Jake gives him a blank look and then diverts his gaze to Finley. “If I shake a can of pennies at it, will it stop?”
“If you could afford a can of pennies, I might be worried,” Archer shoots back.
Finley laughs.
Jake grumbles. He grabs a piece of steak from the platter and pops it in his mouth.
Archer dips his head and whispers something in Finley’s ear, his hand on the back of her chair. She puts her hand on his cheek.
Piper catches my attention. “Do you want carne asada or chicken?”
I meet her questioning gaze and get lost in it.
“Oliver?” She lowers her voice, moving in close enough that our shoulders brush.
I find my voice. “Chicken.”
She passes me the platter.
I fill my tortillas, my mind stuck for a second on the casual yet intimate touch of Piper’s shoulder against mine. Then it goes back to the interactions at the table. The quips and the teasing, the intimate touches.
Archer and I were the same before—we were both alone. But now he has a real family. He fits somewhere, with someone.
I sort of gleaned this at Easter, but it hasn’t really sunk in until now. This isn’t just a messy, chaotic, mismatched house. This is a home.
I keep my expression carefully blank while an unfamiliar yearning burns a hole in my gut. Fucking feelings.
“How is Mindy?” Finley directs the question to Piper, shaking hot sauce on her taco. “I tried to call her the other night and she never called me back.”
Piper reaches for the bowl of chopped tomatoes. “You know Mindy. She’s been really busy. I barely see her. She’s working too hard. All that normal, totally boring stuff.” She suddenly becomes very interested in the pattern on her plate. She’s hiding something.
Finley finishes chewing her bite of food, nodding. “She’s always been such a hard worker, so motivated and ambitious.”
I frown. How do they not notice?
Finley gestures in Piper’s direction. “You’ve been busy, too, right? How is work going on the upcoming gallery exhibit?”
Piper’s hand on the table flexes. “It’s going great.”
“Yeah?” Finley asks.
Piper takes a bite of her food instead of responding. Finley and Archer exchange a glance. Even Jake looks up from the head of the table, where he’s been quietly stuffing food in his mouth.
I don’t know what compels me to enter the conversation. All I know is I don’t like Piper being tense. I don’t like that she might be upset with me due to our earlier conversation, and I know she’s hiding two secrets, one about Mindy and the other about her work. I knew something was wrong when she first came to see me about her work space, and I have yet to set eyes on any pieces she’s finished for the exhibit. Clearly, she’s behind schedule.
I couldn’t stop myself from helping her any more than I could stop breathing. “She’s been working in the studio I had built for her in my building. Piper will be the only metal sculptor we’ll have at the exhibition. We were able to obtain other works, different media types, from Ariana Richards, Cat Wiant, and Beatriz Milhazes.”
Every gaze at the table shifts to me.
Jake leans back in his seat. “What in the actual Daddy Warbucks name-dropping was that all about?”
Piper laughs, covering her mouth with her hand. “Daddy Warbucks?”
“He did sort of adopt us, in a sense.” Finley grins at me.
Archer’s brows dip together. “You are not my daddy, nor will I ever be referring to you as such.”
“I think he’s more of a Christian Grey type,” Finley says.