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“And yet she is still single,” her mother snapped.
Her mother sat in the back seat because of her dad’s leg. Looking in the mirror, Quinn saw that she looked a bit smug. She decided she’d do something about that.
“I didn’t like him.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because he’s an arrogant shithead who talked continually about himself and never once asked Quinn anything about herself.”
“Ivan!” Her mother did not like cussing. “You stay out of this.”
“Why? He lives in this family and has a right to a voice too,” Quinn said. “Just like I have a right to be pissed off you keep trying to set me up with people. Did you know she gave Luke Trainer cookies today and said I baked them for him?”
“Jesus.” Her father exhaled. “You need to back off, Shelly. This is making you look crazy.”
“It is not making me look anything. I am helping our daughter who dresses like a man and has no social skills.”
“How’s that?” Quinn asked, eyeing her now not-so-smug-looking mother in the mirror.
“By helping you meet men, as you seem incapable of doing it for yourself.”
Her father moaned. Levi yapped.
“I’m going to be really annoyed if you keep this up, Mom. Stay out of my social life.” Or lack thereof, she conceded, but only silently. “Don’t ruin the time I have here when I haven’t been home for a long time.”
“You have to wonder why,” her father muttered.
“She did not stay away because of me!”
“Well, if I was your daughter and you treated me the way you do Quinn, I’d stay away.”
“I love my daughter!”
Quinn didn’t want them fighting over her. Her parents loved each other and usually lived in harmony, but she’d felt the tension since she’d returned and knew it came from her mother’s belief her father had something going on inside his head. Now she was adding to it.
“Park there,” her mother directed, waving her finger at a place.
“She can park a damn car, Shelly. For Christ’s sake, she flies a jet!”
“It’s okay, Dad.”
“Your mother thinks there is something wrong with my head, but maybe she needs to take a look at her own,” her father muttered as Quinn parked.
“There is no need to be insulting, Ivan.”
“Insulting? You’re constantly insulting.”
“Enough now,” Quinn said. “Let’s go and watch the movie.”
The Harpers got out, stiff and angry. They grabbed blankets and chairs from the trunk and then walked into Ryker Falls.
It was lit up like a Christmas tree. Music played from huge speakers, and the smell of popcorn greeted them as they walked with Pearl and Sam.
Trees were filled with cobwebs, some sprayed with glitter. Others had festive and twinkling lights. Halloween was everywhere you looked.
People sat about on blankets, bean bags, and fold-out chairs on the grass before a huge screen that had been erected.
“Over there,” Pearl said, cutting a path through those seated. Quinn noted Sam placed an extra chair between him and Pearl, which she had a terrible feeling was for her.
Looking at those seated next to Sam and Pearl, she saw the Trainers and their friends. Her eyes found Luke. He sat with a little girl in his lap and was feeding her something.
The small child and the big hunky firefighter. Her ovaries absolutely did not just sigh.
Quinn couldn’t remember the last time she’d reacted to a man the way she was to Luke Trainer. It was weird and off-putting. She tried to remember her last liaison with a man and when it had ended. Adding up the months in her head, she realized it was too long.
Was that it? Was she reacting to Luke because she’d been alone for too long? Feeling a bit better with that explanation, she forced her mouth into a smile, decided she’d enjoy the movie if it was the last thing she did, and put everything else out of her head for now. Tomorrow was soon enough to sort out what to do with her parents.
