Page 286 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I didn’t know why that was so important to me. I tried to tell myself that it was just better for the resort if all the workers were happy, but I knew that wasn’t it.
“You like him, don’t you?” Kayla asked.
I blushed and shrugged. “He’s a good guy,” I hedged. “I’m not going to, like, fall in love with him or anything, though. I have enough on my plate at the moment already. You know that.”
“I know,” Kayla said, but I could tell that she didn’t quite believe me. But I didn’t know how else to defend myself. “Just be careful,” she finally said.
“Always,” I promised her.
Because I was. Ian and I had seen what our parents’ divorce had done to them. I wasn’t looking for anything like that. Nothing long-term. And I knew that I had to stay professional while I was here in Utah. I didn’t want to screw this thing up. Any sort of relationship with Adam was off-limits.
But that didn’t mean that I couldn’t try to get him to open up a little more. Something in him had really changed, and it made me miss the jokester that he used to be. Surely that person was still there inside of him. What would it take to break him out of his shell? I wanted to find out.
That was all.
CHAPTER 13
ADAM
We were running a little late come Monday morning, but at least we were almost ready for Ethan to get off to school so that I could go to work. “Hurry up and eat your eggs, buddy,” I said to him. “We don’t want to be late.”
I didn’t know why some mornings always seemed so much more difficult than other mornings, to be honest. Well, I did; there were always those little random quirks that made things take longer than they were supposed to, like when Ethan decided that he didn’t want to wear the shirt he had picked out the night before, or when we couldn’t find his lunchbox at the end of a long weekend.
Things like that could derail the whole process. Because it wasn’t like I still had Beth around to help out with Ethan while I made breakfast, or vice versa. No, at this point, it was all me, trying to do everything. Those moms who joked about how they had to be supermoms to make things work out for their families? I totally got it now.
But this morning, I was pretty sure we were going to make it on time. Of course, then there was a knock on the front door.
I frowned, glancing at my watch even though I knew it was too damned early for deliveries or anything else. “Keep eating,” I instructed Ethan as I headed towards the door. I was surprised to see Dad standing there.
“What’s wrong?” I immediately asked him, sure that it must be something dire for him to show up here on a morning when he knew that I was going to be taking Ethan to school and heading off to work myself.
Dad shook his head, though. “Nothing’s wrong, I was just hoping to see my favorite grandson before he goes off to school.”
“Dad, you know we barely have enough time to get ready in the morning,” I said in an undertone, but it was no use. Ethan had already come down the hall to investigate who was at the door, still munching on a piece of toast.
“Buddy, you know our rule,” I chided him. “Food needs to stay in the kitchen.”
Ethan shoved the last bite of his toast into his mouth, even though it was probably more than one bite. His cheeks swelled like a chipmunk’s, and for a moment, he couldn’t even talk. I was afraid he would choke, which would just be one more thing to deal with that morning. But eventually, he swallowed. “All done!” he declared proudly. I rolled my eyes.
Dad knelt down next to him. “I just wanted to give you this,” he said, winking at Ethan. “I know Christmas isn’t for a couple weeks, but I figured this would give you a chance to play with it a lot once your school break starts.”
I realized with dismay that Dad hadn’t come empty-handed. And what’s more, I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew exactly what was in that box. But before I could intervene, Ethan was excitedly tearing off the wrapping paper from a new PowerBox. My hands bunched into fists as he threw his arms around his grandfather.
“Ethan, why don’t you go upstairs and get your shoes on?” I asked my son, barely able to keep the fury out of my voice.
Ethan looked back and forth between his grandfather and I, and I could see the worry in his look. But Dad stood up, brushing off his knees. “Don’t worry,” he said to Ethan. “Your dad just wants to talk to me.”
“Dad, what the hell is this?” I asked in an undertone the moment Ethan had disappeared upstairs.
Dad gave me a mild look. “It’s a Christmas gift,” he said, stating the obvious.
I fought the urge to shake him. “I thought I made it very clear that I don’t want Ethan to have one of those,” I reminded him.
“You certainly made it clear that you weren’t going to buy one for him,” Dad said, nodding his head. “But I didn’t realize that meant he couldn’t get one as a gift.” He shook his head. “You know that all the other boys at his school are going to have them. If they don’t already, then they’ll get them for Christmas, from parents who aren’t as stubborn and anti-technology as you are. He’s going to be playing video games at their houses when he’s over there. I just thought it would be nice for him to have a chance to practice here as well. Plus, it would mean you got to see which games he was playing and set some rules for him.”
“That’s not what this is even about,” I snapped.
“Isn’t it?” Dad challenged. “Admit it, what you’re afraid of is that your son is going to suddenly somehow start to be a little brat who only cares about video games and who lacks imagination. But you know that’s not going to happen.”
