Cal watched Piper, waiting for her face to fall. It didn’t, at least not totally. A faint amount of color seeped under her skin, but the restaurant lighting camouflaged it.

  “That’s a project your engineer brother and I are working on.”

  “I knew he couldn’t stay still for long.” He looked at Piper. “He’s been telling us that he’s just relaxing out here.”

  “For the most part, that’s true,” Cal stated.

  Again, Cal glanced at her. Her face was unreadable.

  “I’m helping Piper work on a stunt.”

  “Does that mean you’re returning to your business in California?” Lauren asked, her voice hopeful.

  “Maybe,” Piper said. “It depends on the outcome of our project.”

  “Well, good luck with it,” Jake added.

  Piper nodded.

  The waiter brought them coffee and they lingered over the meal, talking and exchanging stories for a long time. The mood lightened after the brief discussion of the scaffold that was going up in Piper’s yard. Cal wished they could have stayed longer. Piper, however, had lessons in the morning. More supplies were expected and Tamara needed help.

  They left the restaurant laughing, having spent an enjoyable evening. As they walked to the vehicle, Cal noted Lauren slipping her arm through Jake’s and his hugging her close. Cal wanted to do the same to Piper but tactfully kept his arms at his sides.

  The drive back was quiet and cordial. Cal stopped in front of his house, where Lauren and Jake got out.

  “You’re still coming to ride tomorrow, right?” Piper asked Lauren through the window.

  “Tomorrow? That soon?” Lauren asked.

  Piper smiled and Lauren nodded.

  “Remember, I haven’t been on a horse in decades.”

  “Not a problem,” Piper assured her.

  “No tricks,” Lauren warned.

  “Not a single one.”

  With that, Piper threw a look at Cal. The story of his ride and Piper’s hot reaction had played out more than once since it happened.

  Husband and wife stepped away from the truck.

  “I’ll be right back,” Cal said, reversing the vehicle and heading down the driveway.

  “No hurry,” Jake said. “Take all the time you need.”

  * * *

  JAKE’S ENCOURAGING WORDS weren’t lost on Piper. She both heard and understood his tone. The atmosphere in the cab changed when she and Cal were alone. The darkness seemed heavier. The distance between them more intimate, as if somehow the interior had shrunk and they were closer together. It took less than ten minutes to reach her house by the road, yet she felt the drive was nearly as long as the country was wide.

  Taking a deep breath and corralling her emotions, she was in control when Cal parked and opened the door for her.

  “Thank you for asking me to go tonight,” Piper said as she slipped down from the passenger side of the truck. Cal closed the door.

  “I was glad you came,” he said.

  “I enjoyed myself. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to share a meal with and talk to new people.”

  She was sure he resisted saying I told you so.

  “We should do it more often,” Cal suggested.

  She didn’t respond. They walked toward the steps leading to her porch. She had genuinely had a good time tonight. Cal’s family was delightful. The stories they told and all the laughter was more therapeutic than any other remedy. Meeting Jake and Lauren and interacting with them showed Piper how starved she’d been for friendship. And Cal being there only made the night complete.

  A wave of guilt struck her as she remembered the town coming to her rescue. She hadn’t changed her mind about being more active with them, either. And being more friendly.

  They reached the porch steps.

  “What time are you and Lauren going riding?” Cal asked.

  “Right after your lesson. Tamara can handle things here. And don’t ask to go with us. It’s strictly a ladies-only affair.”

  “That sounds ominous.”

  “They’ll only be here for the weekend,” Piper said. “Her riding with me will give you and your brother time to catch up and bond.”

  “I’m sorry they can’t stay longer. It had been a while since we spent any time together,” Cal said.

  “Since they’re both doctors, I imagine they have very busy schedules.”

  “They do. When I was away on jobs, we might not see each other for a long time. Thankfully, these last few months have meant less traveling for me.”

  Piper stepped up on the first step. Cal stayed on the walkway.

  “That was very nice of you,” he told her.

  “What?”

  “Asking Lauren to ride with you.”

  Piper smiled. “I like her. We’ll probably talk more than ride.”

  Cal stiffened. “Talk? About what?”

  “What women always talk about when they get together—men.” The corners of her mouth turned up.

  “Men in general or someone specific?”

  “What’s the fun in being general when there are two of you close at hand?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE WEEKEND FLEW by faster than Piper thought time could move. She and Lauren spent hours in the saddle, but mostly they shared a lot of laughter while appreciating Naomi’s meals. At night the four of them went dancing or relaxed under the galaxy of overhead stars. Piper truly liked both Lauren and Jake. She looked forward to spending time with them each day when her lessons were done. Cal and his brother seemed to solidify the inseparable bond that was already there.

  Piper didn’t have that kind of relationship with her sibling. There was little animosity between them, but the kind of sharing Cal had with his brother was different from anything she had with her brother. Their lives were too different, their interests too diverse and the physical distance between them contributed to their lack of family togetherness. Even though she didn’t know it was missing from her life, she longed for it now.

  Finally, real life intervened and the fun weekend came to an end. By the time Lauren and Jake waved goodbye, half of the structure to re-create the accident was built and it was back to work full-time. On Monday morning, Piper stepped out on her porch and surveyed the area. She didn’t have any lessons coming up, and with Jake and Lauren gone, she felt a little lonely.

  Tamara joined her, a cup of coffee in her hands. “Didn’t see much of you this weekend. So how was your time with the Family Masters?”

  “Don’t be dramatic,” Piper said lightly, although she could feel the color rising in her face. She turned toward the ridge and looked out over the horizon away from Cal’s ranch.

  “I know you like him,” Tamara stated.

  “Of course I do. I don’t usually work with people I don’t like.”

  Both of them knew that wasn’t the whole truth.

  “Well,” Tamara said, perched on the railing and balancing her weight against the post. One leg swung back and forth. “There is like and then there’s like.”

  “Don’t get any ideas. Spending the weekend with nice people doesn’t mean I’m joining the family.”

  “Do you want to?” Tamara asked.

  Piper gave Tamara a scathing look, and for a moment, she couldn’t speak. She swallowed hard. “I think it’s time we went back to work. I feel like I abandoned you this past weekend.”

  “Don’t worry. I have everything under control.” Then in a lower conspiratorial voice, Tamara added, “Not sure if you do.”

  Piper said nothing. She didn’t have control. She hadn’t had it since she first looked into those dark brown eyes of the new owner of the Christensen ranch. In a short forty-eight hours, she’d become used to rushing over to Cal’s in the morning and spending the day with him and his family. Now they were gone and she needed to get back to her own routine. They had a project to complete and it needed her full and undivided attention.

  As if on cue, a truck turned into the driveway.

  “Time for me to go,” Tamara said, uncurling herself from the railing. Piper reached for the coffee cup she held.

  “Tamara.” Piper stopped her as she started down the steps. Tamara turned back.

  “I just want to say thank you for keeping things on track.”

  “Courtship does require time,” she said. “Especially when you’re at the meet-the-family stage. And besides—” she leaned closer and lowered her voice “—I love bossing people around.”

  Laughing, Tamara went down the steps and headed toward the parking truck. Piper went inside, dropped the empty cup in the kitchen sink and left by the back door. Her horse Silver was waiting. Putting her foot in the stirrup, she swung her body over the horse and sat tall as she turned the animal toward Cal’s ranch. It was time to face him without the buffer of his brother and sister-in-law between them.

  While Tamara had teased her about courting, her weekend with Cal had changed their relationship. She needed to get it back to work only. Piper had loved the dancing and the good times. It was like a release for all the pent-up emotion she’d been holding. But now she had to go back to where she’d been. There was no moving forward for them. Cal had mentioned that he had good job offers he was considering. They both had important goals and ones that didn’t complement each other.

  Jumping down from Silver, Piper raced up the steps and into the kitchen. The mixed aromas had her stomach yearning even though she’d already eaten.

  “He’s in there,” Naomi said, gesturing toward the office, never even looking up.

  Piper guessed he was already back to business. She wondered if he’d changed after his brother’s visit. Yet she didn’t know what change she wanted or expected. She wished she could ask Naomi what kind of mood he was in, but that would be another line she wasn’t ready to cross.

  Piper knocked on the open door and went inside as Cal glanced up.

  “Ready to get back to it?” he asked. Cal stood up and came around the desk.

  That answered her question about his mood. She could tell by his body language that he was the before-the-weekend Cal.

  She nodded, wondering if she could be the before-the-weekend Piper.

  “Tamara seems to have everything under control on the supplies and building front. I’m surprised at how much has been done since we started.”

  “It does seem to go fast when everything arrives on time and all the pieces fall in place.”

  Cal never stopped being an engineer, Piper thought. She liked that about him. He could talk about anything, but his world revolved around putting things together in the proper order. It didn’t matter if it was on the computer screen, in his head or actual pieces of metal. Everything had a place, an order, a reason for being. She was glad he was on her team.

  Together they had laid out every detail that needed to be checked and rechecked. Everyone had a job, and as professionals, they performed them flawlessly. Even the students from the local film schools worked alongside mentors they never expected to know.

  Piper wanted everything to be the same as it had been on that day, the one that threw her future into disarray. Even the time of day and direction of the sun had to be exact. The structure, which looked like two giant metal beasts rising toward the sun, was coming together.

  “Have you heard from them?” Piper asked.

  Cal faced her. “They arrived in New York City late last night.”

  Piper hesitated a long time before saying, “I miss them.”

  Cal took a step toward her but stopped short of crossing into her personal space. “I miss them, too.”

  Piper thought her reactions to Cal would be familiar by now, but they weren’t. Heat tingled across her face and body, yet there was always some new emotion, connected to him, that sprang to life without her knowing it existed. While he spoke of his brother and sister-in-law, Piper couldn’t help hearing something different and personal in his voice.

  Should she believe it?

  * * *

  PIPER WOKE FROM a restless sleep. She’d been awake most of the night, reviewing what Cal had said, how he’d said it. By the time she actually fell asleep, she had no answers. Her phone rang, jarring her, and she lunged for it, wanting more to stop the noise than discover who was on the other end of the line. She pushed at the screen light, not caring if she hit accept or decline.

  “Hello,” she said, her voice husky as she turned over in bed. What time was it? It was still dark. The only light in the room came from the phone.

  “Tell me you aren’t trying to build that scaffolding.”

  Piper sat straight up in bed. She hadn’t heard that voice in over a year, but she knew exactly who it was.

  “Xavier!” She couldn’t keep her surprise at bay.

  “Haven’t you had enough misery in your life? You want to bring this whole thing up again? Or do you have a death wish and just want to kill yourself or someone else?” Xavier was almost shouting.

  Piper didn’t answer. She knew when Xavier got on a roll, it was better to let him get it all out, rather than interrupting. She had plenty to say, so she’d wait. Glancing at the clock, the digital numbers read three thirty-seven. That meant it was an hour earlier on the West Coast.

  “Are you finished?” she asked after a beat of silence passed.

  “Piper, this is serious,” he said.

  “I agree. I’ve been over and over the video for more than a year and I don’t see where I did anything wrong.” She forced herself not to shout.

  “Well, we both know that’s not true.”

  Piper’s teeth clinched at the pain of his words. She’d known this conversation would take place eventually, as soon as she’d agreed with Cal to go ahead with the planning. She was calmer than she thought she’d be when she and Xavier had their final confrontation. She had to be. Xavier loved to have the last word. And her revisiting the accident hit close to home for him.

  “One way or the other, I’ll know the truth,” she told him. “I’ve second-guessed myself long enough. I’m going to find out what really happened.” She emphasized the word because, despite his accusation, she didn’t believe she’d done anything wrong. And because she had to know. Whether she was wrong or right, she had to know.

  “You can’t be sure of that,” Xavier said, his voice a little stronger than before. “The court found it inconclusive. What could you hope to find?”

  His comment was condescending, but Piper had hardened herself to his outbursts. It was because of him that she had doubts.

  “Xavier.” She used a strong voice to counter his. “This is my call. The setup was mine. The design was mine. As you so often pointed out, the entire project was mine. I no longer work for you, so you have no say in anything I do.”

  He started to talk again, repeating what he’d said before.

  “Good night, Xavier. Or good morning. I’m hanging up now.”

  He was still talking when she clicked the button on the phone to end the call. Then she turned it off, so if he called back, it wouldn’t disturb her. But her night had been ruined. It was doubtful that she’d get back to sleep. He probably called her in the middle of the night for just that reason.

  And it worked. Her heart was beating double time. Doubt crept into her thoughts. She could be wrong. So far, she had no proof that she could find the answer she wanted. Suppose she found out that the truth was exactly what he said it was. What would she do then? Cal said he believed in her, but neither of them knew for sure.

  Getting up, she pulled a wrap on over her gown and went to the kitchen. She wished Tamara was up to talk to and there was fresh coffee already made.

  Popping a single-serve coffee pod in the machine, she brewed a cup of vanilla-flavored coffee. She needed the sugar, she told herself. Something to take the edge off Xavier’s words.

  There was a full moon and Piper went out on the porch and took a seat. As many times as she’d watched the video and seen the metal monster in her nightmares, it now sat a quarter of a mile away. It felt closer in the darkness. Moonlight bounced off the gray metal, giving it an eerie quality. It mocked her, daring her to climb it. She could almost hear it laughing through an unfinished yet gaping mouth. Its ugliness somehow projecting an unexpected beauty against the moonlit sky, hiding the fact that a devil lay in wait.

  Was he right? Piper asked herself. Could Xavier know the truth? Cal had called in favors to help her. She’d gotten volunteers from the schools. The town had come to her aid. Even some of her friends in Hollywood had made the trip to Montana. Was it all for nothing?

  “Having trouble sleeping?” Tamara’s voice was soft and cautious.

  Piper looked over her shoulder to see her friend walking forward. She was also holding a cup of coffee.

  “You, too?” Piper asked.

  Tamara nodded.

  “I didn’t really think this was going to come together when Cal first suggested it,” Piper said. “Seeing it...” She glanced at the scaffolding.

  “It’s daunting,” Tamara finished for her.

  Tamara moved around, leaning against the porch railing and facing Piper.

  “Have you thought this operation all the way through?” she asked.

  Piper stared at her. She knew what Tamara meant.

  “You could get hurt or even killed,” she continued. “Austin knew that stunt backward and forward. He’d practiced it over and over, and he still fell almost to his death. Are you sure you want to do it?”

  Piper could see the concern on Tamara’s face even in the half light of the morning. She leaned forward, setting her cup down on the small table next to her chair.

  “I won’t lie to you. I have concerns. There’s no definitive information to show what happened to Austin. Even he doesn’t remember anything going wrong.”