Chapter 24 #2
red hair. And the same big eyes as Alice, only hers were green. It was the woman he’d encountered at his mom’s book signing.
Nola introduced her as “My daughter Scarlet.”
The avenging sister. Parker didn’t smile.
Which made them even because she didn’t smile at him, either. “You are so lucky my husband came to his senses,” she informed
him. “Otherwise, I would have had to hire a hit man. I should have after the way you made a fool of my sister.”
Here they went again. Jay owed Parker free beer for life for all the aggravation he’d caused with that stunt.
“For the millionth time, I wasn’t the one who made that meme,” he said irritably. “Guess you can’t say the same about the
picture of me with my mom. I really like being made to look like a boy toy.”
A corner of her mouth lifted in a satisfied smirk. “You deserved it the way you bullied Alice.”
“Yeah, well, my mom didn’t. And to succeed at bullying the victim has to be weak,” he added. “Your sister is anything but.”
Scarlet responded to that with a snort of disgust.
“I thought you’d be working,” Nola said in an effort to divert her daughter’s attention.
“Lunch break. Mark and I have a counseling session,” Scarlet said to her mother.
Mark. Ah, yes. “The guy who led the strike.”
Scarlet pointed a finger at him. “No, you led the strike.”
“I wasn’t even there,” Parker protested. Unless you counted him showing up to see it all unravel. “That was not my doing.”
“We’re putting that behind us,” said Nola. “Did you need something?” she asked Scarlet.
Scarlet shrugged. “Just came in to say hi and get the next book for book club before I pick up Mark.”
“Parker can help you,” Nola said with a wicked smile. Then to Uncle Jerome, “I could use a lunch break. Let me get my coat.”
“I could use a break, period,” Parker grumbled.
“I’ll be happy to oblige,” Scarlet said.
“Maybe Bettina should help you,” he suggested.
Bettina’s voice soared over to them from behind one of the movable shelves. “I’m busy.”
Parker ground his teeth. “What book are you looking for?”
“Hot to Handle.” Her raised chin dared him to say anything about her reading choice.
“I’ll put on my asbestos gloves and get it for you,” he said. “Who’s it by?”
“You could look it up in the computer but that’s probably more than you can manage,” she sniped.
Nola was back. “Be nice,” she scolded as she pulled on her gloves. Then she waltzed out the door with Uncle Jerome, who had been enjoying the exchange way too much. Whatever happened to male solidarity?
Parker went to the computer and looked up the author’s name, just to prove he could. Amanda Wilson. A nice normal name. He
went to a shelf and fetched the book. The cover featured a headless male body, stacked, of course. The hands were ready to
start unzipping the low-riding jeans. There would definitely be some heat leaking out of this book.
He returned with it and started to ring it up.
“Don’t forget the fifteen percent family discount,” she said.
“Family discount,” he repeated, and finished the transaction.
“I don’t need a bag,” she said, and snatched the book. She gave him the same kind of smile her mother specialized in. “If
you want to read it when I’m done let me know. You might learn something.”
“Thanks for the offer,” he said with a frown. “Have a good day. Good luck with the counseling.” She’d need it.
She tossed her hair, then flounced out of the store.
Bettina came back into view. Naturally, now that his latest torture session had ended. “Scarlet’s your number one fan,” she
joked.
“Haha.”
Next in was his mom, offering to take him out for lunch.
“I shouldn’t leave,” he said. “Nola just went to lunch.”
“I already ate. I can manage things here,” Bettina offered.
Bettina being nice to him? What was that about? Was she sick?
“I get a break from my torture session?” he joked.
“You’re messed up. You need to spend more time with your mother,” Bettina informed him, and she wasn’t joking.
“Thanks, Bettina,” his mom said, giving the other woman a wink. “Come on, Parker. Harry’s waiting.”
Harry’s Beach House was one of the hottest restaurants on Alki Beach, and he loved their clam chowder, so he didn’t turn down
the offer. Of course, she’d reserved a window seat so they could enjoy looking out at the water. Unlike Parker, she didn’t
have a water view from her condo on Queen Anne, but she liked the location, which was right near her other favorite bookstore,
Queen Anne Book Company. The old building the condo was in had once been a high school and he had to admit, the condos in
there were impressive. But nothing beat being on the beach, even when gray skies hugged the waterline.
As soon as they’d placed their orders she started pumping him on how his experience in the bookstore was going.
“Other than the fact they hate me?”
“Oh, I don’t think they hate you. They just see you as a lost soul in need of saving,” said his mom.
“More like a criminal in need of punishing.”
“Has any of them made you read a romance novel yet?” Mom teased.
“No one’s making me do anything. Well, no one but the station,” he added with a frown. “I did make a deal with Alice though.
She’s going to watch a sports movie and I’m reading a romance.”
“To diss on your show?”
“No, to read with an open mind. I’m halfway through your latest.”
Mom had been about to take a drink of her water. She set the glass down. Probably afraid of choking.
“Don’t worry. Like I said, I’m not going to read your book on air. It’s actually good, and I’m enjoying it. Although I have
skipped a couple of pages.”
She laughed at that. “You know all that stuff anyway.”
“I’ll never understand why you decided to write romance novels. How is it that reading them didn’t make you bitter? I mean,
the old man left when I was just a baby. That’s not exactly inspiring. You always talk about them giving you hope. Seems ironic
considering the fact that he didn’t leave you anything to hope for.”
“But the books did. And writing about love and happiness, writing about a world I could control, well, that’s helped keep
the bitterness away.”
His mom was always so positive. “It’s hard to imagine you ever being bitter,” he said.
Her reply to that observation was, “We all pay for the choices we make, and that includes not choosing wisely when it comes
to a life partner. I messed up when I married the man who helped me make you,” she continued. “I thought he was wonderful
at first, but he kept his temper well hidden. He was abusive, and when he broke my arm your uncle stepped in. To this day,
I’m not sure what Jerome said, but Gary moved out immediately. Maybe I should have, but I didn’t ask for child support. I
didn’t want that man involved in your life, influencing you. I was happy when the divorce was final, and he disappeared. Your
uncle gave you the best possible role model. Even when it came to love.”
Parker gaped at her. “I’m just hearing all this now? You never said anything about the abuse. Just said that he was irresponsible
and that you two fell out of love.” It had always seemed like a flimsy reason to cut the guy out of both her life and her
son’s.
She looked out the window at the gray sky. Rain was starting to pockmark the window. “I didn’t want you to think you might
have that abusive gene in you. The only thing of his you inherited was his stubbornness. That can be a good thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yes. Stubbornness and conviction are closely related. You just have to know the difference, when to give up the tug-of-war
and let go of the rope.” She raised both eyebrows, questioning whether he’d gotten the message.
“Anyone ever tell you you’ve got a way with words, Mom?” he teased.
“A few people,” she said, and smiled at their approaching server.
After their food arrived the conversation moved from the philosophical to the concrete, with his mother talking about her
various stops on her upcoming book tour, which would have her on the road for two weeks, and him sharing about his upcoming
event at spring training.
Then they got back into dangerous territory with her asking how his agent was doing with selling his book. Mom hadn’t been
wild about the idea when Parker first told her, and she wasn’t any happier when she learned he’d finished it. Instead of offering
to show it to her agent she’d suggested he put it in the proverbial round file, claiming it wasn’t worthy of him. First books
never sold anyway. She was not going to be happy with his news.
“David sold the book, Mom. We’ve got a two-book deal.”
She was quiet for a moment, digesting that information. He could tell it wasn’t digesting easily.
“Well, looks like I was wrong,” she said. “I suppose everything that’s been going on has created a buzz. Buzz . . . bee . . .
sting,” she mused.
Suddenly his clam chowder wasn’t sitting so well. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I want you to be successful, Parker, but keep in mind, once something’s in print, you can’t call it back.”
“I’m just trying to warn guys to look out,” he insisted.
“Not every woman is out to use men,” she reminded him.
“I know.” They’d had this discussion more than once since he’d first told her about his book.
“Okay. I’ve said it before, but let me remind you, the choices you make now will travel into the future with you. You might,
at some point, want to build a happy relationship. This could make it difficult to build,” she warned. “But I’ve said enough,”
she promised.
“Good. Does that mean you’ll come to my book launch?” he teased.
“I guess I’d better since you came to my signing. Finally,” she added, also teasing.
He laughed. “You’re the best, Mom. Why aren’t there more women out there like you?”
“There are, as I’m sure you’re going to discover,” she said, and there came Alice, swimming into his mind.
Mom checked her Fitbit. “Looks like we’ve used up your lunch break. I’d better let you get back to the store.”
Back to the pink prison. At least he had the evening with Alice to look forward to. She may have been a co-owner of that prison,
but somehow, he was finding it harder to see her as an opponent. What would Alice think about his book?
He didn’t want to know.