Page 116 of Just This Once

“And if you need anything, anything at all,” she commanded as she pulled back to grip my arms so she could look into my eyes. “You call me, you hear?”

I smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” Clearing her throat, she glanced toward the mirrors over the sinks and muttered, “Now… While we’re figuring out how to make it look as if we haven’t been crying all over each other in here, you better tell me everything you know about this Xander girl. Because my son has itbadfor her.”

I snorted and sent her a look. “Hell, yes, he does.” And I proceeded to spillallthe tea.

29

PARKER

I’d gone over to Archer House because I was mad at Hope for ghosting me. Because I was worried about her and wanted to make sure she was okay. Because I missed her. Because I still fuckingcravedher.

I’d gone over because I couldn’t stay away.

But this shit she’d stirred up in me was worse than I thought.

After merely looking at her across the kitchen, I felt as if my feet had been kicked out from under me all over again, like the moment I’d woken in the hotel room and knew she was gone.

I needed to regroup.

Knowing I couldn’t do it alone, I called Thane.

“Hey,” he greeted as if he were actually pleased to hear from me.

After the ass I’d been during our last talk, I’d kind of wondered if he’d want to avoid me for the rest of forever.

But then he added, “I was just about to call you.”

“Really? What’s up?”

“I was going to head over to my parents’ place and bring them some supper to celebrate Mom’s birthday. You want to come? I’ll have Christine with me.”

My eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You will?”

“Yep.” He seemed pleased with himself. “I figured if I was going to start introducing her to the crew, I wanted you to be the first to meet her.”

He was extending an olive branch. But instead of taking his intentions as the compliment I knew he meant for them to be, I furrowed my brow and wondered, “Have Pastor Zeke and Mama Chaunce met her yet?”

A slight pause later, he cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. A couple of months ago.”

“Really?”

“Parker,” he started, sounding regretful, but I broke in quickly.

“No, yeah. I’ll be there. Definitely,” I answered. “What can I bring?”

I’d already ordered a new robot vacuum for Mama Chaunce and had it delivered to her house, but I always wished I could do more. It felt as if I could never do enough for the couple who’d taken me in, even though they balked every time I tried. You should’ve seen the fit they’d thrown when I’d paid off all their home and car loans.

“Nothing, man,” Thane told me. “We’ve got it taken care of. Just show up at seven.”

“Will do,” I said.

After we hung up, I continued driving home.

At the gate, I punched in my code and waited to be let in before driving down a winding street and pulling into the circle drive that wrapped around a stone fountain.

Bill was in the front yard, pruning bushes. I parked in the drive and killed the engine causing him to glance over.

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