Chapter Fourteen

When he returned home from deployment, Parker stood in the kitchen and saw Gemma speaking with his mother in the living room.

What the fuck was this woman doing back in his house? Before he could think of a way to calm himself down, he dropped the final paper bag he’d been folding after getting groceries and stalked over to where the women talked.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?”

“Parker,” his mother admonished. “Language.”

“Enough.” He waved her off, not looking away from Gemma. “Answer me. I told you never to come back here.”

“He’s her son, too, Parker. She’s not the reason your fake fiancée bit didn’t work out.”

Grasping Gemma by the arm, he propelled her to the door and pushed her outside on the step. “Set foot on my property again, and I’ll have you arrested once more.” He stepped back in and slammed the door in her face, wheeling around to find his mother glaring at him.

“I know I raised you better than that, Parker Lucien Jax. You owe that woman an apology.”

“No way.”

She crossed her arms and glared; he didn’t back down.

“Sir? Can you come in here, please.” May as well deal with this now.

His father walked in from where he’d been sitting on the porch.

“I’ve had enough of this, and I’m not putting up with it anymore. From either of you. Yes, I lied about Skylar. We know this, but we also know why I didn’t tell you. You, Mom, can’t keep a secret to save your life and went running to Gemma the second I told you Skylar and I were no longer.”

“She’s the mother of your child. It’s not right that you let him call your neighbor ‘Mama.’”

He held up his hand, silently asking her to shut it. “You know, I don’t get you, Mother. It baffles me why you hate Skylar so much when she’s the most beautiful person I know. Inside and out. It doesn’t make sense, and I don’t fucking care if you can’t stand her skin color, the fact that she’s a woodworker…it doesn’t matter to me what your issues with her are. Cullen loves her. But more than that, I love her.”

She set her lips. “He also loves his mother. Remember her? The one who carried him and gave birth to him. You should be a family.”

“She’s a drug addict and an alcoholic. She is not good for Cullen.”

She rubbed her hands on her arms before leveling another glare in his direction. “You and Gemma are his parents. You owe it to Gemma to help her and should make it work for your son’s sake. This Skylar is a nice enough woman and it’s obvious Cullen likes her…”

He narrowed his gaze, wondering how men he worked with could be aware of the shitstorm they were about to land in from his expression as would the enemy, but his own mother was oblivious. Or didn’t give a fuck.

“But?”

She shook her head. “But she’s not his mother. She shouldn’t take Gemma’s place in this family.”

Parker lunged forward before he pulled up. “This family? This family didn’t even know about Gemma until Cullen was in the picture. I sure as fuck didn’t think enough of her as anything more than a convenient piece of ass, which is why I never felt the need to introduce her to either of you.”

His mother frowned. “Mind your tongue.”

“No. I love you, Mother, but this is fucking insane. This paragon you want in my life didn’t see fit to tell me, the father, about my son for three years. This wasn’t an ‘oh, I’m in my second trimester and you’re the dad’ kind of stop-off when she arrived. This is keeping it from me for three goddamn years, and I haven’t moved, so she knew how to find me. One thousand ninety-five days. That’s more than a simple oversight, wouldn’t you think? That’s fucking deliberate.”

“Parker, it’s—”

“Let me finish.” His words were low and dangerous. “When she showed up here, she was strung out, Cullen was in dirty, filthy clothing and he was scared. I don’t know what she was high on but I don’t give a damn. She told me he was mine. I didn’t believe her, I barely remembered her, because she’s that insignificant to me. But I didn’t toss them out on the street. I took her at her word. I gave them complete access to my house, but I wasn’t staying here with her, so I went and stayed with Skylar, who got tossed into this craziness as I did. Because that’s the kind of person she is. That’s what a woman with heart does.”

His mother paled.

“You know who was there for Cullen? Who cleaned him up and made him food? Who took the time to offer him comfort? Skylar. That boy loves her more than anything. So before you stand there and pass judgment on who is right for me to bring into my and my son’s life, make sure you know all the facts. Let’s not even go into the times Gemma supposedly was going to job interviews and came back strung out. Or passed out on a couch, so my scared little boy had to leave the house and sneak through the fence just to get to the one woman he knew would keep him safe during a storm that freaked him out because I wasn’t home. That was the final straw. I didn’t tell you this when I dropped him off because it shouldn’t matter. You’re my parents and should trust I know what’s best for my son. Gemma is no longer welcome in my house, or in his life. Understood? She is a drug user. She puts my son’s life in danger. Paragon, my ass.”

He shoved a hand through his hair. “This will not be discussed again. I’m not kidding. I hope I can still count on you to watch him when I’m back on active duty, but I’m telling you now, I am petitioning for sole custody of Cullen.”

“Son.”

Parker took a deep breath. “Yessir?”

“She means that much to you, then?”

“No, sir.”

His father lifted an eyebrow. “No?”

“Skylar Radford means so much more to me than I can ever put in words. And when she holds still long enough for me to catch her, I’ll make sure she knows it. There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, in this world that means more to me than she does. Not you and not my career. Understand my words. I can’t thank her enough for all she did for Cullen, but that’s not why I want her. She is mine. I want to sleep beside her at night, wake with her in the morning. I want to be her rock and listen to her fears, her laughter. Like I said, I love her and I don’t give a fuck what the two of you think about that.”

“Very good then.” His father grasped his mother by the arm and propelled her away, her expression still shocked from the bombshell he dropped.

Parker paced for about ten minutes, then he went to find his parents, who were out on the back porch.

“Can you watch Cullen for a bit? There’s something I have to do.”

“Of course,” his father said, sending him a look.

“Thank you.” He cast his gaze over the fence—with the now-repaired loose board—and frowned when he didn’t see any sign of Alpin. Or her in the backyard. Neither was out enjoying the porch they’d built for her.

Straddling his bike, he roared off down the road to a place he’d taken Skylar before one of their dates, when he’d gotten her the small ring. He parked and walked into the store, helmet in hand.

“Good evening.”

He gave a nod. “Sir.”

He waggled his finger at Parker. “You, I remember. You have a beautiful woman with you with a smile that rivals the sun.”

Yes, she was and fuck yes it did.

The old man looked around. “She’s not with you this time.”

“That’s my Skylar. I need to get her the ring she really wants, so I couldn’t bring her.”

Both the older gentleman and he moved to the case where the ring had been. Right away, he spied it and smiled. Perfect. He knew it was the one she wanted, considering how often her eyes had drifted toward it.

“Anything engraved on this?”

He thought about it for a moment. “Yes.” Bending down, he wrote it on a piece of paper and slid it to him.

With a smile, the man took it. “This will be ready in two days.”

“I’ll be back for it.”

He nodded. “I know you will, son. You have the look some men never have. The look of being so far in love, you won’t rest until your ring is on her and her last name and yours are the same.”

“Exactly, and I’ll do whatever it takes.”

The smile came as did another nod. “Can I offer you some advice?”

Parker waited.

“Accept you’ll mess up. We all do. But it’s how we move on from there that defines us. It’s not always easy or pretty, but it doesn’t matter so long as she knows how much you love her and what you are willing to do to keep her. Both yours and happy.”

“Hard to do when she’s disappeared on me.”

The man looked at him, head tipped to the left. “And are you giving up?”

He shook his head. “Never.”

“Good. You go now. Come back in two days.”

Parker paused at the door and looked back. “How long have you been married?”

“Sixty-five years next month. I love that woman more than anything in the world. Do you understand?”

“I do. Thank you, sir. I’ll be back in two days.”

The moment his helmet settled around him, he exhaled sharply. He wanted Skylar as his wife and planned on asking her after he explained it all. She was fucking perfect for him.

Her truck still wasn’t in the drive, and he sighed as he rode to his house. Seconds later, he slammed on his brakes and took two deep breaths as his feet held him upright. Backing up so he was by her driveway, he flipped up the visor and stared at what had grabbed his attention. His stomach rolled and churned with nausea. It took him a few swallows to get it back under control.

Right there in her front yard by the driveway was a sight he never wanted to see.

What the motherfucking ever-loving fuck am I looking at?

A tall wooden sign that had two words on it.

For Sale.

Skylar had gone and put her house on the market.

…

“You have to talk to him, Skylar.”

She shook her head, forgetting Nicolette couldn’t see her. “Nope. I don’t.”

Her Realtor huffed and muttered something she wasn’t sure was anatomically possible.

“You really do. I can’t keep bringing in notes off the door and the flowers. Oh my God, the flowers.”

“Are they a problem with the staging?”

“No, they’re beautiful but, Skylar…”

Stopping her work, she propped her hands on her hips and looked over the new door she was carving for another customer. She’d converted a storage unit into a workshop to finish up projects she had waiting to be completed while the house sat on the market.

A few times, she’d wavered about going to Parker, but she refused. Part of her thought she should try to talk to him, but she hardened her heart to that. It wasn’t an easy decision.

Yes, he’d been an asshole, but she hadn’t exactly been all peaches and cream herself. That fight over Gemma hadn’t been one of her finer moments. But it was that man who could pull it from her. No one else.

He was the one who made shit matter again. The one who made it so coasting through life was not as appetizing as it once had been to her.

“I’ll talk to him,” she said. “I have to go. Thanks Nicolette, I’m sorry for the hassle.”

“It’s not a hassle, but if he could tone it back…”

She smiled despite the pain in her heart. “I’ll let him know.”

Nicolette disconnected, and Skylar got back to work. She didn’t take a break until her watch beeped, reminding her she needed to eat something.

…

Parker opened his locker and pulled out his things, late for heading home. He was hoping he would have gotten out earlier to catch Skylar. Hell, he was debating asking her to teach an evasion tactic class to his men.

He glanced at his phone and frowned at the sight of a missed call. Hoping it wasn’t from his parents about Cullen, he reached to swipe and see who it was from, when Ioan popped up beside him.

“What’s up, man?”

“I’m out for a bit. Taking time. Call me if you need me to go after your woman for you, or if you decide to grow a set and get her back.”

He scowled. “You touch her and I’ll rip your head off your neck.”

Ioan pushed a hand through his blond hair, his smile not the least bit apologetic. “She likes me. I’ll make sure I tell her you said ‘hi’ when I see her later.” He pivoted on his heels.

“Ioan.” His growl was more feral than anything.

His friend held up his hands. “She called.” The smirk begged to be punched away.

Red filled his vision. “Why the fuck is she calling you?”

Ioan dodged the hand rocketing to his throat. “I’m taking something home to my great-aunt. I asked her to do it a long time ago. You know, before you completely fucked up the best thing in your life.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No.”

Parker crossed his arms. “Yes.” No way he was not taking the opportunity to see her. “Let’s go.”

“Not going with me, Parker.”

“Do you want whatever she made for you?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s fucking go, because if I’m not with you, you sure as fuck aren’t going.” He stepped to him. “I need her back, Ioan.”

His friend didn’t seem all that concerned. “Why? So she can take care of Cullen and make him happy?”

There was anger lacing his tone, and Parker frowned. He hadn’t thought about that. Could that be what she was still thinking? Why he was chasing her so hard? To watch his son?

There was no limit to his stupidity, apparently.

“No. I love her. Plain and simple.”

Ioan snorted. “Simple? Please. Ain’t a damn thing simple between you and her. Tell me the fucking truth.”

He swallowed. “I did. I love her.”

“Don’t start quoting old movies and telling me how she completes you.” Ioan rolled his eyes. “Fuck. You were so going to say that.”

He bit his tongue and shrugged. “I’m going.”

“Your ass stays in the car, and you can look at her. I won’t ruin my friendship with her by setting her up. Your word or I ditch you now.”

He hopped into Ioan’s green-and-white ’96 Bronco and waited for his friend to start the engine. Seconds later, the powerful motor roared to life as Nickelback poured from the speakers. The jacked-up vehicle rolled easily as Ioan shifted into gear and got them on their way.

They didn’t talk as he drove, and that was fine. Nerves had set up in his gut, and he found himself getting light-headed when they pulled into a parking lot away from his home and hers. His gaze latched onto her truck, and he sat forward.

Around the front walked Skylar, and his hand was on the door when “You gave your word” filled the cab.

Need licked at him like sparks of electricity. Goddammit he’d missed her. Even from the distance, he could imagine her scent.

After leveling a stare at him, Ioan parked beside her vehicle and hopped out. Parker knew she’d seen him, but dammit, she carried on as if it didn’t matter how many pieces his heart and soul were in. When she tipped her head back and laughed, he fell deeper in love with her and made a vow to go even harder, not letting her go.

When Ioan carried a beautiful end table to the back of the Bronco, he touched the door handle. His friend opened the back and placed it down. “Go get the other one.”

Parker bolted from the vehicle like a racer at the starting pistol.

“Skylar.”

She didn’t speak, just gestured to her other piece of work in there. The moment it cleared the back of her truck, she slammed the tailgate.

“I need to talk to you, Skylar,” he called out as he carried it. They had to discuss why the fuck she was putting her house up for sale. Of course, he was fine if she wanted to move in with him. For forever would work.

Still nothing other than the sound of her truck as she drove away.

“Fuck!”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you. And she said to tell you to stop sending her flowers. Her Realtor is tired of putting them in the house.”

“Where is she staying?”

“Didn’t ask.” Ioan closed up the Bronco and went behind the wheel. “Let’s go, because you look like someone kicked your puppy. Christ. I can’t take this.”

Parker listened and sat as he ran over seeing her once more. A painful experience and one he was desperate to have again. She looked fucking amazing. But then, she always had.