Chapter 43 Alexander
Alexander
ALEX
I don’t want that role. I have other things I want to focus on.
I shouldn’t be surprised when my phone lights up with my agent’s name.
“Hey, Isaac.”
“Starring in that movie will catapult you into a stardom the likes of which the world has never seen. You have to do it.”
“I don’t want stardom the likes of which the world has never seen. Whatever that means. And like I said, I have other things I’m focused on in my career and my personal life.”
I hear him sigh over the phone. “You’re sure? I have to let them know tomorrow.”
“I’m sure.”
He sounds a bit defeated when he speaks. “Well, what is this you’re working on for your career? Can I help in any way?”
I fill him in on my project and we make a rough plan. It feels good to have him in on my screenplay. He may get overenthusiastic about things, like wanting me to take that role, but he’s a great agent.
I end the call and find a text waiting from Mrs. Parker.
REBECCA PARKER
We decided to close the restaurant.
I call her.
“Hello?”
“You can’t just drop that sort of news in a text.”
“Hello, Alex. How are you, dear?”
I grin. “I’m sorry. I’m doing very well. I hope you both are.”
“We are. We’re excited. Do you know how difficult it is to take a vacation or even just relax when you own and operate a restaurant?”
I hear Mr. Parker in the background. “I’ve told her for years we need to hire a manager.”
“I couldn’t trust anyone else to do things the way I want. But anyway, this Saturday is our last day. And we already have two prospective buyers. Apparently, we are in a highly desirable location.”
I’m hit with a crazy idea. “Would you like to take a trip with me? I’m going to North Carolina next week. I’d like your opinion on something.”
“To see Ivy? My opinion is yes!”
I laugh. “Your opinion on Ivy or your opinion on going?”
“Both.”
“Alright.” I chuckle. “I want your opinion on something I’m considering buying. I’m coming to eat later, and I’ll fill you in.”
“Alex, this is too much.” This was at least the fourth time Mrs. Parker has said something of that nature. She’s taking her seat beside me in first class, with Mr. Parker just across the aisle. I’d asked her to sit with me to avoid sitting with a stranger.
“Not for you, it’s not,” I remind her. They had become my family without me realizing it, and I was going to treat them to anything they’d let me.
“I think this seat is more comfortable than my recliner,” Mr. Parker says with a laugh.
We’re on the red-eye, so once the flight is at altitude and everyone is settled, the cabin lights dim. I’m happy to see both Parkers asleep within minutes. Did they take something? I didn’t think it was possible to fall asleep so quickly on a plane.
I’m sure I won’t sleep at all, until five minutes later when I’m startled awake by an announcement stating we will be beginning our descent into Charlotte. I guess I did sleep, and sleep hard.
“There you are,” Mrs. Parker says. “I was afraid you’d be too excited to sleep.”
“I was too.”
“Have any particularly pleasant dreams?” she asks with a grin and raised eyebrows.
“Not that I know of, but I’m heading toward one. At least I hope I am.”
Mrs. Parker places her hand on my knee. “She’d be a fool not to see you and jump right into your arms.”
We’re met by a car at a discreet exit for high-profile passengers, then I drive us west. Mountains come into view in the distance as we near Ivy’s town. It’s peaceful out here. Certainly different from the places I’ve lived. I can see why she likes it.
I pull out my phone and aim it at my face to unlock it, then hand it to Mrs. Parker. “Will you text Micah and tell him we will be there in five minutes?”
“Sure.”
Minutes later, we pull in front of a white farmhouse with a wraparound porch, surrounded by huge trees.
Micah is running a few minutes behind us, so we hop out and walk around outside, eager to stretch our legs.
We walk through a gate into the backyard, where we find a pool surrounded by beautiful, almost tropical-looking plants.
It reminds me of my mum’s plants around our pool in London.
“Hey, Alexander!” Micah calls as he steps into the backyard.
“Micah! Good to see you.” I walk toward him and shake his hand, then make introductions.
“It’s hot out. Let’s get inside,” Micah suggests.
“Lead the way.”
Ivy’s restaurant opens tomorrow, and it’s torture being in her town without seeing her, but I really want to surprise her at the opening.
I want to tour the town, but instead, the Parkers and I have visited everywhere within a half-hour drive. I need a distraction today, though. My patience has worn thin.
“Remember that sign we saw for tubing in Saluda? We could go do that,” I suggest, sitting down in a chair in the Parkers’ room in our bed and breakfast.
“We didn’t bring swimsuits. And I’m not sure tubing is for us. We aren’t athletes.”
I eye the couple who have spent their adult lives on their feet moving around within their restaurant. They may not be athletes, but they’re plenty spry.
“I’m pretty sure tubing is for anyone who can get in a tube and swim if needed. It’s not rapids, just a gentle float.”
We stop at my first ever Walmart and buy swimwear. I smile, remembering Ivy teasing me and my five-pack of underwear in that store near Dover. She’d have something to say about my palm-frond-covered swimming trunks.
I wear sunglasses and a hat. To my knowledge I’m not recognized once as I float down the Green River in a tube tied to Mrs. Parker.
Mr. Parker is on her other side. There are plenty of people on the water, but it doesn’t feel crowded.
I’m filled with peace as I lie on my back and watch the sky and trees pass by.
Tomorrow will be good. Tomorrow will change my life. I’m going to hold my future in my arms.
“Alex,” Mrs. Parker says.
“Hmm?”
“I think you should call us something other than Mr. and Mrs. Parker.”
I turn my head toward them both and I speak words, not really knowing they’re coming out of my mouth. “You could go ahead and choose grandparent names; you’ll need them eventually.”
I can tell Granny Parker wants to tackle me in a hug but doesn’t want to take a dive into the water, so I reach over and squeeze her hand.
“I’ve got some good ideas,” she says, and her husband grins.