His Winter Rose

“Short, fat, balding fellow, happily married with six kids?”

“Grease under his fingertips?” Ashley added.

“N-no. Not exactly.”

“How ‘not exactly,’ Pip?” The old Row was back in form, and she was enjoying herself. She held up her fingers and began ticking them off. “No grease?”

“Uh-uh.”

“Not short?”

“No.”

“Not fat?”

Piper shook her head. That definitely didn’t apply. Jason was lean, muscular and more toned than the men she knew who regularly worked out in expensive gyms.

“Balding? Six kids? Married?”

Flustered by the incessant questions about a man she hadn’t been able to get out of her thoughts, Piper decided to spare herself the onslaught of questions and explain.

“He’s—I don’t know! Our age, I suppose. A little older, maybe. Tall. Sandy blond hair. Blue eyes. Good-looking.”

Ashley and Rowena exchanged a look.

“Ah. So he’s a beach boy.”

“Beach boy? No. He owns the marina.” Piper decided to change tactics. “I didn’t really notice that much about him. He’s just the mayor.”

“Didn’t notice much. Uh-huh.” Rowena sniffed, checked with Ashley. “Thoughts?”

“‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks,’” the blonde quoted.

“Methinks that, too.”

“Look,” Piper sputtered, regretting her choice of words. “It’s not—”

“Maybe he’s why she came back.” Ashley frowned. “Either that or—” Her forehead pleated in a delicate frown. She focused on Piper. “Or there’s another reason you’re here.”

They knew her too well.

“Is it your father? Is that why you left Calgary?”

Might as well admit it.

“Indirectly.”

Both women sighed, their glances conveying their sympathy before Rowena deliberately shut down all expression. She had good reason to remember the past and even more to forget it.

“I knew it wouldn’t be a young, eligible male that brought you back here.” Ashley’s eyes flashed with anger. “It has to be your old man at the bottom of this sudden change. How typical.”

“What has the great Baron D. Wainwright done now?”

Piper didn’t blame Rowena for the spite in her tone. Row and Ash had been there for her ever since that first summer when her angry father had repeatedly ordered her back to the house where her mother had died. When she’d refused to return to a world she hated, a world where he’d become so demanding, so strict, so unlike the loving mother who’d shielded her, these two had consoled her.

Her father’s angry denunciation of her still stung today, even after so many years. And then of course there was the other.

Piper pushed that away.

“Pip? Please tell us what’s wrong.”

They’d always listened. She could trust them.

“It’s not what he’s done, it’s what I think he’s going to do. The company’s conducted some research on the Bay’s waterfront. Past experience tells me he intends to build one of his mega hotels right on the shores of Serenity Bay.”

“Oh, no.” Ashley couldn’t hide her dismay. “Pavement, parking lots, bars open all night? It’ll ruin the place.”

“Like Baron cares about the ambience of Serenity Bay.” Rowena sniffed. “I’d guess he’s well aware of your mayor’s plans and is trying to one-up him before you can get this tourism thing organized.”

Piper nodded. “My thoughts exactly.”

“So your mayor isn’t the only one who’s seen the potential of the area.” Rowena’s brows drew together. “I wonder who else is involved?”

“Jason’s not my anything,” Piper insisted as heat, which had nothing to do with the sun’s rays, scorched her cheeks. “I don’t think either he or the other council members know about the hotel. Not yet. That’s not the way Wainwright Inc. works.” She paused, then copied her father’s brusque tones. “First buy up the land, then dazzle the locals with lots of promises. If that doesn’t get you what you want, initiate a lawsuit.”

Piper pushed her chair back into the upright position, picked up the plate with her slice of birthday cake on it and took a bite. “But that’s not the only reason I decided to move back.”

Ash and Row stared at her.

“Dare we ask?”

“I needed to come home. The house, these cliffs, the meadow—I spent some of my happiest times here.”

They nodded, each transported back to carefree summer days when life’s decisions were so much simpler. Ash, Row and Piper had walked every inch of this land many times, consoling each other through puppy love, acne and a host of other trials. No matter where they went, they always came back.

“I’m tired of the nonstop meetings, of cutthroat marketers trying to outdo each other to get another star on their A-list. I guess I’m tired of the rat race. None of it seems to matter much anymore.”

“And this will?”

“I think so.” Piper saw the concern in their eyes and knew they were only pushing because they cared. “I have such precious memories of this place, of my grandparents and you guys, of coming home at Christmas, watching fireworks displays from Lookout Point. I want other kids to have that.”

“The past always looks rosy in hindsight,” Rowena muttered. “Except for mine, that is.”

Ashley patted her shoulder but kept her focus on Piper. “Serenity Bay may have changed,” she warned.

“Trust me, it has.” Piper turned her chair so she could look across the water toward the town. “I did a little research. There’s barely anyone left that we know. After the lumber mill shut down I guess folks had to move away to find work. There are more than a hundred cottages for sale.”

“A hundred?”