Page 3 of Mother Parker
Maddox Shepherd was behind it, staring at me, and he didn’t stop gawking until I approached him.
“Shepherd!” I reached over the bar and gave him my hand.
We bumped shoulders, and then came the dreaded shriek from my sister.
I turned toward a side door next to the bar, and her big brown eyes made my knees give way. And then she ran to me.
“I know, Biscuit. I know. Drama queen central,” Shepherd said to someone behind the bar, and I leaned in to find he was talking to a dog.
Biscuit, the dog. Ford wouldn’t shut up about him. Or his boyfriend, Shepherd, for that matter. I loved teasing him about it, but if I was honest, I was a little jealous.
Not because I liked either of them. I wasn’tintomen.
But I was jealous of their relationship. Of what they had. Which only reminded me of what I didn’t.
“You’re one to talk,” Autumn told Shepherd, releasing me from her embrace. “Between us two, you’re the biggest drama queen here.”
Shepherd raised an eyebrow at my sister.
“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” I added to my sister’s comment. “You’re a little princess, aren’t you, Shepherd?”
Asher Ford had endured endless ribbing at the base for his ability to “turn” Maddox Shepherd. And like the good sport he was, he‘d wasted no time teasing back about his “wonder dick.”
“Hey!” Autumn shouted at me at me, waving a finger in my face. “No mocking my friend.”
“Do you want a kick in the nuts, or do you want a kick in the nuts, Officer Grumpypants?” Shepherd retaliated as well.
I put my hands up in surrender, and just as I brought them down, she slapped my chest.
“By the way, you got married, and you didn’t tell me?” she asked. “You didn’t even invite us? What the fuck is that all about?”
How the fuck did she know that? Who told on me? I was hoping to avoid this conversation entirely until I was more settled.
“Can we speak somewhere more private?” I asked.
Autumn pouted and dragged me to the door she had appeared from. We went from the warm, cozy lit bar into an industrial kitchen made of steel.
My sister stood between me and the door as if blocking my escape and crossed her arms.
“Speak.”
I scratched the back of my neck and sighed.
“Wh-what do you want me to…um, say?”
Autumn’s eyebrows sank even lower and her nostrils flared.
“Secrets, Parker? You’re keeping secrets? Haven’t we had enough secrets in this family?”
“That’s not fair. Everyone has secrets. I’m sure you have—”
“Do not deflect right now. I don’t care for your smart ass,” she said.
“I’m sorry, okay?”
I fell back on the counter and dropped my head.
There was a reason why I didn’t tell my sister things. It was so hard to talk to her. Although, to be fair, I didn’t like talking to anyone, so she didn’t hold exclusive rights to that.
