“I see the problem.”
The door downstairs that led into the garage slammed shut and footsteps followed as someone came in.
Mallory tossed her backpack on the couch and said hello.
“This is Mrs. Hudson, Colin’s mom. She’s helping me with the books.”
Her sister smiled and waved. “Hey.”
“You can call me Nora. Mrs. Hudson is a mouthful.”
“Did you find the pot of gold yet?” Mallory went straight to the fridge, pulled out the milk.
“We’re searching for the rainbow first.”
Her sister laughed, moved into the walk-in pantry, and came out with a box of cereal. “Tell her to use the insurance money and stop stressing.”
“Insurance money?” Nora asked.
“It’s in a separate account. It’s meant to fix the damage from the fire, not live off of,” Parker reminded her sister.
“How much money are we talking?”
“A lot,” Mallory exclaimed.
“It’s not as much as you think and it won’t go far when we start making repairs. And we don’t know what’s coming with the flooding, or if the insurance will cover it if new shit happens.” Parker argued with her sister, realized she cussed, and said, “Sorry . . . stuff happens.”
Nora patted Parker’s hand and didn’t call her on her bad language.
“Do you have a file from the insurance company, what they paid for, so I can take a look at it?”
Parker nodded and scooted back her chair. “I’ll go get it.”
As she walked out of the room, she heard Nora talking to her sister. “Is that your dinner?”
Parker cringed.
Parker sat in bed . . . the house was quiet. Austin had come home right as Nora was leaving with the promise of coming back the next day. She wanted to look at her parents’ books before their deaths and compare them with what Parker was doing.
She wasn’t sure what the woman was going to find any different.
Money came in and money went out.
Simple as that.
But she liked her. Even if Nora couldn’t find a way to make money spread, it was nice to know Parker was doing everything in her power to make it all work.
So she sat in her bed with her cell phone in her hand.
Her finger hovered over Colin’s name. She pressed it and typed in a text message. Your mom is wonderful. Thank you.
She watched her screen for a full minute before setting her phone aside. It was late . . . well, only nine thirty, but she was already in bed since she needed to be at the school thirty minutes earlier than normal because of her reassignment. Line duty and yard duty. She dropped her head on the back of her headboard and closed her eyes. Maybe she should go back to waiting tables. The money would be better. The hours would suck.
Twenty-six and waiting tables.
How is this my life?
Before she could answer, her phone rang.
She saw Colin’s name and picked it up.
“Hello.”
“It’s Colin.” The timbre of his voice soothed her.
“Hi, Colin.”
“I figured you were awake.”
“Not for long. I have to yell at moms early in the morning.”
He laughed. “I won’t keep you, then.”
She snuggled a little deeper in her bed. “You got my text.”
“Yeah. My mom couldn’t stop talking about you.”
“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”
He coughed. “Are you kidding? Look what you’re holding together over there. She’s impressed.”
“I’m keeping it together with bubble gum and not duct tape. Your mom is wonderful. Unfortunately, she didn’t see anything obvious to hang hope onto.”
“She told me she needed more time.”
Parker wasn’t holding her breath. “She’s coming by tomorrow when I’m at work so she isn’t distracted and will explain everything to me when I get home.”
“For someone who was so anxious about strangers on the property, I’m surprised to hear you’re okay with my mom there when you’re gone.”
Parker grinned. “Well, she’s your mom. Which innately means she’s vetted.”
“Is that right?” She heard laughter in his voice.
“Yeah. Besides, I’m getting better about allowing people into my personal space.” The words no sooner left her mouth than she realized how they might be construed.
“Who else are you allowing in your personal space?” he asked.
“No one,” she quickly said. “You know what I mean.”
“I’m teasing you.”
She couldn’t stop smiling. “I can tell.”
“Are you feeling any better?”
“A little.”
“You sound better.”
It helped that she had stopped crying. “Thank you for offering solutions. Sometimes my blinders are on and I only see what’s right in front of me. The other day all I could see was the unemployment line.”
“Which is worse than the DMV,” he said with a laugh.
“True. I appreciate you checking on me. I’m pretty sure that’s not in your job description.”
“It could be.”
She paused, not really sure what he meant by that. “I’m not following you.”
“You’re right. As the supervisor on the project, it’s not necessary that I check on you unless it’s raining or something is wrong with the project. But as a man who doesn’t have a wife, checking on a woman who doesn’t have a husband . . .”
Her breath caught and words failed her.
“Unless you’d rather I—”
“You’re flirting with me.” She leaned into her phone, hanging on what he was going to say next.
He chuckled. “Yeah. You could say that. Is that okay?”
Parker smiled . . . full-on ear-to-ear smile and did a hand pump in the air. “Wait, why?”
“Why am I flirting with you?”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s see. You’re attractive, hardworking, intelligent . . . that lack of a husband thing is a plus. You’re confident and self-aware, care about others . . . Do I need to go on?”
“Maybe,” she teased. She pulled her knees into her chest and enjoyed the warmth his attention was putting in her belly.
“Okay, the guys on the team respect you, my mother and sister like you—”
“I haven’t met your sister.”
“Yeah, you did. In the meeting with the city. Grace.”
“I thought she was a project person.” Parker tried to remember the woman’s face. She vaguely remembered her being short.
“She is, just not on your project. I thought she’d help counter Ed’s bulldozing personality.”
“He was pushy.”
“So . . . is it okay?”
“Okay for what?”
“That I’m flirting with you.”
It took her a minute to respond. “I’m a hot mess, Colin.”
“Yeah, I know. I like that part, too. Unless you’re not interested. In which case I’ll need to turn up the charm.” He was doing that smile with his voice thing again.