“So food is my guess, and strong black coffee.”

“Yes, please.”

“You okay?”

“Sure.” She managed a smile.

“You need to grieve for her, Piper. She was your friend and you loved her.”

“I know, but this morning I woke up angry at her, which isn’t fair, but I can’t help the way I feel.”

“That’s normal, I’m sure, and I’m also sure it’ll be a roller coaster of emotion for a while yet.”

“I know, it’s a process, right?”

“Right.”

They drove in silence, a comfortable one, both lost in their thoughts. Grace soon fell asleep, so they got drive-through coffee and bagels.

“When do you think you’ll be leaving Ryker, Dylan?”

“Maybe in a day or two. It depends on Dad and his recovery, there’s been a complication with his liver. Then there’s the issue with Charlie.”

“But he’ll be all right?”

“The doctors hope so.”

“What’s Charlie’s issue?”

“It’s her thing, so I can’t share, but she’s having some problems at work, and someone’s targeting her. She’d been accused of something she didn’t do.”

“How do you know she didn’t do it?” Piper asked, purely out of curiosity.

“She’s my sister,” he said. “Of course I believe her.”

“Okay sure, I get that, but it’s not like you’re close or anything.”

“So because you’re close with your cousins, you’d be okay to believe them, but I can’t do the same for Charlie?”

Piper swallowed a mouthful of coffee and thought it tasted like heaven.

“Okay, lack of sleep is making you cranky, that was not what I meant at all. I was just trying to say in a roundabout way that you know nothing about your sisters, so what makes you think she’s innocent? It wasn’t an accusation.”

“Well then maybe you need to explain yourself better.”

He threw her a testy look. This was more like the man who had arrived in Ryker and less like the one she’d woken to who had been playing with Grace. She liked the last one best, but perhaps understood the first one better now. His attitude was a facade that protected him. In fact, Dylan Howard had a compassionate streak a mile wide. Plus, and this was the kicker, he was one of the good guys, and Piper was a sucker for hot good guys who tried to be bad ones.

The Howards, Piper realized, had all learned to hide their emotions. She was pretty sure their mother was the main reason for that, as she knew his dad, and he was a gentle, soft man. Too gentle, was her guess. She doubted he’d stood up to his wife much.

“Maybe.”

“I’m not a person who talks about this stuff much, Piper. I don’t do emotions, and I don’t get real close to people.”