Leave the Lights On (16 page)

Sophie walked back to her house, the morning sun warm on her face, feeling so happy she wanted to skip. She and Parker had stayed up talking and making love until the sun came up. With only a few hours of sleep, she knew she should be exhausted but instead she felt energized.

The phone was ringing as she keyed into the house and she ran to grab it, tossing her keys onto the kitchen table.

“Hello?” she said, breathlessly.

“You mind telling me where you were all night?” Her father’s voice instantly cooled her mood.

“I was at a friend’s house.”
True.
She picked up a pencil and started doodling on the notepad on the counter.
Why does talking to him turn be back into a twelve-year-old?

“What friend?”

Sophie’s stomach knotted. Her parents had always liked Parker.
Maybe the fact that I was with Parker will make him happy.
She took a quick breath. “Parker Wood.”

The pause on the other side of the line gave her hope. “When did you start spending time with him again?”

“A few weeks ago. He moved back into his parents’ house after his dad passed away.”

“And now you’re spending the night with him? I suppose the whole neighborhood sees you sneaking back to our house after your rendezvous?”

Frustrated tears stung the backs of Sophie’s eyes. “It’s not like that.”

“Did you or did you not just get home at ten o’clock in the morning?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Was Mr. Thomas out on his porch like he is every morning?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice was barely audible. She had a hard enough time standing up to her father under normal circumstance. Once he was in lawyer mode she didn’t stand a chance.

“When are you going to start thinking about how your behavior looks to other people? Is it not enough that your mother and I had to listen to the entire town talking about your divorce? Now we can expect phone calls telling us you’re sleeping around all over the damned neighborhood.”

That was too far. “I’m not sleeping around.”

“I suppose you were at his house all night playing Parcheesi?”

Anger mixed with her sadness. “No. No I wasn’t. But you don’t need to make it sound so sordid, Dad. It’s not. It’s—”

“It’s what? Classy? Dignified? For God’s sake, Sophie. I’d think you’d have had enough of being talked about after what you’ve already done.”

“What
I’ve
already done? I’m the one who got cheated on, not the other way around.”

“You think people are going to remember that if they see you hopping into bed with every guy in sight?”

“Every guy?” Stomach acid surged up Sophie’s throat, making her cough. “Look, I’m not having this conversation with you. You and Mom made it perfectly clear when you moved that you wanted nothing to do with the drama in my life so why don’t you just leave this alone. Why are you calling anyway?”

“You’re still our daughter and, whether we like it or not, your actions reflect on us.”

Sophie crumpled the piece of paper she’d been doodling on, clenching her fist so tightly it ached. “What did you call for?”

“I need you to call the gas company. It’s the last account that’s still in our name, and they need you to acknowledge that you’re taking over the account before they stop sending me the bills. I trust you can make those payments?”

“Yes, of course I can. I’ll call them as soon as we hang up.”

“Good.”

“Anything else?” Sophie wanted to get off the phone so badly she could barely breathe.

“Just try to use some judgment. Please.”

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, willing her brain not to explode. “I do, Dad. I wish you could believe that.”

“Act like it, and I’ll believe it,” he said and hung up.

Chapter Nineteen

Parker’s entire body was still humming from his night with Sophie. He felt more alive than he had in years. He’d spent the morning going over invoices and checking in with the crews working various job sites. Just as he’d answered the last email in his inbox, another came through, flagged urgent. Subject heading:
Memorial Dinner for Ethan Wood
.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop by at least ten degrees, as if a ghost had passed by.
A memorial for Dad?
Parker clicked the message.

Dear Mr. Wood,

As you know your father was an important part of this town for many decades. His community service along with his support of all local businesses and his devotion to serving on the town planning board made him a memorable man and one who will truly be missed by all who knew him. To honor his time and commitment a memorial dinner is being held in his honor. A plaque bearing his name will be unveiled and later placed in the town park as thanks for the countless hours he put into restoring it to its original beauty. We would be delighted if you could attend the dinner and ceremony to accept this award on your father’s behalf.

My apologies for the short notice, but we wanted to host this event during the summer months while the park is so richly enjoyed by our community.

Thank you in advance for your quick response. We hope to be seeing you at the dinner on July 12 at 6pm at the Hilton Manor hotel.

Our sincere sympathies for your loss.

Best regards,

John Frederickson, Town Commissioner

Parker stared at his computer screen. Dinner? A plaque? It was great that they wanted to honor his dad’s service to the town.
Dad would have appreciated that.
But the last thing Parker wanted was to spend an evening with a bunch of people coming up to him and telling him how sorry they were for his loss. He hated that. The look in their eyes. The hands on his shoulder. The sympathy was harder to take than anything else.

Fuck.

Of all the times he wished he’d had a sibling, this one took the cake. But he didn’t. And odds were one wasn’t going to materialize out of thin air. Certainly not in the next two weeks.
Two weeks. Shit.

He knew there was no way he could say no. He’d have to go. Hitting reply made his stomach turn.

Dear Mr. Fredrickson,

Thank you for your kind words about my father. I know he’d have been very pleased to know that you all thought so well of him. It would be an honor to attend the dinner.

Best,

Parker Wood

He hit send before he could change his mind.

Parker tried to put thoughts of the memorial out of his mind. Sophie was due to arrive at his house any minute so they could start cooking for the July Fourth BBQ they’d invited Joey to attend. He’d already bought steaks and chicken and had a big pot of water up to boil for the corn. Sophie had said she’d bring dessert and they were going to make potato salad and coleslaw. She was determined to teach him how to cook. He enjoyed any excuse to spend extra time with her, so he’d said “sure”.

He saw her walking across the yard, carrying a cooler that looked big enough for her to fit inside. He trotted out and met her halfway, taking the ice chest from her and stealing a kiss. “Jesus, what do you have in this thing? A dead body?”

“Yes, but you weren’t supposed to ask. You were just supposed to help me bury it.”

Parker chuckled. “You do know it’s just the three of us tonight, right?”

“Yep. I also know how much the two of you can eat.”

“Good point.”

Sophie held the door as he turned sideways to get the cooler into the house. He set it next to the kitchen counter and watched as she unpacked salad, a seemingly endless array of fruits, ice cream, a pie, bacon, eggs, pickles and potatoes.

“We need all this for one meal?” he asked, loving the scowl that furrowed her brow.

“We need a big pot to boil the potatoes.” She brushed past him, her hip knocking into his in a way that made him want to order pizza and forget about cooking anything so they could sneak upstairs for a quickie before Joey arrived.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Sophie let out a cross between a sigh and a growl as she stuck the ice cream in the freezer.

Parker held up the biggest pot he could find. “Will this work?”

“Sure. Can you fill it about halfway and put it on the stove?”

Sophie put the rest of the groceries in the fridge and set the bag of red potatoes down next to the sink. “You want to scrub potatoes or cut up fruit?”

“I’ll do whatever you want.” He slipped his hands around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss.

“Oh, really?” She went up on her toes and rubbed her nose against his before kissing him back. “Good to know. For now, how about you quarter some strawberries while I scrub the potatoes.”

Parker set the Tupperware full of strawberries on the counter and got a cutting board out of the cupboard. He popped a berry into his mouth.

“Make sure some of those wind up in the fruit salad, okay?”

He grinned. “No promises.”

“Oh, hey, I keep forgetting to ask you. I’ve been invited to an engagement party. It’s local and a lot of my friends will be there. Do you want to come with me?” Sophie was trying to act casual, but Parker could hear the nervousness in her voice.

“Sure. Well, wait, when is it?”

Sophie’s face fell, and he immediately regretted phrasing it that way. “You don’t have to. I mean I know wedding-related stuff can be a bit much and if it’s not your thing or you don’t want—”

Parker kissed her to stop her from talking. “I want to know when it is because I’ve got a dinner to attend on the twelfth so if it’s that night, I can’t go. Any other night, I’m yours.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks turned a rosy pink as a smile spread across her face. “It’s not until the end of next month.”

“Then you’ve got yourself a date.”

Sophie looked so happy Parker couldn’t help but grin at her.

“What’s the dinner you have to go to?” she asked.

“Nothing. I don’t even want to go. It’s some town thing honoring my dad.”

“What kind of town thing?” Sophie stopped scrubbing potatoes and turned to look at him.

Parker continued cutting strawberries. “They’re presenting a plaque that’s gonna be put in the park. It’s at the Hilton. I don’t really know much more than that. They just sent me the invitation today.”

“Well, let me know when it is, and I’ll go with you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.
Shit, I don’t even want to go, and he was my dad.

“I know I don’t have to. I want to. I mean, unless you don’t want me to.”

“It’s not that. I’d love to have you there, but I’ll tell you right now, I’m not going to be very good company. I hate shit like this. Seriously, if I could think of any good reason to say no, I would have.”

Sophie leaned in and kissed him again. “That’s why I’m going with you.”

That was the nicest thing anyone had offered to do for him in a long time.

“You sure?”

“Positive. That’s one of the benefits of having a girlfriend, you know. We do this kind of thing.”

Girlfriend?
Sure they’d been nearly inseparable for weeks, but she’d never referred to herself that way before. He liked the way it sounded. “Well, boyfriends usually attend ‘wedding-related stuff’ with their girlfriends, so I guess the rest of our summer is pretty booked up.”

“Looks that way.” He saw the smile pass back across her face as she returned to scrubbing potatoes.

Sophie crumbled the crisped bacon and sprinkled it over the potato salad, trying to block Parker from stealing the remaining strips from the plate. She smacked his hand as he went for a second piece.

“You’re mean,” he said, pouting.

She giggled. “That’s not what you said last night.”

The doorbell rang, and she glanced at the clock. Exactly four p.m. “Wow, he’s sure gotten punctual.”

She watched Parker cross the kitchen as he headed for the front door. There weren’t many things she enjoyed more than the way his ass looked in his low-slung jeans. She tingled from head to toe.

“Hey, Sophie,” Joey said, pulling her into a sideways hug and kissing the top of her head. He grabbed a strip of bacon off the plate before she could stop him.

“The two of you are nothing but trouble. Why don’t you go get the grill started?”

Joey and Parker both laughed at her reprimand. It was feeling more like the old days by the second.

“What’s in the cooler?” Parker asked, pointing to the blue Igloo in Joey’s hand.

“My patented margaritas. You got some ice?”

“We sure do.”

Watching as they mixed the drinks, it was hard to believe they’d barely talked for two years. They seemed to have fallen right back into their friendship.
Just like we did
. Well, with one notable difference. She felt her cheeks heat. How many times had she hung out with them, cooking for them, wishing she was Parker’s girlfriend? Far too many to count. And now it was true. For a second she let her mind wander into the future. Holidays. Weddings. Their wedding.