Keep Me Safe (25 page)

When we were done eating, the girls stayed in the kitchen while the guys went out to watch football.

“I am so grateful for you girls,” Kate spoke up. Beth and I looked at each other. “My two sons mean more to me than anything in the world, and to see how happy they are,” she started to get choked up, “means everything as a mother. Thank you so much for taking care of my boys.”

“Aww,” Beth cooed. I walked over to Kate and gave her a hug. It wasn’t like me to just hug someone after only meeting them once, but I felt like the grateful one. What her son meant to me, I couldn’t even describe.

“Your sons are amazing men, Kate. You must be so incredibly proud of both of them.” I could see the tears in her eyes.

Just as I let go of her, Parker walked into the kitchen. He looked surprised like he was worried he interrupted something, so he slowly walked over to me.

“Can I steal her for a second?” He asked the collective group. There were simultaneous ‘yes’s and ‘of course’s. He grabbed my hand and opened the sliding glass door, taking us outside. It was the perfect temperature outside; cool if you were in the shade, perfectly warm if you were under a blanket of rays from the sun. Parker led me over to one of the oversized chairs closer to the beach and pulled my hand to sit down next to him.

“I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have put that on your mind at the table, and I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable, or-“

I leaned in and kissed him. I had kissed him plenty of times before this and every time was just as good, if not better, than the time before. But I kissed him with every single ounce of conviction, joy, and love that my body could hold. I whimpered into our kiss and he pulled away to look me in the eyes.

“Trying to shut me up, are you?” He grinned.

I smiled and shook my head. “I can’t even begin to tell you what today means to me. Bringing my parents here as a surprise, is by far the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. And then to be the first person to say ‘I love you’…my heart is so happy I could burst.” I laid my head down on his shoulder and if it were visible, everyone would be able to see the happiness that radiated from me. “I love you Parker. It’s completely crazy, and soon, and a lot to take in. But I love you so much.” I meant it, too. I was always so careful, so on guard, but everything about him and about us felt
so
right.

When everyone was stuffed and the football game had ended, my parents came back to my house while Parker stayed to help clean up. He told me to spend time with them and he would see me tomorrow. He did manage to sneak us into the hallway to steal a more passionate kiss that really hadn’t been possible during the day. Hopefully that would hold me over until tomorrow.

My dad raved about Parker’s car, while my mom carried on about how happy I looked. Everything was absolutely perfect. I was also thankful that I had cleaned the guest room the week before. It felt so wonderful having my parents in the house without worrying about Brent throwing a shit fit about something. He was usually smart enough not to do it in front of my parents, though. I was elated that I didn’t have to spend any time keeping anything a secret from them.

Just like every weekend seemed to fly by, the time with my parents was cut too short. Parker took them and me out to breakfast Saturday morning before we took them to the airport, and they got along
so
well. It honestly could not have gone any better. I told my mom Friday night that I loved Parker, and she said something to me like, “Your face already told me that. You didn’t have to.” There certainly was no hiding it. I couldn’t wait to spend Christmas back home with all three of them. These next couple of months were going to be the best I’ve ever had.

Twenty-eight

“Holy shit, I forgot how cold the snow was!” Parker let out an audible shiver as we left the luggage carousel outside of Milwaukee airport. It was two days before Christmas and he still agreed to come home with me for Christmas.

“Oh, don’t be such a wuss,” I teased. “How many times have you been to St. Louis? It’s just as cold there as it is here.”

“Bullshit it is.” He feverishly rubbed his hands together. “Not to mention it’s been a lot longer since I’ve been in the snow. I still have Florida blood.”

We stood at the arrival pick-up spot and waited for my parents. My mom finally got with the times and started texting, so she sent me a message telling me they’d be here in just a minute. When they pulled up, my mom got out and hugged us both and my dad put all of our luggage in the trunk. We were only going to be here for three days, but packing for winter took up a hell of a lot more space.

“I’m so glad you’re home!” My mom yelled as another airplane roared by.

“I’m glad to be here too, Momma!”

We got into the car and started the hour plus drive to my parent’s house. It was usually just over an hour but the roads were snowy and slushy so that always made a drive longer. I fell asleep on Parker’s shoulder halfway through the ride when he and my dad were talking about his Mustang. I was happy to know they had something to bond over, but I didn’t have any interest right then.

We pulled up to my parent’s modest brick house and Parker shook me gently to wake me up. I got out of the car and admired it. It looked exactly the same. I remembered building snowmen with my dad and making pumpkin muffins with my mom. Winter had always been my favorite even though I pretty much hated the snow.

“I’m going to put your bags in your old room,” my dad said walking up the stairs. Parker and I looked at each other with seemingly the same question. “Oh please, you’re both adults. Just don’t make me come up here.” He patted Parker on the back and headed going up the stairs.

“Yes, sir,” Parker answered and laughed. We followed up behind him and sat on the bed when we got up there.

“Alright, you kids get comfortable, but not too comfortable,” he said jokingly with his eyes on Parker. “It’s late and your mom and I are going to bed. We’ll see you in the morning.”

When my dad left, I sat and looked around my safe haven through my teen years. It still looked almost exactly the same, minus the music awards on the wall and the flowered comforter on the bed. It was still that same pretty pale teal color that I begged my mom for when I was fifteen.

Parker pulled me out of my reminiscence when he pushed me backwards on the bed and laid next to me. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing, really. Just remembering life when I lived in this room. Before everything got so damn complicated. I’m just glad it’s not like that anymore. But if only I knew what life was going to be like.”

He swept my bangs off of my face and kissed my forehead. “I don’t know about that. You’re pretty complicated sometimes.” He held his arm up in defense of the slap he knew was coming. That was pretty much my response every time he made a joke about me.

“Yeah right. I could always make appointments for waxing, spray tans and boob jobs like
Piper
,” I sneered.

“Please don’t.” We both laughed and I kicked my shoes off. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Hell no,” I teased. “I’m exhausted, how about you?”

“Yup, me too. Tomorrow’s a new day.”

We barely got changed into pajamas before I snuggled into Parker’s arms and we were asleep.

***************************************************************

I felt him staring at me Christmas morning before I opened my eyes. He smiled when he saw the tired but happy expression on my face. He was laying on his front side with his elbows holding him up, just watching me intently.

“It’s snowing,” he whispered sweetly. He had a smile like a little kid.

“Yeah, that tends to happen in the winter here.”
Sometimes I just can’t help myself.

“I can smell whatever your mom is cooking downstairs – cinnamon rolls, maybe? – But I wanted to give you your gift before we went downstairs.”

“Okay?”

Parker reached over the edge of the bed and pulled a small navy blue box out of his suitcase next to the bed.

“I thought about what to get you for a really long time. I came across this and couldn’t get it off my mind, so I knew this had to be what I got for you.”

He handed me the box and watched me intently. I pulled the lid off and moved a tiny piece of tissue paper out of the way. Inside the box was a necklace. The round, silver pendant was covered in evenly spaced rhinestones. It had a clear cover so that you could see the inside. There were several charms and I tilted it to make sure I could see each one. A coffee cup, a music note, an infinity sign, and a teal accented lock, no doubt to go with the gorgeous quatrefoil key that was dangling next to the pendant from the chain.

“Do you like it?” He beamed.

“Like it? I absolutely love it, Parker. Thank you so much. Now I feel like an asshole for the lame gift I got you.”

“Oh, stop.” He sat up and grabbed the necklace from my hand, putting the two sides of chain in each hand to put it around my neck for me. “The coffee cup is for our mutual love of caffeine, obviously. The music note for your wonderful talent for all things music, minus singing in the shower.” He laughed and shielded himself from another slap, but I was too choked up to bother with it. “The lock goes with the key, since I promised to always keep you safe. And the infinity sign will remind you that I never want to be in this world without you.”

He leaned in and softly pressed his lips to mine. My eyes were teary but thankfully I held it together enough that I didn’t cry. He pulled away and played with the pendant between his thumb and index finger.

“I hope this can always remind you that you’re safe, even when I’m not with you. That you’re loved, even when I can’t tell you. That you’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and you can feel it even when I can’t show you. You are absolutely everything to me.”

Well, shit. I was fine before that!
I started to cry and threw my arms around his neck.

“I really don’t know what I did to deserve you. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I love you so much, Parker.”

“I love you too, baby. Don’t ever forget that.” We sat in silence for a few seconds and he just stared at me. “Alright, what did you get me?” He rubbed his hands together like he just couldn’t stand it.

“Okay,” I said reaching into my suitcase. “This doesn’t even pale in comparison to your gift. But just remember that it’s the thought that counts when you open it, alright?”

He grabbed the small red and white striped box out of my hand and tore the green ribbon off of it. His eyes got big, and his smile even bigger.

“Is this what I think it is?”

“Um, what do you think it is?” I played coy.

“Is this a key to your house?”

“Mmhmm,” I nodded my head.

“This is so perfect, Sadie. I know what this means to you, and for us. To trust me enough to have a key to your house…this is the best gift you could’ve given me. Well, almost,” he pulled down the thin strap of my cami and gave me that sideways grin.

“I’m trying to be sentimental and you’re thinking with your other head.”

“I’m just teasing!” He tackled me and we both fell back on the bed. “I love it. To have that much trust from you means everything. I love you, baby.”

I was half tempted to go back to sleep, but I got a waft of sausage gravy and my stomach felt a little queasy. I had felt less than myself the last week, and I really hoped I didn’t have to skip mom’s traditional breakfast.

“Let’s go get some coffee and breakfast, yeah?”

After Parker and I got dressed and went downstairs, we spend the entire morning eating breakfast and sitting around mom’s beautifully decorated tree. She always went all out for Christmas, even after I stopped living at home. That was one of my favorite things about her.

The day pretty much went by in a blur. Watching my dad and Parker talk about cars, or when he asked my mom to dance when she turned on her favorite Christmas big band music. My heart felt like it couldn’t possibly hold any more love.

I knew that someday my life wouldn’t be so damn hard, but I never imagined this. This man was going to be mine forever. Sure, things could happen along the way, but deep in my heart I just knew. He was it for me. And I could not have been more thankful for that. I was going to finally be optimistic about my happily ever after instead of trying to run from it.

Twenty-nine

As much as I didn’t want to ring in the New Year by myself, I still wasn’t feeling all that well. With Parker having to leave, I wasn’t in the mood to stay at the party anymore anyway. I walked inside and the warm air felt inviting. The walk from Beth’s house to mine was short, but it had gotten pretty windy in the last few hours and the winter crisp was in the air. I pulled my hair down from the twist I had it in and took my scarf off, hanging it on the back of the chair at the island. My stomach did another nasty flip, so I walked to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and a Pepto Bismol pill from the cabinet before heading upstairs to change my clothes.

All I wanted right now was a hot shower and some warm pajamas. I walked over and turned the heater on before grabbing some pajamas from the drawer. I took my phone and plugged it into the charger next to my bed, staring at the screen and silently wishing it would ring and for Parker to tell me he was coming back over. I just hoped that whatever pulled him away from the party at Beth’s wasn’t putting him in any danger. The feeling I got when he told me he had to go was not a good one, and I prayed I was just being nervous. But something didn’t feel right.

It was 11:20 when Parker pulled away from me and answered the phone that was in his pocket. We had been dancing together in the living room, silver corrugated cardboard crowns with ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR’ on it on both of our heads.

He walked to the back patio to take his call since the music was so loud, and his face turned serious almost seconds after saying hello to whoever was on the other end.