“Hey, Haven.”
I turn and look at Frank, catching him looking at my ass. He blushes, and his lips purse as he shakes his head. “If you need me tonight, just holler at me.”
I smirk at him, not understanding but appreciating the sentiment. “What are you talking about? The others are here to help. What do you know that I don’t know? Should we plan on a rush?”
He drinks more from his mug, and I’m surprised to see that he’s almost finished it. He usually sips on a beer for sometimes hours. When he sets the drink down, he points at me. “No, honey, I mean if anyone gets out of line... let me know. I have your back.”
I know my mouth falls open. Never in all of my almost twenty-two years has anyone gotten “out of line” with me. I blink at Frank, thinking surely I’m not understanding correctly. But when I catch him looking at my legs again before bringing his eyes up to my face, I get what he’s saying. I mutter to him, “Yeah, uh, thanks.”
I walk over to where my textbook is lying on the bar top and tuck it under the counter. I think back to Emmaline’s words earlier. Could she be right? Will clothes that fit make that much of a difference in my appearance?
And I can’t help wondering if Parker is going to notice when he comes into town next week.
Chapter 2
Parker
“Surprise!” I say as my little brother Tony opens the front door. I was scheduled to come home next week, but they moved my leave up. I couldn’t resist surprising my family.
“Parker? You’re home!” he says as he comes out of the house and wraps me in a big bear hug. He may be my younger brother by one year, but he has me matched in size.
“Yeah, I wanted to surprise you all. Where’s Mom and Dad?”
He instantly starts to holler. “Mom, Dad, you’re going to want to see this!”
Mere seconds go by, and both my mom and dad come out the front of the house. My mom screams, and I lift her up in my arms to hug her. My dad is patting me on the back, patiently waiting his turn. When I set my mom down, I hold my hand out, but my dad surprises me by pulling me in for a big bear hug.
“What... you’re home!”
I laugh, taking in the big smiles of my mom, dad, and brother. Fuck, I missed them. “Yep! I wanted to surprise you.”
My dad nods, taking my bag. “Well, you did, son. I’m sure the whole neighborhood is trying to figure out what your mom is screaming about.” He looks around, and sure enough, Gertrude from next door is waving at us. I wave at her as Dad rushes us into the house.
Everyone is all talking at once as we sit down on the couch. My mom is pacing the living room, too excited to sit down. “I’m going to make all your favorites!”
Tony chimes in. “I’m pretty sure tacos is his favorite now.”
Mom rolls her eyes. “That’s your favorite, Tony.”
Tony laughs and looks at me. “Does Haven know you’re home?”
I shake my head guiltily. Honestly, I thought about going to see her first. I’ve really missed seeing her, but I knew if I did it would really hurt my mom’s feelings. “No, but I’m going to swing by her house in a little while and surprise her.”
Tony smirks like he has some big secret. “Don’t bother going to her house. She’s not there.”
I try not to let on that it bothers me my brother knows something about Haven that I don’t. I mean, it makes sense that she’s kept in touch with my family while I’ve been gone. She spent the majority of her childhood over here. “What do you mean she’s not there?”
“We studied together earlier. You know I would have failed chemistry if it wasn’t for her. She’s at On the Rocks.”
“On the Rocks? What the hell is she doing there?”
Now Tony starts to squirm. “Working. She’s a bartender.”
I jump up from my spot on the couch. “Working... at a bar. I thought she was working at the library.”
Tony shrugs. “Oh, she makes way more at the bar. I told her you wouldn’t like it, but she seemed to think you wouldn’t care.”
I get up and head for the door. “She shouldn’t be working at a bar. Anything could happen to her.”
Tony gets up and follows behind me. “Oh yeah, anything could happen in the small town of Redwood, California. Too bad nothing ever does happen here.”
I stop and pull my mom in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Mom. I hate to leave...”
She pats me on the chest. “It’s fine, honey. I need to go to the store anyway. Now don’t be too hard on Haven. You know she’s independent, and she won’t like you telling her what to do.”