Piper bit the inside of her cheek as she watched a haunted look come over his face. Her heart ached for him, and she wanted to reach across the table and hold him, but knowing that he might not accept that from her now, she reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly. She didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Erik.”

Erik nodded, running his thumb along the base of her hand. “You are the only one that I’ve told all that to. I know I haven’t told you much, but you know more than anyone else.”

Piper smiled as warmth filled her chest; that had to mean something. Nodding, she said, “Well, just to let you know, it makes me feel special that you wanted to tell me that.”

He smiled over at her. “You are special, Piper.”

Piper’s cheeks warmed as she leaned over the table, her belly bumping into her salad as they kissed. He made her feel so amazing when he said little things like that.

Parting, she flashed him a grin as she slowly sat back.

Taking a drink of water, she said, “Reese and I danced early, too. Mom thought we were going to be this amazing duo, but it was more Reese than me. I was damn good, but I liked to sing, too, so I wanted to do it all. I was such a free spirit.”

“You still are,” he said with a smile.

“This is true, but I’m not as bad as I used to be. I used to change my mind a lot.”

Erik shook his head. “That’s insane.”

“Yup, I wanted to be something new all the time. I was never happy.”

She looked up to meet his gaze. He had a weird look on his face as he asked, “Are you happy now?”

She smiled. She wanted to say that she had never been so happy in her life, that he made her life complete, but since he was a little skittish, she said, “Yeah, I am.”

“Good.”

The waitress came to get their dessert orders, which Piper passed on, but Erik ordered a big piece of cheesecake.

“You know, I wish I would have tried more things,” he said once the waitress had taken their order.

“You still could,” Piper said. She moved a bit, trying to get comfortable. She cringed as her back ached and he looked over at her with a concerned look.

“What’s wrong?”

“My back is killing me. I think I wore the wrong shoes for shopping,” she said, referring to her flip-flops. Waving off his concern, she said, “What do you want to do that you haven’t done yet?”

Erik shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I would like to go skydiving, but Coach Bacter would kill me.”

“You aren’t missing anything,” Piper said with a wave of her hand. “I used to want to be a skydiving instructor but then I found out it wasn’t as fun as I thought.”

Erik shook his head. “You are crazy.”

“I hear this often,” she said with a laugh.

Erik leaned back in his chair and asked, “Is there anything that you haven’t done?”

Piper put her finger to her lip as she thought, and then with a smile she answered, “I’ve never ice-skated!”

“Really?” Erik asked, shocked.

“Nope, I’ve actually been afraid to—don’t laugh!”

“You will jump out of a plane but won’t get on some ice?”

“It just doesn’t seem right. You do it beautifully but I’m pretty sure I’d look like a spider on roller skates.”

Erik continued laughing as the waitress brought over his dessert. Piper eyed it and watched as Erik took a forkful before looking up at her. “Want some?”

“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head and looking away.

“Whatever,” he said with a chuckle before putting the bite in his mouth. “I’m going to take you skating; you have to learn. Dimitri will be on skates as soon as he can walk.”

“Good for him, but I will not.”

“I won’t let you fall,” he assured her.

“No way,” she said with a shake of her head, but a grin on her face.

He pinned her with a lusty look as his mouth curved up at the side. “You don’t trust me?”

“Oh, that’s dirty,” she said accusingly, still grinning.

“I try.”

Piper giggled as she rolled her eyes. She was about to say she wasn’t going, but her phone rang. Digging it out of her purse, she saw that it was Harper. With a smile, she answered, “Hey, you.”

“Hey,” she said with a sniff, and Piper knew something was wrong instantly.

“What’s wrong?”

Harper let out another sob before taking in a deep breath. “I lost another baby.”

“Oh Harper,” Piper said sadly as Erik glanced up at her. “What do you need me to do?”

Piper hated that her sister couldn’t carry a child, and no matter what anyone said, she thought she could. She knew that it was hard to accept something you didn’t want to believe was true. This couldn’t be good for her body.

“I need you to come get Ally for me for the next couple of days. I need a D and C to get the fetus out and then I am going in to have my tubes tied. I’m done, Piper. I can’t do this anymore.”

Oh, thank God.

“Okay, that’s fine.”

“Can you come get her tomorrow?”

“What time? I have to go help Reese tomorrow at nine.”

“My surgery is at one, but I gotta be there at ten. I’ll ask Elli to come over and get her,” she said with another sniffle.