Page 104 of Tattered (Lark Cove 1)

“How was it?” Piper asked, getting up from the couch where she’d been reading.

“Nice,” Thea said at the same time I muttered, “Ridiculous.”

Thea looked up at me and grinned before turning back to Piper. “Okay. It was bad.”

Piper shot me a smug look. “I knew it would be. The speaker is a douche. I told you not to go.”

I sighed. “And I should have listened.”

“He never listens to me, Thea.” Piper shoved an iPad in her backpack. “You’d think he would have learned by now since we’ve worked togeth

er for five years. But he still thinks he’s in charge.”

I chuckled. “Now you’re starting to sound like Nolan. Don’t make me fire you.”

“Ha! You wouldn’t make it two days.”

She was right about that. Piper handled everything for me at the foundation, and I’d be lost without her. She made it possible for me to be a lawyer and a philanthropist without completely burning myself out. And I made sure to pay her enough so she’d never be tempted to leave for a higher wage. Hell, she made more than all but two of the vice presidents, not that they’d ever know.

She might jest, but Piper was as down-to-earth as they got. She reminded me a bit of Thea that way. Piper and her husband were struggling at the moment, probably the reason she’d been so eager to watch Charlie tonight. She used every excuse these days not to go home. So if she needed evenings away to hang with my daughter, we’d let her babysit whenever she wanted.

“Charlie was a dream tonight,” Piper told Thea as she shouldered her backpack, then whipped her chestnut hair into a topknot. “I love her so much. Come back soon so I can watch her again. I’ll make sure this guy,” she jerked a thumb my way, “plans something much better than a pretentious gala for you two.”

“I, um . . .” Thea looked to her shoes, finding her fake smile. “Thank you. I’m so glad she was good and really appreciate you watching her.”

Piper came over and hugged Thea, then gave me a mock salute. “Have a good weekend, boss.”

Boss. “Jesus. Do you and Nolan sit around and practice filling ‘boss’ with as much sarcasm as possible?”

She shrugged. “You’ll never know.”

I grinned. That was a yes. “I had the doorman call you a car. It should be waiting.”

“Thanks, Logan. Bye, Thea.” She waved and walked down the hall, letting herself out.

As the door closed, Thea’s shoulders fell and she kicked off her shoes. “I’m just going to go check on Charlie.”

I put a hand on the small of her back while the other loosened my bowtie. “I’ll come too.”

“I like Piper,” Thea whispered as we ambled down the hall. “Nolan too.”

“They’re the best. Because of them, I can stay involved at the foundation.”

Thea cracked open Charlie’s door, peeking inside. Our daughter was sprawled out in her bed with her head and feet turned sideways from the pillows.

“Wild,” I whispered. “Even in her sleep.”

“She’s always slept like that.” Thea smiled as she carefully closed the door. “When she was three, she got in this bad habit of coming into my room at night. She’d stick her feet in my ribs, then completely pass out.”

“I wish I could have seen that.”

“Me too.”

I kissed Thea on the forehead, then took her hand and led her to the stairs.

I wanted to know all about the years I’d missed with Charlie, and the years Thea had spent in the city. She’d surprised me at the gala tonight when she’d gotten so upset by that speaker. She’d spoken with so much passion, it had to have come from experience. How was I going to learn more about her if she wouldn’t tell me? At this point, I was left to guess.

The life she’d lived hadn’t been filled with luxury, that was obvious. But now I suspected it hadn’t held much love either.