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I didn’t even make it up the walkway and Parker was running out the front door in a black shirt with holes all in it and a pair of black leggings. She bounced on feet that were contained by white Nikes.
It looked like my message had been passed on and that I had one excited teenager waiting for me.
I had to admit I was a little nervous myself. It wasn’t like I had any kids of my own and I’d never, ever taught anyone’s kid to drive.
“Hey, West,” she called, headed right toward me.
“Morning, Parker.” I gave her a high-five as Emily appeared on the front stoop. “Morning, Slugger,” I added, giving her a look over.
She was in a small two-piece pajama set, tank top and shorts, and her hair was mussed still from the bed. She looked warm and inviting, and I wanted to invite myself into her place and snuggle with her in bed. Among other things.
Her cheeks were pink as she said back, “Morning.”
I wondered if she was blushing, thinking about yesterday evening on the phone.
My eyes heated as they traveled over her and she gave me a coy smile that told me she was thinking about yesterday.
“I’m so excited!” Parker practically yelled a foot from my face and knocked me right out of my Emily stupor.
“Calm down, Parker. You almost scared the bejesus out of Weston. You need to chill out. I don’t want you on the road like this,” Emily admonished, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Oh my God, Mom. Calm down.” Parker rolled her eyes and held the keys for the truck up in front of my face, giving them a quick jingle before running over to the truck in the driveway and climbing inside behind the wheel.
“Good luck,” Emily said to me as I hopped into the other side of the truck.
I gave her a wave goodbye as Parker pulled out of the driveway seamlessly and drove very well a couple of blocks away to the high school.
We talked about adjusting her mirrors and always keeping both hands on the wheel, but I was honestly shocked at how good she was. Maybe Parker was right and Emily was overreacting a bit. I wouldn’t have been surprised. Driving could be dangerous. Emergency Services knew that better than anyone. And Emily had already lost someone dear to her.
She was probably frantic at the idea of Parker behind the wheel.
“Pull around this building and let’s practice a three-point turn,” I advised Parker, who did just as I asked, all smiles on her face.
I had her park and do her three-point turn and she did a great job. The only thing she really struggled with was parallel parking, and I told her she needed to practice because she’d be living downtown to go to school and almost all the parking down there at the university was parallel.
We were riding around the high school parking lot when Parker completely changed the subject and started to tell me a story about when she was in preschool.
It was odd. But I listened on.
“Anyway, this kid, Ben, he was my best friend. We played every day at preschool together. I was obsessed with him but not like in a crush kinda way. But like I just loved him so much kinda way. He was my bestie.”
I nodded. “Turn here,” I said, motioning to the exit of the school.
She made the turn. “Anyway, one day at school, I kissed him. Right on the lips. A big smackeroo.”
I shook my head and smiled at her story. This kid was as crazy as her mom and I had no idea where any of this was going.
“I remember I got in trouble. The teacher was not impressed. But I didn’t really get it, ya know? My parents kissed each other. They kissed me, too. It was what you did when you loved someone and I loved Ben, right?”
I sat there in the passenger seat, thinking I needed to get this kid home before she told me her whole damn life story. “Turn right.”
Nodding, she turned. “The teachers talked to my mom and dad after school that day and I felt so bad. I didn’t mean to make everyone so upset. It was just a kiss, after all.
“When we got home, I was surprised that my mom and dad weren’t mad at me. Because it had seemed like the teachers were. But that night before bed, my dad sat on the side of my bed and he explained to me that because we were family, we kissed each other and it was okay.”
I felt dread settle into my stomach at the mention of her dad. I worried about exactly the point of this story. I worried about the direction it was heading. Maybe she was going to tell me to fuck off. And leave her mother alone, but I sat there quietly and listened as we finally pulled back onto Emily and Parker’s street.
“Anyway, my dad, he told me you only kiss someone who isn’t in your family if you really mean it. Like it has to be special. You can’t just love them. You have to be in love with them. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but I figured if I didn’t know what it meant, then I had no business doing it. So I kept my lips to myself.” She laughed as we pulled into the driveway.
