Page 61 of Picture Perfect

He grins. “Kinda. She showed up a bit apprehensive, but the moment I introduced them, it was like seeing two halves of a soul finding each other. They couldn’t keep their eyes off each other. If I hadn’t believed in love at first sight before, I believed in it after that.” He sighs. “The heart wants what the heart wants. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else.”

My stomach churns. All I can think of is Autumn.

“So, about you and Autumn—

“What?” Did I say her name out loud? I wonder to myself.

“You kind of steered me away from asking about her. There a reason for that?”

“No. I wanted to ask about work, since I don’t see you much.”Please keep talking about work.

He leans in closer. “You two…I mean, you’ve been close forever. Is it a brother-sister thing—

I laugh sharply. “No. She’s just my oldest friend.”

“And have you and your oldest friend ever…?”

But I give him a confused look. “What would even make you think to ask such a ridiculous question?”

“Sawyer seems to be of the opinion that you two would make a good match.”

I roll my eyes, still trying to cover. “And I am of the opinion that Sawyer would make a good speed bump if he doesn’t keep his opinions to himself.”

“Alright, alright. No need to get testy.”

But there’s that signature Parker look. The one that says heknows. Whatever it is, he knows. He fucking knows.

He’d always been that way. Even when you knew there was no way he could know what’s going on, he knew oractedlike he knew. And you would never get a straight answer out of him regarding how he found out your secret.

It was how he did everything. Faking it, in one way or another. Or coasting. The problem was, no matter what he did, he was good at it. Even when he had no right to be.

When Brooks gave him his first cigar, he smoked it like he had smoked cigars his whole life. No coughing, no watery eyes, nothing like the rest of us. It is infuriating to have a little brother who knows everything about everything.

For a long time, I thought he might become a con man, but to my family’s relief, he had no interest in crime. He could pick up any instrument and play it without almost no instruction. I have a theory that he could have done the same thing, as an astronaut or a surgeon. Just walk in the first day, and be an expert. It is maddening.

He breezes through life without trying or struggling. But his gift for inherent knowledge and skill isn’t the real problem. The main issue is that he never wanted to do anything productive except sail boats. He wants to circumnavigate the globe and he has already spent a huge portion of his life out on the water, alone. The only thing that seems to have him grounded to any degree is that charter business, the money from which he uses to pay rent on a shitty hole in the wall apartment above his office near the marina. Without it, Parker would have continued to wander aimlessly, flowing with the currents of life.

So as he sat there, his brown eyes full of mirth and mystery and the apparent knowledge that I’d been banging my best friend, I wanted to punch him. Not to hurt him. Just to knock the smugness off his face.

I force a smile. “Parker, let’s go see how the kids are doing in the pool.”

“I’m not done with my dessert—

“I didn’t ask.”

He catches my tone and follows me. The kids are fine—they’ve been swimming since they were in diapers, and we’ve been sitting near the pool the whole time, but they make for a great excuse to leave the table. We walk to the deep end, so they can’t hear us. Ellie shouts, “Dad, watch this!” and does a flip in her ruined tutu.

“Great job, sweetie!”

Jonah, on the other hand, waves at Uncle Parker, then dives under the water. I had the feeling the two of them were peas in a pod. I’d asked Jonah once about his swimming style because the amount of time he can hold his breath is worrying. He said he liked it under the water better because it was quieter. The only four-year-old I’d ever seen who was worried about getting some quiet time.

“What’s up, Rowan?”

“I don’t enjoy lying to you.”

“So, you and Autumn?”

I huff. “If I tell you anything, you cannot, under any circumstances, tell anyone else.”

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