Page 46 of Only Ever You
“There she is!” My mom stretched her arms wide as I rounded the counter. She enveloped me in a hug, all the whilemy dad was filming away and narrating, complete with referring to me as “the prodigal daughter.”
“What do you think, sweetie?” my mom asked as she stepped back. “How about a few days on the road with us?”
The knots in my stomach twisted even tighter. “I can’t, Mom,” I said, trying to keep my expression neutral. “I’m working.”
One of the customers interjected, “We loved it when you were on the channel. We miss you, Jane! And wow, look at those curls. Did you get a perm?”
I wanted to disappear into the floor. I hated this. I forgot how much I hated it. Just then, as if it couldn’t get any worse, Parker came walking in. His eyes landed on me, and I smiled tightly at him.
Josie came to my rescue, zooming around the counter. “We really need you in the back right now.”
“Okay!” I chirped. I gave my mom and dad quick hugs. “I’ll text you this afternoon. Are you just driving through?”
“We’ll be here for a few days,” my dad replied.
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” I breathed as soon as I got in the back. “Do not let them come back here.” I lifted my eyes to Josie.
“Of course not! There’s no way on God’s green earth they are coming back here. What do you need?”
“Nothing.” I bit back a sigh.
“What about Parker?” Josie asked.
“It’s fine. There’s nothing I can do.”
Josie’s concerned gaze studied me for a beat. “Give it time.”
All I could do was shrug. I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for more.
When I left the kitchen, my parents were waiting for me in the parking lot in the back with their RV. My world was bunching up together, a traffic jam of stress and anxiety.
I decided to barrel through the situation with my parents. I smiled at them tightly. “I’m not traveling anywhere if that’s what you were hoping. It’s great to see you. Let’s have dinner at Gram’s tonight.”
“Jane,” my dad started.
Using that name cued me that he was filming. He still had a camera mounted on the side of the RV. I bit back a sigh. I didn’t miss, not even a little, the ever-present feeling of being on camera.
“We really miss you, and we’d love to do a short trip together!” my mom interjected.
I shook my head sharply, clenching my teeth to contain the anger rising inside. “See you tonight.” I tripped as I was hurrying over to my car. I belatedly glanced up to see Parker waiting beside it. My nerves tightened in my stomach.
“What is it, Parker?” I asked.
He looked torn, with lines of tension tightening as his eyes coasted over my face. “Just wondering how you’re doing.”
I gaped at him. “What the fuck, Parker? Not great.” With my parents showing up and stripping away my privacy, my tolerance for anything was gone. “Just dump me already,” I said flatly. “Unless you’re giving me Fuzzy, come get him. It feels really weird that I have him, and you’re just ignoring me.”
He looked completely stricken. I ignored the sharp sting of pain over my heart. “Now, I have to go.”
I climbed into my car, just after hurrying over to fetch Fuzzy from Jasmine’s studio. I just needed to get out of there.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
PARKER
“I don’t even know what to do.” I let out a heavy sigh as I rested my elbows on my knees, my head hanging forward.
I sat across from my therapist, Delaney. I was ignoring Luna, ignoring my mom, really, just ignoring my life.
