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“Welp, it’s settled. I’ll be excommunicated from my own family by the guy who stabbed me in the back, at the hands of my only sister. Loyalty be damned,” Parker said and took a few huge bites of his pancakes.
“No one is being excommunicated, and no one needs to choose sides. Conner and I are not dating. He was assigned to help me with the community center fundraisers, and once that is over, there is no need for us to spend any time together.” Her throat was thick with emotion at the thought of not getting to see Conner anymore.
“But you want to spend time with him?” Leo asked with a sympathetic look.
“From the messages on your phone, I would guess Conner hasn’t gotten that message, darling,” her dad said.
“Dad, you read my text messages?”
“Well no, but every time a new one popped up, it would run across the front of your phone. Lots of pictures of the warehouse too. And I can tell you a man doesn’t do all that work for nothing.”
Looking around the kitchen, she spotted her phone on the charger near the coffee pot, but before she could get to it, Parker snatched it and held it up over her head.
“What work did he do for her?” He started scrolling, and she could barely make out some pics of the wharf.
Being only five-foot was always a disadvantage in her family; jumping at her brother’s back or trying to pull his huge biceps down was futile. She had to play dirty, so with one hard stomp on his foot, she gained the upper hand.
“Damn, that hurt,” Parker whined.
“Give me my phone or get out of my house,” she snapped.
Parker handed her the phone before he limped back to his stool.
Taking a few deep breaths, she walked into the living room. There were about a dozen missed calls and texts from Conner, and after it was clear she wasn’t going to respond, he’d started sending pics. There was a picture of the new light fixtures she’d ordered, followed by one of the twinkly lights on the ceiling of the warehouse strung in a pinwheel pattern. Next was a picture of the playground equipment. The grass was too long, but she still had time to handle that.
But the next picture was a shot from the side of the warehouse, and all the grass was already cut and the sun was still rising. Then came another pic of the previously overgrown path carved out and filled with white stones. The last picture was of a white lattice filled with faux pink and red flowers and the student volunteers. The pic was tagged “for the red carpet walk.”
The urge to cry was strong, but there was no way she was going to let her brother see her weep over a man she just said she wasn’t dating.
But then she spotted a fresh bouquet of white roses on the bookshelf. A card caught her eye, and she plucked it out.
I hope you feel better soon. Don’t worry about a thing. Love, Conner.
“I need to get ready for my shift,” she called over her shoulder as she headed up the stairs and locked her door.
The desire to call Conner was strong, but what she needed to say couldn’t be discussed over the phone. She needed to see him in person. She didn’t need to be everything for the men in her family—the pleaser, always catering to their opinions and playing some part that didn’t need to exist. She wasn’t the mother, and since she had her dad’s support to date who she wanted, she would bet her mom would have been even more vocal. She didn’t need to worry about preserving her place in her family; she needed to be the woman she wanted to be. Even if it meant upsetting Parker or changing family dynamics, she was going to trust her own instincts and be with whoever she wanted.
Instead of calling Parker, she phoned work and expected to get put on her shift that day, but her supervisor said it was covered. They preferred that she took one or two more days to make sure she was back to full speed.
She heard the front door opening and closing a few times and looked out the window to see her brothers were leaving, so she went back downstairs.
“You don’t need to clean up, Dad. My supervisor ordered me to take a few more days off to recover, so now I have plenty of time to do that.”
“I don’t mind. Besides, don’t you have a gala to plan? I’m sure there are plenty of tasks to complete flying around that head of yours.”
“You know me so well. I do need to go see what is left to do. You’re still going, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. From what I hear, it’s sold out. Hottest ticket in town.”
She smiled. Conner’s involvement in the project had helped to get more eyes on the event. His family’s connections coupled with the successful events leading up to the gala had really gotten the word out on the need for the new community center.
“You’ve always been a great event planner. Maybe this is a good stepping stone to a new opportunity.”
“I’m a paramedic, Dad,” she said, cleaning up her brothers’ plates and mugs.
“Yes, a paramedic with a public relations degree and years of experience as a volunteer on the city planning committee.”
Squinting her eyes, she studied her dad. “Are you trying to say I should quit my job and start my own event planning business?”
