"Remember that Christmas two years ago, when mom strong-armed me into coming to the mountains with all of you? The Christmas movie marathon and all the popcorn?"
She nodded again, her eyes brimming with more tears. Claudia had gone to bed early, and Tyler drank himself into a stupor. Parker and I had stayed up all night watching every Christmas movie we could think of. We'd each been on our own sofa, tucked in with our own bowls of popcorn, but it had felt like we were right next to each other. Like we belonged together.
At the reminder, Parker sighed again, her eyes dodging mine.
"Parker." I tugged at her hands to get her to look at me. "I know you. I'm not asking for a declaration of love from you. I'm asking for a chance. I want to be with you. I want time. Can you give me that?"
Parker opened her mouth to answer just as the library door swung open. Savannah stuck her head in. "Sorry to interrupt, but Griffen asked me to come get you. Harvey will be here in a few minutes. He'd like to speak to you in Griffen's office." She narrowed her eyes on Parker, then shot me an assessing look. "Parker," she said, holding out her hand, "come with me, please."
Parker slipped from my arms and disappeared with Savannah. Not good. I wasn't sure if I was invited to the meeting in Griffen's office, but I didn't care.
Striding down the hall, I mentally prepared for battle. Parker might not fully trust me yet, but she needed me at her back, whether she wanted me there or not.
ChapterTwenty-Six
PARKER
Leaving Nash in the library was like tearing away a piece of myself. I'd been on the precipice of a decision, and like a coward, I took the reprieve Savannah offered. She dragged me up the back stairs to my room.
"We have ten minutes to get you presentable. Whatever is going on with Harvey and Tyler, you don't want to deal with it like this."
It showed how far I was twisted up in Nash that I hadn't considered what a mess I was. My clothes were bad enough, but my face was a puffy, red disaster. I pulled my hand from Savannah's and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks."
With a shove toward my closet, she said, "Anytime, Parks, you know that. Now you go pick out something to wear, and I'll run cold water on a washcloth."
As I rushed to my closet, her words followed me. "I'm only sorry I didn't get to eavesdrop on your conversation with Nash."
I sighed. Nash. What was I going to do about Nash? No time to think about it now, but Nash was all I could think about. Weird that I didn't care about Tyler. He'd showed up intending to get in my face and be a massive pain in my ass, and I didn't even care.
Tyler was the past. I had yet to determine my future.
That thought sank in, all the way to my bones, and the weight of the past lightened. Tyler could play his game. It didn't mean I had to play with him.
Letting out a deep breath, I scanned my closet, choosing a pale pink linen wrap dress that hit just above my knee, and deep pink sandals with a kitten heel and adorable roses on the straps. The dress was cool and elegant, the sandals fun and frivolous. Perfect.
Savannah met me in my sitting room with a cool washcloth. "Sit," she ordered, directing me to an armchair. Shadow jumped into my lap and curled up, purring softly. I stroked my hand over her soft fur and tipped my head onto the back of the chair as Savannah lay the washcloth over my eyes. "You have a few minutes until Harvey gets here. I get text alerts from the gatehouse when anyone comes on the property, so we'll know before he's in the house."
I felt Savannah move away, then return and tug at my ponytail. She pulled a brush through my hair, smoothing the tangled strands while we waited for the cold washcloth to work its magic. "So," Savannah began, "what are you going to do about the very sexy Nash?"
"I thought you didn't eavesdrop," I said without heat, lulled by the soothing strokes of the hairbrush and the purring kitten in my lap.
"I didn't eavesdrop in the library, but I heard everything that happened in the front hall."
Of course, she'd heard everything, she'd been mopping the stairs just around the corner. Anyway, I'd quickly learned there was very little that went on in Heartstone Manor that Savannah didn't know about.
"What would you do?" I asked, dodging the question.
"I don't know," she answered, honestly. "I'd like to think I'd go for it. He's hot, and he seems like a good guy. He definitely cares about you. But what I'd do isn't the question. Nash isn't interested in me. He wants you. What do you want?"
"To start over." The words slipped out. Before I could think about what they meant, Savannah let out a snort of laughter.
"Well, that's one thing you can't have. We can't erase the past, Parker. We can only decide what comes next. That's what my mom told me when I came back to Sawyers Bend with Nicky and no husband. I felt like I'd made a colossal mess of my life. Mom told me to stop dwelling on what I couldn't change and forge a new path for myself."
She fell silent after that, leaving me to think about the wise words of Miss Martha. I couldn't change what had already happened, but I could decide what I wanted next.
And yet, Savannah was wrong. The question wasn't, what did I want? The question was, did I have the courage to go after it?
I was about to find out.
