Page 71 of Pints & Potions

“The great Dr. Walsh’s unbending rules, Pip. Just give in. I do.” Her dad offered up a half-hearted grin, though worried lines on his face indicated he was still troubled.

“Fair enough.” Piper swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “Am I allowed to use magic for a change of clothes or am I expected to wear this hospital gown home?”

Rebecca laughed and sailed toward the door. “Well, you certainly don’t want your father dressing you. He’d cover you with a burlap sack and overalls.”

Surprised she could laugh with the fresh crack in her heart, Piper shot her dad a grin. “She’s not wrong.”

26

“You’re a gol-derned stubborn mule, is what you are!”

“Dad, I’m not arguing with you. I’m going back.”

“I blameyou, Alastair. You’ve got it in your fool head that she needs to be bait.” Spitting-nails furious, Hoyt paced Piper’s airy living room. “She barely survived the last attack.”

Alastair straightened his tie and tugged on his shirt cuffs, perfecting his already pristine appearance. “I am only here to make suggestions. What Piper chooses to do is entirely up to her.”

“And yousuggestedshe hightail it on back to that god-forsaken inn to flush out some crazy person.”

Ire flashed in Alastair’s sapphire eyes. “Hoyt, she’s no safer here than there.”

“Now that’s a dammed lie! She’s a hundred times safer, and you derned well know it.”

Lifting two fingers to his brow, Alastair scrubbed back and forth, as if Hoyt’s rant was giving him a tension headache. It probably was if the throbbing of Piper’s own skull was any indication. They’d been going round and round on this topic for the better part of an hour. Hoyt had mellowed from livid to hot under the collar since the subject of Piper’s return to Ireland came up. But he became fired up again at a moment’s notice.

“Dad,enough. I’m a grown-ass woman and I’m tired of hiding out here.”

“It’s only been two days, Pip! It’s not like it’s been two years,” Hoyt pointed out with no little sarcasm. “It’s doubtful that underhanded rat is going to suddenly crawl out from whatever hole he’s burrowed in and expose himself. He’d rather take potshots at you in the dark.”

“So tell me, what is the appropriate amount of time to twiddle my thumbs and wait? One year? Two? When will he get bored and go away?” She flopped down on her double-wide loveseat and dropped her head back to glare at the innocent ceiling. “We’ve scryed, we’ve cast spells, we’ve created wards—all the magical things I’d rather not have to do—butnothinghas worked.” She lifted her head and sent him a beseeching look. “I can’t run forever, Dad. I deserve a life, however short it may or may not be.”

Hoyt perched on the ottoman at her feet and rested a hand on her knee. “I love you too much to risk your life, Pip. Don’t ask me to stand back and do nothing.”

“Oh, Dad.” She couldn’t relay the myriad of feelings building inside—adoration, frustration, exasperation, understanding. All she knew was that she couldn’t hide out here in her home when the only man she’d ever truly loved was an ocean away and dealing with the fallout of their magical connection. Initially, when she’d heard he didn’t want her to return, she’d taken it to heart. But it wasn’t long before her fighting spirit emerged. “I promised Cian I’d create his Granny’s potion. I’m not going to bail on him or his family when they need it for their financial survival.”

“If that’s the only reason you’re returning, I can make the elixir.” Alastair shrugged casually, but Piper sensed he’d said it to get a rise out of her, to make her confess to another, more profound reason for wanting to go back. “A potion isn’t worth putting yourself in a killer’s crosshairs.”

“Whose side are you on?” she snapped.

“Yours, dear girl. Always yours.”

Somewhat mollified, she turned to her father. “I love Cian. And I’m returning to Ireland, because I’m a Thorne and I don’t run from trouble.”

Pure triumph curled Alastair’s lips upward in the same way crushing disappointment pulled Hoyt’s downward.

“Excellent!” Alastair slapped Hoyt on the back—none too gently—and willfully ignored his cousin’s glare. “Do you need to pack, or should we pop back immediately?”

If Piper didn’t know better, she’d believe old Cousin Alastair had a horse in this race. She was certain of it when her dad dug a hundred-dollar bill out of his wallet and held it up. Alastair swiped it and tucked it into the breast pocket of his suit coat with a shit-eating grin.

Piper had to laugh.

“We’re both going back with you, Pip.”

“Poor Cian is going to feel cock blocked with the two of you there.” She rubbed her temples. “And that doesn’t bode well for my love life.”

“You’re worth the wait, child. I suspect your young man knows this.” With a smile and a wink, Alastair strode out of the room.

Silence reigned for a full two minutes as Piper waited for her father to speak. Hoyt wasn’t one tonotinsert his two cents into a situation such as this. But as the seconds ticked by and as he said nothing, she began to feel perhaps she’d misjudged him.

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