“I remember,” Piper said. “You looked scared the whole time.”

“Not all the time, surely!”

“Most, but that always changed when you saw Joe, and if you sigh again just because I mentioned his name, you can leave.”

“Jealousy is an ugly trait, Piper.” Bailey laughed.

As five minutes crept into ten they talked about other things, and then the door opened and Charlotte stood there, all color drained from her face.

“What’s happened?” Piper got to her feet.

“It’s nothing.”

“It sure looks like something.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Shock, Pip thought. This was a woman who’d just received devastating news.

“Is it your dad?”

“No.”

“Come and sit down, Charlotte, you look ready to faint.”

“I-I need to go.”

Her hands were shaking; Piper knew this because she’d grabbed one.

“Sure, and you can as soon as you calm down,” Bailey said, taking her other arm and leading her to a chair. “Call someone to come get you, or we’ll take you home.”

“Why?” Charlotte’s eyes were wide in her face. “Th-they can’t help.”

“They can, and that’s what family does.”

Her laugh bordered on hysterical. “Not my family.”

Maggs disappeared, and Piper thought it was to make coffee.

Piper picked up Charlotte’s wineglass and handed it to her. Long minutes passed as Bailey and Piper talked about nothing and let the woman calm down. Maggs came back holding a mug of steaming coffee and handed it to Charlotte.

A knock on the door ten minutes later had Maggs getting to her feet again. She walked back in with Dylan Howard on her heels. Big, imposing, with that ruthlessly polite expression on his face, his eyes locked on Piper first before finding his sister.

“What’s happened, Charlie?” He dropped down before her.

“Why are you here?”

“Maggs called me, she said you were upset.”

“She shouldn’t have. This is my business, not yours.”

“Sure, but now I’m here, you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I’m okay. I just need to get back and figure something out.”

“Back to Dallas or the house?”

“Dallas.”

“Okay, I can help you with that, but how about we discuss why you need to go too?”

The Howard siblings didn’t touch like she would if one of her family was hurting. Piper would have wrapped her arms around them and held them close, but not these two. The distance between them was vast.

“I can handle it. I—ah, just need to go now and work through some stuff.”

“What do you need to figure out?”

“Leave it, Dylan. There’s no need to do this for appearances’ sake.” Charlotte whispered the words, but Piper heard them. She then watched as Charlotte put a hand on Dylan’s shoulder to push him out of her way. He didn’t move.

“This is not about appearances, it’s about concern, Charlie.”