6. Declan Foster
6
DECLAN FOSTER
I frowned at my phone for what felt like the hundredth time, but frowning did nothing to fix my indecision.
Parker’s last week at Courtland Enterprises was complete, and he was gone, no longer a temporary employee. The fear that had tried to choke me over our potential discovery had dissipated as I’d watched Parker wave good-bye to the friends he’d made in my department.
On his last day, several coworkers had thrown him an impromptu baby shower, blessing him with many gifts fit for the little princess who now owned his life.
That was the thing.
He had a baby now to occupy his free hours. There was no way he still wanted to meet for our sexy nights.
Yet tomorrow was Sunday, and we always got together on Sunday evenings for sex. If one of us wasn’t free, we would text the other.
Parker hadn’t texted me yet. He hadn’t texted me all day. Had he forgotten what day of the week it was? Was he assuming that I would know that our arrangement was at an end because of the new complication in his life?
But what if it wasn’t canceled? People with children still had sex. Maybe not as much as when they didn’t have children, but it was my understanding that they didn’t suddenly become completely sexless creatures after their spawn was born.
The only way to ease my mind was to call him. Texting would only leave me hanging in limbo until he looked at his phone.
Parker answered my call on the second ring, but the shrill cry of sirens and shouting briefly drowned his voice out.
I lurched to my feet as my heart squeezed. “Parker!” I shouted. What the hell was happening? Where was he?
“D-Declan?” Parker’s voice was choked, and his words wobbled as they finally leaked across the line. “Help…”
“Where are you? What’s going on?”
“F-ffire. There’s a fire. My apartment is on fire.”
He’d barely gotten the first word out, and I started moving. I snatched up my wallet and keys before running to the garage. “Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?”
“We’re outside. Near the front gate. We…we went to see Molly’s parents. They fly home today. I wanted to give them a chance to spend time with Joy. But we just got home…the entire building is on fire. I…I don’t know what to do. Declan, I…I don’t know…”
I stopped and grabbed the doorway to steady myself. Relief washed through me so violently that it left me dazed. I shook my head and resumed my trek to my SUV.
“Parker, I’m on my way there. Take Joy away from the apartment complex and out of the sun. I’ll call the moment I get there.”
“O-okay.” There was a long pause that left me feeling like he wanted to say something else. Just as I was about to hang up. Parker added in a soft voice. “Please hurry.”
“I’ll be there as quickly as I can.”
The drive from my house to Parker’s apartment normally took thirty minutes in moderate traffic. Somehow I made it in less than twenty minutes, and the entire drive was a blur. My brain kept replaying the sound of Parker’s lost and fractured voice as he was trying to remain pulled together, but it had seemed as if holes were forming in his resolve with every passing second. I needed to get there and help him. If the fire was as bad as it sounded, he stood to lose all his personal possessions on top of losing his best friend just a couple of weeks ago.
No, he couldn’t be left alone any longer than necessary.
I parked as close as I could to the apartment complex. It was a compound of two dozen buildings ringed by a series of parking lots for the residents. Trees surrounded the grounds, but that summer greenery did nothing to hide the black smoke billowing into the sky, blotting out the sun. Dozens of people crowded the sidewalk, watching from a safe distance as at least one building burned. Judging by the amount of smoke pouring out, I was inclined to believe the fire had spread to at least one other building, if not more.
As I started toward the entrance to the complex, I pulled my phone out to call Parker but stopped as soon as I spotted him at the edge of the crowd under an oak tree. Joy was in his arms as he rocked her. Her little carrier seat was on the ground next to Parker, along with her travel bag. The baby looked fine as far as I could tell, but Parker was frighteningly pale as his wide eyes remained locked on the smoke.
I needed to get him out of here immediately.
“Parker!” I shouted as soon as I was within a few feet of him.
His head jerked around, and it appeared to take him an extra moment to recognize me, but when he did, a wounded sound broke from his throat that crushed my heart. He took a step in my direction and a heartbeat later, I was wrapping him up in my arms, supporting him as his legs gave out.
“It’s gone. Everything is gone. All my work. All Joy’s clothes. Her bed. All the things Molly picked out for her. All gone,” he cried into my chest, his tears soaking into my shirt.
I tightened my arm on his waist while settling the other closer to Joy to make sure she was still secure. The baby made disgruntled sounds as if Parker’s tears were scaring her.
What was I supposed to say? It would be all right? Trite bullshit. Parker didn’t need useless platitudes that were fucking lies. It wasn’t going to be all right. Sure, they could buy new things for Joy, but they wouldn’t be the things her now-dead mother had bought for her. Parker could make new art, but it would never replace the art that he’d lost.
There was nothing I could say, so I wordlessly supported him as he cried on my chest, hating that he was going through this pain. It was only as Joy’s crying grew in volume that Parker pulled himself together.
He roughly rubbed red eyes. I released him so I could pull a linen handkerchief out of my pocket and offer it to him.
A teary, sniffling laugh escaped him as he took it and mopped up his face. “Do you have an endless supply of these?”
“No, but I’m glad I have one ready for you.”
Parker gave a jerky nod and turned his attention to Joy as he stuffed the soiled handkerchief into the pocket of his cargo shorts.
“We should leave. It’s warm and it can’t be good for her to be breathing in this air,” I said.
Parker frowned and turned his attention to the fire. “But…won’t I need to talk to someone? For insurance or…something…”
I picked up Joy’s chair and shouldered the bag with the elephant. “No. They are going to be fighting this fire for hours to come. Nothing is going to be figured out today, except for those who need housing aid after being displaced. Come home with me so you can both rest. You can make the necessary phone calls tomorrow. ”
As I started walking to my car, Parker didn’t follow. He remained locked in place, his expression twisted up.
“But…you don’t want us at your house. We can’t impose on you like that.”
That was a ridiculous statement. If I didn’t want Parker and Joy in my home, I would have offered to put them up in a hotel. No, this made the most sense. I wouldn’t be able to watch over Parker if he was in a hotel.
“Is this her car seat?” I inquired, holding up the chair by the handle.
Parker blinked at me as if he were struggling to understand my change of topic. “Um…part of it. It needs a base to lock into. That’s in my car.”
I walked to Parker and put the chair on the ground. “Where is your car?”
“Just down the block. We couldn’t get any closer.” He pointed at the opposite end of the street.
“Very well. Allow Joy to rest in her chair. She and I will wait here for you to go fetch the base so we can properly install it in my car.”
Parker hesitated, his arms tightening on the baby. I gripped his shoulder and squeezed tense muscles. “I promise to protect her with my life. Nothing will happen to her. I’m sending you because it would be faster than me going. I’m driving because your concentration is shot. It’s safer if I drive,” I added, hoping to head off any additional arguments.
The confident man who had regularly taken pleasure in my torment was a fragile shell right now. The slightest thing could shatter him. His brain was clearly spinning its wheels in useless circles. Later, he could shout about my bossiness, but right now he needed someone in control.
After a couple of deep breaths, he placed a fussy Joy in her chair and secured her with the straps. He shot me a last warning look and took off at a dead run. I followed him with my eyes for a bit before turning my attention to the baby staring at me.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be right back. We’re going somewhere much quieter and calmer. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”
To my shock, Joy busted out in a wide toothless grin. Did she recognize my voice? It couldn’t be that she’d understood what I said.
“Do you want to ride in my car?” I inquired. “It will be a very smooth drive. I am a very safe driver.”
This time, she squealed and waved her hands, her smile still shining brightly on her chubby face.
Maybe she did like my voice. Or at least recognized it from the office. That was hard to believe, though. We’d met only that one time. The next day, her fever had been gone, and she’d resumed daycare for the rest of Parker’s time at Courtland. But it was a nice idea that she might appreciate the sound of my voice.
A minute later, Parker jogged up with a black plastic thing under his arm and another bag slung over his shoulder. It appeared as if it might contain more things for Joy.
“She smiled at me,” I announced the moment Parker joined us. My chest might have been puffed up at this news, and my chin might have risen with pride. I hadn’t seen her smiling at any of the other people.
“What?” Parker gasped.
“Yes. We were talking, and she smiled at me.”
A shaky grin spread across Parker’s lips as he looked down at me. “You were talking, huh?”
I lifted her chair and hooked the handle on the inside of my elbow as I led the way to my SUV. Parker followed closely, Joy’s bag on his shoulder. “I believe she likes the sound of my voice. She smiled at me.”
“Well, maybe she knows the sound of a superhero when she hears one,” he teased.
I spun my face away from Parker and gazed straight ahead, my attention on reaching the car while trying to ignore the burning sensation that was creeping into my cheeks.
“Holy shit,” Parker whispered. I was about to ask what his curse was for, but the tip of his finger brushed the corner of my lips. “You’re smiling.”
“What?” I snapped, jerking my head away from his hand.
“I saw it. You smiled.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m not. You smiled. I’ve known you for almost a year, and I have never once seen you smile. At least not until today.” Parker huffed out a laugh that sounded a little bitter. “Fucking weird day.”
Thankfully, I briefly took his mind off my so-called smile and all the other chaos at the car. He worked on getting the base for the car seat set and then got Joy properly secured in the car while I put the bags in the trunk. Parker elected to sit in the seat beside Joy rather than up front with me.
A blessed silence fell over the car as the doors were closed and I pulled us out into traffic. The air conditioning was turned up high to chase away the stifling heat that had settled in while the car was parked. Parker didn’t speak for a long time, and I thought that he might have drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the day’s ordeal.
He finally broke the silence, his voice low and weary. “Thank you. When you called today, I’m sure you weren’t expecting to have your hands full with me and a baby.”
That much was true, but I couldn’t say that I wasn’t glad that I had called. Would Parker have reached out to me for help? Where would he have turned? The only friend I’d ever heard him mention was Molly, and she was gone now. That didn’t mean he was utterly friendless, but I was glad that I could step up to help him.
“I promise we’ll be out of your hair by tomorrow morning. I just need a night to wrap my head around things, make a game plan for what to do next. Then?— ”
“Shut up,” I growled.
“What?”
I glanced in the rearview mirror to see that he’d perked up from where he’d been leaning against the window.
“You’re talking nonsense. You can’t be nonsensical right now. Joy should be the most important thing on your mind. I have plenty of room for you and Joy to stay in my home for as long as you wish. There’s no need for you to rush away. Not until you’re ready.”
“Seriously? Why are you doing this? We’re barely ‘friends’ with benefits,” he demanded, lifting his hands to make the air quotes with his fingers.
I chewed on the inside of my mouth for a second, considering possible answers. My first choice was to say that he needed help, and I wanted to help him, but some voice in my head argued that Parker would never believe that.
“What if we removed the quotes from friends? Would you believe it then? Besides, you’re the one who pointed out that we’ve known each other for nearly a year. It’s not like I’m a stranger.”
Parker snorted. “You are a stranger to me in a lot of ways.”
Sadly, he had a good point. We’d shared very few personal details about our lives, despite having sex regularly. I knew a lot of things about Parker, but most of them couldn’t be repeated in polite conversation.
“But I know you, and you’ve done a lot for Joy. We’ll stay…for a little while. Just until I get things sorted out.”
“Don’t worry. If I tire of having you and a baby in my home, I will tell you.”
A soft chuckle escaped Parker, followed by a sigh. “I totally believe that.”