Page 2 of Mother Parker
I opened the door to the restroom and locked it behind me, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I almost gave myself a start. Those eyebrows of mine were quite the sight when one was unprepared, and I certainly wasn’t at that moment, but I was used to my ugly mug.
I turned the tap on and splashed some water on my face, but it did nothing to cool the heat rising inside me as the memories came to the surface.
“Good God, Park! You only ever care about yourself, don’t you? Did you ever stop to think about me?”my ex, Becca, had said before she packed her things and went her separate way from me.
I couldn’t blame her for stepping out of my messy life. And yet her leaving still stung and made my heart ache with longing. Not for her. For anyone who would take a wild chance on a guy like me. But if that hadn’t happened already, it never would.
I rubbed my face. My beard scratched my fingers. I needed a shave.
As if that would help.
But it was a start, I guessed. New life, new me kind of thing. I had to give this shot my all. It was the only one—maybe the last one—I had.
The last chance to put my life—alife—back together and make something of myself.
Fat chance of that happening. You are thirty-three, asshole. It’s too late to start over.
I turned away from the mirror and tried to kick that voice into the pits of my mind. I didn’t need it. Not now. Not when I was trying to rebuild everything. I already knew it was going to be hard.
“We’re almost there. Should we head to the car?” Ford asked when I got back.
Once seated in the car, my stomach turned into a ball of nerves and nausea.
“Ready?” he asked as the ramp came down and he started the engine.
“As I’ll ever be,” I mumbled, and we came out.
Despite the chilly fall weather, I rolled down the window and watched the place Ford, his boyfriend, and my sister, Autumn, had fallen in love with.
The roads were quiet. The streets were deserted. It reminded me of the stillness on a mission before we got the signal and went in guns blazing to bring down the terrorist of the month.
In a lot of ways, this quiet was scarier. I didn’t know what to expect. What kind of people or life awaited here.
Probably more hardships, more cruelty, more crap.
I shook my head.
Stop it!
I was moving on. I had to remember that.
Moving on with nothing but a string of bad experiences and an attitude to show for it.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I was happy. When I didn’t see doom and gloom in every place I looked.
We came to a stop outside a place called the Outpost.
It was a sole building by the beach in the middle of nowhere with a large empty deck devoid of furniture or life and a bunch of cars parked next to it.
“Go on in. I’m right behind you,” Ford said, and I nodded.
My boots hit the gravel, and I massaged my neck before I started for the door.
I didn’t know if I was ready for this. But I had to brace myself. I was bound to face my sister at some point. I mean, she had upended her life back in New Harlow, leaving our brother behind to come to this small island in Massachusetts to be here for me for when I finally left SEAL Team 13.
The inside of the Outpost was the exact opposite of the outside. It was full of life. Too full, if anything.
Walls lined with logs, dim lighting, scattered tables, and a bar at the very end.
