“Your point?” I ask, keeping my expression neutral as I fight the smile that threatens to break through.
She laughs softly and turns in my arms until we’re face to face.
“Life happened.” Her smile fades. “I was fifteen when I lost my mother. It... it broke something in me.”
A tear rolls down her cheek, and I brush it away with my thumb.
“It sounds obvious, I know,” she murmurs. “But it felt like everything just… stopped. Like the world lost its meaning. And skating, something that used to be everything, it became agony.”
She swallows hard.
“People say it should bring you closer to them,” she goes on. “That doing what they loved keeps them alive somehow. But for me… it did the opposite. Every time I stepped on the ice, it was just a reminder that she wasn’t there anymore.”
Her voice breaks.
“I couldn’t do it. It hurt too much. So I stopped.”
I listen in silence, remaining perfectly still.
“And in this sport,” she adds quietly, “those years matter. Losing them... it changes everything.”
I frown, but I don’t get the chance to say anything before she continues.
“We were at the Olympics when it happened. I’d just finished competing. I’d won gold. We were supposed to celebrate, and we did. She’d arranged a dinner. Family and friends were already waiting at the restaurant. There were flowers and gifts waiting for me.” She shakes her head. “Everything was perfect. For the first time in my life, it felt as though I had it all.”
“And then, in the space of a single moment, it was gone. After dinner, there was an accident.”
Her voice breaks.
“If I hadn’t asked to go home... maybe we would’ve left later. Maybe that driver wouldn’t have been there at that exact moment. But I insisted…”
“No.” The word comes out harder than I intended, but I don’t care. She needs to hear this.
“You are not responsible for what happened, Piper, and I don’t ever want to hear you blame yourself for it again.”
She stays quiet.
I cup her face and bring her closer before pressing a slow kiss to her forehead.
She exhales softly and buries herself in my chest. I say nothing. There are no words for this, so I simply hold her.
She cries, and I let her.
Soon, the small sounds that fucking break my chest quieten, her breathing evens out, and the weight she carries seems a little less heavy.
And that’s how we fall asleep.
With Piper exactly where she belongs, tucked safely in my arms while I give her every ounce of comfort I can.
Chapter 27
Piper
After our short nap, one I still have no idea how I managed to fall into, we head downstairs to find Adelaide already there with Isaak.
Ophelia had prepared dinner before our unexpected guests arrived, and now that I’ve worked up quite an appetite, I’m more than ready to eat.
I blush at the thought of exactly how that appetite came about.
