wanted to shelter you from the big bad world. In this last instance, that included his illness. He didn’t want to put you through everything he was going through. Besides, it’s all relative now, isn’t it?”
“I think it’s safe to say that we can take my father’s continuing disappointment in me as a given,” she said bitterly before taking a sip of her drink. “You, however, have remained the golden boy.”
Piper fought back the urge to scream at Wade, to do something, anything to provoke him into a fight. After all, they’d had quite enough practice at it in their time together. It had always been that way between them. Passions running high, emotions deep. All of it crashing madly on the surface. A fight was something she could handle.
What she couldn’t handle was the irrefutable truth that she’d never see her father again—never hear his booming voice through the home that had been in her family for generations, never feel the warmth of his arms clasping her to his barrel chest. The gaping hole that had taken up residence somewhere near her heart widened.
She would never have the chance to make it up to him for all the stress and emotional hardship she’d caused ever since, at the age of fourteen, she’d realized the power of her femininity. She knew he’d been sorry to see her leave for overseas shortly after she’d turned twenty, but she’d have been an idiot not to realize that his sorrow was tempered with relief at not having to deal with her, at times, appalling behavior in close quarters anymore.
Piper put down her glass on the small side table and pulled up her feet onto the seat, her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her lower legs. How could he have kept his illness a secret from her like that? She’d had a right to know. He’d sounded tired the last time she’d called. When was that? Maybe three months ago? He should have told her.
A shaft of jealousy speared through her. He’d obviously shared everything with Wade. The two men had been close ever since Rex had taken on Wade as an intern at his export company. Wade had quickly become the son Rex had never had. The mythical son she’d never measured up to as Rex’s only child.
She’d envied their closeness and done her level best to disrupt it—failing miserably in the process and irrevocably hurting the only two men she’d ever loved.
She hazarded a look at the man seated opposite her and felt that old familiar punch of desire. Even with that glowering expression on his face, he still had the power to make her nerves hum and her heart skip a beat. He’d certainly grown up since she’d been away. His face had settled into far more serious lines, and there was an edge to his jaw that the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow only enhanced. He filled out his designer suit with more breadth than he’d had before—it looked good on him. Clearly hard work and good living had served him well.
She flicked a glance to his left hand—no sign of a ring she noted—then castigated herself for even caring. He’d made his antipathy toward her quite clear. Besides, the new Piper Mitchell had determined to make amends for her past transgressions. Transgressions that included how she’d treated Wade, how she’d let her love for him make her selfish, demanding—wanting more from him than he was willing to give. She was so sorry now for the way she’d behaved, the choice she’d forced him to make between her and her father. Those amends needed to start now.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I know how much Dad meant to you, how close the two of you were. It must have been tough for you.”
Wade looked at her, genuine surprise on his face. “Thank you,” he answered.
There were fine lines of strain around his slate gray eyes that had never been there before. He looked thoroughly worn out.
“Did he suffer?”
Wade shook his head sharply. “Only inasmuch as he couldn’t do what he wanted to do. The medical staff worked hard to keep him comfortable. He stayed here, at home, right to the end. We installed a hospital bed in the morning room and he had round-the-clock professional care.”
“Thank you for being there for him.”
“He’d have done it for me,” Wade answered simply. “Besides, there was no place else I would rather have been.”
And there it was again. The subtle slap. The reminder that she hadn’t been there. Piper clamped down on her instinctive need to justify herself, her choices, her behavior. She was past that now. There was no way she could turn back time and rewrite history, but she could make a new beginning and that started here and now.
“I’m really grateful to know that he had you there. It must have meant a lot him. He always respected you.”
“The feeling was mutual.”
“So what happens now with the company?”
“What do you mean?” Wade looked surprised that she’d even asked.
“Well, you know, without Dad at the helm. Will everything be okay?”
“Yes, everything will be fine. Rex and I had a stable management plan in place before we knew he wasn’t going to beat the cancer. I basically took over operations about a year and a half ago.”
“Really?” Piper was surprised. “He let go that early?”
“It was a case of having to. The treatments, both here and overseas, left him pretty wiped out. But he maintained a keen interest in everything almost until the end. You know what Rex was like.”
And where had she been a year and a half ago? Somalia? No, Kenya. She’d been helping at a women’s clinic there. After that had been flood relief in Asia, then volunteering to help reconnect victims with their families after an earthquake in another devastated land. Everywhere but where she’d really needed to be. The one place where she should have made a difference.
Piper was suddenly hit with a massive weariness. She fought back a yawn and failed miserably.
“Still tired?” Wade asked.
“Yeah, when I got here I’d been traveling for about thirty-six hours. I don’t think my body clock has caught up with the fact that I’m stationary yet.”
“Why don’t you go on up to your room? I’ll get Mrs. Dexter to bring you a tray if you’re hungry.”
Despite all her good intentions, Piper bristled. This was her home, so who’d appointed him to the role of gracious host? If anything she should be offering him her hospitality under her father’s roof. Reminding herself of her determination to be a better person, she swallowed the retort that hovered on the tip of her tongue. Instead she unfolded herself from the chair and stood up.
“Don’t bother Dexie. I’ll grab something from the kitchen on my way up.”
She stretched slowly, easing out muscles that had been unused for far too long with all the travel she’d endured. She halted midstretch, suddenly aware of Wade’s eyes locked onto her body. A long-suppressed, yet still familiar, tingle started deep inside and tendrils of heat began to unfurl from her core, radiating out to her extremities. She swallowed against the lump of tension that formed in her throat.
That old attraction was still there. Just as strong as ever. Did he feel the same way, too? Her eyes met his—for a moment seeing the same heat that had infused her body and now painted a faint flush against her suddenly warm cheeks. Then in an instant
