Chapter 25

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Parker leaned heavily against the door to his room, the loud click barring the chaos of life from him.

And there was more coming. It was written all over his mother's face.

How stupid did they think he was? Well, probably pretty stupid if they thought family dinners, sitting together at his hockey games and those fake nothing going on here, guilty looks every time they entered a room together were fooling anyone.

Then again he had been fooled. Liberty had told him. Or rather accused them. Accused Jack of screwing around on her mom and then calling off the wedding when Janet confronted him with it.

He hadn't wanted to believe it-his mom had been so resigned to the wedding, telling them they needed to go and be happy for Jack. It didn't make sense.

So he'd laughed in Liberty's face, told her her new jock boyfriend had infected her with his stupidity along with whatever STD was running around the football team.

Until he'd walked in on them.

That's what cutting class had gotten him. When they said karma will bite you in the ass, they really meant it. He'd skipped out on his Biology2 lab-like there was any point to four kids dissecting one frog.

The plan was to sneak in the back, grab his skates and head to the rink.

Instead, he'd seen them. Staying hidden behind the garage, he watched as they stood in the doorway. Jack's back had been to him, but he could see his mother's face clearly. She fussed with his jacket, looping a scarf around his neck before standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

It was a scene Parker had witnessed hundreds of times. Caught up in someone's arms, resting his head on a shoulder, a hand softly patting his back as goodnight wishes or promises for tomorrow were made.

For a moment, he was a child again. Needing nothing more than a smile feel safe and happy. Eager to be thrown into the air at the end of a long shift, or chased by the tickle monster until he was rolling on the floor giggling uncontrollably.

But then, as now, the ending was the same. Jack leaving, and his mom staring after him, offering a wave until he was out of sight. Then the smile left her face.

It was at that moment Parker knew. His mother was in as deep as she had ever been.

Frustrated, Parker pulled his sweaty shirt off over his head, forcibly throwing it at his hamper. When it fell short, he stomped over, threw it in, and kicked the hamper for good measure. His only thought as he headed into the shower was that he needed to get his mother out of this mess. NOW.

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Even with looking up, the sharp, angry raps on her door announced Jack's presence on her porch. Heaving a sigh, Carly swung the door open, but remained unyielding in the doorway. "I don't want to fight, Jack."

"I'm not here to argue," Jack denied impatiently, scanning the living room over Carly's petite frame. "Is Parker home?"

"He's upstairs," she replied, casting her eyes upward. Motherly instinct pushed Jack back as she stepped onto the porch and closed the door behind her. "What do you want, Jack?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"I want to talk to my son!" His scowl deepened at Carly's wary stance. "Do I need your permission?"

Carly raised her eyebrow at the sarcasm. "No," she shot back. "You don't need my permission...not that you'd ever ask for it. But I will need an explanation for the steam curling out of your ears. And that bruise," she demurred, laying a finger alongside his jaw to get a better view of the damage. "Please tell me that's not Parker's doing."

"Of course not!"

"That door have a name?"

"Is it any of your business?"

Carly's eyes narrowed slightly at the testiness in his tone.

Jack held up his hand. "I'm sorry-I really don't want to fight. I just need to feel like I'm doing something. Otherwise everything is going to slip through my fingers again."

"Jack-"

"Don't tell I'm overreacting. My son won't talk to me. You're keeping me at arm's length. This isn't the way it's supposed to be-"

"I'm not keeping you at arm's length-"

"Of course you are." Jack shook his head gently. "If you trusted me-trusted this-telling the kids wouldn't be an issue. We would talk-"

"Now we don't talk? You drive me crazy. All I wanted was a little patience, a little circumspection, and you act like I've grown three heads. The truth is, Jack Snyder, you want everything on your timetable," Carly hissed. "And when something or someone doesn't, you just go find someone who will."

"Is that what you think I do? Take in anyone off the street and plug them into my life?"

"Well, I've refrained from calling Janet a streetwalker, but if the shoe fits-"

"I can't believe you-"

"And just how long did you wait between my "no" and asking Janet to marry you? A day? Two?"

"You kept shoving Janet at me. You told me Janet was good for me."

"Dating, Jack. Not marriage, for crying out loud! If I'd known what an idiot you'd be I'd have-"

Jack pounced, closing the distance between them. "What would you have done, Carly?"

"You've got a short memory, Jack. I tried, remember? I showed up at that damn hotel room and made a fool of myself. You said it was too hard living with me. All you wanted was "peace". And Janet. Nothing I said or did was going to stop you."

"And yet, here I am. I didn't marry Janet. I couldn't. You're right, I was an idiot to propose to her. I was an even bigger one to walk away from you. I've spent every day since trying to figure out how to fix it." His voice was thick with emotion. Then he sighed heavily. "Just tell me you love me. And I will figure out a way to hang on as long as I need to."

"Of course I love you-"

"Today, I need to hear it."

Carly took his face in her hands. "I. Love. You. With every inch of this scarred heart."

Jack closed his eyes, savoring the words as they washed over him. "I love you too. I was wrong to say those things to you that day. I want you by my side-always. Whatever road I find myself on-I want you there."

"I called shotgun a long time ago, G-man." A lightness bubbled up inside her chest as Jack took one hand and pressed a kiss into her palm. "Maybe I've been hanging on to more baggage than I thought."

"Where do we go from here?"

Carly smiled. "Anywhere we want." She ran her thumb over the growing bruise on Jack's face. "But first, let's put some ice on that." Taking his hand, they walked into the kitchen, where she took a cold compress from the freezer and laid it gently against his jaw. "So what did Holden do to tick you off?"

"Breathe-" Jack answered unwittingly. He then colored a bit, realizing she'd figured it out on her own. "How'd you know?"

"Parker plus the farm-not too hard to figure out." And she knew things had been strained between them since the affair came out, but it seemed unnecessary to bring that up.

"I let him take the first shot."

"Very magnamious of you."

"It was," Jack scowled. "Can we not get into this right now?"

"Okay," Carly agreed slowly, knowing Jack needed to deal with that in his own way, in his own time. Just like Parker would. "I think we need to plan-"

A light, insistant knock at the front door interrupted her mid-sentence. "I better-" Another series of brisk raps interrupted that thought as well.

Jack refused to loosen his grip on her wrist, pulling her deftly to him. The intensity of his gaze made her heart skip a beat before he lightly brushed his lips over hers. "That couldn't wait," he said, his husky whisper caressing her as warmly as his arms.

A third round of knocking echoed through the living room, heavier and more persistent. "They're not going away," Carly said regretfully, pulling away.

Determined to dispatch the interruptor with dizzying haste, Carly had barely opened the door before being engulfed by the smells of salt, sand and coconut oil attached to a head of lively black curls.

"Moll?"

"Well...duh." Molly pulled back to arm's length from the bear hug. "I know it's been a while-"

"I'm just surprised. I just-just-left you a message a couple hours ago. And here you are," Carly stuttered, a little confused.

"I know. I was already at O'Hare when I checked my messages. I really have to teach you how to text. I laughed so hard everyone around me kind of backed away. Like the parting of the Red Sea for potentially crazy people."

"C'mon Moll-"

"Seriously," Molly replied, holding up three fingers in the girl scout pledge. "Security even gave me the evil eye until I unleashed this smile and slipped another button open. But enough about me." She gave Carly a long, meaningful assessment up and down. "I knew it! You're getting laid."

"What?" Carly sputtered, every nerve in her body suddenly jolted by a verbal bolt of lightening. "I...I..I-Parker's upstairs, for crying out loud!"

"That's not a denial," Molly smiled slyly. "'Fess up, cuz...who's the guy? I want dirt."

Carly shook her head. "I don't know where you get these crazy ideas-"

Just then, Jack poked his head out from the kitchen. "I checked the furnace, Carly. It seems to be fine now. Hey Molly...back for a visit?"

Carly knew they were sunk. Molly could smell a bad cover story a mile away.

"I think we have a prime suspect," Molly said with a chesire cat-like grin.