Somebody to Love (Gideon's Cove #3)(105)

“Judas.”

“Ayuh. That one. Guilty.”

“Well, he has nothing to feel guilty about. Here. I’m done.”

Lavinia turned her attention to the arrangement. “Shit, that’s real nice.” She frowned, her face creasing like a shar-pei’s. “I’ll miss you, Parker. Nicky, too.”

Parker’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. “I’ll miss you, too, Vin. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you this summer.”

“Ah, you would’ve figured something out. Don’t get all mushy on me now.”

Parker hugged her, trying not to breathe in the scent of smoke. “Will you come visit me? Maybe for Thanksgiving?”

Lavinia tilted her head. “That’d be great, Parker. You mean it?”

“Absolutely. Please come.”

Her cousin smiled. “Then sure. Being as we’re family and all. Okay, gotta get this over to the church. I’ll see you for dinner tomorrow. I’m making clam hash. Don’t make that face—you’ll love it.”

That afternoon, as Parker was reading David Gets in Trouble to Nicky, he suddenly pulled on her sleeve. “Mommy?”

“Yes, honey?”

Her son’s face was somber, his hands clenching his Obi-Wan and Darth Maul figurines. “I heard James calling me, and I didn’t want him to find me.”

She closed the book. “Why not?”

“Because I dunno.” Nicky looked at his lap and made Darth Maul take a stab at Obi-Wan.

“You must know a little. Weren’t you having fun together?”

“Sort of. Not really. He told me I couldn’t use the nail gun. And I already did use it, and I know how.”

“Well, if James said no, that was the end of it, Nicky. You don’t run away and hide because you didn’t get your way! Daddy and I have both talked to you about this.”

“He’s not you or Daddy. So he’s not the boss of me.” Nicky slammed the figurines together, his mouth obstinate.

Ah. “No, he’s not Mommy or Daddy,” she said, gently turning his face so he had to look at her. “But he was the grown-up in charge, and, Nicky, you scared him! Did you know he thought you were in the ocean? He went swimming to look for you, honey. In the cold, cold water.”

Nicky’s eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t mean to scare him. I wanted to hide and have him be sorry he bossed me. I took the nail gun, but I didn’t even use it. I listened. And then I felled asleep. It was hot under there.” His mouth wobbled and two tears slipped down his chubby cheeks.

Parker took a deep breath. “Okay, honey. Thank you for telling me. Will you tell James you’re sorry?”

“He doesn’t like me.”

She didn’t think that was true, but it was a moot point. He was heading for New York. The end. “You still have to apologize. You can write him a note and draw a picture if you’d rather do that.”

“Okay.” Nicky scrambled off the couch and ran into his room, slamming the door. “Sorry!” he yelled.

Parker sat for a moment, stroking Beauty’s head. Maybe Lavinia would babysit for an hour or two after dinner. Because despite the job in Manhattan, despite the fact that she’d made a fool of herself with talk of babies to a man who clearly didn’t want any, Parker didn’t want James to think that Nicky’s disappearance had been in any way his fault.

Vin came over for dinner and was more than happy to babysit. Parker smiled, watching the two of them; Vin was teaching her son poker. Her cousin was definitely an unexpected benefit of this summer.

She decided to walk into town, realizing abruptly how much she’d miss Gideon’s Cove, the constantly changing sounds of the ocean, the rush of wind through the sea grass, the sweet smells of Maggie’s baking that drifted from Joe’s Diner each morning. She’d miss the cries of seagulls and the rumble of the small fleet coming in each night.

She’d miss the people, who’d welcomed her without a second thought, without judgment.

Mostly, she’d miss James.

She never thought she could be that type of woman, who blushed when a man smiled at her. Who felt a man’s presence before she could see him.

That moment at the lake when he’d said he loved her…that was one of the happiest moments of her life. It was shocking, the impact of those words.

Well, hell. She seemed to be crying a little bit.

She wiped her eyes and peeked inside the window of Dewey’s. James might be there, after all. Apparently not. Seemed as if the rest of the town was, though. Parker could see Maggie talking animatedly, her hands flying, as Malone looked at her, a faint smile on his face, radiating Satisfied Alpha Male. Chantal and Jonah were there, cuddled against one another, and Christy and her husband. The waitress from the diner who never seemed to wait tables. Beth Seymour, who’d tricked her into taking Beauty. She owed Beth a drink, that was for sure. There was Dewey, squeezing between tables, pausing at the table to talk to Rolly, Ben and Stuart. Collier Rhodes was with them, no doubt getting his fill of local color, schmoozing with—and probably boring—the working class.

Was that how she’d been in Mackerly? Gracing the masses with her presence, swooping in from Grayhurst occasionally to buy a round at Lenny’s? That wasn’t how it felt, but it might’ve been how it seemed. She’d always been grateful to live in Mackerly; grateful to have an in via Ethan and Lucy and their families. She lived in Grayhurst because it was there, and it held some happy memories. Some bad memories, too, but more of the happy variety. She hoped she hadn’t seemed like a snob, or worse, an idiot.