Chapter 3
Sky had put him to bed in the man cave on a recliner the second he walked in the door.
He hadn’t even had lunch.
Just, “Here. Bed. You look exhausted. We’ll talk when you get up.”
It’d been weird but, to be honest, he’d been awake for so long, he just crashed.
He woke up to little Sierra patting his cheeks. “Uncle, wake up! Papa is cooking.”
He cracked one eye open. “Papa or Pappy?”
She giggled softly, and he hugged her, tickling her gently. “Papa.”
“Good because Pappy should not be cooking.”
“Oh, you’ll make Pappy cry.” She grinned at him. “Papa’s making ’chiladas. Chicken ones.”
Oh. They were going to be so good. He hadn’t eaten real food in days. Truck-stop and fast-food burgers were not Sky’s enchiladas. His mouth was already watering. “Best I get up then, huh?” He should help. He needed to help so he felt like he wasn’t a mooch.
He pretended to let Sierra haul him out of the recliner, groaning at how stiff he was.
There was laughter from the other room, one of the voices so deep and resonant he knew it couldn’t be Sky or Beck. Didn’t sound like any cowboy he knew either. Shit, he wasn’t company ready. He tucked his shirt in and ran his hand through his hair.
“Who’s here, Bug?”
“Heath.”
“Do I know Heath?” he asked.
She shrugged. “He works with Pappy.”
Oh, so Parker didn’t know him. He really wasn’t the kind of person Beck introduced to other lawyers.
“So there I was, hip waders up to my chin standing in three feet of water and—” Beck looked up as he and Sierra shuffled into the room. “Hey, look who’s up.”
“I told him Papa was cooking.” Sierra seemed proud of herself.
“Thank you. Come here and give Pappy a kiss, baby girl.”
Sierra darted over and leapt into Beck’s arms. “Pappy! Pappy, I love you!”
Charlie rolled her eyes with all the drama of a ten-year-old going on forty. “Uncle Parker, hey, we only have one more day of school until Christmas break.”
“I bet you’re happy. Vacation for the win, right?” He was the cool uncle, he didn’t have to be all pro-school, right?
Charlie nodded. “Oh, yes, so happy. So tired of school. I just wanna go out and ride horses. Instead, I have to learn how to do stupid division.”
“Division is very useful when you have to split everything by three.” Beck gave her a look and, boy, did she give him one right back.
“Three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen, twenty-one—”
“Okay, okay.” Beck laughed.
She stuck out her tongue. “I want to divide my time between hiking out in the mountains and barrel racing. Right, Papa?”
“Yes, my girl. You are my cowgirl, but you have to know your multiplication and division and how to read. It’s important.” Sky winked at Parker. “Otherwise, how do you run your own event?”
“Fine. Two times two is four, four times four…”
Beck pounced on her and started tickling, and she screeched and giggled.
“Not in the kitchen, buttheads.” Sky shooed them out and Beck dragged Charlie toward the couch. It was an open floor plan, so they didn’t go far, just out of harm’s way. “Heath, this is Parker. Parker is a bull riding buddy. Parker, Heath is Beck’s business partner.”
“Good to meet you.” Heath held up a beer and nodded to him, deep voice filling the room. Heath wasn’t all that tall, but he seemed to take up a lot of space—the voice, the solid build and broad shoulders, and a big smile framed with a neatly-trimmed beard.
“Pleased.” He nodded over, smiled. Pretty, pretty. “It’s really good to meet you. Noah, dude, where are you?”
A little boy came barreling across the room, Legos falling from his lap. “Uncle Parker, you’re awake! Dad said not to bother you, and I didn’t, so I get a gold star on my chart!”
Charlie rolled her eyes. “On his chart.”
“Charlie,” Skyler snapped, arching an eyebrow and glaring at her.
To her credit, she backed right down. “Sorry, Papa.”
“Deathtraps.” Behind her, Beck was already picking up the Legos.
Heath glanced at him, making small talk. “What brings you up to snowy Vermont?”
“I found myself at loose ends for the holiday, and I was missing my best friends, right, Charlie?”
Charlie nodded, grinning over at him. “You needed a soft place to land.”
Oh, such a smart, smart girl.
“I did. Thanks for letting me come over.”
“We didn’t let you; you’re always invited.” Beck wandered back to his beer and picked it up. “Parker is basically family.”
“That’s cool.” Heath glanced at him and then looked at Sky. “Skyler, dinner smells amazing.”
“Green chile and cheese are two of the things that make the world go ’round.” Skyler nodded to him. “You feel better after your nap?”
“I’m nowhere near as sleepy.” Feeling better? Eh.
“Long drive?” Heath asked him. “They can really wear you out.”
“Yeah, I came up from Oklahoma, so it was a long day.” It had been a damn long day that had started as a damn long night. He didn’t want to get into it with a stranger.
Hell, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to get into it at all. He just wanted to lick his wounds and be here, surround himself with people who were happy.
Sky gave him a sidelong look but thankfully didn’t ask in front of Heath either.
“Well, please. Don’t feel like you have to be polite or social on my account. That sounds like quite a trip.”
Parker detected no lies, but he intended to find his center here, get his mind in the middle. “It was a trip, but it’s over. And I’m here, and I’m happy, and there’s going to be enchiladas.”
“I know I’m looking forward to them. It’s my first time here for dinner. Isn’t that funny?” Heath shrugged. “We’ve been business partners for years, but we always go out.”
“That’s because we leave the kids home for grownup social engagements.” Beck leaned on the counter near Sky. Close without quite being in the way, like two people who love each other get. “It’s tough to have people here unless they’re ready for family time.”
“Good thing for y’all, I’m always ready for family time.” Parker loved these babies, and he wanted a family, friends. He missed riding, he missed being with all those cowboys.
“Good thing.” Beck gave him a follow-me wave. “Come on, Park, let’s set the table.”
“You know it.” Four adults, three little ones—that was seven plates and seven forks. Bingo.
Beck put out placemats, and he found the plates without having to ask where they were. He’d been here so many times that everything was familiar.
“So… Oklahoma to Vermont is about seventeen hundred miles, give or take. I looked it up. That’s more than a day of straight driving, right?”
“Yeah. It was a long one.” His shoulders started to creep up around his shoulders. Beck was too smart for his own good.
“You want to talk about it?” Beck was keeping busy, not looking at him, just setting the table and acting like he was just making conversation.
“Mom threw me out. Like all the way. So I’m… here.” There wasn’t a better way to put it, really. My mom hates me. Hi.
That stopped Beck, who looked over at him this time. “Well, fuck. I’m sorry, Park. Sky has told me a little about your mom and… how she is. You came to the right place though. We’ve got your back.”
“Thank you. I didn’t want to spend Christmas in my truck. I knew y’all would have room for me here.”
“Well, actually, Park, about that.” Beck turned and looked at him.
“We are down a room right now. There was a leak and we had to fix… some stuff, and Sky is painting…would you be terribly hurt if I asked you to stay with Heath for a little while? He has a house not too far and extra room and—I mean, you can come here any time of course and play with the kids or whatever you want, but we’ve got pretty tight quarters right now. ”
His lips actually parted. Oh. Oh God. He hadn’t even considered there wouldn’t be room for him. “I’ll go get a hotel room. No worries.”
“Oh. No, no. Sky would never allow that, and you know it. Heath is a good guy; I’ve known him a long time. Maybe just try it out until we get the room put back together? It won’t take too long. We’re really sorry; you know this isn’t how we want things. You’re always welcome here.”
“Are you sure he won’t be put out? I don’t want to impose on a stranger.”
“Heath? Oh, as soon as I told him our predicament, he offered right away. He knows you’re not a stranger. You’re family. You’ll like him once you get to know him a little better. You guys will get along great.”
“Oh. Well, if he doesn’t mind, but I can get a hotel room. Honest.” He didn’t know what to do, to be truthful.
“He doesn’t. We’ve worked together a long time, and he’s happy to do us the favor. No worries. And I promise as soon as Sky is done fixing things up, the room is yours. Okay?”
“All right. If it’s all good. Only if.” Parker just wanted to be… welcome, dammit.
“Of course it’s all good. We’re always here for you, Park. You know that.” Beck handed him a handful of forks.
“Yeah, but there’s a difference between here for me and bothering some guy I don’t know.” And that was the truth. He didn’t want to put anybody out, just wanted to believe he was part of something.
“Yeah, I hear you. I really don’t think it’s a bother, but I get it. How about you just try it out, and if it doesn’t work, then we’ll figure out something else. Okay? No stress.”
“Okay, no stress. I do want to help with Christmas. I have stuff in the truck for the kids.” Quite a bit of it actually. Money wasn’t one of his problems.
“You’re the best uncle they have.” Beck clapped him on the shoulder. “You good finishing up here? I need to check on Heath.”
“I can totally set the table without help, and if I need help, Charlie will come.” He had no doubt.
Beck snorted. “Knowing Charlie, she would put forks under everybody’s seat so that they would jump when they sat down. She’s in her naughty nine-ten-eleven whatever however long it’s going to last phase.”
“Oh, I know that one. I’ll let you know when I’m past it.”
“It’s too late for you.” Beck laughed and shook his head as he left the dining room. “Thanks for your help, Park.”
He sighed and set the table, humming “Jingle Bells” as he worked.