Page 155 of Just This Once

Once I grabbed the phone and pulled it to me, I squinted in confusion at the screen because it looked all wrong until I realized I’d grabbed Parker’s phone.

The message was fromRed.

Hayes found your parents.

I met them just now.

They want to see you. Call me.

I gasped and sat upright in bed, fully awake now. “Parker,” I called.

But he couldn’t hear me with the door shut and water running in the shower. I was about to crawl out of bed and take the phone to him because this was big. It was huge. He was going to get to see his mom and dad again. I couldn’t even imagine how much this was going to affect him after eleven years of trying to contact them.

Except then I stopped myself. He could wait another few minutes until he was out of the shower and dressed.

Returning my gaze to the screen so I could rescan Raina’s messages and make sure I’d read everything correctly, I exhaled a heavy breath and then squealed out a sound of excitement.

When my thumb swiped across those life-altering words, I focused on the name he’d given Foster’s girlfriend. Red.

Which made me wonder what he’d savedmeas in his phone.

Curious, I punched in his passcode, having watched him over his shoulder enough times in the last few days to remember it.Once in, I went straight to his contact list and scrolled to the Hs. But I wasn’t saved underHope. So I swiped down to the Ls for my last name. But I wasn’t under Langston either.

Frowning, I bit my lip and tried to think up what he would call me. MaybeAlec’s Sister. Or ooh,Trouble. Yep, I bet I was underTrouble. So I scrolled some more until I came to the Ns, where Nova’s name caused me to pause.

I’d also kept her number in my phone after she’d left town. I’d even tried to call it a few times because she hadn’t just abandoned Thane when she’d moved away. She’d abandoned all of us. But her number had been disconnected when I rang it.

I wouldn’t have thought Parker would want to keep her digits, though. The girl had broken his best friend. I mean, Thane had been crushed. He’d been inconsolable after she disappeared. And Parker was not the forgiving type.

This did not add up.

Curious, I went into their texting history, and my mouth dropped.

“Holy shit.”

He’d been in contact with her as recently as nine months ago; it’d been fiveyearssince Nova had left Westport and completely fallen off the grid.

Not understanding, I thumbed through their correspondences, glancing over their messages quickly.

It seemed that Parker was always the one to reach out first to ask if she was doing okay. She would respond with a quick two or three words, always letting him know she was fine. And he’d leave her alone for another handful of months.

Eleven months ago—about the same time that Alec had told me Foster heard Nova was engaged—Parker had texted her saying:

Just checking in.

All she’d written in reply was:

Still okay.

Then two months later, roughly when Thane had met Christine, Parker had told Nova:

He went on a date.

It had taken her a few days to respond, but when she did, she said:

Good. That’s good.

And the last thing written between them had been Parker’s reply.

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