Page 21 of Mother Parker
I was devoted to my shop anyway. Why would I take a break?
FIVE
PARKER
The little furball—a spaniel-retriever cross that was way too adorable for its own good—ran from one tree to the other, marking his territory all the way around the neighborhood with breezy nonchalance.
I’d offered to take Biscuit out this morning because I had nothing better to do. After my outburst the day before, I hadn’t spoken to either Autumn or Wyatt, which meant I still had no job or anything to keep busy.
I had ended up helping Ash with the bay window he wanted to install.
But I wasn’t here to be a burden or a pair of free hands, and I was both as long as I stayed with my two teammates. Or ex-teammates, as was more accurate now.
I still couldn’t believe I’d done it. That I was no longer a SEAL.
I hope I don’t wake up tomorrow and regret it.
After everything that had happened in the past year, my heart was no longer in the job I’d loved since before I’d enlisted.
I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because it kept me away from home for long stretches at a time or because Becca had hated how she never saw her husband even though we were supposed to be newlyweds.
Or maybe it was the worst decision I could have made, and I’d spend the rest of my life hating myself for it.
“God, I hope not,” I mumbled.
Biscuit stopped and looked back at me like the demented man I was, and I reached down to scratch his head.
“Don’t mind me, Biscuit. I’m just being a miserable bastard.”
His only response was licking my fingers with enthusiasm, which I guessed was as decent an answer as I would get.
After Biscuit had done his business, I walked back the same way we’d come and reentered my old commander’s house where Asher and Maddox now lived.
“Welcome back, boys. Coffee?” Maddox asked as soon as I closed the door. Biscuit ran to him for some loving scratches.
“None for Biscuit. He’s already hyper. But I’ll have some,” I said.
Maddox opened his mouth wide, smirking.
“What?” I grumbled.
“Nothing. I just…didn’t know you had a sense of humor.”
I gave him the finger and got busy putting Biscuit’s food in his bowl and preparing the syringe with his insulin.
Yeah, I had only been here for three days, and I’d already learned the dog’s routine. That was how bored I was.
“What are you doing today, Officer Grumpypants?” he asked when he handed me my coffee—which, as expected, didn’t have anywhere near enough sugar.
“Will you people stop calling me that! I’m not even an officer anymore. It’s not a joke. At least not a good one.”
“So…you want us to drop the Officer and just stick with Grumpypants? I’m sure that’s doable.”
I rolled my eyes and, after a big huff, grabbed the sugar jar and added a couple more heaped spoons to my drink.
“God, a dentist somewhere is getting ready to swim in your wealth when all those teeth rot away.”
I turned my back on Maddox and walked away.
