He loved Piper Trainer. The thought was so foreign he wasn’t entirely sure what to do about the knowledge. Dylan started walking in her direction.

“Piper, can I have a word, please?”

She turned to face him, eyes flashing. “No. I have nothing to say to you except that I’m retracting what I said to you, and now all that matters is getting my name cleared.”

“What did you say to him?” Jack asked, his eyes going from Piper to Dylan.

“Can you give us a minute?” Dylan looked to her cousins, who all nodded. Piper, however, shook her head.

“I don’t have anything more to say to you, and once this is done with, I don’t want to see you again.”

She walked away from him then to join his sister.

“You deserved that,” Luke said. “But my guess is that whatever is between you runs deep.”

“It does,” he acknowledged, because the time for hiding was done. Dylan just hoped when the smoke cleared that Piper would speak to him again, because now he’d acknowledged what she meant to him, he wasn’t walking away.

Chapter 35

Two things happened the day after Dylan had broken Piper’s heart... supposedly, because surely if you loved someone you’d forgive them, or at least talk to them when they tried to explain why they acted like they did. But not her, she’d cut him out completely. It was like he didn’t exist anymore as far as Piper Trainer was concerned.

Ava came home from hospital, and agreed to speak with someone about her drug problem.

“Zander told me it was the right thing to do.”

Dylan was picking her up from the hospital.

“Can you tell me why you started using?”

Ava shrugged.

“I want to help, Ava.”

“I went to a party with some other law students, and it was there so I tried it.”

“Does Zander use cocaine too?”

“I’m not talking to you about him, so don’t ask me. None of this is his fault. He’s been there for me when no one else was.”

“Okay, but I need you to listen to me carefully now, because I have some stuff to tell you.”

He laid it all out for her, detailing everything, she didn’t speak until he’d finished.

“Y-you think whoever is doing this poisoned Mom, and not Piper?”

“I do now.”

“It almost seems unbelievable.”

“I know, but too many things add up. That’s why I was asking about why you started using. I need to know if that’s connected too. Did someone set out to get you hooked on the cocaine because of me?”

“No, Dylan, I did that all myself.”

“Okay, and we’ll get you help for that, and I’m here, and Charlie too, so you’re not dealing with that alone.”