Saving Simon (Tarnished Saints Series Book 5) (9 page)

“I see. By the way, I just wanted to tell you that it’s okay if you call me Pippa. I don’t mind.”

“Thanks for the permission.” He just smiled and shook his head. As if he needed permission to do anything. He would have called her Pippa even if she said she hated it, because that’s what he’d decided to do.

They drove mostly in silence, and a short while later stopped in front of Thomas’s house. It was once the Ainsley’s Bed and Breakfast, and huge compared to the rest of the cabins on the lake. It had five bedrooms, four bathrooms, three fireplaces, a sunroom, two living rooms, a gigantic kitchen and a two and a half car garage with a woodworking shop attached.

“Oh, my, this house looks beautiful,” she commented, dipping down her head to get a view of the whole thing in the headlights out the front window. “It’s so big. I never thought I’d see such a nice house in a place like this.”

“A place like what?” he asked. “This area is home to a lot of people, just as Chicago is to you. Of course the house is big because Thomas needs lots of room to raise his eight kids.”

“Eight kids? Wow. You’re right, I guess.”

“Well, actually it’s only seven but he has one on the way.” He opened the car door, then looked back to her. “I’m starving. We haven’t eaten all day. How about you come in and we’ll see if my brother’s got any leftovers?”

“Really, I couldn’t. I’ll just stop and get a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant.”

“The only restaurant within fifty miles of here is my brother Levi’s restaurant, the Three Billy Goat’s Diner but it’s already closed for the night.”

“Really?” she asked. “I didn’t know that, but I wouldn’t want to impose on Thomas at all.”

“You’re not imposing. Now shut off the motor and let’s get something to eat. I’m so hungry I could eat those damned goats Levi keeps on the roof.”

“Goats on a roof? What are you talking about?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” he said, walking around and opening the car door for her.

He’d embellished his story a little saying there was no restaurant for fifty miles, but he had to do it in order to get her inside. He really wanted her to meet more of his family, but didn’t want to come out and say it.

He opened the door to Thomas’s house and to his surprise, everyone was sitting there looking at him, from the kids, to his brothers and their wives, and even his eccentric Aunt Cappy. And no one was saying a word. Suddenly, he wondered if it was such a good idea bringing her here after all.

“There you are, Simon,” said Thomas walking over to greet them. “When you didn’t call for a ride and Gus told me a blond woman named Pippi Longstockings was in town looking for you, I figured you’d show up here with her eventually. After all, it’s happened with most your other brothers, so why should you be any different?”

“I wasn’t looking for him,” Piper protested, “and that’s not my name.”

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Pippa. I met her on the cruise,” Simon told them.

“Piper?” asked Cat, rushing over to see her. “What are you doing here?”

Piper felt very uncomfortable with everyone staring at her, and was glad when the woman named Cat she’d met on the cruise broke the ice and came over to greet her.

“I’m in town for awhile,” she explained. “I’m here to –”

“Zeb, you and Thad remember Pippa from the cruise, don’t you?” asked Simon, seeming to purposely interrupt her.

“Pippa?” asked Thad lounging back on the couch with a little boy standing next to him hanging onto his leg and a little girl who looked like she could be the boy’s twin sitting on his lap. “I thought your name was Piper.”

“Well, it is. That’s just Simon’s little  . .  . nickname for me.”

“Come on in, Ms. Longstockings,” said Thomas. “Have you two had anything to eat?”

“That isn’t my name,” she said, feeling her face starting to flush. “My name is -”

“We’re starved,” said Simon, walking into the room and instantly being surrounded by a bunch of kids.

“Uncle Simon, can I have a piggyback ride?” asked a little boy with curly blond hair and big eyes that looked to be about six years old.

“Sure, Eli. Just as long as you guys don’t start that pig-piling stuff again.” He reached down and with one hand scooped the little boy up onto his back and headed for the kitchen.

“Can you take us for a sailboat ride tomorrow?” asked another young boy with red hair and freckles.

“Zeke, I’m sure Simon’s had a long day,” said a woman with blond hair. “Now you kids head on up to bed, as it’s already past time. You have school tomorrow,” she reminded them.

“Aw, Angel, Pa said we could stay up late and talk about fishing with Simon,” said a boy who looked to be a teenager and the oldest of all the kids.

“Listen to your mother, boys, now get going,” was all Thomas said and all of a sudden the room cleared as the kids hurried from the room and ran up the stairs.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Longstockings,” said a boy who limped over, obviously having some sort of problem with his leg.

“Just call me Piper,” she said as the boy headed away.

“We’ve got to get going too,” said another woman with red hair. “Come on kids, I don’t want you cranky for school tomorrow.” She headed off to the kitchen after her twins who decided to run and hide rather than to have to leave just then.

Before Piper knew it, everyone just up and disappeared, leaving her standing there with Cat.

“What just happened?” asked Piper, not understanding any of this.

“Sorry about that,” said Cat. “The kids were waiting up to see Simon, but it’s kind of late so they’ll have to visit with him tomorrow.”

“That’s a shame. I didn’t even get to meet any of them. Nor the adults,” said Piper disappointedly.

Simon turned around and came back to get her, having heard what she said. “Come on, Pippa, I’ll introduce you to whoever’s left and you can meet the rest of them tomorrow.”

* * *

By the time eleven o’clock rolled around, Piper had not only had a nice helping of leftover spaghetti and apple pie for dessert, but Simon had introduced her to so many people she felt her head spinning. She’d met his eldest brother Thomas and his wife Angel, and he’d told her all their kids’ names since they’d already gone up to bed, not that she could remember any of them right now.

Then she’d met his brother Nate, as well as Levi and his wife Candace briefly before they took their twins Val and Vance and went home to their cabin. She’d also met his Aunt Cappy and his sheriff brother Judas and his wife Laney. Judas’s daughter’s name was J.D. or Jaydee, she wasn’t sure which, and her baby was Mathias. Judas’s family ended up leaving since the baby was fussing. Thad, Zeb and Cat were the other ones there, but she’d already met them on the cruise.

“I think I remember most everyone’s name, but I’ll probably forget half of them after I meet the kids tomorrow,” said Piper, finishing off her apple pie and wiping her mouth in the napkin.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Cat. “It took me awhile to learn all their names too.”

“That’s not even everyone,” Simon told her, leaning back in his chair looking finally satisfied after two helpings of spaghetti and an extra big slice of pie. “You haven’t met my brother, James yet.”

“Now . . . who is James?” she asked.

“My twin,” said Zeb.

“Another one who looks like you and Simon?” she asked. “I can’t believe it.”

“Hey, I have my own look,” Simon protested. “I’m not a triplet, just an Irish twin. Besides, I’m much better looking than those two.”

“Where is James, anyway?” asked Piper.

“He’s living on a farm nearby,” Thomas relayed the information. “He’s a rancher who just moved back to Sweet Water from Texas.”

“Oh, did he find a girl around here and get married?”

There was an odd exchange of looks between Zeb and Cat before Nate spoke up.

“He found one but she married the wrong twin,” Nate said with a smile.

“Actually, she married the right one,” Zeb corrected him, getting up from the table and collecting his wife. “We’d better get going. Cat is pregnant and if she doesn’t get a good night’s sleep there’s no living with her in the morning.”

There were quick goodbyes and Nate and Thad wandered outside to see them off. That left her and Simon alone with Thomas, as Aunt Cappy had already retired to her room saying she wanted to meditate, and Angel had excused herself and went up to check on the kids. She’d heard some suspicious sounds from upstairs which made her believe they weren’t sleeping.

“So where are you staying?” Simon asked her. “Do you have a place to spend the night?”

“Well,” she said, panic setting in as she realized she’d been so overwhelmed with everything that she hadn’t even thought of that. “No, I don’t,” she admitted. “Mrs. Glover said she was going to take care of my accommodations, but she left in such a hurry she didn’t have a chance to tell me which hotel she booked me into.”

“She did take care of it,” Thomas said. “She asked me to set you up in one of the cabins we rent.”

“Oh, thank you but I think I’d rather just stay at a hotel if you don’t mind.”

Piper didn’t want to stay in a lake cabin. Just the thought of it had her feeling queasy. She could just picture the bugs not to mention the smell of mold or the broken down beds or the possible rust lining the sinks and toilet. A five star hotel with room service, whirlpool tubs, and gas fireplaces sounded much more desirable to her. She wasn’t the outdoors kind of person, and going on the cruise was enough fresh air and sunshine to last her for the next ten years.

“Pippa, there’s no hotels in Sweet Water,” Simon told her.

“Well, then there’s got to be one in a nearby town. No?” She watched Thomas and Simon just look at each other and slightly shake their heads.

“Not unless you want to drive miles in the dark on backwoods roads for a good half hour and take the chance they’ll have an opening in Kalamazoo’s only motel,” said Thomas. “But I don’t know about that since they’ve closed down some of the rooms for remodeling. That last storm that blew through here damaged their roof and they’ve had a lot of water leakage lately.”

“Then I guess a cabin will be fine,” she finally agreed.

“So, give me the keys, Thomas, and I’ll show her to her cabin. Which one is it, anyway?” Simon held out his hand but Thomas just looked at it and then glanced up to his brother with an odd expression on his face.

“Uh, you already have the keys, Simon.”

“No, I don’t. The only keys I have are the ones to the cabin you’re letting me stay in.”

“Well, you see, I kind of screwed up. Angel was the one who talked to Mrs. Glover and I didn’t realize it when I told you that you could stay in my cabin.”

“So what are you saying?” asked Simon.

“It’s the end of summer, bro. All the cabins are rented, and now that Zeb, Judas and Levi are living in theirs, it has cut down on the availability you realize. The only one left was the one you’re using. That just happened to be the one that Angel booked for Ms. Longstockings.”

“Piper. Piper Westbrook,” she corrected him. “And there’s no way I can share a cabin with a man I just met. That’ll never do.”

“Well, I guess you can stay here, Simon,” said Thomas, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe Angel won’t mind if you sleep on the floor. But the kids are already doubled up since Aunt Cappy is staying in the downstairs bedroom, and Nate has claimed the big sofa as his until he gets an apartment fixed up over at his new bar.”

“I’m staying on the sunporch sleeping on the glider swing, so you can’t have that,” Thad shouted out from the front door as he and Nate reentered the house.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Thomas added. “Don’t worry, Simon, I’m sure we can find a spot for you somewhere.”

“No, it’s too crowded already,” said Simon with a shake of his head.

“Well, maybe you can call Levi or Judas and see if they can take you in,” Thomas suggested.

“With little kids and a crying baby I’ll never get any shut eye,” Simon complained. “And don’t even suggest staying with Zeb and Cat because they’re newlyweds and I can’t do that to them. Don’t worry about it, Thomas, we’ll work something out.” He looked over to Piper when he said it, and she knew he meant that they’d share a cabin together.

Before she could object, Simon had ushered her to the door and they were headed to her car. He grabbed the keys from her and got into the driver’s seat without asking. They said their goodbyes to Thomas and he started up the motor as his brother went back into the house.

“Simon – I can’t stay in the same cabin with you. I don’t even know you.”

“How can you say that when we’ve already kissed?”

“It was one kiss, it hardly counts,” she reminded him and noticed that come-hither look in his eyes.

“Well, we can change that if you want.”

“Just drop me off at the cabin, but I’m sorry, you can’t stay there.”

He drove to the cabin and collected her bags from the car and walked her to the door. It was very dark out there in the woods and she couldn’t see well, but when they went inside and he flicked on the lights, she almost died. It was a small log cabin, with one room that served as a living room and connected with a small open kitchen. She saw a door that she guessed led to the bathroom and another one that was open and looked to have a large bed filling up the entire room.