Chapter Twenty-Two
I didn’t have a chance to see Parker before he left for San Francisco.
Between my deadline for Adagio and his launch parties for the Rangers campaign, neither of us could find the time to meet.
According to his Instagram, he seems to be having a blast in California—even stopping to show his boat some love.
I didn’t think that November on San Francisco Bay would be prime time for sailing, but with sheer will and weather-proof gear, apparently there’s nothing Parker Tran can’t do.
I, on the other hand, am not on glistening water, but I am on the West Coast. After a last-minute change of plans, I’ve ended up in Silverpine on Thanksgiving morning.
Dad strained his back while moving a new couch, and since he couldn’t make the trip to New York anymore, I hopped on the first flight out.
Now, normally, I’d never risk being in my hometown for a major holiday, but since I don’t have to avoid Parker, I can breathe easy.
Besides, he isn’t here. He’s probably hitting the golf course with some pro athlete again.
Or on another bike trail along the Golden Gate with the NorCal friends he’s always posting to his stories, all of whom look like they take wheatgrass shots without gagging and wake up smiling at five a.m. for sunrise yoga.
The Uber I’d taken from the Portland International Airport rolls up to my house a little past ten a.m. Still groggy from the unplanned flight, I haul my luggage out of the trunk and slam it shut. As the Uber drives off, I yelp at the face that suddenly appears before me.
“Welcome home, Dani!” C? flings her arms wide, her fresh perm catching the wind.
I hadn’t heard her approach, thanks to the spongy hot pink Crocs on her feet.
I let her pull me in for a long hug. It’s been over two years since I was last home, and I hadn’t exactly gone out of my way to see her then. A pang of remorse hits me in the gut.
“Good to see you, C?!”
She squeezes my arms. “Tr?i oi, you’re so skinny now! Do you eat enough in New York?”
“All three meals. Sometimes four.” I wipe the sleep from my eyes and try to muster a smile. “How have you been?”
“Oh, you know, same old! Open the store, close the store. I come home and watch K-dramas. Sometimes I even watch at the pharmacy too.” She places a finger to her lips as she lets me in on her little secret. “Chú says I’m getting lazy, so I signed up for Jumba class. I go every Friday!”
I think she means Zumba.
“I can tell. You look great,” I say, and she brightens with a modest giggle.
Parker looks like both of his parents—he definitely got his height from his dad, but he has his mother’s smile.
C? holds my face with both hands. Her rings are ice cold, zapping the sleep out of my system. “I can’t believe it! All the kids are home for Thanksgiving! When was the last time? Almost seven years ago?”
My arms tense at my sides. My mouth falls open, and I hesitate before asking, “I’m sorry—did you say all the kids?”
She swiftly turns without answering and scampers over to her front door.
Whipping it open, she calls out, “Nathan! Bi?u! Come say hi to Dani!” C? beckons me over, and I take reluctant strides, wheeling my luggage up the driveway as my mind scrambles to make sense of how Parker isn’t in San Francisco right now. Surely, she didn’t mean all the kids.
It’s a moment before I hear footsteps, and sure enough, Parker steps out of the house, looking just as confused as I am.
We lock eyes, and he makes a beeline towards me.
“I thought you were in San Francisco,” I say, a hand shooting to my hair. I attempt to flatten the strays into some kind of order.
“I was, for a couple days. But then I thought I should come home for Thanksgiving.” He glances at my luggage. “Aren’t you supposed to be in New York?”
“I had to come here because my dad couldn’t fly. Didn’t you see him?”
He shakes his head. “I got in pretty late last night. Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. He just strained his back.” I watch Parker’s face change as we register in unison what this means. “I can’t believe we’re both in Silverpine at the same time.”
I look over at C?. She stands a short distance away, observing this unforeseen reunion and holding a hand gingerly over her mouth. Her face suggests that this is not the son she was expecting to come running down the stairs. “You two are talking again.”
Parker scratches his head. “Má, did you know Dani was coming back home?”
“Of course! Her dad told me yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you mention it?”
“You never ask about Dani! You two just ignore each other, you’re always like that,” she spouts, pointing brashly at us. “What happened, con? Did you see each other in New York?”
“Yeah, we’ve sort of . . . made peace.”
“Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me?” C? slaps Parker’s arm, and her shock gives way to a different kind of outburst. She looks positively elated. “You’ve made peace? Cái gì? What does that mean?”
“We’ve been hanging out,” I say at the same time that Parker answers, “We’re just hanging.”
The smile on C?’s face stretches to her eyes, and she makes a small noise of buzzing excitement.
My conscience doesn’t allow me to prolong eye contact, and I drop my gaze to my sneakers.
I can’t face her right now—not when I know that the things her son and I do behind closed doors would make her weep.
A memory sneaks up on me—Parker behind me, a fistful of my hair in his hand, while I’m on all fours.
He had lowered himself until his mouth was at my ear and whispered, You feel fucking amazing.
Just as I’m forcing the thought out of my head with an imaginary freight train, Nathan emerges from the house and joins us in the driveway.
I haven’t seen him since our visits overlapped four years ago.
After grad school, Nathan settled permanently in Philadelphia, where he’s been working as an architect.
It looks like he’s ditched the glasses now, and he’s grown his hair out into a wavy mane that nearly reaches his shoulders.
He stoops for a hug. “Dani! It’s been forever!”
“When did you get back from Philly?” I take in his features from up close. I guess it’s true that men peak in their thirties. Does that mean Parker is going to get better looking too? I’m annoyed just thinking about it.
“A couple days ago. The firm let me off early this year.”
“Nathan! It’s unbelievable!” C? taps his side frantically, small bursts that nearly jostle his large frame. “Parker and Dani are friends again!”
“Wait, seriously?”
Parker just sighs. “Were you expecting us to fight forever?”
Nathan casts a skeptical look at me, his suspicion lingering long enough for me to clock it. I return a tight-lipped smile—let’s not get into it now—and he nods in understanding.
C? is still beside herself with joy, her smile never waning. “Dani, we have so much catching up to do. I want to hear everything. But first, go home! See your father. Parker! Take her bag! Dani flew all the way from New York, so she’s tired.”
“Oh, he doesn’t need to do that—”
“Sure,” Parker cuts me off, grabbing my travel bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He doesn’t look back as he passes by me, and I trail behind him with my luggage.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Silverpine?” he asks as we step up to the porch of my house.
“It happened so suddenly, I literally bought my ticket last night,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?”
“I figured you weren’t going to be here, so it wasn’t worth mentioning,” Parker responds. “You usually spend the holidays in New York, right?”
I nod. I guess after years of carefully scheduled visits and avoiding all peak-season stretches, he was bound to notice.
Parker angles his head to look me square in the eyes. “You don’t seem too bothered by all this. Don’t tell me you’re actually happy to run into me.”
I sneer at him, “You’re about to look my dad in the eye after fucking his only daughter on top of a dresser last week. If I were you, I’d wipe that smug look off your face.”
His complacent grin fades, dying quietly on the porch.
I unlock the door and step past the foyer, breathing in the unchanging scent of my childhood home, now layered with a faint whiff of new leather.
Dad gets the urge to redecorate every so often, but I always put up a fight to keep things as they are.
I’m the type to leave an old high school raincoat on the coatrack, while he swaps out the rug according to his mood.
(It’s fluffy and creamy white now.) The current state of the house is clearly a blend of our preferences.
Along with the couch, I spot a brandnew lamp too.
But I know that if I opened the bottom drawers in my room, I’d still find all of Mom’s keepsakes—her VHS collection arranged in tidy piles and the little music box that plays “Moon River.”
“I haven’t been here in years,” Parker says.
I shout into the space, “Dad, I’m home!”
“I’ll get the tea started. How’s oolong?
” Dad strolls in from the kitchen with a hand on his back, but he comes to a halt once he sees Parker next to me.
The splatter of grays in his hair is more obvious than it was the last time I saw him.
He looks a little worse for wear, and it makes my chest tighten, but I chalk it up to the back injury.
“Parker! What a surprise!”
“Hey, Mr. Tsai. How’s your back?”
“Better, thanks to the heating pad your dad lent me,” he says, his wary eyes darting between us. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just bringing this in for Dani.” Parker gestures to the bag on his shoulder. “Do you want this in your room?”
“No,” I’m quick to say, because I can’t think of anything more horrifying than Parker setting foot in my teenage bedroom. “You can leave it here, thanks.”
“Sorry, I’m confused,” Dad inserts. “You two are talking again?”
I suppose we’ll be explaining this all weekend.
I can’t really blame them. It’s as if Professor X and Magneto showed up on their front lawns, denounced the mutant war, and declared they were best friends again.
Only that would actually make more sense; at least everyone knew what they were fighting about.
To my knowledge, only Nathan knows what went down eight years ago.
Whenever Dad asks about that Christmas, I just say I don’t want to talk about it.
“Dani!” C? exclaims as she rushes through the doorway behind us. When she eyes Dad bending at the waist, she gives him a disapproving shake of her head. “Next time ask for help, and I’ll send Nathan or Parker. You’re old now; you’re not invincible anymore.”
Dad waves a finger at the scene by his front door. “Did you know about these two?”
“I just found out, too! It’s a Thanksgiving miracle!
” She shakes me by the shoulders. C? is two inches shorter than me, but her strong hands makes me feel like a limp noodle.
“Dani, I have a perfect idea. Your dad can’t cook with his back in so much pain.
You two should come over. I’ll make your favorite cha giò, and we’ll celebrate everyone finally being home. It’ll be one big reunion!”
My mouth drops slowly, and I look to Parker for help.
I’m not sure I can sit at a table for two hours with our parents, all eager to know what happened in New York.
I’m tense just thinking about having to lie on the spot while simultaneously trying to swat away every inappropriate thought about Parker.
Even with all the commotion, I haven’t been able to ignore how tasty he looks with a bit of bed head.
He reads my panic—and thankfully nothing else—and says, “Má, they probably already have plans—”
“Actually, that sounds great!” Dad exclaims as he hobbles over. “I was planning to order in, but nothing off a menu can top your cooking. Thank you, Linh!”
C? mutters something to Parker in Vietnamese and slaps his arm again before darting out the door.
I lean towards him. “Hi, um, can you stop this from happening?”
“You know how much my mom loves a dinner party.” He flinches, rubbing his upper arm. “I’m as powerless as you are.”