piper-forsythe-blog

[piper-forsythe-blog]

“Good! Save it for the rest of Redwind!” God knows it needs it, but Piper isn’t so sure that this town can be saved.

“I can deal with the questions. When’s the last time you’ve ever been out of the loop?”

“C’mon!” He looks back to the timer before shooting Piper an incredulous look. 

Before long, it dissolves to laughter and he agrees. “Alright, fine. You win. I won’t go figure her all out. But that just means more questions for you.” 

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“Huh. I can never tell the difference anymore.” Piper’s got no doubt that Micah knows she’s only poking fun. Despite the unorthodox, not to mention the danger, she likes his interests.

“Just let the poor girl deliver flowers in peace! Plus, I’m thinking I don’t want to know anything about her that she doesn’t tell me herself, anyway.” The rumor-mill is vicious in this town.

“Hey, I’m not on the job right now. Just being a brother.”

“What? Do I really look that sus? I wouldn’t make it obvious or anything. Just do a little scoping.”

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“Yeah, I hope not. Unlike my little brother.”

“You never know! She might think I went ahead and sent you out to do some recon!”

“Maybe they’re not trying to dig up anything on you.” 

He’s quick to poke fun. “I think if she was gonna be scared, she already would be. Not like I’m gonna go embarrass you or anything.”

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“I see them all day and the nosiest they ever get is asking how my day’s been,” she jokes, her tone exaggerating.

“Oh, I have no doubt about that. But you don’t need to go scaring her off.”

“No, they definitely are.”

“No? How come? I can handle a few cases at once. I’m a multi-tasker.” 

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“But not all detectives are this nosy!” She jokes, mussing his hair and pushing it out of his eyes.

“Oh, no, no, no. Don’t you have a case and a handyman to investigate already?”

“All detectives toe that line!”

“This sounds better and better. I better go stop by and find out for myself sometime soon.”

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“Alright, Mr. Fine line between detective and nosy.” It’s all just teasing, per usual.

“It was nice talking to her. We have a lot in common, and she’s easy to be around. Makes it hard to believe that she was only one year behind me in high school and we’ve never really spoken until now.”

“Interesting development,” he teases, leaning over the oven railing now.

“What was that like?”

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“I don’t know. Both, maybe? She offered right away, but I didn’t accept until later.”

“We did get to know each other a little bit while I was there.”

“That’s cool.”

“Well, sounds like fun to me. Was it a getting to know each other thing, or was she just nice enough to bring a drink out for no reason?”

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“Yeah, that’s her name. Lisette,” she says, like Lee-set.

“It was fine, kiddo.” The pet name is said with a small smile and an eye roll. “I was painting, we were talking. She brought us out some Corona with lime.”

“That’s her name?”

“Yeah, your drink with Lisette. How do you say it? Lee-set? Or Liss-et?”

[piper-forsythe-blog]

In no time at all they have the pan of brownie batter into the oven, and everything else cleaned up. “Oh, easy. We have some plastic cups we can put it all in.”

She should have really seen his next question coming, though. “What, my drink with Lisette?”

“You know it.” 

They make quick work of the mixing and before he knows it, everything’s set in the oven. When he leans against the counter, it’s a job well done. “Hey, pretty quick. Looking at thirty minutes or so. That ice cream’s gonna be so worth it, too. But uh, you should definitely tell me about how that drink went.” 

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She returns with the package, setting it down next to the bowl. “We need the measuring cups,” she says, nodding toward the drawer they’re in.

In the meantime, she gets two eggs, and the canola oil. “You want to do the honors?”

“I’ll give it my best shot.”

“Sometimes,” he shoots back, reaching on his tiptoes to get the bowl and grabbing a wooden spoon to stir with in the meantime. “Okay, what else again?”

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“Just don’t stick your neck out if it seems like a no-go.”

“Huh. You have a good idea every now and again,” she teases. Piper gets to her feet, taking the trash to the garbage can and putting away any left overs in the fridge. “Grab the big bowl for me,” she starts, moving to grab the brownie mix from the pantry. 

“I’ll see what’s up with my boss.”

“Seriously? Why don’t we make the brownies and eat ice cream with ‘em when they’re done?” 

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“Oh, right. I’ll definitely think about it! I’ll let you known on both soon.”

“Great, me too! We have cookie dough ice cream in the freezer, or a box of brownie mix we can make.”

“I meant you, for painting signs! Not the florist. But I guess both could work. Business deal type thing?”

“Oh, yeah! Always extra room.” 

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“Yeah, for sure. I’ll ask how she feels about it next time I go over. I think she’ll be interested.” It’s the sort of thing that would go over perfectly in a big city like Portland.

But Piper wants to see Lisette and her mother’s flower shop continue to succeed, so she’ll absolutely pass the idea along. “You feeling like dessert?”

“See? You get me.”

“Yeah, I was counting on it.” He nods in reassurance, head angled forward as he finishes his food. “But I will be. If you think about doing a monthly ad in the paper, tell me. You know I can put one in, maybe even with a discount.”

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“Wouldn’t be like you to stop trusting your instincts now.”

“But you know you still have to hear the obligatory be careful.”

“Thanks. It goes a long way.”

“It’s just a feeling. But those are usually what take me places, good and bad. So I’ve gotta start somewhere.”

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“Me too.”

“Oh, I believe you. I know you have it covered.” She worries for the day that he bites off more than he can chew, but Piper knows she can’t stop it. They’ll just have to go through it. “What makes you so sure that he could be a help?”

“Well, I’m excited to hear how it goes.”

“Yeah. But they don’t have to buy it. As long as they look for a minute, I can usually get a pretty good read.” It’s a stretch of a metaphor, but he doesn’t mind. “Huh. Thanks–it’s a start, that’s for sure. Maybe I’ll see if I can go meet his sister sometime.”

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“Well, that’s probably for the best. I don’t know any more than you do at this point.” But it’s easy to say that she’s looking forward to the next painting session.

“I think that’s going to be a hard sell in Redwind.” Everyone’s got some sort of hidden agenda, and some not so hidden. But it’s impossible to tell whether those secrets are serial killer, or litterer. Just thinking about how she could have passed by the Redwind Killer on the sidewalk almost makes her lose her appetite. Micah’s questions distract her. “God, maybe. I’m pretty sure he was a senior when I was a freshman. Pretty quiet, but still had a lot of friends. Nice. He has a sister that’s closer to my age, and they always seemed close.”

“What didn’t I?” He teases, ducking his head in a laugh. “Anyway… I guess I won’t ask either. For now.” 

“I guess so. I mean, I’m trying to get to know everyone around here. That way I know who’s suspicious and who’s worth trusting. He did? Did you guys ever talk? Do you remember anything about him?” He’s already gotten into the habit of background checking people, for safety reasons, but there’s no telling this will get him anywhere.

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“She offered! What did you totally call?” Piper figures that it’s him knowing that she’s interested in Lisette, but she asks just in case.

“Well, I won’t ask. For now.” She just lets him carry out his investigations, and if he needs her to bail him out of any trouble, then he knows that she will. “So, what? You’re trying to get to know the local handyman? I’m pretty sure he graduated a couple years ahead of me.”

“Both add up to a good strategy.” He tilts his head, picking around his plate. “You had a drink, too? I totally called it.”

“I don’t know if it’s the same, exactly, but… It’s a start.” Piper’s faith in him never fails to put Micah in good spirits. “I won’t, I won’t! I’m not doing any investigating with someone I don’t know, anyways.”