagued by Rachel all weekend, but Cameron was skeptical about spirits. He also had a deep-seated disdain for magician David Copperfield, but Piper wasn’t sure if the two were related or not.

“Are you going home anytime soon?” she asked him instead.