Next Door Secrets (Secrets Series Book 2) (6 page)

If she wore that,
Kaylee’s
dad would definitely get the wrong idea--that she
was interested in more than being neighbors. “I don’t think so. What do you
think your dad will wear? It seems like he’s always dressed casually.”

“That’s because
that’s how he dresses for work. But I told him to dress nice for tonight.”

Beth crouched down
in order to make eye contact with
Kaylee
. “Sweetie,
I’m sure your dad’s a nice guy, but I’m not interested in him. We’re neighbors.
That’s all.”

“But if he’s nice,
why don’t you want to marry him? Do you want to marry someone else?”

Chewing on her
lower lip, Beth considered her answer. Yes, she did want to marry someone else,
but it would probably never happen. She’d told herself to be content with
whatever Parker could give her for as long as he was around. “I already have a
boyfriend.”

Kaylee
dropped her chin. “Oh.”

A drill bored its
way into Beth’s heart. “I tell you what. I’m going to wear jeans, but I’ll let
you pick the top.” After turning on the closet light, she ran her fingertips
along the many shirts hanging in her closet.

The little girl’s
blue eyes sparkled. “Anything?”

“Anything.”

She pulled on a
purple shirt to get a better look, then tucked it back in. Her hand did that
with each sleeve down the line: white, pink, green, yellow.
Kaylee
sorted through three different blue shirts: paisley, pinstriped and floral.
Finally, she selected the one with tiny turquoise flowers on it.
Very girly, and fortunately, not sexy.

“Your favorite
color.” As Beth started to unbutton the shirt she’d worn to the Healthy Habits
Vitamins and Herbs office that day, she hesitated.
Kaylee’s
father probably wouldn’t appreciate this level of familiarity. She quickly grabbed
her turquoise shirt and jeans and headed to the bathroom to change.

“Do you have any
jewelry?”
Kaylee
asked when she returned.

Beth showed her
the small jewelry box on her dresser, nestled between framed photos of her
friends’ kids.
 

With one hand, the
girl picked through the pearl studs and simple gold hoops. “You don’t have
much.” Her expression went from disappointment to excitement. “Come with me. I
have the perfect thing in my room.”

“I don’t know that
I should go into your apartment when your dad isn’t home. He might not like
it.”

“It’s OK. You’re
my friend. I’m allowed to have friends over.”

“Really?” A child
was allowed to invite friends over when there wasn’t an adult home? Taking a
deep breath, she decided it couldn’t hurt to go next door. She followed
Kaylee
into an almost carbon copy of her apartment, where a
pile of men’s and children’s shoes met her at the door. The living room furniture
was basic: a plaid couch and a brown chair. No side tables, no lamps, no
pictures.

They walked into a
bedroom with clothes and coloring pages all over the floor. The bed looked as
if it had been the sight of a wrestling match. Beth smiled at the relaxed
housekeeping habits of a child and a bachelor.
Kaylee
opened her closet where clothes hung haphazardly and
inside-out
from hangers.
If I were your
mother.
. . .
Beth bit the inside of her mouth to stop
the thought.

Her gaze landed to
the floor. Mixed in with the piles of clothes were granola bars, M & M’s,
cans of pop,
a
loaf of bread, Hostess donuts and
full-sized cereal boxes. She cocked her head. “Why do you have food in your
closet?”

“In case I get
hungry.”
Kaylee
grabbed a Chutes & Ladders box
and set it on the floor by Beth’s feet. She opened it up and pulled out a pair
of turquoise earrings set in silver. They looked genuine.

“Those are
beautiful.”

“They were my
mom’s.” Her voice cracked a little. “You want to see a picture of her?”

Nodding, Beth
didn’t dare speak for fear that her voice would crack, too.

Kaylee
pulled out a wallet-sized photo of a thin woman with
black hair parted in the middle, with a little girl standing beside her and a
toddler on her lap. With their dark hair, blue eyes and chubby cheeked smiles,
the children were definitely sisters. The picture had been folded, ripped and
taped back together.
    

Beth decided not
to pry about why the photo had been damaged. “Is this you and your mom?”

“Yep.
And my baby sister.
They’re both in heaven now.”

Instinctively,
Beth put her palm on
Kaylee’s
back and rubbed. “I bet
they’re looking down on you right now.”

“You think?” Her
eyes looked wide.

“Sure.”

“Does my mom know
I broke my arm?”

“Probably. Maybe
she’s the angel that made sure you didn’t get hit by that car.”

Just then a sound
from the doorway drew their attention. Jim stood there clearing his throat.
“What’s going on here?”

Beth felt her face
flush. She removed her hand from
Kaylee’s
back. “
Kaylee
wanted to show me something.”

“You’re a little
early for dinner.” He looked at his watch.

“Oh, I can go home
and come back later. Or we can just forget the whole thing.” The man certainly
wasn’t much of a host. It would be way more fun to dine with Parker tonight. It
would probably be more fun to dine alone.

Kaylee
let out a pitiful whine. “Please, Beth. I want you
here.”

He crossed his
arms. “Come back in forty minutes.”

She
bent close to
Kaylee’s
ear and whispered
, “
See you later
.” As she walked into the living room, Jim
followed her.

“I’d appreciate it
if you didn’t talk to my child about religion.”

She swallowed. “Of
course.” As the daughter of a minister, she grew up surrounded by people who
believed in heaven, but she knew not everyone was so sure.

As he opened the
door, he lowered his voice. “Trust me. Her momma
ain’t
no
angel.”

CHAPTER
SEVEN

A tall teenaged
girl stood in front of Parker’s
house,
her wavy brown
hair blocked her face as she focused on her cell phone. She’d probably been texting
someone while she walked down the uneven sidewalk and stopped to make sure she
didn’t trip. When he pulled into the driveway, her head popped up and he gasped.

He recognized the
brown eyes and the perky nose. It was Hannah. The daughter he never knew he had
until a few months ago. But she lived in Texas with her adoptive mother. What
was she doing in Indiana?

Leaving his
briefcase in the passenger’s seat, Parker climbed out of his vehicle to greet
her. “Hannah! What a surprise.” He opened his arms wide and waited for her to
put away her phone.

The sun reflected
off of her braces as she smiled. She hugged him as if they were long, lost
friends. In a way, they were. “It’s my Spring Break. Did you forget?”

Oh my God. He had
forgotten. They’d scheduled this visit when he’d spoken to Hannah on the phone
a few weeks ago. “I could’ve picked you up at the airport if you’d asked.”

“That’s OK. I took
a cab.” Her luggage stood tucked in the shadows by his front door.

Holding his arm
out to block her, he made his way to her bags. “I’ll get those. I’m such a bad
host leaving you outside like this. I’m taking you out for dinner at the nicest
restaurant in town, Tippecanoe Place.”

Her brow furrowed.
“Never heard of it.”

“Ever heard of
Studebakers?” Her quizzical expression made him wish only for a second that
he’d had a son. “They made cars? Well, anyway, the restaurant is in the old
Studebaker mansion. It’s so cool.” After unlocking the front door, he carried
her suitcase and duffle bag across the wooden floors to the guest bedroom. He
turned to face her. “Welcome to my humble home.”

She ran her
fingertips along the old iron bed covered with a red and white quilt his
grandmother had brought from Belgium when she’d immigrated. “I have to admit,
this is not at all what I pictured.”

“Because I’m the
founder of Mall
Land
?” He stuck his hands in his
pockets and waited to see her response, hoping she didn’t mind how small the
room was. The truth was, all three of the bedrooms were tight. It didn’t matter
much, though, since he lived alone.

“Well, I imagined
you’d live in a gated community with a high tech alarm system.”

He shrugged. “I
used to. I’m letting my ex-wife keep that house. The truth is material
possessions don’t really matter much when you get to the end. Not that I want
to be a downer and bring up the Huntington’s, but it just clarifies things, you
know?”

“Sure.” She sat
down on the mattress and bounced a couple of times as if trying it out. Her
palm slapped the quilt. “Suits me just fine. Let’s eat.”

Grinning, he led
her back out to his SUV. As he drove them to the mansion, he decided to teach
her a little of its history. “This place was built in the 1880’s for the
founder of the Studebaker Corporation. Thomas Edison bought one of their first
electric cars. In the 50’s they designed sleek cars with what they called a
‘bullet-nose’ on the front grill. I think Studebaker went out of business later
that decade.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but
at one time, they were the largest auto manufacturer in the country.”

“Wow.”

When they pulled
up to the three-story house with
stone walls
and a castle-like
tower, he heard Hannah suck in her breath.

He glanced over at
her. “Just wait until you see the inside.” He parked and they walked toward the
double doors with leaded glass inserts. “Look at the doorknobs. They have the
initial ‘S’ on them.”

Once inside, a
carved wooden staircase and a grand piano welcomed them.

A host, dressed in
a suit, looked up. “Do you have reservations?”

“I’m afraid not,
but I’m good friends with the manager. Tell him Parker Dubois is here.” He
usually avoided using his influence like this, but he felt guilty for
forgetting about Hannah’s visit. He needed to make it up to her.

“We’re pretty
booked up, but I’ll see.” He stepped away and returned a few minutes later with
a smile. “Table for two?” After Parker nodded, the man led them to a table draped
in white linen near an unlit fireplace. “Enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you.” Parker
pulled out the antique chair upholstered in burgundy velvet for Hannah. As if
uncomfortable with this custom, she sat down too quickly, before the chair
reached the back of her knees. Then she had to reposition herself and scoot the
chair forward on her own.

As he moved to his
chair, he caught a glimpse of the other diners in the mirror above the hearth.
Almost every table was occupied—probably because the ambiance was equally
matched by the chef’s
savoir faire
. They spent a few
quiet moments examining the menu. “The prime rib is excellent. Does your coach
let you eat red meat?”

“I’m supposed to
focus on low fat, high protein. Which reminds me, is there an indoor pool
nearby that I can practice in? I need to get 40 miles in this week.”

“I can take you to
the YMCA. Have you heard from any college recruiters yet?”

“No. They’re not
allowed to contact me until July. But Coach says he’s pretty sure I’ll be
offered a scholarship.”

“That’s good.
Remember, you can go to any school, no matter what the cost. I’ll pick up the
tab.”

Her gaze landed on
the candle centerpiece. “I don’t think Mom would like that. She’s kind of
sensitive about taking care of me by
herself
. I’m
lucky she didn’t buy the seat next to me on the plane just so she could hold my
hand.” She smirked.

“Someday you’ll
appreciate her concern.”

“I doubt it.” The
waiter came by to fill their water glasses and pulled out a notepad to take
their orders.

Hannah spoke
first. “Salmon and a baked potato—no sour cream or butter.”

Closing his menu,
Parker smiled. “I’ll have the prime rib and I’ll take her extra butter for my
baked potato.” After the waiter walked away, Parker leaned in. “One of the
perks of knowing how you’re
gonna
die. I can eat
anything I want.”

She twirled a lock
of her dark brown hair around her index finger and looked down. “Since you
brought it up, what do you plan to do now that you’ve been diagnosed?”

“What do you
mean?”

“Well, you’re
eating steak. What else do you want to do before the end?”

He took a drink of
his water. “Go to the office. See you as much as possible. Try to be happy.”

“So what would
make you happy? Before I got tested, I thought about everything I might never
get the chance to do. If it were me, I’d want to go skydiving.”

He was so relieved
that Hannah didn’t carry the Huntington’s gene. While he tried to decide if he
needed to jump out of an airplane before he died, he took a breath and gathered
his thoughts. “That might be fun. I have a friend who has an airplane. If you
want, I could see if he can take us up.”

Her braces
sparkled as she smiled. “Really? That would be amazing!”

“Then we’ll
definitely do that before you go home. Anything else you want to do this week?”

Shaking her head,
she gave him a disapproving look. “This is supposed to be about you. What’s on
your Bucket List?”

He ran his hand
through his short hair. “You know what I always wanted to do? Join the Peace
Corps.”

“Really? Isn’t
that where you go to some third world country and help them plant crops?”

“Or help them
build houses or teach them English.”

“That doesn’t sound
like fun.”

“Nothing feels
better than altruism. We have so much wealth in this country, it’s a shame we
don’t share it. I mean, we can walk into
Wal-mart
and
buy thousands of food items while some people still have to walk to a well
every day just to get fresh water to drink.”

Her facial
expression softened. “If that’s really important to you, then why are you
sitting in your office five days a week?”

Cutting back to
only
five or six days a week had been
his drastic lifestyle change once his diagnosis hit. “I don’t know. When I was
married, it wasn’t an option. But now that Ivy’s no longer my
responsibility.
. . . She did say someone from the Peace
Corps called for me the other day.” The blood started pumping faster through
his veins. Thoughts swirled around inside his brain. Could he really do it?
“They probably wouldn’t want me if they knew about my condition.”

“Oh. Does your
doctor have to fill out some medical forms?”

“Actually he
already did. When I first applied.” Would there be another physical before he
was placed? He’d probably have to get some shots, but he could go to a
different doctor—one who didn’t know his background. “I’m getting excited
just thinking about it. I wonder where they’d send me. Somewhere in South
America or maybe Africa? I’ve never been to Africa.”

“Me neither. Do
you think I could go with you?”

He gave her a firm
look. “No. You are going back for your senior year of high school to live with
your mom. And then you’re going to college.”

Her shoulders
slumped. “Can I at least visit you?”

“Definitely.” Then
he thought about Beth. He may not be attached to Ivy any more, but he knew Beth
loved him, and he’d been resisting the urge to tell her the same. He was trying
to spare her the inevitable heartache down the line. It was better that he be
single when his body completely gave out on him rather than see the pity in her
eyes.

A resigned sigh
escaped his lips.

“What’s wrong?”
Hannah asked.

“It’s Beth. We’ve
started dating. I tried to convince her that I’m no good for her, but she
wouldn’t listen. She definitely won’t want me to leave the country for any
length of time.”

“You mean my birth
mom?”

He nodded. “We
reconnected after we found you last year. My marriage was falling apart and so
was her relationship with her boyfriend.” He studied her brown eyes to see how
she felt about this revelation.

She fidgeted with
her silverware. “So my birth mother and birth father end up together sixteen
years later.” Her voice sounded flat.

“We weren’t in
love when we were in college. I was such a jerk back then, having
one night
stands. Don’t ever let a man take you to bed if
you two aren’t committed to each other.” The fatherly advice slipped out before
he even realized he was going to say it. Her cheeks flamed bright red and he
felt bad for her.

Her embarrassment
passed quickly. “How did you and Beth first meet?”

“We were in speech
class together. It’s hard to believe now, but she was so shy back then that she
passed out the first time she had to stand at the podium. I managed to catch
her on the way down. During my speech, I announced that I was starting a new
club on-campus and she was the only one from the class who showed up.”

“So how did you
end up getting her pregnant then marrying somebody else?”

He sighed. “Beth
brought her roommate, Ivy, to the club. She was drop-dead gorgeous and
unfortunately, that’s all that I could see at the time. Once, we had a fight at
a party and Ivy said she never wanted to see me again.” He cracked his knuckles.
“After everyone left, Beth stayed to help clean up. She looked at me as if I
were
her hero and I guess I needed that. So we spent the
night together.”

“Was Beth pretty,
too?”

He scratched his
chin. “Not in an obvious way. She was sweet and kind, but a little, uh,
chubby.”

“I can’t imagine.
Anyway, you and Ivy weren’t speaking and you hooked up with Beth. Then what
happened?”

“A few days later,
Ivy and I reconciled.”

“So you’ve wanted
to join the Peace Corps since college. You let Ivy stop you from doing what you
wanted back then and now you’re going to let Beth stop you.” Judgment marched
through her statement.

He opened his
mouth to defend himself, but fortunately, the food arrived. They avoided
conversation while they ate. The whole time he chewed his medium-rare steak, his
mind toyed with the idea of going to a country where he could be of service. Was
it still a possibility? He barely tasted his food as he dreamed of making his
short life worth something.

# #
#

The phone was
ringing when Beth returned to her apartment, so she rushed through the door.
“Hello?”

“I have a surprise
for you,” Parker said. “Guess who’s here.”

Beth plopped down
on her couch and watched out her window as the old lady walked her beagle. It
was the one who’d seen
Kaylee
break her arm. “Tell
me.”

“Hannah.”

She sat upright. “Where
is she?”

“With me. She’s on
Spring Break.”

“Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“It was a last
minute decision and I guess it slipped my mind.”

She worried how
often important details slipped his mind these days. A visit from the daughter
they’d placed for adoption was kind of a big deal. “I’m supposed to have dinner
with the family next door, but I’ll cancel so I can come right over.” A weight
lifted from her.

“No, don’t do
that. We just ate and Hannah said she’s so tired, she wants to turn in early.”

“Really? I’d love
to see her.”

“She’s had a long
trip. Tomorrow she wants to swim laps at the Y, though. I thought we could all
go together.”

Her head nodded
even though he couldn’t see her. “Sure. There’s a
Zumba
class I’d like to hit.”

“Great. I’ll call
you in the morning.”

“Wait. Aren’t you
even curious about my dinner companions?”