Page 44 of Savannah Sweethearts

“I have a sister. Chocolate is always the favorite.”

“Tell me about her.” Piper leaned closer and sipped from her straw. A huge hunk of chocolate cake appeared before us with two forks flanking it. “Thank you.”

We both grabbed a fork. I thought perhaps to divide the cake in half, but since we had already had each other’s fingers in our mouths, I guess it didn’t matter at this point.

“Maggie is my sister. She’s three years younger than me and I’ve always been incredibly protective of her. When our dad left she wasn’t even a year old, and less than a year after that our mom left us with our grandparents. I was five, almost six at the time, and we had been through way more than we should have. But Abuela and Abuelo were the best parents we could have asked for. They made sure all our needs were met. They worked hard to send me to college and always doted on Maggie. She’s a spitfire of a girl now, full of sass. But she’s very bubbly and fun.”

With an easy smile, Piper noted, “She sounds like you.”

“More the other way around. She keeps me grounded, humble, and full of laughs.” I shook my head. Maggie would adore Piper. She already watched her on the news every day. It was part of her ritual to see where I work even if I wasn’t on camera.

“It sounds like you’re close. Does she live nearby?” Another gob of the cake was speared by Piper’s fork.

“She does, actually. She lives in a long-term care facility about two miles from me. She has Down Syndrome, so while she can’t be completely independent, the facility helps her be as on her own as she can manage.” It wasn’t usual for me to offer up Maggie’s differences to people, but I had a feeling Piper would handle it well.

And she did. Her face lit up. “That is wonderful. I would love to meet her one day.” Piper’s hand brushed mine again and again my skin felt that jolt.

“She’s your biggest fan.”

“How about Sunday? Can we go visit Sunday?”

All of my thoughts of being a bachelor for life started to fade. Women were always scared off by Maggie. Well, not her herself, but the thought of her. Of caring for her, of interacting with her. But here was Piper Campbell, the most gorgeous woman in the world, and she was asking to visit my special needs sister.

I nodded. And we finished the cake making plans for Sunday.

Piper

Growing up, I had a cousin with Down Syndrome named Hazel. We had been incredibly close as kids and I cried for days when her family moved to Boston. Hazel had been about five years older than me but we were the same size. She loved to play with dolls and pretend we ran a restaurant. So when Alonso said he had a sister with Down Syndrome, I lit up like a Christmas tree. I was practically giddy Sunday morning as I waited for Alonso to pick me up at my parents’ house.

“You’re going on a date with the boy who ruined your project?” My mother just didn’t understand what I was doing.

“No, Mom, it’s not a date. At all. He has a sister with DS who is a fan of mine and I said I would go see her. You know how close Hazel and I were.” Even now, years later, I could feel the tears threaten as I thought about Hazel.

About five years ago Hazel had died in a car accident. I mourned for weeks. Before her passing, we talked on the phone often and we followed each other on social media. Yes, she had social media. She was quite tech-savvy, my Hazel.

“Well, regardless, I’m glad you’re finally over that stupid prank he pulled.” Mom stood in front of me and tried to fluff my hair. I had to wave her away.

Alonso’s car pulled into the driveway and I debated running out before my mom could grill him like she would have when I was fifteen, or seeing if he could play the gentleman and come up to the door. Before either of those happened, my dad appeared from the garage and walked up to the blue sedan. From behind the curtain, I watched Alonso get out of the car and shake my father’s hand.

Dad was imposingly tall, but his overly friendly demeanor made it hard for anybody to fear him. Growing up most of my friends were a little afraid of him for his size, but they quickly learned he was a teddy bear - it was my mother who was the imposing force in my life.

Hands were shaken and my father laughed. I bit my lip as Alonso laughed in return. My stomach did flip-flops. I had to remind it that this was not a date. Why did my mother and my stomach think this was a date?

Dad walked Alonso up to the front door and they chatted. When the door swung open I slid down into the couch and grabbed a magazine from the table. Of course it was all about men’s prostates. Maybe he wouldn’t notice.

“Piper, honey, your friend is here.” They came in behind me and I stuffed the magazine into the couch cushion.

“Already?” I sounded out of breath. I hoped they didn’t notice.

Of course, my mother came back into the room right then. “What already? You’ve been staring out the window for twenty minutes, Piper Marie.”

Kill me now.

“Alonso, this is my mother Mary. And you met my father, Tim.” I could feel the heat on my cheeks as Alonso smiled at me.

“Yes. Mrs. Campbell, it’s a pleasure.” He extended a hand for my mother who took it for a dainty handshake. Alonso looked like he didn’t know how to handle her delicate fingers. He looked back at me. “Shall we?”

Jumping to my feet, I was eager to get away from my well-meaning parents. “Yes! See you later, Dad. Mom.” I stuffed my wallet and phone into the pockets of my jeans and hurried to the door. Alonso followed me out.

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