Head Over Heels (10 page)

If it wasn’t for work, he’d have flown there days ago. Being the boss sometimes meant having to put in the extra hours, even if he didn’t want to.

Ignoring his mother, Parker returned his attention to his cell and began to dial Cyn’s number by heart. Before he keyed in the second number, the phone was snatched from his hand and went sailing through the air.

“Mother!” To his everlasting relief, his father, with his perfect timing, caught it in midair as he came up on them.

“Whoa.” Abraham Maguire glanced at the gadget then tossed it to Parker without missing a step. Stopping in front of Olivia, he pulled her into his embrace and dipped her.

It was a move Parker had seen his father make over a million times, and it never failed to make his mother giggle like a teenage girl. “Gather the kids, honey, it’s raining iPhones, one of the seven signs of the Apocalypse.”

“Abraham, talk to your son.”

“Okay.” Abraham straightened and released Olivia. Frowning, he turned to Parker with a stern expression that immediately melted away and held out his hand. “Hi, son.”

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“Hey, Dad.” Parker gripped his father’s hand in his and smiled.

The older man’s eyes twinkled with merriment. Parker was the carbon copy of his father in looks and deeds. If it wasn’t for the graying hair they might have passed for brothers. A fact his mother loved to point out. “What’s new?”

“Nothing and everything.”

“Splendid.” Abraham clapped his hands together and rubbed them gleefully. “Let’s play.”

“After I make a call.”

“See.” Olivia pouted, this time turning her charms on her husband. “He’s breaking the golden rule.”

“Just because everyone in the world you want to speak to is standing right in front of you, doesn’t mean it’s the same for the rest of us.”

“Oh, really?” She questioned inquisitively. “Whom do you wish was here?”

Fuck!
He walked right into that one. “No one. Now excuse me.”

This time his mother offered no arguments. Unfortunately his luck ended there. Once again he was directed straight to Cyn’s voicemail. Irritated he ended the call, refusing to leave a message. He’d heard of playing hard to get but this was freaking ridiculous.

Turning around, he headed back to his parents who from the way their heads were bent together, meant only one thing. They were conspiring.
Would he ever learn?
“Are you two ready?”

“Yes,” Olivia answered. With a wave of her hand she gestured for their caddy and hooked her arm under his. “Abraham, why don’t you drive the cart and I’ll walk with Parker.”

“Walk.” Stunned, he turned questioning eyes his father’s way, but the traitor quickly looked away and did as he was bid. “Mother, you hate walking the green.”

“A little stroll will do me some good. Besides this way we can talk.”

Oh, joy.
“About?”

“The phone call for one.”

“Or we can not talk about it.”

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“Then let’s talk about the costume ball.”

Was it that time of year again? “Okay.” Where was she going with this? Every October his parents hosted a costume ball benefiting the Make a Wish Foundation. Not only was it an annual event it was also a family event. Something he wouldn’t be able to get out of no matter how justified the excuse was.

“I received the invites in the mail the other day and they’re to die for.”

Parker nodded and continued to walk to the first tee, refusing to comment until he knew exactly where this was leading.

“I’d be more than happy to send one to someone for you,” she offered.

“You would?”

“Yes.” Her eyes glittered with amusement. “Is there anyone in particular you want me to invite?”

Parker paused and turned to face her. “You know, Mother, there is someone you can invite for me.”

“Really?” He could practically hear her mental wheels turning as he spoke.

“Yes. Solomon. He was beside himself last year because he didn’t get one.”

“Parker.” His mother slapped him on his arm in mock rage. “You know I wasn’t referring to Solomon.”

Abraham slid out of the cart and joined them. He wrapped his arm around Olivia’s waist and pulled her to him. His parents were an affectionate couple, and even though it was slightly sickening, it was also sweet. “Are you done pumping him for information?”

“No,” Olivia answered at the same time Parker said, “Yes.”

Laughing, Abraham shook his head. “If you just let her fix you up with someone, she wouldn’t pester you as much.”

“As much. What do I have to do to get not at all?”

“Get married and give me grandchildren,” she volleyed back.

“All in due time.”

“Time is a-wasting. Your father isn’t getting any younger.”

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“Right.” Parker was smart enough not to mention the fact his mother was two years older than his father. “I can pull an Angelina and adopt one for you.”

“Kids aren’t puppies. You don’t swing by the pound and pick one up,” she grumbled.

“I want a little boy with your father’s eyes and your spirit. Or better yet, a little girl who’s the spitting image of her grandmother.”

“Would you settle for a little girl with big brown eyes and caramel-colored skin?”

Olivia’s eyes widened. “Is there one on the way?”

“No.” And for some reason the idea of that bothered him. “But anything is possible.”

“So you’re seeing someone.”

“Maybe.” He hedged. It was hard to put a handle on what Cyn and he were. They were more than lovers, at least he felt as if they were.

“And she’s Latino?”

“No. She’s black.”

“So you are seeing someone.” Ever the hound dog, she pounced. “Wonderful.”

His father’s rich vivacious laughter burst free. “You just don’t learn do you, boy?”

If Parker were limber enough he would kick his own ass. “Apparently not.”

“Send me her address and I’ll fire off an invitation to the ball ASAP.” Turning to her husband, she grinned. “Did you hear, Abraham? He’s seeing someone.”

“Yes, dear.”

“Mixed couples make the most beautiful children,” she continued to gush.

“Hold on.” If he didn’t put a stop to this now, she’d be out buying cradles before the day was over. “Things haven’t progressed that far yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re in the beginning stages of dating.”

“What’s her name? Do we know her?” A quick frown marred her perfect brow.

“She’s not an actress is she?”

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clear if Parker brought home an actress, she would disown him. His mother was so weird.

“No. She runs a shop.”

“On Rodeo?”

“No. Somewhere in San Francisco.”

“San Fransi—” She sighed. “Never mind. Just get me her address.”

“I’ll ask her if she—”

“Of course she wants to go. Now go through your little computer and get me her address and number.”

“She’ll never let us play if you don’t,” his father solemnly told him.

“Fine,” he grumbled, much to his mother’s delight.

First she bitched he had the phone, now she was ordering him to use it. He should have just left the damn thing in the car.

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Baahhrrinnnnggg.

“Damn it.” Cyn juggled the grocery bags in one arm as she tried to dig her keys out of her pocket. She was in a race to answer the phone. Since losing her cell phone the other day she’d been tied to the one in her house, hoping against hope Parker would call.

She hadn’t heard from him in almost a week. Thanks to her lack of Gingko she was unable to call him. Not only had she lost her phone, she lost his business card as well. If she didn’t hear from him by the following Saturday she was going to go down to the club and pester DelRay for his number. It was embarrassing, but for Parker she’d be willing to swallow her pride.

After unlocking the door, she dropped the bags on the floor and dashed into the kitchen. She could hear the television blasting in the living room, which had her seeing red. Drew and Staci were home, and yet they didn’t bother to answer the phone. God she hated them.

Out of breath, she grabbed the phone off the charge. “’Lo.”

“So, you are alive.”

“Parker.” She pumped her fist in excitement. “Hey you.”

“Hey you. Is that all I get after all this time?” Even grumpy she was glad to hear from him. “I’ve been calling you all week.”

“You have?”

“Yes, damn it. Would it have been too much effort for you to return my call?”

Under normal circumstances Cyn wouldn’t bother to dignify so much attitude with a response, but she was willing to make an exception this time. Besides he sounded really cute when he pouted. “I lost my freaking cell and your business card. Arrgg. The fates are plotting against me.”

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“And my messages?”

“I wasn’t able to check my phone mess—”

“Not those. The ones I left with your roommates.”

“You left…messages?” Cyn closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She was going to kill those bitches if it was the last thing she did. Because of them, she’d been working non-stop at the shop. They were
supposedly
sick. Supposedly being the key word and between her father and herself, they been covering the store since the moment she landed in town. Normally, it wouldn’t have bothered her to be at work, but now there was someone special in her life she wanted to spend time with, it wasn’t so easy to roll over and play dead. “They never gave them to me.”

“None of them?”

“No.” She exhaled and opened her eyes. “None of them.”

“Fucking bitches.”

She couldn’t agree more. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize for their forgetfulness.”

“Yeah…forgetfulness.” She didn’t buy that for a second. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Are you okay?” His concern came over the line loud and clear. It was enough to make her want to smile again.

“Just tired.”

“Do you want me to send the plane for you? I can’t take off just now or else I’d come there and get you myself.”

Send the plane. This time the smile did appear. “As much as I’d love to run away with you, I can’t. I have to work this weekend.”

“How about the weekend of the seventeenth?”

“Is that when you’ll be free again?” The very idea of not seeing him until next month was painful.

“Lord, no. We’ll see each other before then. There’s a ball that Saturday that I would like you to accompany me to.”

“A ball?” Was he serious?

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“Yes, costume. It’s cheesy I know, but it’s for a good cause.”

“Will I see you?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all the cause I need.”

Parker’s voice lowered to a seductive pitch. “Would it be forward of me to tell you I’ve missed the hell out of you?”

“It wouldn’t be forward enough.”

“This long distance thing is for the birds. I want to see you.”

His words warmed her heart. Sinking to the floor, Cyn rested her back against the cupboard and stretched her legs out in front of herself. “I want to see you too.”

“It’s turning into a need. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

He wasn’t the only one. “Let me know when you do.”

“I will. Take down my number again. This time I’m going to give you my house, my cell and my private line. And don’t put them on the same paper. I don’t want to take the chance you can’t reach me.”

“Needy much?”

“Where you’re concerned? Hell, yes.”

Grinning, she stood and pulled out a pen from the junk drawer. She wrote his numbers, making sure she copied each number on more than one paper. What had once seemed like merely a run of bad luck regarding the cell and business card, now seemed a bit more sinister.

“When is your next day off?” he asked, once she was finished jotting down his information.

Day off. What was that?
“I have Thursday off, but I have a million errands to run.

I’m also in the process of hiring new people.” Or she would be once she finally convinced her father to let the demonic duo go. “So I’ll be swamped at the store until the training is over. But no matter what, I’ll make sure to get that Saturday off.”

“Swamped, huh?”

He sounded like a lost little boy. “Unfortunately. What about the week after next?”

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“Let me see what I can arrange on my end. I’m not willing to let this fade away.”

His words brought a smile to her lips. “Neither am I.”

“Good. I have to go. Call me tonight.”

“I will.”

“Bye, love.”

Love?
“Bye.”

As soon as she hung up, her smile slid away.

She ripped the paper off the notepad and stuffed it into her pants pocket before storming into the living room, hell bent on vengeance. It was bad enough she was forced to share her home, her job and her father with Drew and Staci. She could even live with the fact they borrowed her clothes and never returned them, but she be damned if she was going to let them ruin the one ray of sunlight in her otherwise drab existence.

The evil duo was where she’d expected them to be, sitting on their asses watching her television. Irritated, Cyn walked over to the entertainment center and turned it off When Drew raised the remote to turn it back on, she bent over and pulled the plug from the wall.

“What the hell is your problem?” Drew bellowed.

“You and your sidekick.” Cyn crossed her arms over her breasts. “Which one of you bitches has been keeping my messages from me?”

The twin sisters shared a guilty look, letting Cyn know it wasn’t a one-man act.