Parker Security Complete Series

by Camilla Blake

  “Meeting the parents,” Cole said, and he let out a whistle. “This must be serious.”

  “It’s really just because it’s Shep’s birthday. He has a twin brother, and they’re going to celebrate their birthday together.”

  “Aw. How cute.” Cole grinned. “What’s his brother’s name? German?”

  Ben smirked. “That’s a seriously lame attempt at a joke, man.”

  “No,” I said. “It’s Holden. Shepherd and Holden Parkington.”

  “Holden Parkington?” Drew said, frowning. “That name sounds familiar.” He stared off into the middle distance for a moment, frown still on his face, but then he shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “It’ll come to me.”

  Any other time, I might’ve felt a bit of concern, or at least curiosity, at that strange look on his face, and why he thought he knew Holden Parkington. But for now, I was content to let myself slip back into my daydreams about Shep.

  Chapter 8

  Shep

  I wasn’t sure how much of a heads-up I should give Lena about my family. Part of me wondered if bringing her over here was a huge mistake, if she’d take one look at them and tell me to drive her back to the city immediately and to never get in touch with her again. But then again, I probably didn’t need to worry that much; she could handle it. If anyone could, she could.

  I just hoped that Holden would behave himself.

  “You’re nervous,” she said as we crossed the Bay Bridge into the East Bay. I did sound nervous, I realized; I was babbling on and on, trying to explain the way my brother could be, make excuses for the sorry state we would find my parents’ house in. Lena reached over and put her hand on top of mine, and it was like her just making that contact transferred some calming energy into me. I took a deep breath. I was nervous, but I didn’t want to turn this into some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. If anything, I should be envisioning the evening as a wild success, one where everyone got along, where Lena and my parents and Holden just completely hit it off.

  I tried to see the place from a stranger’s eyes, as we turned down the long driveway. It was hard, though. Everything here was so familiar to me that it was nearly impossible to view it how Lena might.

  “Is this your driveway, or a road?” she asked as I slowly drove down the dirt-packed driveway. There was a spine of grass running along the middle, a few ruts that would get considerably worse if my dad didn’t grade the road before the rainy season. To either side of the driveway was just lots of grass; we could’ve kept plenty of farm animals if we wanted to, but my family had no interest in that sort of thing.

  “It’s beautiful out here,” Lena said as the driveway dipped and curved, taking us out of sight of the road we’d just turned off of. In the distance, I could see Uncle Frank’s house, which was first up, and in decent shape, relatively speaking. He had a bunch of cars both in his little turnoff and spilling out of the perpetually open garage door, but he didn’t have the piles of detritus that could be found just a little further along at my own parents’ house.

  “That’s where Uncle Frank lives,” I said. “And a little further up here is my parents’ house. Holden lives in that house over there.”

  “That’s really cool that your family lives so close together. That must make things easier.”

  “Some things. I had to move away; I couldn’t stay here and have everyone just stopping over whenever they wanted. They, of course, had a hard time understanding why I would want to trade this for living in an apartment with two guys I didn’t even know. But it’s really not that bad and we hardly ever see each other as it is.”

  “No, I can definitely see how it could get complicated, too. I’m not sure I would love living right next door to my sister. I mean, I love her and it’d be great in some ways, but having your own space is also kind of priceless.”

  It would appear that someone had attempted to clean up a little. There was still shit everywhere, but it looked a little more organized, and the pile of old beer cans was gone. I took this as a good sign. They were trying; maybe this wasn’t going to be that bad after all.

  “I apologize in advance for anything that anyone says or does,” I said before we got out of the car. I said it with a smile, so it would seem like I was joking, even though I really wasn’t.

  We walked up to the house. I could hear people talking, laughing, through the screen door. It sounded like Holden was telling a story, probably about what shit he got into over the weekend. The story stopped mid-sentence, though, and I had to push Lena out of the way as the door flew open and Holden sprang out.

  “A pleasure to meet the woman who has stolen my brother’s heart!” Holden said, grasping Lena’s hand and giving the back of it a kiss.

  “Wow,” she said. “You guys really do look exactly alike. It’s great to meet you. Happy birthday.”

  “We’re really glad that you guys were able to make it. Shep made it sound like you weren’t going to be able to. Or like he didn’t want to.”

  “Oh, no—he wanted to,” Lena said.

  And then Mom was there, and you would’ve thought she was about to start crying, she was so happy to meet Lena. At first, anyway. Mom’s ideal girlfriend for me would be someone who would be chit-chatty with her, be like a best friend, the daughter she never had. Lena, for her part, I could tell was trying not to come across as standoffish, though I could also tell that my family was a little more white trash than she’d been expecting. They had picked up inside, too, a little bit. There was still a ton of useless crap everywhere, but I could tell that some things had been moved, cleaned up a little.

  “We’re so glad to finally get to meet you!” Mom said. “Shep’s barely told us anything about you.”

  “Well, that’s probably because we haven’t known each other that long,” Lena said.

  I could tell by how she said it she didn’t mean anything by it, but I could also tell by the expression on my mother’s face that she thought she was possibly being flippant. Shit. I probably should have mentioned to Lena that my mother at least didn’t really do dry humor. Sarcasm with her had never worked.

  “Sometimes it feels like we’ve known each other a lot longer,” I said.

  Holden made a face. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “Well, Dad’s out back, getting the grill started. Why don’t you two head out there and I’ll come out with some lemonade. You like lemonade? We’ve also got Tang.”

  “And don’t forget the PBR,” Holden said. “No wine coolers—sorry,” he added, looking right at Lena.

  “I’m definitely not a wine-cooler girl,” she said.

  We went out back, where Dad was dousing the Weber with lighter fluid. “Hey, Dad,” I said.

  He turned, tossing the can of lighter fluid on the ground. I hoped it was empty.

  “Hey, there,” he said. He grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me in, gave me a quick, back-slapping one-armed hug, then turned to Lena. “Real nice to meet you, Lena,” he said. “We’re glad that you two could make it. Holden’s been talking about this all week. I’m sure you know it’s his birthday.”

  “Shep’s birthday, too,” Lena said. “We totally forgot to bring the balloons and party favors!” She was smiling as she said this, and I laughed, because it was kind of funny, and I could certainly see Holden expecting us to bring something like that, but Dad did not smile.

  “Party favors?” he said, as if ‘party favors’ were actually code name for something else.

  “It was a joke,” I said quickly.

  The look on Dad’s face didn’t change. “I see.”

  I felt relieved when Holden came bounding out the back, followed by some of his crew: Abe, Junior, this kid Corey or Calvin, I couldn’t remember. There were a few girls with them, local girls, hard around the edges but trying to look good. They said hi, wished me happy birthday, but didn’t seem too interested in talking, since Lena was there, which was just fine with me. Holden had his phone hooked up to his portable s
peakers dock, and he put on some Hayes Carll, who I really liked but knew most of my family just tolerated, because of his left-leaning views. I took this as a sign of goodwill on Holden’s behalf—he was trying to put on something that the family would enjoy, but also that wouldn’t be completely offensive to Lena. He was trying.

  There was a ragtag assortment of lawn furniture, some pieces in better condition than others. Lena and I sat in a pair of chairs in the shade of the pin oak tree. Mom came over right away, holding a package of something.

  “Now, I went to the store and got you a veggie burger,” Mom said. “I had to go into the special natural foods section. I’ve never bothered to go down those aisles before, and I sure saw some interesting stuff! They have fake chicken, fake steak, all sorts of things.”

  “Oh, I’ll just have a regular burger,” Lena said. “I’m not a vegetarian.”

  “You’re not?” Mom looked confused. There was a moment of awkward silence, where it seemed everyone had stopped what they were doing and was listening to this exchange. I racked my brain, trying to recall if I had ever mentioned anything to my mother about Lena being vegetarian. Except she wasn’t vegetarian, so why would that even have come up in the first place?

  “I just figured you were,” Mom said. “You know, since you were from the city.”

  “Oh.” Lena’s brow furrowed, and then the slightest of smiles curved the corner of her mouth. “Not everyone in the city is vegetarian. Even in San Francisco.”

  She was gently chiding her, maybe. Not in a bad way, though, and certainly someone who was going to make such a broad assumption about everyone living in the city did deserve to be called out on it, however innocuous the assumption might be.

  “You know what?” Lena said. “I actually will have one of those veggie burgers. They look pretty good.”

  “Oh, no, no,” Mom said quickly. “Not if you don’t want to. I shouldn’t have just assumed like that—I’m sorry. No, don’t have one if you weren’t planning on it. We’ll… we’ll just cook them up and give them to the dogs or something. They look kind of weird anyway. I think there’s some sort of seeds in them?”

  This was starting to go from bad to worse. All because of some damn veggie burgers.

  “I actually love that kind,” I said. “I’ll eat them. Just throw them on the grill with the rest of the stuff and I’ll have them.”

  “You’ve been living in the city too long!” Dad said. “Passing up a regular burger for that crap!” He shook his head. “Have some self-respect!” Then he let out a big laugh, and a few other people laughed, too, but it was abundantly clear that things were not meshing nearly as well as I had (foolishly?) hoped they would.

  It got a little bit better once the food started coming off the grill; at least when people were eating they weren’t talking. I ate two of the veggie burgers and then had a regular burger, even though by that point, I wasn’t too hungry anymore. I could feel Dad’s eyes on me as I ate. Did he really want to start something with me over a burger?

  Next to me, I could hear Lena and Mom talking; Lena was telling her about her job.

  “I’d never think of a woman working at a security company like that,” Mom was saying. Jeannie, sitting in the chair next to Mom, was nodding.

  “Yeah,” she said, “it must be hard having all those guys around.”

  “When has that ever been a problem for you?” Holden asked. “Sounds to me like it’s your perfect scenario!”

  “Shut up!” Jeannie said, laughing. I glanced at Lena, who was looking at Holden with a mild expression of disdain.

  “It is definitely a male-dominated field,” Lena said. “But luckily, the guys I work with are all great. And I like being able to surprise people who think that women can’t work in security, because they most certainly can.”

  “I wouldn’t mess with ya,” Holden said. He got up to throw his paper plate away. “How’s that burger?” he asked.

  “Good.” I took the final bite, glancing Dad’s way just in time to see him look away. I guessed he’d decided he didn’t have to continue monitoring me since I had eaten all the burger.

  “You want a beer?” Holden said. “Let’s go get a beer.”

  I stood up. “Can I get you anything?” I asked Lena.

  “No, I’m good,” she said.

  I followed Holden over to one of the coolers, which was full of ice and Miller High Lifes. Holden grabbed a can and handed it to me.

  “Come on,” he said, when he saw me hesitating. “Birthday toast. You can drink a beer with me. Christ, you’re turning into such a fuckin’ square.”

  I took the dripping wet, ice-cold can from him. “This beer tastes like shit,” I said. “Watered-down shit. If I’m going to drink, I’d rather it be something good.”

  He rolled his eyes as he cracked his open. “Oh, excuse me. I forgot that you’re an urbanite now, and only consume high-test craft beer, brewed by douchebags with beards and wearing tight jeans and flannel shirts.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

  Holden waited until I cracked my own can open, then we toasted. “Happy birthday to the second most handsome-looking guy I know,” he said.

  We both took a sip. It was a warm day, and there was something to be said for an ice-cold beer when it was hot out, even if it was a watered-down shitty one.

  “Now,” Holden said, “I know that you brought your woman with you. But Buck’s is going to be off the hook. You gotta come down there. Remember that chick Melanie? She’s going to be there. She’s promised a birthday lap dance for two. I get to go first.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Come on, man! Don’t be so lame. What man would turn down a lap dance on his birthday?”

  I looked across the yard, to where Lena was still sitting. My mom was saying something and Lena was nodding, though I couldn’t make out what they were talking about from this distance.

  “We can talk about it later,” I said, because I knew nothing I said now would convince Holden to drop it. Saying no wasn’t acceptable to him; he’d harp on me until I agreed, or until I left, which I wasn’t ready to do just yet, but soon.

  “Great!” he said, clapping me on the shoulder. “I’m going to go tell the guys.”

  He moved off before I could ask him just what it was he planned to tell the guys, but then I decided I didn’t actually care what any of them did.

  I went back and sat down, though Mom had left. “How’s it going?” I whispered to Lena.

  “Good,” she said. “The food was delicious.”

  I was about to ask her how long she wanted to stay for when I heard singing, and then Mom appeared from the back slider door, carrying a sheet cake with a shitload of candles on it. Everyone joined in for a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday,” as Holden came over to sit next to me so we could blow out all the candles together. The whole thing was a bit much, though my mother was beaming, and I knew she was very happy that we were all together right now and able to celebrate the day with her.

  And for a minute, I felt as if maybe everything was working out how it was supposed to. I was here with my family, but also with Lena, and everyone seemed to be having an all right time. There had been some awkward moments, but overall, things were pretty good. Holden grinned at me as we blew out the candles, everyone clapped, and then we all ate cake.

  Finally, though, it was time to leave. Lena and I started saying our goodbyes, which of course got Holden’s attention immediately.

  “You’re leaving?” he said, making to look at his wrist even though he wasn’t wearing a watch. “Already?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so,” I said.

  “You sure you can’t come down to Buck’s?” he asked. “Lena, come on. You know you want to. You ever been before?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “lt’s an experience, then. You won’t forget your first time, I guarantee it. Let’s continue the party!”

  “No, we’re heading ou
t,” I said. “Thanks for the invite, but I think we’re both all set with Buck’s.”

  “Aw, come on! This will be a great opportunity for Lena to show the guys down at Buck’s a thing or two! Just like you were saying you like to do—right, Lena?”

  “I really appreciate the invite,” she said, using the sort of tone you might use with a particularly stubborn and annoying toddler, “but—no.”

  A few people within earshot laughed.

  “Suit yourself,” Holden said, looking at me. “What about you?”

  “Me?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. It’s still our birthday celebration. Why cut the party short?”

  Was he honestly asking me this? Did he really think I was just going to bail on Lena like that? “If Lena’s not interested in going, then neither am I,” I said. “I’m not going to just leave her. We came here together.”

  I could see Holden’s brain trying to make sense of that. “Huh,” was what he finally said. “I guess you’ve decided, then.” This last sentence was directed at Lena.

  “We both decided,” I told him.

  In true Holden fashion, he sulked, and barely said goodbye to either of us. That was actually preferable, though, to him trying to convince us we needed to go to Buck’s with him. Still, it was a relief when we finally made it to the car.

  “I’m sorry about all of that,” I said, feeling as if a huge weight were being lifted off my shoulders as we drove away. Had I ever felt so relieved to leave my family’s place before? I didn’t think so. Things hadn’t even been that bad, but I was eager as hell to get out of there.

  “What are you apologizing for?” Lena said. “I thought it went pretty well. Your family is certainly interesting. I’m not sure your mom liked me too much, though. I think that whole thing with the veggie burgers was not what she was expecting… That was nice of her, to go out of her way like that to get me those. I’m not sure where she got the idea that I was vegetarian.”