CHAPTER 21
Parker slowed the bike as he pulled into the long driveway. He’d only been gone a few months, and yet there was an element of unfamiliarity about his childhood home. Maybe that’s what happened when you left home for good.
“Wow, I haven’t seen this since… years,” Cassie said, obviously lost in a memory.
“You haven’t been here since high-school. Wait here? I just need to grab my tools.”
“And miss seeing your bedroom? No way.” She grinned wickedly. “I always wanted to see it, but your mom was pretty vigilant.”
Parker laughed and nodded. “Yeah. Nothing got past her eagle eye. Especially not teenage girls.” He held out his hand. “Come on. I’m sure Mom will be thrilled to see you.”
He liked the way it felt when she slipped her hand in his. Like she trusted him completely, like she was relying on him. Even if it was just a little bit.
“I still can’t believe you haven’t ridden a bike in so long.”
Parker shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. Besides, we’re fixing that today.”
He squeezed the handle to the front door and pushed it open, stepping in. “Hey Mom,” he called. “Look who I bro–”
What in the hell?
A flurry of limbs, some of them naked were moving on the couch.
Cassie bumped smack into him.
“MOM?”
The limbs were moving so fast he couldn’t figure out which limbs belonged to who, but that was definitely his mother’s squeal of surprise. Followed by a deep rumble. His eyes grew wide. Until the day he died, he’d never be able to unsee the sight before them.
He cringed, throwing an arm across his face. “For God’s sake mom, put on a shirt.”
Behind him, Cassie chortled.
“Parker,” his mother called breathlessly from the corner. “What on earth are you doing home?”
“Getting my bike tools. What in the hell are you doing home?”
“I live here,” she said crisply, her voice tinged with impatience. “What have I taught you about barging in?”
He risked a glance over to the couch, his mother was behind a big, bare, barrel chested brute of a man. One who was calling his mother Peggy. And was that? He shook his head trying to clear his vision. “Zack Forte?” he squeezed out, his voice going up an octave from the shock.
Zack Forte was a bazillionaire they’d all met in the aftermath of the tornado. And he was easily ten years his mother’s junior. Zack cleared his throat and met Parker’s glare dead on. “Your mother is an adult, son.”
“Exactly, which is why…” he shook his head. “Oh man. That’s my mom. You… you’re… oh man.”
He just wanted to get away with his bike tools and his vision intact.
His mother’s eyes were snapping as she peeked out from behind Zack’s shoulder. “Parker. You said you needed your tools. Now would be a good time.”
Cassie pinched him from behind, shaking with laughter. “Park, should I come with you?”
Oh great. He could see where this was going.
“Great to see you, Peggy. You look… great.” Cassie couldn’t even complete a sentence without dissolving into giggles.
“Nice to see you too, Cassie,” his mother replied tartly.
He crossed the main room in two steps and hurried down the hall to his old bedroom. Although old wasn’t the right word. It was still his room. He just didn’t live there right now. Apparently, something his mom had taken full advantage of.
Something niggled at him. Had she been waiting for him to leave all along? Only keeping vigil for his late father because of him and Cody? Granted, he didn’t want to see his mom naked any more than he wanted to see his uncle and aunt that way. But he’d hate to think she’d missed out on a lifetime of love because of him.
He searched the back of the closet, but couldn’t find his tools. He distinctly remembered putting them in the closet. And where were all the other things he’d left in the closet in case he needed them?
They were all sitting in the kitchen when he returned. Cassie and his mom both giggling, Zack, still shirtless, looking very self-satisfied. Parker stared at his mom, sitting at the table holding a glass of water wearing a shirt three sizes too big. She looked almost… schoolgirlish.
“Don’t look at me that way, Parker. I deserve a love life.” She took a deep breath and continued before he could speak. “Your father’s been gone over twenty years. All the years you lived here, I never had company. Never went on a date.” She glanced over at Zack who watched her with something akin to fondness. “Zack and I have been seeing each other for quite some time.”
Parker scrubbed a hand over his face. Stunned. “I thought you needed me, mom. You were lonely.”
She nodded vigorously. “I was, Parker. But not for you. It’s never been your job to take care of me, Son.” She reached for Zack’s hand, lacing her fingers with his.
Ouch.
Her admission slammed into him with the weight of a freight train. All along he’d been staying at the house because he thought she was lonely and needed company. Needed support. And the entire time, she’d been waiting for him to leave? How had he so badly misjudged the situation? “No wonder you jumped at the chance to help me move out.”
She laughed quietly. “I should have kicked you out years ago.”
Parker raked a hand through his hair, trying to wrap his head around the flurry of admissions.
“You know you’re always welcome.” Her face softened. “Always. But I need my privacy. Just like you need yours.” She nodded her head at Cassie. “I’m sorry you found out about us this way. But I’m not sorry you know. And your tools are in the cellar.”
“What are they doing there?”
“I needed the room.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to know.”
Cassie stood. “I’ll wait outside,” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. “Nice to see you again, Mrs. Hansen.”
“Please, call me Peggy. And will you let your mother know I’ll be at the next bunko night?”
Parker rushed to the cellar, the house suddenly feeling very foreign. Sure enough, at the bottom of the stairs a crate containing the last few items he’d left here, ‘just in case’, including his toolkit, stood lonely and forlorn. Not wanting to analyze it, and more importantly, not wanting to stumble upon his mother sucking face with a younger man, he hurried up the stairs by way of the kitchen.
He paused, staring hard at the man who was at most only ten years older than he was. Until now, he’d respected the heck out of Zack Forte, self-made bazillionaire, philanthropist, and one of Prairie’s rebuilding champions. “Be good to my mom,” he growled. “’Bye mom. We’ll talk soon.”
Her laughter followed him out the front door, where Cassie’s belly laughs greeted him across the lawn.