Page 63 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“Cal?”
He glanced up at me. “Mm?”
“Is something bothering you?”
His eyes widened for the briefest moment, but he got his expression under control quickly. He shook his head. “No. Everything is just fine. I’m going to go wash up. Then we can go.”
“Okay,” I said, and I watched him leave.
I was left with only a single thought: that was the first time Cal had ever lied to me.
At least, it was the first time since I’d woken from my coma. And it didn’t sit well with me.
25
CALLUM
When I came out of the kitchen and into the living room with my morning cup of coffee, I found Lina and Asher sitting on the carpet, playing with his new toys. Asher was showing Lina all the features of his new electric truck, which was buzzing laps around the base of the Christmas tree as he steered it with the controller in his hands.
Lina clapped her hands together in excitement as Asher drove the truck all over the hardwood floors. When he spotted me, he raced the truck toward my feet then veered right at the last second. He leaned with the controller, and I pretended to lunge after the truck. Asher giggled, and Lina smiled at me as I came and sat down in my usual corner spot on the sofa. I kicked my slippered feet up on the coffee table, and Asher drove the truck under my legs and then back to the Christmas tree.
“Santa must have known you would love that,” I said.
Asher nodded. He pinched his tongue between his lips with concentration as he parked the truck under the tree. Then he turned off the controller and put his hands on his knees. “Santa always knows, Dad.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Lina said mockingly as she pushed herself to her feet. She came and sat down on the couch beside me.
If my father were here, he would have given me an earful. I was supposed to have told her everything yesterday. Instead, I ended up having sex with her, and now, I was in way over my head. This girl had me feeling all sorts of things that I had no right to feel. At the reunion, she’d let me know exactly how much I had hurt her and how much she didn’t want to have anything to do with me. And yet here I was, bulldozing her wishes in a selfish pursuit to have the girl of my dreams back in my arms.
The fact that it was working made me feel even worse. And really fucking confused.
Asher yawned and rubbed at his eyes.
“Have you brushed your teeth yet this morning, kiddo?” I asked.
Asher shook his head.
I nodded toward the stairs. “Go brush your teeth. It’s past ten.”
Asher got up and thumped his way up the stairs, where I heard the bathroom sink turn on.
Lina leaned sideways to rest her cheek on my shoulder. I stiffened momentarily and forced myself to relax. She wrapped her hands around my arm, giving my bicep a gentle squeeze before she lifted her cheek and rested her chin in its place. She stared up at me, a smile playing on her perfect lips, her green eyes electric in the morning sun streaming in through the windows.
Good lord, this woman was going to be the death of me. I was certain of it. I couldn’t hold on to her forever. Not like this. And when everything did finally come to the surface? Well, she would hate me more for this than she did for how I left her at the end of our senior year.
“Cal, I’ve been thinking.”
“About?”
“About my mother,” she said.
I resisted the urge to reach out and tuck a strand of dark hair behind her ear. In the sunlight, it gleamed with hints of burgundy. Beautiful. “What about her?”
Lina sighed and licked her lips. She had no idea what that did to me. It made my knees and chest ache. “I had a dream about her. At least, I think it was a dream. When I was in the hospital. And I can picture her—at least, I think it’s her I’m picturing. I think if I go see her, things might be a bit clearer for me.”
“See her?” I asked.
“Where is she buried?”
