March 20, 2011
GC
“Great!” grumbled Piper as she checked her email from the laptop in the living room. Her eyes flickered with anger, and then she took a calming breath. “Fine, I have to interview the new doctor in town, I don’t know who it is, but I have to interview them, by Friday. Arlene is in Riker’s Bend, trying to find out if they have a lead on the missing Hunter Heiress. It looks like they found a paper trail or something. I’m stuck here doing a cute interview.”
“So?” called Ben from the kitchen while he washed the dishes. “I think it’s Denise Bishops daughter, the one that Coop is working for? I don’t know her name, I don’t think I remember her from when she was a kid, she’s just a few years younger than us. Just call Denise, she’ll tell you if it’s her girl. Or call Cooper, I bet he’s got her in bed by the end of next week.”
“Really?”
“Think so, he was having dinner over at Denise’s tonight too,” smiled Ben. “Imagine him finally settling down and getting hitched?”
Piper grimaced at the thought. “Highly unlikely.”
Piper didn’t dislike Cooper, in fact she was sure she liked him, she just didn’t like his fuck ‘em and leave ‘em ways. He was funny and cute and Ben’s best friend in the world, and they couldn’t be any more different if someone had planned their differences. Cooper was full of potential which was untapped and Piper hoped that someday he saw that in himself.
“Oh, would you give Coop a break. He’s a good guy, you know that, he’ll be the best man at our wedding,” smiled the dashing Ben.
Piper closed her blue eyes to the words, getting up off the chair and refusing to be lulled into this discussion again. “I’m going to go take a walk, we need some milk.” Pushing the door open and heading out for a walk to clear her head.
Putting one foot in front of the other, her head bowed low, eyes on the ground that moved under her feet. Her soul was on fire, anger brimmed in her mind, why did Ben have to mention marriage every single day of the week? Was it so hard for a man to just want to get the milk and not have to buy the cow? Ben was the anti-man, Piper was sure of it.
Rounding the corner and heading towards the center of town, where the small park was, she looked up and squinted, seeing Cooper walking with the same blonde that had bandaged her finger at the wedding. “I’ll be damned.” A hot jab of emotions raked through her as she saw the blonde walking with Cooper. She then broke into a quick jog. “Hey, Coop!” called out Piper.
The blonde turned, and then gave Cooper a sweet look, whispering, “Girlfriend of yours?”
“That’s Piper Brady,” said Cooper. “And no, she’s not a girlfriend of mine.”
Abby looked at her hands, already knowing who Piper was. They had already met, a few times as children, and then at the wedding. One fateful moment, Abby grumbled to herself and reminded herself about women and staying away from them.
Piper caught up to them, stopping, hands on her knees. “I’m so out of shape,” said the reporter.
Abby smiled, thinking if she was out of shape, then she was grotesquely out of shape. “I think you’re underestimating yourself.”
“Piper Brady,” said Piper, sticking her hand out at Abby. Piper was pretending that the moment at the wedding had never happened. Abby thought it was endearing, so she decided to play along.
“Abby Bishop,” said Abby her green eyes smiling.
“The new doc, right?” asked Piper taking in large gulps of air. “I have to interview you for the local rag, think we could have lunch tomorrow?”
“No,” said Abby almost too quickly. “I don’t do interviews, and I’ll be in Addison tomorrow, getting things set up for my practice here.”
“Oh, the cable guy came today,” said Cooper, snapping his fingers. “He set up that wireless thing you wanted and something called a surfboard, which, I didn’t know you could have in The Circle. And it’s really small, can you really surf on that?”
“Excellent,” smiled Abby, sliding her arm around Cooper. “No, it’s just a wireless router and modem combo, I won’t be surfing on it, you are pretty silly when you want to be, Coop.”
Cooper blinked, but he recovered nicely, putting his arm around Abby’s shoulder, pulling her closer.
“Oh please? I owe you lunch for my finger, please?” begged Piper. “I know this is quick, and it’s like sex on the first date, but I really need a good article for my editor, she’s a pain the ass.”
“That’s my mother you are talking about,” snapped Cooper. Piper rolled her eyes and Cooper had to laugh, he knew exactly what his mother was like.
Abby closed her eyes; this was what living in a small town was all about. “No, sorry, tell… Cooper’s mom that I’m not granting an interview, I really just want to be a doctor.”
“Party pooper,” laughed Piper. Putting her hands up in surrender, she knew that pushing would get her nowhere. “Fine, fine, I know when I’m beat.” A plot began to form in her mind, she might not need an interview, and all she needed was to get to know the woman who’d nicely listened to her tale about the piece of glass her father had given her. Not an exposé, but something revealing enough to be interesting.
Abby smiled, “Coop, we should be heading back to the house.”
“Righty,” said Cooper, snapping his fingers, knowing that it was time to run before Piper began barraging them with questions. “See you later, Piper.”
“Bye you two,” said Piper, watching them stride away, thinking they did make a cute couple.
GC
A few days later, Ben was hanging his coat on the back of a chair and Piper called out from the cellar, “I think we should invite Coop over for dinner tomorrow night!”
Ben stopped, blinking rapidly. “What?” He’d had to have misheard, since Piper never really admitted it, but he got the distinct feeling that she didn’t like Cooper very much. They butted head all the time and Ben sometimes thought he was going to have to physically stop Piper from swatting Cooper.
“I said, we should in…,” began Piper but Ben cut her off.
“I heard you, but you never wanted me to invite him over before, so what changed? Are you sick?” asked Ben. Piper was now standing in front of Ben, and he touched her forehead for a fever. She playfully slapped his hand away. “I mean it, are you feeling ok?”
“I’m fine, I was thinking…,” said Piper, walking to the refrigerator. “You could tell Coop to bring Abby with him.”
“AH HA!” said Ben playfully, moving behind Piper and wrapping his arms around Piper, nuzzling her neck. “You got shot down for an interview and now you want to sneak it in. So underhanded and so sexy.”
“That’s not what this is about,” stated Piper, pulling away from Ben’s embrace. “I don’t know, don’t you think it’s time that Cooper settles down?”
Ben grimaced, he thought it was time that THEY settled down, as in marriage, and if Cooper got to the alter before he did, Ben would never live it down. Maybe seeing Cooper with someone would make Piper reconsider the no marriage rule?
“Fine, on one condition…,” stated Ben, his smile was bright as he spoke.
“What?” asked Piper wearily.
“That you don’t interview her, Abby, you act like a normal, non reporter for the whole evening,” said Ben in his chiding almost fatherly voice. “You told me she didn’t want to do the interview, well why don’t you get to know her? She might open up and say yes in a few weeks.”
Piper nodded, hands on her hips, “I solemnly swear to cause no mischief.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” stated Ben.
“Thanks a lot!” said Piper with a smirk.
“You be good,” reminded Ben.
Piper grunted and headed off to do some laundry.
GC
Abby was on her knees, under the sink in what was to be her office, Cooper and his crew were upstairs, finishing the bedrooms and a small den that Abby might, someday, get to use for reading. She’d insisted on using the old sink that her grandfather’d had in the basement, and the pipe was slowly leaking, sighing, thinking she’d have to have Cooper replace it.
“I thought you were a doctor, not a plumber?” said a chuckling voice from by the doorway. The voice was sexy and alluring. Abby looked up to see who was standing there.
Piper.
The name sent a shiver up her spine, a good shiver – the one that you always wanted to feel then were surprised when it happened. But Piper was definitely off limits, in more ways than one.
Abby sat up, the thought fresh in her mind, rubbing her cheek with her hand, leaving behind a streak of grease. “Same thing, doctors know a lot about the plumbing of a body, so it makes sense that they know a little bit about the plumbing of a house.”
Piper smirked. “You got me on that, though I never expected to see you crawling under a sink, an antiquated sink at that. I know that you’re more than likely in debt over your ears, but you can afford a new sink, I would think.”
“It’s not ancient, it’s got… Character,” stated Abby with a lopsided grin. “It was my grandfather’s, I thought I’d try and salvage it.”
“Right,” smiled Piper, who liked all things modern. “I’m sorry I attempted to ambush you the other night, but I was speaking the truth, my editor really did want an interview. I thought you wouldn’t mind having lunch with me.”
Abby shrugged, wiping her hands on her paint splattered jeans, she certainly wouldn’t mind having lunch with Piper, but not to be interviewed. “I just want to settle into life here, and everyone knows there is a doc in town, they don’t need an article in the local paper to tell them that. I just think it’s silly, I’m a doctor, period. Just a girl who is a doctor, what more is there to know?”
“Come on, there has to be a reason…,” then Piper caught herself. “I didn’t come here to grill you.” Piper hung her head and sighed, she was a reporter first, friend second, and girlfriend third.
“You didn’t?” laughed Abby, always looking away from Pipers clear-eyed stare. “You could have fooled me.”
“No.”
“So are you sick? I don’t have my office in perfect working order, but if it’s something simple,” said Abby, gesturing to the other, more private, office.
“OH! No, Ben is upstairs talking to Coop, we came over to invite you guys to dinner,” beamed Piper.
Abby felt her stomach churning instantly, swallowing away the anger that she felt at herself for humoring her mother. “Oh,” she said feebly.
Now people were going to think that she and Cooper were dating, or as Cooper might say, fucking, since he insisted that he didn’t date.
“Don’t tell me he’s already cheating on you,” said Piper with a loud groan. “God that man cannot keep it in his pants.”
“We’re not really… um… see…,” stammered Abby, hating that she sometimes was a bumbling idiot. For some reason, Piper’s radiance made her stumble for words.
“We’re not really dating, we’re… well, friends with many benefits,” said Cooper from the doorway. He gave Abby a wide-eyed stare and Abby grimaced at him. Cooper then saw just how dirty and messy Abby looked, vastly different from usual. For a moment, Cooper was sure she was his dream girl, minus that she preferred women to men, she was grimy and a mess but she looked sexier than ever.
Abby felt her world folding in on itself and she said in a gruff tone, “We’re friends.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t come over tonight, look, I’m cooking,” smiled Ben, his eyes finding Abby. She looked familiar, but the greasy face, the baseball cap, and the overall’s were throwing him off.
“Oh, god, no,” groaned Cooper in jest, putting his hand to his chest playfully. Abby instantly got the feeling that Ben might be cute, but he was no cook in the kitchen.
“I’ll help him, at least my chicken isn’t black when it comes out of the oven,” sighed Piper.
“So, it’s done then, six o’clock. Well I have to get back to work, see you two at six,” said Ben in a chipper mood, tossing a look over his shoulder, trying to place where he’d seen Abby before.
Piper waved a sweet goodbye to Abby and Cooper and then they were gone. Abby turned to Cooper, throwing a rag at him. “What did you do that for?”
“What did I do?” he asked laughing.
“You didn’t correct them!”
“Neither did you!” shot back Cooper. “It’s not like you have to come out to them, that’s what it’s called, right, coming out?”
Abby sat on the edge of the desk, head hanging low. “They think we’re dating, Cooper, you’re the biggest – no offence – slut in town.”
“None taken, I’m good at what I do,” he said with a bright grin. Then, seeing that Abby was upset, he moved over to her, putting a large, but gentle, hand on her shoulder. “Hey, listen, tonight we can set them straight about you.”
Abby tried not to smile, then burst out giggling, “Straight huh?”
“Too much?” asked Cooper with a sly grin.
“A little much,” nodded Abby, holding her fingers slightly apart. “Cooper, you cannot be my beard.”
“Huh?” asked Cooper with a grimace, and then he rubbed his chin, not really thinking he needed a shave.
“A beard, someone who is covering up the fact that they are gay, and has a friend pretend to be their boyfriend or girlfriend,” stated Abby.
“Look, you’re not ready to tell your mother, I’m not ready to settle down, and my mother is always on my ass about it. So, we’re helping each other, we go out once in a while, make it look like I’m being a good Cooper boy, and it looks like you are dating…”
“A guy,” said Abby with distaste.
“For now, it’s cool, come one, Abby, we both win in this situation,” said Cooper. “You’re not that hard on the eyes you know?”
Abby grimaced again, making her look much older than her years. “I’ll meet you there then.”
“No, I’m picking you up,” said Cooper steadfastly.
“Why?” asked Abby. “I can very well drive myself.”
“We’re going to my best friend’s house, I have to drive you,” stated Cooper. “You really never dated a guy before, have you?”
“No,” said Abby begrudgingly.
“Well, in a heterosexual relationship,” began Cooper, not really believing that they were talking about this. “The guy picks up the girl.”
“Fine!” said Abby, throwing up her hands in despair. “I’ll be here, unpacking some of my boxes, just pick me up.” Abby walked out of the room, not even sure why she was doing this, why she cared so much about what other people thought. “Oh and fix that sink will you?” she called at him as an afterthought.
GC
Abby slipped her feet into the battered sneakers that she loved and adored, a form fitting black shirt clung to her, it rose up if she lifted her arms over her head to reveal her rather well sculpted abs. She also had on a pair of jeans that hugged her hips in all the right places. She listened to her mother in her bedroom; she had insisted that she be allowed to hang all of Abby’s clothes. “Abby, when is Cooper coming to pick you up?”
Abby groaned, not believing that she was going through with this. In all her time in California, Abby hadn’t hid her sexuality, except when her mother was visiting. Then, Abby had gotten in the habit of hiding her true self, putting away everything and anything that might make her mother think that she was gay. Unsure of how to act around her mother, Abby had grown quiet and secretive when she was visiting, and then that had begun to leak into Abby’s life all the time.
Her second year as an intern, Abby had fallen head over heels in love with Vivian, a gorgeous nurse that worked the ER at the hospital that Abby had matched at. After tap dancing around each other for weeks, Vivian had finally kissed her after a long night, as they were walking back to their respective cars. Vivian, who was an out and proud lesbian, was willing to be with Abby, loved being with her, but Vivian didn’t understand why Abby was hiding.
Abby had never told Vivian how her grandparents and her mother were very religious people, that having a child who was gay might very well lead to Abby being cast out of the family. Her grandfather had created a place, deep in the woods, dedicated to a person having a spiritual retreat.
It was called Mizpah, it began as a filthy pond, and one small building that her grandfather made into a small chapel. Now, twenty years later, it was 10 acres of splendor and dedication to a faith that Abby wasn’t sure she believed in.
Confessing to her mother or her grandparents that she was a lesbian or even hinting that she was gay was out of the question. Abby adored her family to much to put them through something like that.
Vivian, on the other hand, didn’t understand, her parents had been accepting, her mother a founding member of the PFLAG in their area, Abby hadn’t even known what PFLAG was, it stood for Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbian’s and Gay’s. It boggled Viv’s mind that Abby’s family might not accept her for who she was, but Abby couldn’t take that chance.
Now, after Vivian had unceremoniously broken up with her, sighting the fact that Abby was moving to Vermont to live in a very non-gay town, and that Abby had never admitted to anyone that she was gay, Abby was going to play straight.
Sighing like a woman twice her age, sitting on the edge of the bed and thinking this certainly wasn’t what she was expecting her life to be like. Regretting coming back so soon, thinking she should have only come back the moment that her practice was ready to start. The lull of not working was getting to her also. Downtime was a demon that Abby didn’t love, idle hands meant an idle mind.
“You should be in a much better mood than this,” said Denise.
“I know,” said Abby softly. “I’m just….”
“Overwhelmed?” offered Denise.
Abby smiled. “A little bit.”
“You are taking on a great responsibility here, something you’ve been talking about since, well, forever. Abigail, you are ready for everything that is coming your way, I have faith in you,” said Denise just as Cooper honked his horn. “He could have knocked, what sort of date is this?”
Abby groaned. “Mom, it’s Cooper,” said Abby. “He can honk all he wants.”
Abby darted for the door, her mother mumbling under her breath about someone not being a gentleman. Abby laughed to herself, at least now it felt a little less like a date and more like two friends going somewhere together.
GC
Abby looked over at Cooper, who hadn’t shaved, the dark shadow of stubble on his handsome cheeks. “Why are you staring at me?” asked Cooper.
“No reason,” admitted Abby, she played with her blonde hair. “I’ve never been on a date before.”
“Never?” asked Cooper. “I find that highly unlikely. Unless you mean you’ve never been on a date with a guy before.”
“Never really been on a date, period, I was never comfortable doing that, I suppose. I’ve had, um….,” stammered Abby, feeling the blush on her cheeks.
“Girlfriends, I mean, you’ve had to have had girlfriends, because you, well, please take this in a flattering way, you’re fucking hot,” said Cooper in a complimentary tone.
“Thanks,” laughed Abby. She found it easy to talk to Cooper; he had a completely nonjudgmental attitude. “So why exactly are we doing this?”
“Well, I’ve found that women like a man who is willing to commit sexy. I think us acting like a couple is great, for my sex life and maybe yours too. There has got to be at least one gay woman in this area,” said Cooper. “I’ve heard rumors about them. I think they are hiding, hopefully they shave their armpits.”
“You are disgusting. I’m not looking for a gay woman,” said Abby as they turned up towards where Piper and Ben lived. They lived only a mile from Abby’s home, and Abby was sure she remembered this house from when she’d been a kid.
“Are you looking for a straight one?” asked Cooper, pulling his truck into the driveway.
Abby didn’t say a word; she just exited the truck, giving Cooper a cool look. He stood by his truck, waiting for an answer. “I’m just not looking, Coop.”
“What isn’t she looking for Coop? If she’s looking for a pain in the ass, she found one,” said Ben from the front stoop. “Come on, grill is out back and the little woman is inside.”
“Little woman? I’m sure that Piper likes being called that,” chuckled Abby under her breath. “Hi,” said Abby in a louder voice, “I’m Abby, the one what was covered with grease and junk this afternoon.”
Ben blinked. “You’re the girl from the plane, hey, Piper, Cooper’s new squeeze is the chick from the plane! Why didn’t I see that before?” he bellowed over his shoulder.
Abby shrugged. “I guess I could be. I did fly in. Was there a reason it was significant that I was on the plane?”
“The day of Claire’s wedding,” said Ben, still pumping Abby’s hand.
“That was me and I’m going to need that back,” said Abby indicating her hand.
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” blushed Ben. Ben glanced at Coop, more than likely trying to gauge what Cooper was thinking, but Cooper had wandered into the house and was giving Piper a hard time. “I saw you on the plane and you looked familiar is all.”
“I did spend summers here, Ben, I’m sure we saw each other a few times around the Circle,” smiled Abby.
Ben nodded, staring openly at her, then regaining some of his composure and ushering her into the house, where Cooper was explaining how he’d run out of gas two weeks before and a very cute college student had offered him a ride.
“Ah, the doctor is in the house,” smiled Piper her blue eyes studying Abby. “Come on, the men are going to cook, which means we’ll be treated to charred hockey pucks for burgers and bloody steaks.”
“Nice contrast,” offered Abby as Piper slipped an arm around her, pulling her towards the back porch. Abby felt the heat rising off Piper’s body, and the feeling it gave her was far from uncomfortable, Abby steeled herself to the unexpected emotion.
“Let’s go soak up the very early spring rays,” said Piper, whisking Abby off to the back of the house, which faced the unthawing river and the soon to be setting sun.
Abby looked back at Coop, who was waving her away, telling her to make a friend, to relax. Abby’s green eyes blazed at him, what in the world am I doing? thought Abby.
“Want a drink? I’ve got Strawberry Daiquiris’ over here,” said Piper, waving to the blender and Abby scratched her chin. Shrugging, Piper poured two glasses and sat down. “Relax, Abby, I’m swear I’m not going to probe your mind. I’m not playing reporter today, I promised Ben that I’d behave, for once.”
Abby eyed the drink that Piper had put down next to the other chair, sitting on the edge of the chair, taking a sip of the drink. “Sorry.”
“You are one closed book, you know that?” offered Piper. “So what in the world do you see in Cooper?”
Abby chuckled, looking at the newly stained porch, wondering if Cooper had done it for his friends. “He’s got good hands.”
Piper laughed hard, almost spilling her drink. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that from one of Cooper’s conquests,” said Piper.
“And he’s got a really big…,” began Abby, pausing for effect.
“OK! You don’t have to go any farther than that,” begged Piper.
“…bank account. At least, so says Cooper,” smiled Abby. “He’s just different than what I usually go for,” added Abby. Wasn’t that the truth.
“I never have seen what women see in him, but that’s ok, since I don’t really care,” mumbled Piper, lifting her glass to Abby. “Good luck.”
“I don’t need it,” smiled Abby. Piper gave her an odd look and then Abby added, “I’m not looking to change him, he’s Cooper and that’s fine with me.”
Piper choked, “You don’t care if he cheats?”
Abby shrugged, her green eyes taking on a mischievous light, “Nope.”
“COOPER!” bellowed Piper, standing up and rounding the corner of her porch, almost slamming into Cooper. “She doesn’t care if you’re a cheat, or the town male slut?”
Cooper looked over Piper head, meeting Abby’s gaze, seeing her grinning madly. “She’s the perfect woman for me.”
“What has the world come too,” questioned Piper.
Abby chuckled lightly. Piper sat down in the lounge chair next to Abby. “I think he’s a good guy.”
“He is a good guy,” said Piper. “Never tell him I said that.”
“I heard it!” called out Cooper.
“Wonderful,” grumbled Piper, her blue eyes rolling dramatically.
“You been a writer for long?” asked Abby.
“I’m a reporter, I only wish I were a writer,” said Piper sipping her drink.
“So why not write?” asked Abby.
“It’s not that easy, it takes years to get something published,” said Piper.
“You best get started then,” said Abby. “Getting published in the literary world is harder than in the medical world.”
“You’re not helping matters here,” grumbled Piper. “I have always wanted to, I don’t know, tell someone something.”
“Tell them what?” asked Abby her green eyes and her tone seemed to lull Piper into a comfortable place.
“I’m not sure,” whispered Piper.
“Ladies,” said Cooper. “The blabs of beef are ready.”
Piper and Abby exchanged an amused look and got up to follow Cooper into the house. Piper held the door open for Abby, her hand gently grazing Abby’s hip as she moved passed her. Piper snapped her hand away before Abby realized that Piper had touched her. Balling her hand into a fist, Piper mentally admonished herself for touching Abby that way, what was getting into her? Piper followed, the door closed softly behind her and Piper felt like a door in her life had closed also, maybe, by the grace of someone, another door was about to open.
