Page 11 of The Proximity Factor

I couldn’t help but turn with my mouth full to listen to her. The woman knew how to draw people in. I would give her that.

“My brother, Tad, he’s a fighter just like Daddy. And a daredevil. Tad and his friends caused all sorts of ruckus growing up.” She laughed. “But everyone loved him. He was the town star. When he was the quarterback, our school won the state championship three years in a row. Then he became a Navy SEAL, and the town threw him a parade. Sadly, a couple of years ago he was in an ATV accident, and it paralyzed him from the waist down.”

Brynn and Anna gasped.

Even I dropped my fork. Her family had been through a lot. Sometimes I forgot I wasn’t the only one with problems. I was a real prick sometimes. And maybe I had misjudged Lanie some. It didn’t sound like she came from a wealthy background like Maren. Perhaps she wasn’t spoiled like Maren either.

Lanie waved her hands around. “It’s okay. He had a tough time at first, but he charmed his physical therapist and now they’re married. Mama says sometimes God gives us troubles to make sure we’re in the right spot for the greatest blessings of our lives.”

“I love that,” Brynn commented.

“Amen,” Anna said.

Lanie smiled. “Well, that’s my family, in a nutshell.”

“Any beaux?” Brynn asked conspiratorially.

Lanie blushed, and unfortunately, it only made her more attractive. “Not for a while. I’ve been so focused on helping Mama, I haven’t really had the time to think about romance.” The lilt of her voice said it wasn’t the only reason.

I wondered what the real reason was. I silently berated myself for my interest.

With a Cheshire grin, Brynn looked between Lanie and me. “Well, maybe your mama is right about troubles and all putting you where you need to be.”

Lanie squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.

Incredulously, I stared at Brynn, puzzled by her insinuation. I liked Brynn and Anna. I’d known them both since they’d started dating Javon and Pete, and I was proudly a groomsman at each of their weddings. They had both been more than good to me after the divorce. For weeks after I split up with Maren, they supplied me with casseroles and every cobbler and crisp known to man. But never once had they meddled in my love life, a fact I appreciated. Now more than ever, I wanted to keep it that way. Because one thing I knew—entertaining any type of relationship with Lanie, whether friendly or otherwise, would only land me in trouble. And I’d had enough trouble to last me a lifetime.

I STARED AT MY LAPTOP screen while I lay flat on my stomach on my bed, not eager to start this week’s questionnaire. Who knew what it had in store for me? This past week was definitely more than I expected. Especially today at Pete and Anna’s. I was pretty sure Anna and Brynn thought Parker and I should start a little somethin’ somethin’. That was so not happening, despite having seen another side of Parker today. Which was weird and disconcerting. I wasn’t even sure why I went to the game and barbecue. I guess I just couldn’t believe he had real friends who liked him. Not only that, but his friends were good, decent people who thought the world of him. For some reason, I felt compelled to see the person they saw.

I thought of how cute it was when Parker held Jessalyn at the game and put her on his shoulders. Or how patient he was while playing video games with Olivia and Rhett.

“Ugh,” I said to no one but myself. He was still a jerk—a jerk who ate three servings of my potato salad and didn’t once compliment me on it.

“Let’s get this over with.” I finished logging into the portal and pulled up the new questionnaire before clicking record. Some of the questions looked like repeats from last week. But they had added additional details. Yay. More fun.

“Question one: On average, how much time per day do you and Parker spend together?” I was about to say none, but that wasn’t true this week. “Well, uh, most days we don’t spend any time together, but this week, I joined in on his friends’ LAN party. That’s L-A-N, not land, but you probably know that because you’re smart science people. Anyway, that was on Tuesday. It lasted for several hours. Not that Parker talked to me during any of it. He basically just scowled at me and growled or groaned, depending on what I said. But his friends are super nice. They taught me all about their MMO something or other games. To be honest, it surprised me how bad my hand-eye coordination is. I have great coordination otherwise. You should see me on the field or on the dance floor. But I am awful at MMOs or whatever. Let’s just call them video games.”

I paused for a moment before I gave my dear roommate a compliment. “Honestly, I’m really impressed with his game. His friends told me he’s like a genius. I believe it. The intricacies and world-building of the game are pretty incredible and the graphics are just stunning. Anyway, that was Tuesday. After that, he pretty much ignored me as usual. But his friends invited me to watch them play Ultimate Frisbee, which, by the way, is an actual game. I had no idea. But wow. It was a lot of fun. Not as fun as watching football. I mean, that would be blasphemous to say, but I had a great time. The game is fast paced, and ooh la la some of those players are gorgeous. Not Parker’s friends. I mean, they are handsome, but most of them are married. Except Ethan. He is good looking, but he’s almost forty and has never been married, so that’s a no go. And he laughs like a donkey, which kind of freaks me out. Not like you need to know that,” I rambled.

I thought about how flirty Ethan had been with me. Parker didn’t seem to approve of it. I’m sure he just didn’t want me around. I guess I could kind of understand, considering I apparently resembled his ex-wife. That tidbit surprised me. I felt bad he’d had an ugly divorce, from the sounds of it. It was enough to make anyone cranky.

In fact, after I found out about Maren, I couldn’t help but look her up. I’m sure Parker would be livid to know I had, but like I said, I had this weird drive to find out more about my maddening roommate. Like Mama would say, Parker stuffed my craw, and he was stuck in there real good. I needed to work him out. So I did what anyone of my generation would do and engaged in a little investigating online. Okay, so I’d done more than a little. More like several hours’ worth.

What I found out was eye opening. First of all, Maren was a properly bred southern beauty. She belonged to all the right clubs and organizations, including the Junior League. And whoa, was she a fashion icon. She would do Reese Witherspoon proud. I think she owned every item in the Draper James collection. Maren was so well connected, she and Parker’s engagement and wedding photos appeared in a well-known Georgia magazine. I’m ashamed to admit how long I studied them. Parker was nothing short of dashing. His hair was a tad longer back then, and it curled just above his ears. It begged to have fingers run through it. Even more noteworthy was how happy he looked. A happy Parker was a drop-dead gorgeous Parker. The way he smiled at Maren melted me like chocolate in the Georgia sun. It made me long for him to smile at me that way, which was absolutely ridiculous.

So it probably wasn’t Parker I longed for. I just wondered if anyone would ever look so adoringly at me. Like I hung the moon and stars not just in our universe, but all of them. That’s how Parker had looked at Maren. It made me realize the men I’d dated only ever looked at me as an object—eye candy, as Greg called it. Sadly, I’d mistaken it for adoring gazes. But after looking at Parker’s wedding photos, I knew no man had ever seen me the way Parker saw Maren. I wanted that so badly. Maybe if I were a little more book smart and not just well versed in fun and sass, I would finally find my someone.

It was no wonder Parker was so grumpy now. It had to be because, once upon a time, he had been inexplicably happy. Those pictures of him said it all. He had been on top of the world. I read article after article about the company he’d started with his ex-best friend, Stephen. The gaming industry touted them as the best independent gaming company in the last decade. There were even articles about how the creative geniuses had gone their separate ways. They made it sound like it was because of directional differences. Didn’t anyone find it funny that Maren ended up as Stephen’s business partner? There had to be talk. It was the South after all, which made me feel awful for Parker, even if he was a jerk. A jerk who loved his sister so much, he was doing this social experiment for her tuition money. That was per Anna and Brynn. The guys had told me he was paying her tuition, but I hadn’t known the experiment money was going toward it. It was impossible not to admire that part of him.

I wanted to ask Parker why he wasn’t going to the big gaming convention that was happening in Atlanta this summer. I’d come across that information on his former company’s website, Idle Mind Games. They were posting like crazy about it. From the sounds of it, they would have a big presence there. That was probably why Parker wouldn’t be there. I couldn’t help but think that it was exactly where he needed to be if he wanted to get his name out there. But what did I know? Not the periodic table, I’ll tell you that.

Anyway, on to the next question.

“Question two: Have you found any common ground with Parker? Hmm, I’m not sure. We both seem to love kids and potato salad, so I guess yes.” That was easy enough.

“Question three: Any changes in how you would describe Parker?” I wanted to say he was still a jerk, which was true, but I had come to know too much about him in the last week to say that. “Actually, he seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He takes care of his baby sister, from the sound of it, and sometimes his mama. And I watched him do the dishes tonight at his friend’s house without being asked, even when his buddies all went to watch the Braves game on the TV. So, I guess I would describe him as a good person, even if he hates me.” That was enough sentimentality for my broody roommate.

“Question four,” I sighed. I was already over answering these things. “Have you met any of his family or friends yet? If yes, please describe your interactions with each family member or friend. Like I said before, I played video games with his buddies on Tuesday, and then joined their families all day today. I’m not sure how much detail you need about my interactions with the following: Javon, Ethan, Pete, Anna, and Brynn. And of course the kiddos, but for privacy I won’t mention their names.”

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