by Jo Leigh
After a final curse from Mark, and a hit of static on the phone, Parker was glad now he’d extended his stay. Mark was getting lazy about taking the long flights. Except when he wanted to gamble.
“I’m ready,” he said, his annoyance plain.
Just as Parker was about to give him the order, another drop of water hit him on the head.
A second later it was a full-on downpour.
* * *
GINNY FELT A little silly being as dressed up as she was. Her teal cocktail dress hugged her body in a way that was unfamiliar. Normally she wore classic styles that weren’t formfitting. Now wasn’t the time to feel self-conscious though. Besides, according to her daughter she was still a hottie. For a mom.
The thought made her smile. What actually had her concerned was walking in heels. She rarely wore anything higher than an inch or two, but these were four, and she wasn’t exactly a graceful swan.
She checked her watch again. Parker wasn’t late—she’d been early. Good thing too, since she’d gotten the last outside table at the very eclectic coffee bar. It was consistent with the newly renovated downtown and its Eurocentric crowd. She didn’t come here often, but she did love their house-brewed lattes.
The umbrellas were large enough to bring shade to the hot afternoon, and the clientele was fun to watch. She’d sometimes come here alone in the afternoon and indulge in listening to music on discreet headphones while audaciously checking out the people from behind her sunglasses.
The second Parker arrived, her mood shifted. It was as if she’d been frothed like steamed milk, a heady mix of excitement, a dollop of fear and a hint of longing. He looked as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. His face was clean-shaven, and she kind of missed the scruff, though he looked more like the Parker who’d been hell-bent on Princeton. As he got closer, she could see that he didn’t just have wet hair. Parts of his jeans looked damp too.
He sat down across from her with a sigh. His gaze traveled from her hair to her face, lingered on her cherry lipstick, then down her bodice. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She flushed with pleasure at the compliment. “You look...wet.”
His eyes slowly closed before he opened them again, but his lips stayed pressed together as he shook his head. “Long story.” After a quick glance around, he was all attentive again. “So, who’s the lucky guy?”
“You already know I don’t have a date. I think half of Temptation Bay knows I’m not with anyone, thanks to my ex-friends.”
“As wing women go, they seemed pretty good.”
The waiter’s timing saved her from having to respond. Parker ordered hot black coffee. She wanted something cooler, and ordered an iced lemon ginger tea, something she’d never tried before but she hoped would soothe her nervous tummy.
“It’s hard to believe you’re not seeing anyone.” Parker leaned closer with an almost smile. “You ever been married?”
“Nope. What about you?”
With an abrupt shake of his head that made her think he wasn’t a big fan of the whole marriage idea, he said, “What is it you wanted to talk about?”
Surprised, Ginny sat up straighter. “You asked me to meet with you before you left.”
Whatever might’ve been bothering him seemed to leave with his next exhale, replaced by a sly smile. “I would have been fine waiting till after the reunion. You suggested today, so I’m guessing you’d like to make sure I leave as soon as possible.”
“I was trying to be nice. Once the reunion is over, I’m going to be ridiculously busy. You know, with work and a teenage daughter.”
Her phone beeped with a text. She went to glance at the ID, but she hesitated.
“It’s okay. Answer it. Could be reunion stuff.”
“A mother of a teenager doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring texts,” she said, not proud of her tone, which was unnecessarily defensive. Ginny knew it wasn’t her daughter because of the unfamiliar ringtone. But Parker didn’t know that it wasn’t Tilda.
The text turned out to be from Harlow.
I’ve run into an old boyfriend and might be a little late getting to the dinner.
Followed by a PS.
Jade thinks she’s found you a hunk, and no one’s heard from Cricket since she met up with that bartender.
Ginny sighed. Nothing with her friends had ever gone smoothly.
“Something wrong?” Parker asked.
“Nothing. You were right. Reunion stuff. I swear my friends haven’t changed a bit since their teens.”
“I gotta admit, I always thought it was interesting that you and Meg were friends. You two were like oil and water.”
“I know.” Ginny shrugged. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t wondered the same thing. “By the way, none of the others have heard from Meg since graduation.”
“Not too surprising. I’m here only because my mother thought there might be a chance Meg would show up.”
“And you didn’t?”
“Nope. I figure there’s a reason she hasn’t been in touch with us. I have no idea what that might be, but it’s her choice. Although, this is the last time I’m getting involved. I run a business. I can’t be taking off, chasing after Meg, who obviously doesn’t want to be found.”
A shadow crossed his face. He could deny he’d lost all hope, but it wasn’t true. She smiled. “What is it you do?”
Their drinks were delivered, and after a sip of coffee, he set the mug back on the table. “My partner and I run a cargo delivery service in Alaska. We fly out of Fairbanks, but we serve pretty much the whole state. Mark covers south, I cover north. Sometimes we meet at the airport but not often. Mostly, though, we’re surrounded by a lot of wilderness. It’s beautiful, even though it’s changing.”
“It sounds lonely.”
“Suits me just fine,” he said, picking up his coffee and turning to study the crowded sidewalk.
He seemed ready to drop the subject, but there was still so much he hadn’t said. Being a wilderness pilot was a far cry from being a lawyer. “What happened to becoming a lawyer for the people? You were so fired up about what you wanted to do. I thought that was your calling.”
The shadow came back, this time shuttering his thoughts. “Life got complicated.” His carefully casual shrug told her more than his words. “It took a long time for the dust to settle after my mother and I were forced to relocate following Meg’s disappearance, and by then I’d changed my mind.” He sipped his coffee once more and went back to avoiding her gaze.
Clearly he was hiding something. Probably a lot of things. But she understood more than most people that some things were better off left alone. And some were better off buried for good.
It was interesting, though, that he’d referred to just him and his mom. “What happened to your father?” she asked, knowing he’d been alive at the time.
The tension in Parker’s jaw made her wonder just how big a part his father had played in Parker veering off his path. She would’ve remembered if Parker had mentioned flying or wanting to live in Alaska. Since she’d known Meg, he’d been determined to be the best lawyer in the country. And none of that defending the bad guys, not for Parker. He was all about truth and justice.
“He blamed himself, certain the job had something to do with her disappearance. So he buried himself in work.” Parker’s gaze briefly met hers. “Maybe he was right and that’s what got him killed. His work put him in thick with some bad dudes.”
She knew that had nothing to do with Meg taking off, and by now Ginny assumed Parker knew it, as well. “I’m sorry. It must have been so difficult for you and your mom.”
Parker signaled the waiter, who came by quickly to refill his cup. When he looked at Ginny again, he gave her a halfhearted smile. “So, was Tilda the reason you left Juilliard?”
Although she should have expected him
to turn the tables, the question still threw her for a loop. But she wasn’t going to evade it and stir his suspicion. “Mostly. But after I was there a few months, I realized that being a world-class pianist and all the fancy trimmings that went with it might have been more my father’s dream for me than my own. He’d loved that my mother was famous. At least in the world of classical music. Even though that meant spending time apart, he was enamored with the glamour. Actually, her glamour. She was, you know. I’ve seen so many videos of her, it’s almost as if I knew her.
“The truth is, I’m not nearly as good as she was. It wasn’t a matter of trying harder. She was exceptionally gifted. A rare jewel to my bauble.”
“You believe that?”
“I know it. I’d never have been in her league and he would never have forgiven me for it. Once, when he was yelling at me over the phone about throwing away my life, he called me by my mother’s name. But even that wasn’t the worst of it. Not for me. It was how he was so dismissive of Tilda. He moved out a week after we came back to the house, and moved into his town house in Providence.”
“Well, at least he didn’t throw you and Tilda out.”
“He couldn’t have. The house has been in my mom’s family forever. After she died, it automatically got passed down to me. Although he did have a right to stay if he’d chosen to do so. Anyway, it wasn’t as if I would’ve tossed him out.” Ginny sighed. “He’s better off living in Providence. He’s very good at what he does, which is getting rich people out of trouble.”
“You don’t think rich people should have good legal representation?”
She saw a faint smile lurking at the corners of his mouth. Probably because of her condescending tone. “I’m not thrilled by how much money talks. But you know that. I remember we talked about it a lot.”
“Yeah.” He nodded, the amusement gone. “Hard to think about how naively optimistic I was. Such a fool, thinking I could make a difference. I would never have made it in the real world.”
She inhaled, wishing she could roll back the last few seconds. Whatever had changed Parker’s mind still had a firm hold on him, whether he’d admit it or not. Best she could do was turn the conversation back to her own pitiful problems. “He’s back in our lives,” she said. “My father, I mean. Sort of.”
Parker raised his right eyebrow, and for some unknown reason that little gesture hit her harder than any of his admissions. She used to dream about that move—his dark eyebrow raised in question. Or dare. Even now, she felt the shiver inside. Just like when she’d been eighteen.
“He called yesterday. All friendly, if not fatherly. But he tried. Primarily because he’d talked to someone at Roger Williams and found out that Tilda is scarily brilliant at science. Biology in particular. She’s graduating early, and MIT already has their eyes on her after her team won the National Science Bowl. She was the youngest member.”
“Wow. She must get that from you.”
Ginny laughed. “As far as math and science were concerned, I was a good pianist.”
He grinned. “Meg thought you were brilliant. That you could have done anything.”
“Meg was sweet but wrong. Tilda is truly gifted. I was...am a very capable pianist, but I’m no Lang Lang, while she could be something extraordinary. Anyway, my father’s delighted that she’s so bright and he’s offered to pay for her college expenses.”
“That’s great. I mean, considering where she’ll be studying, it’s still a very generous offer.”
Ginny couldn’t believe she’d said anything. Not even Cricket knew about her father’s olive branch. Although, she couldn’t afford to think it was a done deal. “It is great, but I doubt he would have been so generous had she been a B student.”
“I hope he comes through. It sounds as though she’s got a bright future ahead.”
She nodded, her thoughts going back to a time when she’d offered him so many of her fears, aside from the worry she had about Meg. But she’d also offered him her heart. They’d both been blindsided by Meg’s disappearance, and somehow, they’d become very close, very quickly. Before that Ginny had mostly known about him through Meg. He was older, wiser, enigmatic and too handsome by half. When she’d lowered her guard, he’d dropped his, as well.
Maybe he knew, somehow, that he’d only be in her life for a short time. That he’d disappear like a dream one can’t quite remember after waking.
He put his hand over hers, just long enough for her to snap back to the present. “Believe me, I understand what an impact a parent can have. It doesn’t matter how old you are, disappointments always cut deep.” He leaned back, ran a hand through his thick dark hair. “So, what are your plans after Tilda’s off to school? Resuming your career, perhaps?”
“It’s crossed my mind,” she said, wondering if he’d heard something about the philharmonic tour, although she couldn’t imagine how. Maybe the mysterious Jane Winthrop had told him. “Now, are you going to tell me how you got so wet, or am I going to just assume you went for an impromptu dip in the bay?”
He chuckled, a deep, resonant sound that made her hold her breath.
“You remember that old motel on Highway 1? The Pelican’s Nest?”
“That turquoise monstrosity?” She laughed, tried to get serious, but cracked up again. “Tell me you’re not staying there.”
“I didn’t have a lot of choices. Everything’s booked for the reunion and the golfing and who knows what else. Anyway, I’m not staying there anymore.”
“Because...?”
“Aside from the ceiling practically crashing down on me and flooding my room, no reason.”
“Oh, no. A busted pipe?”
“Something like that. Almost everything, including me, got soaked. Luckily I managed to salvage a few things. Have any suggestions for another motel in the area? Something a little more sturdy?”
“Sorry, I don’t. That’s awful. What have you done with your clothes?”
“I didn’t have many, but they’re all in the trunk of the rental car. Probably growing bio-organisms as we speak. Tilda would have a field day.”
Ginny bit her lip to stop from laughing even more, but she was a lost cause. Until Jade sent her another text, telling her that they’d found the perfect guy for her. Good grief.
Ginny’s gaze moved to Parker, who was pulling out his wallet. She could still see the college guy, with his tidy hair and his polo shirts. He might be a bush pilot, flying the last frontier, but he was also the man who’d held her as she’d cried buckets, feeling so lost when she had no idea where her best friend had gone. He’d never tried to fix her or change her or make her get over it. He’d been great that way.
“Are you in a hurry?” she asked.
“No, but I figured your friends are worried you won’t make it to your dinner.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I have plenty of time.” She hesitated. “I also have a guest room that’s yours for two nights if you want it. There’s a shower, a queen-size bed, no leaks in the ceiling and there’s even a washer and dryer you could use.”
Parker’s eyes narrowed. “You sure?”
Not even close. “Absolutely.” She hoped like crazy she wasn’t making a mistake, but the invitation felt right. “Yes, I’m sure. But you’ll have to leave before Tilda gets home Monday afternoon. And all I’m offering is a guest room.”
“I never thought anything else. And I’ll happily accept. But what about your dinner?”
“I still have time. Why don’t you follow me to the house and I’ll get you settled, and you’ll have the place to yourself for a few hours.”
His smile changed his face. It was as if a spotlight had turned on, showing off his very white, even teeth. He was still one of the most handsome men she’d ever met.
As the waiter came by and put down the check, it occurred to Ginny that she might have just made a colossal error. If he
hadn’t had a place to stay, he might’ve flown back to Alaska, never to be of concern again.
On the other hand, the idea of him leaving wasn’t as appealing as it had been earlier. As long as Tilda wasn’t around, what could be the harm? She’d liked talking to him. Laughing. It felt good, and normal. She felt pretty and the way he looked at her was very flattering.
Maybe she could even take him to the dinner with her. None of her friends knew the situation with Meg or Tilda. But...
She’d have to think that one through. After swallowing the last of her ginger tea, she put the glass down and said, “You ready?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
PARKER ENTERED THE downstairs guest room as Ginny moved nearer to the wall to give him space. It reminded him of a higher-end hotel room. Not as overblown as the resort or anything but classy, like the rest of the house. The comforter was plush and white, as were most of the pillows. A few were in purple and red, bright spots against the headboard, that went with the lampshade, the curtains and the reading chair. No surprise that there was a small bookcase with different offerings he’d have to investigate later. He felt pretty sure there would be at least a few of the mystery stories Ginny had favored as a teen.
“This is great, thanks.” He went to the en suite bathroom, reluctant to put his duffel bag down on the clean tile floor. His gaze stalled on the stand-alone shower though. He itched to wash that motel feel off his body.
When he stepped back, Ginny was staring at him, and he wondered what she’d think of his cabin in the woods. His whole place would fit in her living room, which was how he liked it. Not much to heat or clean. Nothing color coordinated. Practical. It had everything he needed.
“There are extra towels underneath the vanity and extra pillows in the closet.”
“Extra? I count seven, including that little guy.”
Her smile was accompanied by a little blush on her cheeks. She looked more beautiful than ever. He’d always thought she was pretty, but she’d grown into an elegant, graceful woman who made him want to step closer. Lean in. Explore her lips.