Page 78 of Mother Parker
“Your birdies? The crows?”
I nodded and pointed outside.
“Wow,” he said. “Did you just bring them here?”
I turned my back on him and searched for the seeds, finding them in one of the cleaning supplies cabinets.
“They found me. That’s your coffee, by the way. I wasn’t sure how much sugar you take, so I haven’t—”
He grabbed the jar of sugar and proceeded to add six—SIX—heaping spoons of sugar to it.
“Are you sure that’s enough?” I asked, not quite sure what else I could say.
“What can I say. I’ve got quite the sweet tooth,” he said.
“I’ll say.”
“I guess that’s why I like you.”
He flicked a finger under my chin and winked before marching out onto the deck.
“Fucking tease,” I told him, following behind with the seeds.
The girls crowed at him but didn’t seem scared of him or his size. He reached out a hand, and Blanche jumped at the chance for a good scratching. Fucking ho.
“Awww. The girls are reunited,” I said.
“Huh?”
I poured seeds on the table as I introduced him to the crows that had adopted our family.
“Now listen, girls, I know Mr. Dorothy looks quite different, but he’s still the same grouchy woman you all know,” I addressed the birds, and I couldn’t help the smirk on my face.
“Ass,” he muttered.
“Later,” I told him again.
He snatched me from behind and pressed his groin to my ass, reigniting the fire in me.
“Promises, promises,” he whispered in my ears, making goosebumps crawl to the back of my neck.
“Patience is a virtue, Mr. Dorothy. Maybe it’s time you learned it,” I said, ever the hypocrite when all I wanted was to milk him dry.
But since I had found some resolve—and I wasn’t one to screw in front of the kids—I pulled away and walked into the apartment again.
“Ready to go?” I asked.
“Sure,” he replied, and we both filed down the stairs into the shop, ready to start the prep for the day.
As soon as I got into the café, I could tell something was wrong. The lighting was all wrong. It was way too dark, considering the time of day and the amount of light that usually streamed through the windows.
Parker must have also noticed because he looked at the front and walked with me to the counter when I saw it.
The windows were black.
“What the hell?” I asked and rushed to the door to unlock it.
Parker was a constant shadow behind me while I did it and came out into the yard.
