Death We Do Part’?”
“There’s no law, no.”
“I’m not saying it’s not right for you and Antonio, or for Steph and Vince. You know. But for me . . . I don’t know. Look at Courtney. She’s not married, and yet she has a thriving business and a new baby daughter . . .” Her words trailed off slowly.
“So you’re saying Danny is right for you. You’re happy with him, you love him, you enjoy spending time with him. You’re just not sure marriage is the natural next step.”
“Exactly.”
“And how does Danny feel about that?”
“Well,” Jessie said with a chuckle as she popped the last of the cookie into her mouth, “he obviously thinks it’s the next step, as evidenced by the exquisite family ring he offered me.” She crinkled her nose and shot Piper a grin. “I would love to get that ring on my finger though. It’s so pretty.”
Piper tapped her hand with one fingernail. “Sorry, honey. You have to do the crime.”
“What did you say the other cookie was? Chocolate chip?”
“Chocolate chip toffee,” Piper said as she broke the cookie in two. “I’ve never had this one, but it looked delish.” She bit into her portion before lifting her eyes again and landing in Jessie’s pool of confusion.
“So what do I do?”
“About which item on the agenda?”
Jessie laughed. “Let’s take them on, one at a time.”
“I can do that.” Picking up an invisible pile of paper, she nudged non-existent glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Item 1-A, in regard to the stunning engagement ring and subsequent proposal. Yes. You shall accept.” She looked up with a grin. “That was easy. Now on to the next item on the agenda, the personal and professional repercussions of doing reality television.” Miming the act of tapping the papers on the table, she added, “This one is a little less clear. Why don’t we visit the pros and cons?”
“Do we have to?” Jessie replied. “I’m enjoying my cookie.”
“Isn’t this why you came?”
She poked out her tongue playfully.
“On the professional side of things, doing the show would clearly bring more attention to Adornments.”
Jessie wrote a checkmark in the air with her finger. “Pro.”
“But what about Danny?” Piper interjected.
“What about him?”
“Being such a private guy, it might not be an ideal situation in his eyes.”
“Yeah,” she said thoughtfully. “He did seem a little funny about it earlier.”
A satisfied grin spread so quickly that it nearly sliced Piper’s face in half. “You saw Danny earlier?”
“We had a light lunch at Nosh, and I was catching him up on turning over a stake in the store to Amber and then on the show with Courtney. He kind of glossed over and started to look a little . . . constipated.”
Piper cackled with laughter. “Jessie.”
“Well. Kind of like this,” she said, curling up her entire face with a dramatized version of the concerned grimace that had clouded Danny’s face.
With a straight face, Piper stated, “That does look like constipation.”
“This is what I’m saying.”
“Maybe you need to come right out and ask him how he feels about it,” she suggested. “If you’re going to move forward with Danny, this will affect him as well.”
“We’re having dinner at the restaurant tomorrow night. Maybe I’ll talk to him a little more about it then.”
“Good idea. And when you say, ‘the restaurant,’ clearly you mean . . .”
“Yes. We’re meeting at Tuscan Son.”
“I’ll call my honey and get you the best table. How many in your party?”
Jessie giggled. “Four. Around seven-thirty. And . . . thank you.”
Piper lifted one shoulder in a goofy shrug. “Eh. It’s what I do.”
***
Danny lowered the zipper of his wetsuit and peeled it away from his arms and torso. He stood under the outdoor shower and let the clean, cold water cascade over him for about a minute. After shutting off the nozzle, he gave his entire upper body a shake, sending a spray of the water into every direction.
“You learn that move from Frankenstein?” Riggs cracked.
As if on cue, Frank took his place next to Danny and mimicked the action. Danny and Riggs laughed as Danny rubbed the dog’s massive head with his hand. Grabbing a towel from the peg on the wall next to where he’d stowed Carmen, he tossed it over one shoulder and followed Riggs out to the table where he’d set two coffees, the aroma meeting him halfway. He flopped to the bench and leaned back against the table, tenting his head with the towel and kneading the excess moisture out of his hair.
“Glad we caught a few waves today.” Riggs slurped his coffee. “We’re bound to lose the swells soon.”
Danny nodded and let the towel drop over his knee before reaching for the mug behind him.
“So we’re headed down to Puerto Rico in a couple of months,” Riggs told him.
“Who’s we?”
“Me, Allie, Char. The whole family.” Riggs clucked out a laugh. “Feels good calling us a family again.”
Danny’s chest squeezed. “Where in Puerto Rico?”
“Carolina. It’s a two-week mission trip with a week of pre-field training. I figured we should do the week before since it’s Allie’s first experience. Hey, you wanna go with?”
“Wish I could.”
“Why not?”
Danny sighed. “There’s a lot in flux around here these days. I need a little resolution before I pick up and leave again. I’m already headed out next week to spend some time in Slidell with Jessie’s granddad.”
“She can get away?”
“No. Just me.” He felt Riggs’s eyes on him, but he didn’t turn toward the heat of them. “She’s just getting things going again, but I thought I might check in on his care, see if he needs anything.”
“See if he has any insight on how to get his granddaughter to marry you?”
He chuckled. “There’s that. But mostly I just want to make sure treatment’s going as planned.”
