Finding Us (Finding #2) (11 page)

Maggie

Parker really did make an effort over the next few of weeks. He still practiced with the band minus Alexis, but he made sure to make time for me. We bought pumpkins and carved them with Max and Becca. We also all hung out while trick-or-treaters rang our doorbell all night long. He took me for a romantic date to Capital Grille to celebrate a great day in class. We even spent a Saturday night watching our favorite movies, and I actually stayed awake for a couple of them. Needless to say, things were much better in our house. I felt better, and Parker seemed happier as well.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Our study group met for coffee one day in between classes. I was sitting with Ivy while everyone else was off getting food. While I was watching Parker politely dodge the counter girl’s flirting, I felt Ivy staring at me.

“What?” I asked when I turned and found her smiling.

“Nothing. I just take it things are better between you two.”

“What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes like Sarah would have done. “Oh, come on. You haven’t watched him like that in weeks. I could tell something was going on, but you are so hush, hush about life that I didn’t want to ask and invade your privacy.”

I laughed. “Ok, I get it. And yes, things are a lot better.”

“Good. You two are a perfect fit. I’d hate to see something petty get in your way.”

I wouldn’t call my issues with Alexis petty, but I understood what she was saying. “Well, thanks for that. I think we have it all figured out. We just went through some growing pains. Things aren’t the same as they were in college, you know.”

“Oh, I get it. Believe me. Remember, I moved here because I needed a change. The change was that I needed to get away from my ex.”

“Bad news?” I asked.

“Umm…he’s the kind of guy your mom warns you about, but you can’t help yourself anyway. He just wasn’t for me.” She paused and looked around the room for a second before turning towards me. “Speaking of not for me, can I be a gossip for a second?”

“Sure,” I responded suspiciously.

“A couple of weeks ago I went out to dinner with Sophie and Tony. First of all, Tony is a total creeper. More importantly I met Sophie’s husband.”

“Oh yeah?” I was really interested to hear about the doctor Sophie talked about all the time.

“Well, let me just say he wasn’t what I expected. The night we went to the bar with you and Parker and drank way too much she told me all about him in the bedroom…in graphic detail, shit no one needs to know about anyone’s husband. Well, I was expecting McSteamy or at the very least McDreamy.” Her whisper became more frantic as she told the story, but, when she paused, the look on her face told me the man she met did not compare to McSteamy or McDreamy.

“What? Was he Doogie Howser? McUgly? What?” I asked impatiently.

“He was McOld. I mean the guy has years on my dad. Sophie’s so young and perky that I thought for sure this guy was a resident or something. Oh no! I would say he’s pushing sixty. He could have been Richard Gere’s twin.”

I burst out laughing. “No way!”

“Oh yes. It was shocking to say the least. When he sat down, I wondered who invited their dad, but his greeting was followed by a full open mouth kiss with tongue right there at the table. I felt like I was intruding on one of their bedroom moments by watching, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. All I could think about was her telling me how he likes it when she grabs his ass. Now I know she meant he likes it when she grabs his wrinkled, saggy ass.”

I couldn’t control the giggling. Tears started escaping my eyes from laughing so hard. Suddenly I was so grateful for Ivy. I hadn’t laughed like that with a girlfriend since Sarah had left, and I hadn’t realized how cathartic a good laugh could be.

“Oh my…” was all I could say. Words would not form through the laughter.

“Can you imagine what she said when she introduced him to her parents? ‘Hey Mom and Dad, this is my boyfriend William. I know he’s older than you guys, but he’s amazing in bed.’ I mean, seriously!”

“Maybe he was a friend of her parents and thought they’d hit it off,” I suggested still giggling uncontrollably.

“I would laugh at my parents if they thought I would be even remotely interested in one of their friends.” She shrugged clearly amused by my reaction to her gossip. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I don’t judge. Everybody has his or her thing. At least he was an attractive old dude, but he was so not my cup of tea. I’m into punk rockers who dye their hair wild colors and wear tight jeans and make-up. Who am I to judge someone for screwing an old man?”

Her words stopped my laughter and turned my attention on her love life. “You like punk rockers, huh?”

“Yeah,” she sighed dramatically. “Skinny guys with no muscle tone make me swoon. I know. I’m a weirdo.”

“What are you doing a week from Friday?”

“Hanging out with you apparently.”

“Yes, you are. I’m not a matchmaker, but I have someone you must meet.”

Just then Parker walked up to join us. He dropped our sandwiches and waters on the table before plopping down in his chair. We just stared at him.

“What?”

Ivy and I burst out laughing and then she filled Parker in on all the excitement. Just like that, we had another friend in our clan.

Maggie

All of my newfound happiness was made even better because I was finally doing better in school. The asshole professor was even kind enough to stop me after class to tell me I did a good job that day before asking if I had thought about my plans for summer internships. I couldn’t believe it.

I had needed that little boost of confidence since we were headed to Savannah for the weekend. Max, Becca, Parker, and I piled in my car to make the three-hour trek to my parent’s mansion. While I was dreading seeing her, I didn’t think my mother could even kill my good mood from the great week I’d had.

Of course the second we walked in the door, she started on me. “Welcome Parker,” she said as she stood at the front door while Parker and I entered. We had dropped Max and Becca off at his house, so Parker was my only hope of deflecting my mother’s wrath. Since Daddy’s heart attack last year, she wasn’t holding back anymore.

“Mrs. Miller. How are you?”

“Fine,” she said before pressing her lips into a tight line and turning to me. “I hope no one saw you dressed like that. You look positively hideous, Margaret.”

“Thank you, Mother. Always a pleasure to see you as well,” I said sarcastically. “Where’s Daddy?”

“At the office still. Take your stuff upstairs and get cleaned up. He should be home soon for dinner soon. Everyone will be here by seven thirty, so you need to be ready. Change your clothes.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She walked away with a clip clop of her high heels.

“Glad to see nothing has changed,” I mumbled to Parker as we carried our bags upstairs.

He just laughed when he wrapped his arms around my waist. “At least you can joke about it now.” I pulled away and started dressing for my mother’s expectations for dinner. I heard Parker huff when I pulled away, but I didn’t have time for a heart-to-heart right then. I had to somehow make myself invisible for dinner.

Dinner wasn’t much better than the initial welcome home, but Daddy was thrilled to have us all at his dinner table. My mother couldn’t really say anything with him sitting there. He wouldn’t stand for it. Of course he didn’t stop her from glaring at me or holding off on dessert because “some of us need to be watching our figures.” I was certain she wasn’t talking about anyone else at the table by the way she looked me up and down when she said it. I rolled my eyes. My mother was ridiculous.

Parker

It was Saturday night when we celebrated Maggie’s dad’s sixtieth birthday at the club. Maggie was perfect, staying on my arm the entire night looking beautiful in a green cocktail dress. After dinner we were standing out on the porch taking a break from the party when she wrapped her arms around me.

I pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

She pressed her body against mine. “Once or twice, but it never hurts to hear it again,” Maggie’s smile was sassy and full of promises to come. It was too bad we were staying under her parents’ roof again. I could have really used my fill of her promises that night.

Instead I bent down and kissed her cheek then I whispered, “You look beautiful tonight, Maggie.”

She smiled. “Too bad we’re staying at my parent’s house,” she said reading my thoughts.

I looked out over the lake and let out a deep breath knowing that night was going to haunt me forever. Then something occurred to me. “We can go to your spot on the golf course tonight. That isn’t under their roof.”

Her cheeks turned a shade of red I hadn’t seen in a while. It was good to know the sweet, innocent Maggie was still there, and I hadn’t completely defiled her. “Or we could wait until we get home tomorrow. I’m not getting caught doing
that
on the golf course.”

I groaned. “I knew you would make me pay for that.”

She smiled wickedly then reached for my hand. “Come on. The sooner we sing happy birthday, the sooner we can leave.”

That was all she had to say. It was another hour before we were back in her room and I was unzipping her dress. We didn’t disrespect her parents, but Maggie was all smiles as she fell asleep on my chest that night.

Over the next few weeks, Maggie and I spent more time together. We were back to how it was when we first got together, just the two of us all the time. A few times she even came to listen to the band when we were recording. Pops helped put everything together since I was playing, and Grady ended up with a really impressive demo. 

The guys loved having Maggie there. She brought them food and told them how great they were all the time. I thought I was going to have to give her an approved list of comments because the guys’ egos were getting out of control, particularly Grady. Giant egos or not, the band knew they had something amazing on their hands. 

Friday night was their big night. They were playing live for some record executives and handing over the demo. Maggie, Max, Becca and I went to the bar even though Alexis was going to be there. Maggie seemed determined to go, so I did what my girl wanted. Had I known she was playing matchmaker with my best friend, I probably would have thought twice about going. Grady’s longest relationship was with his guitar. He was a loyal friend to the guys in the band and me. He was even loyal to Alexis, who was like a sister to him. However, Grady was not the kind of guy you set your friends up with. He was the worst kind of player; he made promises and broke them for sport. And Maggie wanted to introduce him to our study partner, Ivy. It was going to be a train wreck for sure.

Not surprisingly Ivy was immediately drawn to him. I had a feeling if I told her he was bad news, she would have only liked him more.

She saw him as soon as we walked in the front door. He was on stage plugging in his guitars looking as stressed as I expected. This was a huge night for the band, and he was their leader. It didn’t matter though. When he saw us come in, his eyes went from me to Maggie to Ivy, and that was where they remained. Intrigue was written all over his face. Train wreck…it was going to happen.

“That him?” Ivy asked with her eyes still locked on Grady.

Maggie smiled brightly. “That’s him. He’s getting ready, but I’ll introduce you after.”

I cleared my throat. “No need to wait. He’s coming to meet her.” I leaned down to whisper in Maggie’s ear. “You know this is a terrible idea, right?”

“Oh hush,” she said and elbowed me in the gut. “They are just looking for fun, not marriage. Give them a chance.”

I stood back up and didn’t say another word. Far be it for me to ruin Maggie’s fun.

“Parker,” Grady greeted. I nodded my head in return while he hugged Maggie. “And who are you?”

“Ivy,” she responded and held out her hand.

He took her hand and held it in both of his while keeping his eyes focused on hers. He was such a player. “Well Ivy, I must say I’m glad to meet you. How in the world did you hook up with these two?”

“School, you?”

“Park’s been playing with us for years. He’s our golden boy who won’t admit he should be playing instead of studying.”

“I never knew he was so talented.”

“He learned from the best, sweetheart. Let’s get you a drink and a seat at our table.” Grady kept her hand in his as they walked away.

Maggie just looked up at me and laughed at my expression.

“Disaster, Maggie.”

“He’s a smooth talker, isn’t he? I have never seen anything like what just happened.”

“Good.” I pulled her against me and wrapped my arms around her back. “A guy ever talks to you that way, and he won’t make it home that night.”

“You don’t have to worry, Parker. They can smell your scent from a mile away. You marked your territory long ago.”

I swear my chest puffed out on its own. Claiming Maggie brought out my inner caveman for sure. It sometimes blew my mind to think that two years ago I would have run from this.