Broken Strings

Fourteen

Travis

There are two kinds of fears: rational and irrational, or in simple terms, fears that make sense and fears that don't – Lemony Snicket

Travis knew that there was something wrong the minute he saw Piper Gallant's car peeling down the long driveway, dirt pluming in a cloud behind the old red Honda Civic. From the mouth of the barn, he watched as the car screeched to a stop, the brakes protesting, and the engine fell quiet. In about the span of three seconds, the driver's side door was thrown open and Piper was climbing out.

The woman looked frazzled which was out of character for her. Her long chestnut-coloured hair was frizzy and in a bun atop her head. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants, a blue t-shirt, and two different pairs of shoes, Travis noted with some moderate degree of concern.

This was very non-Piper behaviour.

Travis had gotten to know her pretty well over the last few years once his brother had started bringing her around more. He liked Piper a lot and thought that she complemented Jake well. She was fun and outgoing, quick to laugh and slow to anger. If there was one pitfall about her, it was that she told far too many pun jokes – but even that Travis had come to enjoy.

Now that Jake and Piper were getting married, she was constantly at the house as they went over wedding details. The boring stuff, like floral arrangements and seating charts, Travis didn't pay much attention to. Other items, such as the playlist and who was giving speeches, piqued his interest more.

Normally, Piper was a calm bride-to-be. There'd been no bridezilla meltdowns, no screaming at bridesmaids or family members or vendors. She was chill, calm, and collected.

But today appeared to be an exception to that rule.

"Everything okay?" Travis called from where he was in the paddock. The latch on the gate had been finicky for weeks but he'd only just found the time to fix it. It wasn't quite broken yet but it was headed that way.

Piper hardly looked his way, already near-sprinting for the house.

Definitely not okay, Travis thought as he set down his screwdriver and started after her. The latch could wait another few minutes.

Even though he was only a few steps behind her, when Travis appeared in the entryway of the house, he found that the scene has dissolved rapidly. The entry gave way to the kitchen on the righthand side and it was at the circular table that he found Piper sitting with her head in her hands. Jake was next to her, patting her back reassuringly. Their mother, Maryse, was standing at the counter next to the counter. There was a mug with a teabag waiting for the electric kettle to boil.

"What's going on?" he asked cautiously.

Jake grimaced and mouthed the word 'run' at him as Piper made some sort of noise that sounded like a mix between an explanation and a sob. The worst part was that Travis had no idea what on earth that could possibly mean.

The kettle clicked off and Maryse prepared the mug of tea which she carried over to the table and set before Piper. To Travis, she explained, "There was an issue with the venue."

"The wedding venue? What happened?"

Last Travis had heard, the wedding was slated to be at a little old church near Ardmore where Piper's parents and both sets of her grandparents had gotten married. The reception was to be at her maternal grandparent's place.

Piper looked up, face streaked with tears. "There was a flood. A flood. Some pipe burst or something and when they went to inspect what happened, they found that a bunch of the wood planks in the floor have rotted so they've decided to tear it all out and do an entire remodel of the interior of the church. They're not convinced that they'll have everything done before the wedding so they strongly recommended that we find a new venue. The wedding is less than three months away! Everything will be booked by now."