by Loree Lough
“So I’m guessing you’ll leave tomorrow evening?”
He nodded.
“How long will you be gone?”
“Ten days.”
He could be wrong, but he didn’t think they’d been apart for longer than ten hours since she arrived in Folly Beach. Parker could see that she was struggling now, between joy at the reason he’d be gone that long and the fact that he’d be gone that long. “I’m planning to buy a SIM card over there, so I’ll be able to call every day to update you.”
She hadn’t asked why ten days, instead of seven or a full two weeks. A good thing, since he wasn’t sure himself. “Near as I can figure, red tape snarls things up on the other side of the Atlantic too.”
At the mention of it, Holly glanced across the water and sighed. “Can I give you a lift to the airport? I’m sure Hank won’t mind loaning me his truck.”
“Dan, I mean my dad, has some sort of parking pass, so we’ll take his car.” Gently, he chucked her chin. “But thanks for asking.”
“Wow. Ten days. It’s going to seem like three times that long.”
He figured she must be wondering what she’d do with all that time all by herself. Her family would leave at first light the day after tomorrow, and with Maude still in rehab… “Maybe you can ride back to Baltimore with your folks, spend a few days with them, then catch a one-way flight back.”
She frowned. “For one thing, I’d never fit in the car with those big-as-gorillas cousins of mine hogging the backseat.” She looked out to sea again. “Ten days without seeing that gorgeous beach? I don’t think so.”
When she met his gaze, Parker thought his heart might stop.
“Besides, how cool will it be when you call every day—you know, to make your daily reports—if I’m standing here, looking out there, pretending that if I stand on my toes, I might be able to look over the waves and see you?” She giggled. “No way I could do that from Baltimore!”
Those daily calls would accomplish so much more than bringing her up to speed on what was happening in Germany. They’d fill his ears with the music of her voice and fill his heart with reminders of why he’d gone ape over her. But he’d wait to tell her all that. When he got back and introduced her to Ben and had a chance to see how well they got along, well, there’d be plenty of time to tell her that she was the sole reason he’d racked up so many romancing minutes on his cell phone.
“Will you join us for lunch tomorrow, so that I’ll know you got one last healthy meal before jetting off for Europe?”
He hadn’t yet packed. Hadn’t talked to the rehab staff to let them know why he wouldn’t be coming around to see his mother for a few days. “Maybe while I’m gone, you can look in on Maude once in a while?”
“Of course.”
“And walk through the house every couple of days. You know, to make sure the water heater didn’t spring a leak or anything?”
“No problem.”
“Keep an eye on Hank too, will ya? ’Cause he’s been lookin’ a little green around the gills lately.”
“You know, I’ve been thinking the same thing, so you can count on that too.”
“So what time is lunch?”
Both eyebrows went up as she snickered. “Um, maybe at lunchtime?”
Laughing, he shook his head. “Does that mean noon, straight up? Half past? What?”
“Sorry. Don’t mean to be a smart aleck. Guess I’m just not very good at good-byes.”
Was that a tear he saw, glittering in the corner of her eye? He couldn’t be sure…until it rolled down and left a shiny streak on her cheek. “Aw, Holly,” he said, gathering her close. “This isn’t good-bye.” He held her at arm’s length. “It’s just ten days, and they’ll pass,” he snapped his fingers, “just like that. And think of it: when I get back, I’ll have a big-eyed kid in tow, who I know will fall head over heels in love with you.” Just like I did.
Holly rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I know. Sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
In place of an answer, she said, “I’m sure gonna miss you.”
He held her face in his hands. Nowhere near as much as I’m gonna miss you, he thought. If things turned out the way he hoped they would, once Ben was—
“Say!” She broke free of his embrace and started pacing the length of the deck. “I have a super idea… .”
Parker leaned back against the rail and, with arms folded over his chest, waited for her to tell him all about it.
“Ten days…that gives me plenty of time to redo one of your upstairs rooms for Ben. Have you decided which will be his? I mean, I could paint and hang boy-type curtains.” She stopped walking to ask, “Does he have a favorite superhero? Is he a race-car fan?”
“He loves airplanes. Doesn’t matter what kind. Single prop, double engine, passenger jets, fighter planes, helicopters…”
“Perfect!” she said—and went right back to pacing. A second, maybe two passed before she stopped again. “But wait. Did you… did you have plans to wait, you know, until he got here, so that the two of you could fix up his room?”
He held out his arms, and Holly unquestioningly fell into them. “To tell you the truth, I never gave any of that a thought. My primary focus was getting things set up and getting him here. But knowing the way the poor kid has been living these past three years, well, trust me, anything will be an improvement over that.”
“Remind me, how old is Ben?”
“Nine.”
Her hands clasped under her chin, she echoed, “Nine. As soon as I see the folks off the day after tomorrow, I’ll get started.” She crinkled her nose. “Did you tell me which room?”
“No, I didn’t. Mine’s the one at the top of the stairs, the first door on your right.”
“Yes. I remember from the tour you gave me.”
Parker remembered too, because the whole time he showed her around, he pictured her in every room. “I’ll let you decide which of the other three Ben might like best.”
He could feel her trembling like a racehorse at the starting gate, just waiting for the start buzzer to sound. “So…lunch is at noon, then?”
“Sure. Noon. I’ll make spaghetti and meatballs. And garlic bread. No, no, that won’t do. Too heavy for a long flight over the Atlantic.”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something. And it’ll be perfect.” Just like you are.
She heaved an enormous sigh then bracketed his face with both strong, sure hands. “We’ll have five pairs of eyes on us tomorrow, watching, so I won’t be able to do this.”
“Do wha—”
His question was muffled by her lips, which pressed to his in a long and heartfelt kiss.
“You be careful over there, you hear? The pickpockets are everywhere, and you’ll be preoccupied, watching over Ben.”
She kissed him again, longer this time, with even more feeling.
And then she raced down the deck steps, each footstep kicking up little arcs of sand as she raced over the beach.
Only the wide-eyed kid, waiting for him to make good on a promise given years earlier, could make him leave her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Parker slid open the portal curtain and blinked into the blackness on the other side of the window. It was hard to tell where the night sky ended and the dark ocean began. The dim cabin lighting reflected the silhouette of a flight attendant whispering up the aisle, to make sure those passengers who wanted to watch the movie had headsets. The drone of the engines all but dissolved the rumbling snores that rippled over the seatback behind them.
“Never have been able to sleep like that on a transcontinental flight,” Dan said, jerking his thumb over one shoulder. He chuckled. “Part of me envies him. The other part wants to shake him awake.”
Parker had always been the same way. In fact, the one and only time he’d slept on an airplane had been the trip from Afghanistan to the hospital in Germany, and he’d only slept then because his attendants had shot him fu
ll of mind-numbing painkillers.
“Your grandmother wants to meet you as soon as we get back.”
He pictured the stylish elderly woman who’d pointed him out in the restaurant. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Just a word to the wise,” Dan said, “she’ll have none of that Isabel nonsense. You’ll call her Grandmom, same as my kids do, or pay the price.”
“What price?”
Laughing, Dan said, “Don’t know. None of us has ever been brave enough to find out.”
“How long has she been in the wheelchair?”
“Going on three years now, and she’ll never let on, but she hates that contraption.”
Parker imagined all sorts of scenarios that might explain why she couldn’t walk. “What’s the reason for it?”
“Congestive heart failure. Doctors give her a year, maybe two.”
“Sorry to hear it.” And he was too, for the loss his father and family would experience when she passed, and for himself, because he’d have so little time to get to know her.
“Dad died of colon cancer last year,” Dan said. “That pretty much took the fight out of her.”
“How long were they married?”
“Sixty-four years.”
Parker couldn’t imagine sharing that much life with someone and then losing them. Might be easier, he thought, to go through it alone. Then he pictured Holly and knew that not even the prospect of losing her could make him go it alone.
“So this woman you’re seeing,” Dan was saying, “when will we meet her?”
“When we get back and Ben has a couple of days to settle in. If I know Holly, she’ll want to have everybody over so he can meet his new family.”
“Right in line with everything else you’ve told me about her.” Dan nodded. “She sounds lovely.”
“Understatement,” Parker said, grinning.
“So what’s the holdup, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Holdup?”
“Why haven’t you asked her to marry you?”
Parker only shrugged, because he could think of a dozen reasons without even trying.
“It’s obvious you’re crazy about her. What else matters?”
“Well, there’s Ben, for one thing. I’m not sure how she’ll feel about having a war orphan thrust into her life. And the whole sudden family thing…” Parker sighed. “The truth is out, and I’m as thankful as all get-out about it. But it doesn’t change what I am.”
“What you are? I’m not following.”
Several terms floated in his head, none of them pleasant.
“If you’re referring to the fact that Maudie and I weren’t married when you were conceived, you can just put that right out of your mind. No one—especially not God—considers you illegitimate.”
No one but me, Parker thought. And what if Holly, whose faith and beliefs in the Almighty were so easy to see, agreed with Parker?
“If she’s everything you say she is, that’ll never even enter her head.” Dan nudged him with an elbow. “And don’t you be a hotheaded young fool and put it into her head.”
“She has a right to know.”
“How much have you told her?”
“She was there when Maude told me. Didn’t seem like there was much to tell after that.”
Dan pursed his lips and then said, “She treats you differently now, is that what you’re saying, than she did before she knew?”
“No. If anything, she’s even sweeter now than…”
“And you’re wondering if all that affection is inspired by pity.”
“Something like that.” Parker harrumphed to himself. Not something like that. Exactly like that.
“Ann and I will celebrate our thirtieth anniversary in a couple of months. Add to that the fact that I’ve been a son for sixty-odd years and the father of a daughter for twenty-eight, and I can tell you with reasonable certainty that women hate it when men presume to know what they’re thinking.” He laughed quietly before adding, “The truth is, we poor slobs don’t have a clue anyway and couldn’t get one if they sold ’em at Sears.” He elbowed Parker again. “So why torture yourself, second-guessing Holly?”
“Just spill the beans, eh?”
“Might as well. What have you got to lose?”
Holly, that’s what.
“If she’s everything you say she is,” Dan repeated, “she’ll welcome the truth. You’re the living, breathing example of what happens when people lie and withhold things. A little fatherly advice?”
Parker nodded.
“Tell her everything. All of it. If we’re wrong, and she isn’t the great girl I think she is, isn’t it better to know it sooner rather than later?”
“Yeah. I suppose.”
“Trust me. Father knows best.”
Yawning, Dan stuffed a little white pillow behind his neck and reclined his seat back. “Try to get some shut-eye, son. That’s what I’m gonna do.” Then he turned off the little overhead light, crossed his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes.
And left Parker with so much to think about that he wondered if he’d sleep, even once he’d tucked Ben safely into bed at the hotel in Germany.
* * * * *
“How’d you figure that out so fast, you little monkey?”
Ben grinned, exposing two brand-new incisors and a gap on either side of them. “It was easy,” he said. He spent the next two minutes explaining to Parker how he’d pulled Holly’s name up on the Internet.
Parker stared at the image of her beside her academic credentials. Ben had asked Parker about his book project, and about his coauthor too. But who knew a nine-year-old could pay such close attention and retain that much information? Grinning, Parker realized that he’d better be a lot more careful about what he told the boy from now on.
“She is quite beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, she sure is.”
“Very easy on the eyes,” Dan agreed.
“What, exactly, is her most pronounced flaw, then?”
Parker didn’t know which struck him hardest—that Ben had become so proficient at English since their time together in Afghanistan, or that Holly was anything short of perfect.
Dan asked the question swimming in Parker’s head: “What makes you think there’s something wrong with her?”
“Well, Granddad, according to her biography, she is thirty years old.” He stared at Holly’s image on the screen. “It would appear that she is ideal.” Meeting Parker’s eyes, he added, “But if that were true, would she not be married?”
Parker nearly blurted out how grateful he was that she hadn’t married. If flaws were the reason, well, Parker was thankful for those too. He spent the next few minutes explaining how Holly had dedicated many years to pursuing a doctorate and many more to securing a position of respect among her peers. With a kid as savvy as this, it probably wasn’t smart to tell Ben about her fiancé’s death. “I’m glad she didn’t find her Prince Charming. If she had, she wouldn’t have been available when I needed help on my book.”
And with my life.
“It seems to me,” Ben said, shutting down the hotel’s computer, “that you and she would both do well to consider marriage now.” He shrugged. “While waiting for you to arrive, I happened to see an episode of Dr. Phil.” He tapped his temple. “He is a very wise man.”
Dan chuckled and Parker grinned.
“According to this man, this Dr. Phil, all children fare better in a two-parent household, but for a boy in my situation, two parents are even more important.”
“A boy in your situation?”
“Yes, Granddad, coming from a country that is riddled with war and losing my own mother and father to—”
Parker wrapped him in a fierce hug and ruffled his thick, dark hair. The action accomplished three things. First, he just loved the boy to pieces and didn’t want him dwelling on that awful part of his past. Second, he figured it couldn’t hurt to show how much he cared, every chance he got. Last,
in this position, Ben couldn’t see his face. A kid that savvy would no doubt read his emotions as easily as he’d read Holly’s bio…
…and know without a doubt that not only did Parker agree with every word, but that he intended to take his advice just as soon as possible.
* * * * *
Holly knew that the main reason it hadn’t been even harder to say good-bye to her family was because she had plenty of work to keep her occupied. She’d spent days trolling the shops and malls for just the right things to decorate Ben’s room. Finally, in a big-box department store, she found everything she’d been looking for.
She’d chosen the room farthest from Parker’s for Ben, partly because it overlooked the ocean, and partly because, in a very few years, Ben would appreciate the added privacy provided by the room at the end of the hall. It took one day to paint the walls and another to give the baseboards and moldings a coat of bright white. At sunset on the eighth day, Holly stood in the doorway to admire striped curtains and plaid bed linens that exactly matched the blue-gray hue of the walls. She’d suspended a dozen model airplanes from fishing line tacked to the ceiling. On the dresser sat a replica of Apollo 13, while pedestal lamps—with shades that would glow with solar-system formations when turned on—stood on the night tables. She’d scoured the house for books that had anything to do with aeronautics and lined them up on the desk, where a Kitty Hawk–shaped lamp would illuminate Ben’s homework. Then, the pièce de résistance, a shelf unit she’d found in the basement, where she’d tidily arranged board games, a yo-yo, a baseball and catcher’s mitt, a small stereo and CDs, and a thirteen-inch color TV.
Maybe it was just as well that she hadn’t thought to ask Ben’s size, because filling the closet and dresser with jeans and shirts and sneakers was something Parker and his newly adopted son should do together.
When she finished Ben’s room, Holly scrubbed the entire house. Stocked the fridge and pantry too. Having grown up with a bunch of burly boy cousins, she thought she knew what sort of meals and snacks a young boy would enjoy. It occurred to her that, having lived so long in a war zone, Ben’s stomach might need time to adjust to mac and cheese, burgers and fries, and ice-cream sandwiches. But she bought them anyway…and hid them behind healthier, easier-to-digest foods so that Parker could introduce them into Ben’s diet a little at a time.
