Somebody to Love(113)

There was a lot of reason to hope she’d do just fine.

The shop was ten minutes from Nicky’s school, fifteen from the little Victorian they’d rented. Parker was already hoping to buy the house eventually. It was snug and adorable, more than enough room for her and Nicky. A spiral staircase led to Nicky’s room on the third floor, which he called the Bat Cave. Parker’s room was on the second floor, along with two smaller bedrooms, and downstairs was a galley kitchen, a dining room and a living room. Her favorite part, though, was a front porch.

Every night, Parker and Nicky sat out there before dinner. He’d tell her about his day, the games the gym teacher came up with, the art classes, his sight words, how Colette was the prettiest girl in kindergarten and the nicest, how she sat with him on the bus and they would probably get married.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” he said, zipping his Matchbox cars over the porch railing. “You can live with us and our eight babies.” It was a simple statement, but Parker’s eyes filled with tears. It had been happening a lot.

Another plus of the front porch and normal neighborhood: accessibility to other humans. Christina and Louis, the newlyweds next door, talked in baby voices to each other, which, though exceedingly nauseating, was also kind of sweet. Jennifer, the single mom with the beautiful toddler, was lonely and often stopped for a chat.

Sometimes, Parker wondered how’d she’d managed to live at Grayhurst all those years.

One night, when Nicky was at Ethan’s, Parker sat on the porch, nursing a glass of wine, one foot on Beauty, who was snoring gently, when Lucy came up the front walk.

“Hey there,” she called, smiling. “I left the boys to do manly things. Figured we could hang out.”

“Absolutely,” Parker said. “Glass of wine?”

“Can’t,” Lucy said, patting her belly, which had begun to pop. “Those doctors are so mean. Know what they said last week? ‘Limit your chocolate intake.’ Don’t they know who I am?”

Parker laughed, and Lucy sat next to her. They chatted till it got dark—Nicky, Ethan, baby names, work—then went inside, little Beauty padding after them, then curling up in the corner to keep an eye on Lucy. She was still shy, though her abject terror at outsiders seemed to have passed.

“I love this place,” Lucy said, looking around. “You’ve done a nice job, Parker.”

“Thanks,” she said. She’d painted the walls a soft green, filled the bookshelves and hung some framed artwork by her son. “I never really had a place of my own. I mean, I had apartments and stuff, but my mom would come in with her decorator and take over.”

“Did you mind?” Lucy asked.

“Nah. It was her way of taking care of me.”

“And how is your mom?”

“Oh, she’s fine. She’s in the final ten for Real Housewives of Las Vegas.”

“Dear Lord.”

“I know. She might come out for Thanksgiving. But my cousin is a definite.”

“It’ll be great,” Lucy said. They were coming, too, as well as Gianni and Marie. A full house.

Lucy took a sip of her seltzer water, then pulled a throw pillow into her lap. “So.”

“Uh-oh. Are you going to lecture me?”

“Yes.” Lucy smiled. “You were so good at lecturing me about this time last year.”

“Was I?”

“Oh, yeah. Figured it was my turn.”

Parker sighed and took a sip of wine. “Okay. Go for it. I’m ready.”

“Thanks. Well, it seems to me that on some levels, you’ve never been better. The shop is fantastic, and you seem to love it.”

“I do,” Parker said. “Never thought I’d be a florist, but you’re right.”

“And this house feels so much more like you than Grayhurst ever did.”

Parker gave a half nod. “Yeah. Hard to feel at home in a mansion when it’s just two of you.”

“Nicky’s doing great, obviously.”

“He’s getting married.”

“Yes. Colette. Do you approve?”

Parker smiled. “I do. She came over on Sunday and has beautiful manners.”

Lucy was quiet for a minute. “You ever hear from James?”

Parker looked down. “No. We…we’re done. Summer lovin’, and all that.”

“Please, no singing.” Lucy smiled. “The thing is…well, you’ve been different since you got back. A little sad.”

Dang. There were those ninja tears again, slipping up on her without warning. “Um, you know. A lot of change.”

“Right,” said Lucy. “But I know you had feelings for James.”

Parker took a sip of wine. “No, you’re right. I did.”

“And I know that’s pretty rare for you.”

“Hey. I was in love with John Stamos for quite some time. Of course, I called him Jesse back then.”

“Okay, okay, so John Stamos, sure, who didn’t love him? And the Old Spice man, we can’t forget him.”

“He saw me through a lot of lonely hours,” Parker seconded.

Lucy smiled again, her soft, gentle smile. “But in all seriousness, Parker, the fact that this guy got to you…that’s huge. Isn’t it?”