by Claire Adams
I couldn’t help but think of the parallel between them and Sienna and me. Those feelings I’d had at the paintball field still lingered. Harriet and Kenneth had taken that leap of faith with each other, and now they were best friends and had been married for forty years. It seemed the best of both worlds. I knew I wanted Sienna in my life forever, but was I willing to take that leap of faith with her or Rachel? Harriet and Kenneth’s love for each other was written all over their faces. I wanted that so desperately.
I glanced over at the kitchen and saw Sienna with her head down working. She glanced up and pulled a silly face with her tongue sticking out. I smiled.
I had a lot to think about.
Chapter Fourteen
Sienna
I was in the middle of a very good dream with a mystery dream man taking me into his lavish home when I jolted awake. Why had I woken up so quickly? I squeezed my eyelids together and willed myself to get back into that dreamland.
A loud knock on my door made me growl in frustration. That must have been what woke me.
I shoved the covers aside and threw on a pair of shorts before heading out to the door. I had a feeling it was Parker; this was his M.O. lately, waking me up every chance he could. I didn’t mind it as much as I pretended to. Especially not lately. I wanted to be with him as much as I could before his wedding, when everything would change. As much as he tried to tell me it wouldn’t, I knew it would. It was the natural progression of life and marriage. And a husband with a girl for a best friend would be the first to go.
I opened the door. “Come on in.”
He rushed into my house and handed me a cup of coffee. “I know you told me to call or text you before doing this again, but I had to come see you.” His hands were shaking as if he just drank five cups of coffee.
I was intrigued. “What’s up?”
“So, I got a call this morning from some suit in New York.”
I thought it was hilarious when Parker called other businessmen “suits” because he didn’t believe he was in the same category as them.
“And they offered me an insane amount of money to buy my company.”
“Were you in the market to sell your company?” I asked.
“I’ve thought about it before,” he said. “But only when the right offer came along. I expected this since that’s what seems to be happening lately. You start a social media business and become mildly successful—”
“Mildly?” I said incredulously.
He waved me off. “You know what I mean.”
“Are they a reputable company?”
“Oh, yeah. And they offered me enough money that my grandchildren won’t have to work a day in their lives and everyone will be able to live comfortably.”
With his billions in the bank, I didn’t think that would be an issue, but they must have really wanted his company to offer him that much. “Wow, that’s amazing, Parker. Do you know what you’re going to do?”
He took a long swig of his coffee. I didn’t think he needed any more caffeine, but I wasn’t going to interrupt him processing this news. It was a big decision and not to be taken lightly. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Do you think a better offer will come along?” I asked.
He shook his head. “It’s not about the money. This company has been my baby for so long. I can’t imagine just selling it off.”
“What would make you happy? In the end, that’s all that matters.”
“It would be foolish of me to make a decision so quickly,” he said, smiling, “but I just wanted to share the news with someone.”
“Have you told Rachel?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
His eyes darkened momentarily, and I wondered what that was about. Over the past few days, I had to pull information about Rachel out of him. I wondered if something had happened between them. He still carried on with the wedding plans, so I couldn’t imagine they’d had that big of a fight. I hated that I still wished they would end this thing before it started, but with each passing day, I started to lose hope.
Though it felt really good to have him come to me first instead of her.
“Well, it looks like you need a distraction while you go through all of your options. And I think we need to get some of that nervous energy out.”
“What did you have in mind?”
When we got to Sunny’s, I tossed Parker an apron. “You’re serious?”
“I think it's time you worked a day in your life like normal people and not on your phone.”
“Hey, I made a lot of money by working on my phone,” he said.
“Yes, but you’ve lost touch with the people you offer your services to. And we have a busy afternoon, and I need the help.” The day before, I got a call from a school about their field trip coming through the area, asking if I could accommodate thirty kids. The woman mentioned my website. Something I didn’t know I even had. I planned on asking Parker for that information, but it appeared he’d be out of a job soon. Maybe he could continue to work on getting the word out about the diner in his free time. At least it would give him something to do while he sat on a very fat bank account. Plus, I never turned down the opportunity for money, so I agreed to have them in the diner. But that also left me short-handed. Parker had been my guardian angel when it came to helping with my business. And to show him how grateful I was, he was about to work his butt off.
He tied the apron around his waist. “Okay, what do you need me to do?”
“To make it easier on everyone, the group already sent in their order. Since they are all middle-school kids, it's a bunch of hamburgers and chicken tenders and the like. Easy stuff.”
He shook his head. “You want me to prepare these kids food? I don’t want to poison them.”
“No, you’re going to serve them. But I will need help plating.”
“What’s Tony doing while I’m playing busboy?”
“He’s taking care of the rest of the clientele.”
Parker’s hands carved through his hair and he held it back for a moment before releasing it. “Okay, I think I can handle this.”
“First, go wash your hands.” I didn’t need hair gel in my prepared food.
When the group arrived, Parker’s face paled. I had to reassure him numerous times that he would be fine. We both went out there together and I introduced myself to the group.
“All right, I’m going to work around the table and you let me know what you want to drink,” I said to the kids.
“I could use a whiskey,” Parker said more to himself.
I bumped him in the arm. “Take a breath. You’ll be fine.”
Parker had a rough start. After spilling two sodas on the way to the table, the kids booed him. I couldn’t help but laugh at his misfortune. I knew he wanted to give up, so I offered to clean the spill while he tried again. It wasn’t until two of the little girls started giving him goo-goo eyes and said he looked like Chris Hemsworth that he began to feel comfortable. Parker had a way with females of all ages, it seemed, and nothing could bring up his ego like a compliment on his looks.
His confidence grew, and by the time we were serving ice cream sundaes to the kids, Parker was a pro. He even handled four sundae cups at the same time without spilling so much as a drop.
When the kids left, Parker actually looked a little bummed.
While Tony took his break, I showed Parker how to form hamburger patties. Since he wasn’t mixing ingredients, I didn’t worry too much about his lack of skills in the kitchen. It was pretty hard to mess up a patty.
Watching Parker have a good time while helping me out made me really want to delve deeper into this whole Rachel thing. What was their deal lately, anyhow? I felt awful that we couldn’t talk about everything like we used to. Since there was a defined future for them, I didn’t want to say anything that would cause a rift, but I really wanted him to open up to me.
When Parker was serving a customer, I pulled Tony aside. “Ask Parker about him and R
achel.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you ask him?”
“Because I can’t,” I said. “Please do this for me. I’ll talk to you about it later.”
“If you let me off early tonight, I’ll ask.”
“Seriously? You’re bartering with me?”
He shrugged. “I have a date tonight.”
Parker was already on his way back from the table. He’d be in the kitchen any second.
“Fine, fine,” I said to Tony.
Parker came into the kitchen. “All right, what’s next?”
“Take a load off; you have a few minutes,” Tony said and handed him an empty cup.
Parker thanked him and poured himself a glass of water. “This is a hell of a workout. No wonder you stay so thin, Sienna.”
“Speaking of thin girls,” Tony said, “how are you and Rachel doing?”
I glared at Tony. That was an odd segue, but I suspected with his little interest in Parker’s personal life, he didn’t care how he got his part of the deal handled.
Parker sat down at one of the stools we had stashed in the corner. “We’re fine. Why?”
“Just being friendly,” Tony said. “All right, boss. I’m off for the day. See you tomorrow.”
I gaped at him as he picked up his keys and left. I couldn’t argue about him leaving in front of Parker.
“Wow, you’re a good boss for letting him off this early in the day.”
I gritted my teeth. “Parker, I’m going to need you to take some orders for me.”
There hadn’t been any more large clusters of patrons, but I was still going to slap Tony for leaving me alone for the rest of the day. Parker’s charm managed to get him through a few mishaps, and I seriously needed to work on his handwriting, but overall the rest of the day went off without a hitch.
I locked the front door and looked around at the mess in the dining room. Tony was always good at picking up after each customer left, but Parker hadn’t been. It wasn’t his fault, but this was going to take some time to clean up.
“You can head out,” I said to Parker, “I think you’ve been normal long enough.”
“Did you think I was going to let you do this by yourself? What kind of friend would I be?”
I smiled and tossed him a rag.
“Are you still happy with your business?” he asked.
“Of course I am. Even though the hours are hard and it's quite thankless. I enjoy being my own boss. You can understand that.”
“Oh, yes. I do.”
“And I love the people I meet. Especially the Lamontes. I look forward to seeing them each day.”
“Harriet mentioned she and Kenneth were good friends growing up.”
“I know. It’s like a love story from a movie.”
We met in the middle of the room and rinsed our rags in the bucket I’d placed on the center-most table.
“Do you ever wonder why we didn’t get together at any point?” he asked.
My entire body turned to ice. I had thought about it many times in my past. Had he? Why was he bringing this up now? Were things that bad with Rachel? Was he making sure he’d have someone to fall back on if they didn’t work out? That wouldn’t be fair to me and my feelings. I wasn’t going to be a rebound for anyone.
I glanced up at him. “Our friendship is too good to risk. And it doesn’t matter anyway; you have Rachel now and you’re getting married.”
“Right,” he said and dipped his rag in the water.
I sighed. Why did I come off so snippy? He was obviously asking me for a reason. If I was a good friend, I would try to help him. But when matters of the heart involved me, I tended to run away. This was for the best, though. It had to be. I hated how my feelings were all jumbled about him. The wedding couldn’t come fast enough. Once everything was all said and done, I’d have a reason to let all of those feelings for him go.
I slapped him in the arm, needing to lighten the mood. “Remember, tomorrow is your bachelor party.”
His brow wrinkled.
“Don’t be like that. This will be one night that you’ll never forget.”
Chapter Fifteen
Parker
The next morning, I woke early to Sienna knocking on my door. This was her idea of paying me back, so I took my time getting there, knowing it would piss her off.
When I opened the door, I got a face full of confetti. I spit out the few pieces that got into my mouth and glanced at the floor, which was covered in black and red confetti pieces.
“Nice,” I said.
Sienna laughed, hard enough to have to hold her sides. “You should have seen your face.”
I gestured for her to come in and closed the door. I knelt down, trying to scoop up as much of the confetti as I could. It was difficult, since the pieces were paper-thin and insisted on sticking to the tile.
“I thought the party wasn’t until tonight?” I asked.
From that angle, I noticed she was wearing a dress, but it wasn’t really a dress. One of those cover-up dresses the girls wore at the beach.
“Get your bathing suit on,” she said with a wide grin. “We’re going surfing.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yup.”
I hadn’t been surfing with Sienna in forever. We used to go all the time until I started dating Rachel, so it had to have been at least a year. I knew she still kept up with it, so I had a feeling I was going to have a lot of wipeouts.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t have a big breakfast,” I said and headed into my bedroom to change.
Sienna had picked the perfect day to take me out surfing. It was one of the hottest we’d had lately, which made getting into the water a little easier. It wasn’t cold, but it definitely wasn’t warm. After a few runs, my muscles warmed up and I started to feel myself relax and have fun. Sienna had definitely been practicing. She’d complete a run from the wave to the shore without a wobble in her board.
I was quite the opposite. I managed to fall into the water nearly every time before I got to shore. And of course, Sienna didn’t let me live any of those moments down.
Sienna looked amazing out there, and I couldn’t keep myself from staring at her tattoo. She wore a one-piece bathing suit, a good rule for surfing in case you took a tumble and lost the top or bottom. I’d seen many amateur girls do that in the past. I didn’t mind getting a flash of anyone’s chest, but I knew the girls were mortified each time it happened. The top half of the intricate tattoo disappeared under her suit and I had the dangerous urge to want to see the rest of it for myself.
It was nearly noon before we decided to take a break. We floated on our boards, sitting there, watching the rest of the surfers and other beach-goers.
“You’re too good to me; you know that?” I said.
“Well, I just want to make sure you don’t forget me when you become a husband.”
“Sienna, nothing is going to change with us.”
She shrugged. “We’ll see.”
I reached my hands over my head and stretched. Something popped in my back and I groaned. “Man, I’m not getting any younger. I have a feeling I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”
“You should come out here more. I make it a habit of coming at least once a week. Unless you think Rachel would have a problem with that.”
I ignored the dig at Rachel. If things continued the way they did, I doubted Rachel would even know if I took up a new hobby. Plus, if I sold the company, I’d have a lot more free time. And with Rachel not working, I wondered if she would notice.
“I’d like to do that,” I said.
“It’s a date, then,” she said.
I liked the sound of that.
We waded in the water for a little while longer, just listening to the sounds of the beach; the seagulls overhead and the distant crashing of waves against the shore. It was peaceful and a nice place to think about everything. I made a mental note to come out here more often, especially when I had several big decisions
to make in the near future.
“We should head out soon,” Sienna said a little while later. “I think we both need to get cleaned up before your party.”
I grimaced. “You know you don’t have to do this.”
“Of course I do. You wanted me to be your best man, right?”
“I’m starting to regret that decision.”
Sienna stuck her tongue out at me and jumped up on her board. “No take-backs!”
I moved into a kneeling position as we waited for the next swell to come. Sienna was looking behind her, her smile as carefree as the seagulls above us. She bit her lip, anticipating the wave, and as it peaked behind us, we started to paddle and then let go, chasing the water to shore.
A couple of hours later, Sienna drove us to the diner. She wore a sexy red dress with lace that stirred up more confusing thoughts in my mind. The muscles in her legs moved with each step. When had she become so hot?
The front windows were blacked out, and I started to feel a little nervous about what was about to happen. Sienna put a lot of work into the party, and I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. I buttoned up my apprehension and walked with my best friend inside, the rest of our motley crew following behind us.
Loud, thumping bass blasted us as we entered. A strobe light set up in the middle of the room threw brightly colored lights all over the place. There were silver streamers reflecting the light, making the diner look completely transformed. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think it was a nightclub, albeit a dingy one.
Tony had his back to us and was setting up various liquor bottles on one of the back tables with some of the other guys pretending to help. No one did shit unless they were forced to. My buddies had always been that way and wouldn’t be changing any time soon.
Sienna skipped over to Tony and kissed him on the cheek. I followed closely behind.
He turned around and said something, but I couldn’t quite hear him over the music. He shook my hand, hard and pulled me to him, clapping his other hand on my back.
“Are you ready for a night you will hopefully forget?” he said with a big smile, indicating all of the liquor bottles.