Page 9 of Stormswept Colorado

I leaned back in my chair. “Not the kind of thing you should admit at a police station.”

“Andthatis not funny.”

I schooled my features as I stood up and came around the desk. “You don’t mean Ollie, do you? Is he at school?”

Last time Ollie was unsupervised here at the station, the kid had managed to get into a box of handcuffs we’d just had delivered. We still hadn’t found the keys.

“Of course I don’t mean Ollie. Andyes, he’s at school.”

“Then what’s up?”

“Danny.” She spit out the name like a curse. And it might as well have been.

“What did your ex do now?”

Piper was ten years younger than me. Dad had worked on offshore oil rigs as a roughneck, which took him awayfrom us for months at a time. Mom coped with the stress by leaving us on our own a lot.

There’d been rumors when Piper was born that she wasn’t Dad’s. I remembered the first time some kid on the playground teased me about it.

We both got sent home, me with bloody knuckles and that kid with two black eyes.

With our mom checked out from her parental duties, I’d picked up the slack. Looking out for Piper, making sure she did her homework and didn’t run too wild. Which, with a baby sister like Piper, had not been easy.

Piper owned Silver Linings Coffee on Main Street, and that suited her outgoing personality perfectly. Piper was the head of our town’s unofficial welcoming committee. Never met a stranger she didn’t want to call a friend.

We couldn’t have been more different.

And yet, whenever there was trouble, she came to her big brother. Sometimes Piper just needed me to tell her everything would be okay.

“It’s what Danny isn’t doing. Writing me back. I keep texting to ask when he’s going to see his son, and he’s ignoring me.”

Piper’s ex was a real piece of work. Danny had been a shitty husband and a worse father. They’d been divorced for several years. But last year, he’d left Silver Ridge and hadn’t shown any interest in being in Ollie’s life.

My hands rested on Piper’s arms. “I’ll try calling Danny. See if I can get through to him.”

“He won’t listen.” She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. “Ollie was up crying last night. Missing his dad. He doesn’t understand why this is happening. What if he blames me?”

Shit. “He won’t. He loves his mom, and that will never change. I’ll keep being around for Ollie too. Like I have been. Like I always will be.”

I felt bad enough that I’d been gone so much myself during Piper’s life. When I was a kid, I’d sworn never to repeat ourfather’s mistakes. And then, what did I do? Joined the Army and then the Special Forces. A career that took me away from my sister when she needed me most.

Piper had met her ex in college. Could I have stopped her from marrying him if I’d been around more? Probably not. Piper was too strong-willed to bend to my advice if she didn’t want to. But I could’ve done more to support her.

Instead, an IED had almost killed me along with half my unit. And Piper had to help getmeback on my feet after I returned to civilian life. Just another thing for Danny to complain about in the days before their divorce.

Serving in the Special Forces was the honor of my life. I didn’t exactly have regrets. But being Piper’s brother and Ollie’s uncle were pretty damn important to me too, and I still had a lot to make up for on that front.

I pulled her into a hug and rested my cheek on her hair. “It’ll be okay.”

Piper sniffled and wiped her eyes. It took a lot for her to reveal her insecurity, much less shed tears. “I was spiraling. Thanks for talking me through it. Sorry to barge in.”

“Anytime.” I grabbed a tissue from the box on my desk, one I kept there for witnesses and crime victims. She blew her nose.

I sat on the edge of my desk. “Hey, Piper? Do you think I seem…mean?”

Her bloodshot eyes scrutinized me. “Mean?”

I shifted my weight. “Grumpy. Like I’m always unhappy or something. Do I put people off?”

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