Page 90 of Meet Me in Ivy Falls

‘My third night of drinking, I met Alex.’ She choked on the name. ‘He fronted me a bunch of money to drink and eat. When I couldn’t pay him back, he said I owed him. After a few more shots, I mentioned the house and it all went to hell from there.’ Piper reached out for my hand. ‘I’ll do whatever I can to fix this. Work three jobs to pay for the repairs. I usually only screw up my own life but now I’ve destroyed your beautiful work.’

My heart ached to see her in so much pain. I wanted to be angry. Scream at her. Tell her she’d caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage, but it was the last thing she needed.

If the tables were turned and it was Tessa in that bed, I’d clear everything from my life to make sure she was safe. I loved Beck and I was willing to do whatever it took to support him as he helped Piper through the next several months. I’d work on the house while he found a local rehab facility for her. Each night I’d be waiting for him, arms open wide, as he returned from helping Piper rebuild her life. Together, there wasn’t anything we couldn’t face. Working on the house these past few months had proved that fact.

‘You can repay me by getting better, Piper. Go back to rehab. Figure out a way to be whole again. If anyone knows how difficult that can be it’s me, but you have something special on your side.’

‘Beck,’ she said through a rough sob.

‘He loves you more than the world. Let him help you get better.’

Piper blinked back a few more tears and squeezed my hand as if vowing a silent promise. A promise I hoped she could keep this time.

Chapter Forty-One

BECK

I Opened Pandora’s Fucking Box.

The last twenty-four hours were a blur. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten or gone to the bathroom. All my attention was focused on Piper and the next steps to get her out of this hospital and into a rehab facility where she could learn not to harm herself anymore.

My throat was sandpaper and my eyes burned. I dropped my head into my hands and took two gasping breaths. Air still refused to come like a giant inflated balloon pressed against the walls of my chest. It was the same wave of pain and anxiety that always manifested when Piper had a downward spiral.

I stood and stretched my legs, hoping I could get at least one good breath. The constant whir and hum of machines in the other rooms didn’t help the steady rise of my blood pressure. With each step I took, the tighter my chest became. I’d been avoiding the thought for hours, but as soon as Torran left Piper’s room, I had to tell her we were leaving. Knowing her, it was not going to be an easy conversation. She’d slowly opened her heart to me over the past weeks, and I was going to crush it again.

Now the cramp in my chest was a solid squeeze.

Holding on to the wall I tried to calm my breathing, slowly taking in air through my nose and letting it out through my mouth.

The door to Piper’s room creaked open and Torran slid out into the hallway. She glanced down the sterile corridor, her gaze sweeping back and forth.

‘Tessa went to the waiting room.’

She nodded and quietly said, ‘Okay.’

I ached to see her so ashen. So rocked by what my sister had done to our beautiful house.

‘Are you all right?’ I reached out for her and then let my hand drop to my side. She wouldn’t want me touching her once I confessed what I had to do next.

‘I’m a little tired but I’ll make it.’

‘About the house.’ I stopped, trying to find the right words. ‘I’d like for you and Manny to go back and repair it. I’ll give you whatever money you need to make it right. When Hearth and Home is done filming and you feel like the house is ready, I’ve decided I’m going to sell it.’

‘What? Why?’ Her screech ping-ponged around the barren white hallway.

‘The house has done nothing but bring back terrible memories. I was wrong to think enough time had passed. That I could waltz back into Ivy Falls, restore my childhood home, and suddenly that would make my world right again.’

I tore a hand through my hair and sank back against the wall.

‘For some reason I believed I could recapture the past. Will my memories back into some positive light. But my parents’ deaths will always haunt both my and Piper’s lives. I was an idiot to think any different.’

‘I get that everything is messy as shit right now, but don’t give up on what we were starting to rebuild.’

‘No. Piper and I have to get the hell out of here. We’re going back to San Francisco. I have a friend who runs a rehab facility outside of the city. I’m hoping he can find Piper a bed.’

‘Don’t do this,’ she pleaded. ‘We can get through this if we stick together.’

The words I needed to say became jumbled in my head. With each desperate look she gave me, I was splitting in two. Part of me wanted to stay here with her. Build the life I thought I wanted. The other part urged me to take Piper far away from the place that had caused all this destruction. My parents would want me to take care of her. Make sure she was safe. It was what I’d done most of my life, and it was the only thing I could do now.