Page 24 of The Sound Of Silence

“How do you know Tate?” she whips back before I’ve even finished speaking.

I have no way of answering that truthfully without bringing up more questions, so I’m about to spin some utter bullshit when Pippa throws me a bone.

“Did you meet him when you lived in Seattle?”Thank God. Sometimes her need to keep talking is incredibly helpful. Like now.

“I did,” I say quickly, and pray she’s not planting a seed to catch me in a lie. “But it wasn’t a pleasant situation, and I’d rather not have run into him today.”

Pippa nods in understanding, and I release a silent breath.

After everything that happened twelve years ago, I was fostered by a new family in Seattle, while Tate stayed behind. I was only there for a few years before being signed by San Francisco, but thinking back, I remember someone mentioning that Tate had moved there after high school, though I never looked him up. I couldn’t. I needed to focus, and I knew I was the last person he wanted to see. He made that even more apparent when I saw him just now.

“I get that,” Pippa says, her voice a little raspy. “He creeps me out. I caught him staring at Willow many times in an ‘I don’t know if I want to kiss you or kill you’ kind of way, and I only kept my mouth shut so I didn’t scare her. But if he ever touched her…” She trails off as my stomach sinks, but I’m grateful that it sounds like nothing ever happened. And I’m almost certain Pippa would have kicked his ass if he came close. Although by my calculations, she was in Utah when it all went down.

We don’t discuss Tate past our common dislike, and then Pippa disappears to get ready for bed, while I’m left reeling. It’s hard enough seeing Willow and finding out she’s Pippa’s sister. But Tate too? If I survive this, it’ll be a miracle.

The next morning, I take a photo of the minute scratch on the wall in our room and shake my head. We’re getting kicked out for this?What the hell?

“Are you sure you’re not messing with me?” I ask Pip as she rolls over to face me, having decided she’s too comfortable to get out of bed.

“I’m not messing with you. Ask Marley yourself.”

Oh, I will.

Phone in hand, I beeline straight for the front desk and pray that by some miracle she’s not there, but of course she is, smiling back at me like she’s never been happier.

“Mr. Hastings, how can I help you?”So formal now.

“I want to talk to you about the scratch in our room.”

“Oh yes, thank God I found someone to fix it so quickly.”

“It’s a scratch.”

“It’s adefect, and I don’t like defects.”

I can’t stop myself from glancing around the room, and have to bite my tongue so I don’t tell her that her entire decor is a defect.

“Okay, well, send them in. Pippa and I don’t mind them fixing it while we’re there. That way we can still check out Tuesday.”

I smile before turning to leave, not wanting to give her a chance to argue.

“Oh no, that won’t do,” she calls out and I pause. “I’ve got someone else checking into your room this afternoon.”

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and release it slowly before calmly turning around. “Why would someone be booked into our room today? It’s Friday and we’re not leaving until Tuesday.”

The little old lady smiles and points to a sign on the wall behind her before telling me the cleaners will be there at noon. That’s it.She’sthe one leaving no room for argument. She just says her piece and disappears back through her camouflage door, leaving me completely stunned.

Snapping out of my shock, I read her stupid sign and huff out a laugh.

“This inn is a place of love. Damage to any part of this establishment, no matter how great or small, will result in instant eviction. Thank you.”

And I was hoping I might still change her mind.

My phone rings as I’m arriving back to our room, but I don’t need to check it to know who it is…and he can wait until I’m inside.

“Yo,” Seth says, when I finally answer, acting like this is a casual call when I can guarantee that it’s not.

“Yo, yourself. What’s up?”

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