True North
By Jaclyn Parker
"The difference between friendship and love is how much you can hurt each other"
-Ashleigh Brilliant
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"Okay guys, I think now's a good time to go get cleaned up before I take you home." Lee's voice interrupted everyone's work.
Parker looked down at his watch, surprised to find that it was already 6:30 in the evening. He couldn't believe how fast the afternoon had flown by as they worked on the car. After the initial awkwardness had passed, he found that he a lot in common with Mattie. They liked the same music...although she was a little more into hip-hop than he was. They liked the same types of movies...even though she couldn't stand Steven Segal and he loved him. And she liked sports...well most of them. They had disagreed on the subject of American football and whether rugby was a better sport, but it was more like a brief debate than an actual fight.
In fact, the only time they had really argued that day was Parker's fault when he commented that he was surprised a girl liked working on vintage cars. That had earned him a good 20 minutes of the cold shoulder before he apologized and took the statement back. Mattie had socked him firmly in the gut, told him not to be a chauvinistic pig ever again, and then gone back to joking with him as she had the entire day.
Parker still missed Liberty, so much that it physically hurt sometimes, but he was surprised to find that today had been the first time in a long time that he had enjoyed himself around another girl. Even after one short afternoon, he felt that he had known Mattie for a long time and hated the thought of ending the day.
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Parker suddenly asked as he helped her to her feet.
"Um, nothing. I was going to do some studying for an exam and then just watch a couple movies before bed." Mattie said, brushing some loose dirt off her legs.
Parker had learned that Mattie had gone to a private school in Australia before moving here and that their curriculum had been a semester ahead. She was currently finishing up her workload via an internet home school program before starting at Oakdale High in January like Lee had said. She didn't really know anyone yet and while she had met a few of the local kids while in Old Town, she couldn't really call them friends.
"Well, do you want to come over and do all of that stuff at our house?" Parker asked and she looked at him curiously, causing him to continue in a rush. "Well your uncle is coming over to take my mom out and he has to drop her off later anyway so he can just take you home then and you won't have to sit at home alone."
Mattie just stared at him before letting out a sharp laugh. "Yank, you are too weird."
Parker paused and grinned back. "Is that a yes?"
"Hey, Uncle Lee, can I hang out at Parker and J.J.'s house tonight while you're gone?" Mattie called to her uncle instead of answering Parker directly. However her mischievous eyes stayed on the boy in front of her.
Lee wandered over and frowned. "I dunno, Luv. Do you think it'd be okay with your mom, Parker?"
"Sure, I don't see why not." Parker said and looked to J.J. for support.
"Yeah, she won't care. Beside, I'm sure Sage will be thrilled to have another girl there." J.J. said, coming over while wiping his hands on his already completely filthy jeans.
"Sage? Oh right, your sister." Mattie said, remembering from her conversations from Parker today. "Hey, I have the new Wii sports game. I could bring that! You said you already have four controllers, so I'll just bring my racing wheel."
"You have the new Extreme Scream Sports pack with the Indy car extra?" J.J. asked and at her nod, he turned to Lee. "Oh that's it. She's definitely coming over."
"Um, so is it okay?" Parker asked, throwing his brother a look, and Lee threw his hands up in the air.
"I give up. Three against one is not fair. Especially when I am running out of time before I pick up your mom and I'm in desperate need of a shower! If you call and if she says it's okay, then it's fine with me."
Parker did just that and sure enough, Carly had no problem with Mattie coming over to hang out as long as she got the promise of no funny business while she was gone. Blushing profusely, Parker had whispered into the phone that the situation was not like that and ended up having to hang up on his mom because she was laughing too hard in his ear.
Thirty minutes later, with both Mattie and Lee showered and changed, they headed to the real garage where the beautifully restored "Eleanor" sat in all her glory. The sleek silver car shined like she was in mint condition, yet the inside leather seats were subtly worn with the air of a car that was often used. J.J. immediately called "shot-gun" and waited until Parker and Mattie had gotten into the back before sliding into the front passenger seat with a happy sigh.
Mattie appreciated the way that both J.J. and Parker's jaws dropped when Lee started "Eleanor" up; the sound of the deep purring engine had always sent shivers up her spine too. Lee briefly showed off his driving skills and let the teens get the feel truly riding in of one of the great muscle cars of all time before settling down into a relaxed and smooth drive back to Milltown. Reaching over, Lee switched on the radio, blasting the local classic rock station. Soon they were all singing along at the tops of their lungs, with Lee doing drums on the steering wheel, J.J. head banging in the front passenger side and Parker and Mattie doing air guitar in the back seat.
After two brief stops to pick up Chinese food and a bouquet of flowers, they were opening the front door of the house.
"Hey Mom, we're home." Parker called out.
"And we brought company." J.J. echoed, earning a nudge in the ribs from Parker.
"J.J.! Parker! You're home!" Sage came bounding in from the kitchen, her hair in two long French braids. She stopped short of running full steam into them. "Oh, hi, Lee!"
"Hey Sage. How was the party you went to today, Luv?" Lee asked and Sage gave him a huge smile.
"It was awesome. There were relay races and then we played volleyball and basketball in the pool and then we played this crazy game called Greased Watermelon and I made the final push into the goal for my team. The pool was heated though so when I got out it was so cold that my lips turned blue and…"
"Sage, honey, catch your breath. Maybe even let Lee get a word in now and then." Carly said, coming out of the kitchen with a pile of plates in her good hand. Dressed in her long black bathrobe with her hair piled on top of her head in a halo of curls, she looked up to see everyone standing there and smiled somewhat sheepishly.
"Hi guys," Carly said, pulling her robe closed tighter. "I'm so sorry, Lee. I'll be ready in a moment. Because of my wrist I am having trouble getting the zipper of my dress up and so I had to wait for Sage to get home but then she was late in getting dropped off and…"
She trailed off and cleared her throat, in an attempt to stop rambling like she had told her daughter to do only a moment before. Lee just stood there, holding back a laugh, and finally she rolled her eyes at him, trying to hide her own smile.
Mattie grinned at this vivacious woman in front of her and cleared her own throat. "Hi, Ms. Tenney. I'm Mattie, Lee's niece. Thank you for letting me come over tonight."
"Hi Mattie, call me Carly please. I'm glad you could come. I'm sure Sage is thrilled to not be outnumbered by her brothers for once." Carly said moving forward to shake the young girl's hand.
She quickly took in that the girl could model professionally, especially with her abnormally green eyes and shiny long brown hair that reached her mid back. Yet Carly got the impression that she seemed to be totally unaware of how pretty she was. Dressed in a fitted yet comfortable looking deep teal velour track suit from a trendy couture designer, she obviously enjoyed fashion but didn't seem to be flaunting it.
A quick tug on her arm made her look down at Sage, who jerked her head subtly towards where Lee still stood. Realizing that she had gone off on a "fashion designer eyeing up a model" tangent, she blushed.
"Okay, so I'm going to go get ready now." Carly said, pointing and turning to go upstairs, Sage on her heels.
"Ms. Tenn…Carly, do you need any more help?" Mattie asked and Carly turned to smile back at her.
"That'd be nice, thank you. With this stupid wrist, I need all the help I can get." Carly joked.
"Well then, I'm sure the boys wouldn't mind setting the table and putting the food out, right?" Mattie said, her eyes twinkling at them as they looked at her like she was crazy.
"Who? Us?" J.J. said and the females all laughed.
"Oh, come on. It's not that hard. I bet you a weekend of action movies that you can't get it done before we come back down." Carly teased, seeing the expressions on their faces.
"Oh yeah?" Lee asked, piping up.
"Yeah!" Sage joined in.
"You're on, Oz!" Parker said, sticking out his hand.
"Bring it, Yank!" Mattie said and after a quick shake they all went their separate ways.
As tedious as it had sounded when Carly made the challenge soon Lee, J.J. and Parker found a pretty fun system. Even though it literally included them throwing plates and silverware to each other, except knives of course, they had almost completed setting the table when the doorbell rang.
It startled them and Lee dropped a fork, hard, onto one of the plates causing a loud clatter.
"Don't you dare break any of my dishes, Lee!" Carly's voice yelled from upstairs and Lee shot the two younger boys a wide eyed 'how the hell did she know' look.
Parker and J.J. just shrugged and grinned at each other, having been on the receiving end of that mysterious talent many times over. At the second doorbell ring, Lee motioned that he would answer it while Parker and J.J. put the food out.
Swinging it open, he found himself face to face with a very surprised Jack.
"Dr. Reynolds?" Jack asked, the confusion in his voice turning to panic. "Is Carly okay?"
"Lee, please, and yes, Carly's fine." Lee said, stepping back to let Jack pass him into the house.
Jack saw Parker and J.J. looking at him from by the table with expressions not unlike deer caught in headlights. Again he turned to talk to Lee, his confusion back.
"If Carly's fine then what are you…" Jack began but the sound of voices cut him off.
"Lee, I swear, my dining room better still be in one piece or so help me I'll…" Carly said, finally coming into view as she finished putting her other earring on. She stopped short, causing Mattie and Sage to nearly bump into her.
"Jack." Carly said simply, staring at him. Her mind flashed back to the beginning of the summer when they were in a similar situation; her coming down the stairs for a date, coincidentally with another accented man, and finding him standing in her living room with her ex-husband.
Jack found that he couldn't speak as he looked at her, barely able to keep his jaw from dropping.
She was wearing a simple black dress that reached just above her knees. The sleeves were long so that they covered her wrapped wrist but it was also cut so that it exposed one creamy shoulder. Whatever the dress material was, it followed her curves and moved with her body creating a very mouth drying effect. Her hair was still piled up and she now wore black drop earrings and daringly high black stilettos. Her makeup was simple and flawless, the only accent being the thick dark eyeliner that emphasized the brightness of her blue eyes.
Jack felt his groin tighten as he continued to stare at her. It was quickly followed by his heart tightening when his brain pointed out that she wasn't dressed up for him.
"Jack, what are you doing here?" Carly asked finally coming down the stairs all the way and allowing Sage and Mattie to slide by her. The two younger females scooted over sit at the dining room table with Parker and J.J. All four kids began to eat their rapidly cooling dinner, their eyes bouncing between each adult like they were watching a three-way tennis match.
"I, uh, I came to see how you were feeling." Jack said, somehow managing to make words come out of his mouth while his brain was still stuck on the image she presented.
"Oh, well, I'm fine. I'm on my way out actually." Carly said, glancing at Lee who just stood there calmly, his hands in his pants pockets.
Jack looked over too, his brows furrowing as he fully took in Lee's dark and handsomely cut suit, along with the familiar scent of aftershave.
"Oh, well," Jack said then looked over at the kids. "Who's watching the kids?"
"Well, between Parker, J.J., and Mattie I think they are okay here alone with Sage for a couple of hours. But I have Mrs. O'Neil checking in on them a couple times until I get home, just in case." Carly said, mentioning the one of neighbors who had known the kids since they moved into the house at Milltown.
"Mattie?" Jack asked and then noticed the very pretty young girl who was sitting next to Sage at the table.
"Oh, sorry. Jack, this is Mattie, Lee's niece." Carly said and Mattie waved at him, although a bit unsurely.
"Hi Mattie, nice to meet you." Jack said giving the girl a smile before turning to Carly, the same smile frozen on his face. "Can I talk to you for a second, please?"
"Well, I think we have reservations..." Carly said turning to look at Lee, but Jack steered her towards the kitchen by a gentle but firm pressure on the small of her back.
"It'll only take a second." Jack growled out in a falsely cheerful tone. Carly threw an apologetic look over her shoulder before disappearing into the kitchen with Jack.
Once there she immediately stepped away from him and turned around to glare.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Carly snapped at him, her eyes blazing.
"What am I doing?" Jack repeated in astonishment. "What are you doing? You're leaving our kids alone in the house while you go on a date? Why didn't you call me to come get them?"
"Jack, you told me in the hospital yesterday that you were going to work tonight. How was I supposed to know that you left early?" Carly asked, resisting the urge to run her hands through her perfectly done hair in frustration.
"Well, if Mrs. O'Neil is going to be checking in, why can't she just come over here and stay with them?"
"Jack, calm down! What's the difference if Mrs. O'Neil is in this house or next door at hers? Parker and Mattie are both almost 16, J.J. is 14, and Sage is 10. I know they aren't babies but I also don't think they are going to be throwing a wild keg party! What they are going to do is play some video games and maybe squeeze in a movie before I get home, if they're lucky." Carly said, exasperated.
"That's another thing! Who is this girl? You're okay leaving two teenagers alone together in this house after everything that's happened?" Jack asked.
"Oh, come on, Jack. Mattie is a nice girl and..." Carly said but Jack cut her off.
"So, what you're saying is that Liberty isn't a nice girl?"
"I never said that! Don't put words in my mouth, Jack!" Carly glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "I just meant that I trust Mattie and Parker to behave appropriately. I have to at some point, don't I? Plus J.J. and Sage will help chaperone."
"Oh that's just great, Carly! A teenaged boy who is distracted by any new cool video game and a little girl who would probably think nothing of being told to play in her room for a while." Jack said sarcastically. "What happens if there is a fire or Sage gets hurt or...or...someone eats too much junk food?"
"Jack, the answers to those problems are the same as they would be if there is an adult here or just a house away. They call 911; they call 911; they get sick and hopefully learn never to do it again." Carly said, ticking off the answers to his questions on her fingers.
"But what if…" Jack started again and Carly looked up at the ceiling, blowing out a sigh of aggravation.
"You know what, Jack? I'm done having this conversation with you! I trust the kids and I trust Mrs. O'Neil to check on them for the few short hours that I am at a nice dinner with a nice guy. You can call the house every 15 minutes for all I care, but Lee and I are leaving now." Carly said, suddenly very tired of fighting with him. She turned to begin to walk out of the kitchen.
"Well, maybe I'll just take the kids with me back to the farm then, since their safety obviously isn't a priority to you." Jack said, pulling out the big guns. Almost instantly Jack regretted the words as he watched Carly stop dead in her tracks, her whole body stiffening. She turned slowly and the ice that he saw in her eyes carried over into her voice.
"Jack Snyder, I think I might actually hate you at this moment." Carly said, her voice low and he could almost feel the emotional damage he had caused with that one stupid statement.
She paused and drew in a breath, obviously trying to gather herself together.
"You are more than welcome to see your children whenever you want, but do not ever imply that I would purposely put them in danger. Not after everything that this family has been through, especially in these past few years. You, of all people, should know that." Carly told him, watching him coldly and barely containing the rage and hurt that was swirling inside her.
They just stared at each other with Jack desperately wanting to apologize but the words sticking on his stubborn tongue. A cheer from the living room interrupted their standoff and Jack watched Carly's shoulders drop as if a heavy weight had suddenly descended on her.
"Just…do what you want, Jack. You always do." Carly said, practically in a whisper then turned and slipped out of the kitchen.
Jack stood there a moment longer before following her into the living room. He noticed that she was silently standing behind the couch watching the kids and Lee play the new Wii game that Mattie had brought with her. There was a faint but sad smile on her face and when it was accompanied by a brief lone tear that she quickly wiped away, Jack mentally kicked himself for being the one to put it there.
"Oh, in your face!" Mattie yelled and fist bumped her partner, Sage, as they scored another point in the tennis match they were playing versus Lee and Parker.
"Lucky shot!" Parker said back and rolled his eyes as both Sage and Mattie stuck their tongues out.
"Cheating actually! I'm pretty sure, Mattie, you're not allowed to elbow your poor old uncle in the ribs as he's preparing to serve!" Lee said and they started laughing. Lee noticed Carly out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her and Jack.
Lee had been prepared to wait quietly for Jack and Carly to finish their discussion but when the yelling had started he noticed how much it upset the kids, especially Sage. When no one seemed interested in eating anymore, he had suggested breaking out the Wii game, knowing that the interaction would cover most of the sound from the other room.
"Um, I was able to push back our reservation. Are you ready to go?" Lee said and noticed as Carly sent a look to Jack, who nodded indiscreetly.
"Yes, just let me get my coat." Carly said and headed over to the hooks by the door.
Jack's eyes followed her movements and then sighing he turned to his kids. "I'd better get going. I'll see you all soon. Don't forget, J.J., soccer game on Monday night."
"Yup, got it Dad." J.J. said, nodding to him.
"Alright, I love you guys. See you later." Jack said and headed to the door. He paused and turned to look at Carly and Lee, who was helping her on with her coat. "Um, have a good time."
"Thank you." Lee said, but Carly just nodded stiffly, not even glancing in his direction.
Jack frowned but didn't say anything as he let himself out. Lee could feel the tension in Carly's shoulders and gave them a subtle squeeze, before stepping out of her personal space. How Lee knew that was just what she needed was a mystery but she looked up at him and smiled, before turning to the kids.
"Okay, you guys, we won't be back late. Just try to contain yourselves for a couple hours, please." Carly said, trying to push what had just happened between her and Jack to the back of her mind.
"Don't worry, Mom. The party invite we sent out was kinda last minute so who knows how many people will actually show up." J.J. joked and Carly gave him a look, her lips twitching in a smile.
"What party?" Sage innocently asked causing J.J., Parker, and Mattie to groan, the female teen affectionately patting the little girl's head as Sage sat down on the sofa.
"Well, Mrs. O'Neil is next door if you need her and you can always call…your dad if you have any problems." Carly said, hoping they didn't notice her pause when she mentioned Jack.
"We'll be fine, Mom. Just go already, before you have to change your reservation again." Parker said and Carly smiled at him. He could tell she was really trying but the happiness and light in her eyes from earlier were gone.
"Okay, we're going. Love you!" Carly said as Lee shooed her out the door with an eye roll and wink thrown back at them. Finally they heard "Eleanor" start up and pull away.
There was silence in the room for a long moment until J.J. spoke up.
"I love Dad but why does he always have to ruin everything?" J.J. said, angrily plopping down on the couch.
"J.J." Mattie said firmly, noticing the tears welling up in Sage's eyes.
"He does not! You take it back!" Sage cried, her fists balling up by her sides.
"Oh yeah? Then why does he always have to make Mom cry?" J.J. asked her, his own frustrations and loyalties blinding him to the pain he was causing his younger sibling.
"Stop it! He loves Mommy! He's just mad because he's stuck marrying stupid Janet!" Sage sobbed. Her whole body was shaking now and she couldn't stop herself. "We're his family! He loves us! We're his family!"
Mattie had heard some of what Sage had said and done to break up Jack and Janet and while a lot of people would just label her as a troublemaker, the teenaged girl saw what lay beneath. All Sage wanted was for her world to make sense and to her that was her parents together like she remembered when she was little. Too familiar with those same feelings, Mattie sat down on the couch too, wrapping her arms around the young girl's shoulders.
"It's okay, Sage. It'll be okay." Mattie whispered to her, rocking her gently. Sage let out some of what had been building inside, somehow finding it easier to lean on this girl who was practically a stranger than her brothers. Maybe they were too close to see how much this was really hurting her, but Mattie had noticed.
And finally J.J. noticed as well and frowned. "I'm sorry, Sage. I didn't mean it. I know Dad loves us. It's just..."
He trailed off and looked down at the video game controller in his hands and sighed. "I want things back the way they were too."
Sage looked at her older brother, who was always so careful to maintain his happy-go-lucky exterior, especially with her. Slowly Sage sat up and leaned away from Mattie, only to lay her head back down on J.J.'s shoulder. He sighed again, then smiled sadly, wrapping one around his baby sister and hugging her close.
Parker had watched all of this in silence and now finally joined the rest of them on the sofa, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling.
Poor Sage, she loved both their parents so much that it was obviously pulling her in two very different directions. Of course, underneath it all, she wanted Jack to be happy, but out of loyalty to her mom she firmly believed that it couldn't really be with anyone but Carly. Not taking into account her already overactive imagination, Parker had made the mistake of encouraging her to try and break Jack and Janet up, before he fully realized the consequences. Parker had just wanted to be with Liberty so badly that he didn't understand that he had been pushing his little sister in the one direction that both Jack and Carly had tried so hard to steer her away from.
Parker also knew that with everything that had happened to J.J. in his life, especially with losing his first mom and then nearly losing Carly several times over, he would always defend her against Jack when it came down to it. Just as Parker knew that despite how close he had been with his mom when he was younger, there was some kind of intangible bond between him and Jack; had been for as long as Parker could remember. It didn't seem to matter than neither boy was biologically related to the parent they felt closest with, it just happened to work out that way.
And yet, tonight, Parker couldn't help but agree with J.J.
For the first time in while, his mom's eyes had lit up with a real smile when it hadn't been just her and them. Lee made her laugh and be silly, like she was back when…
"Was it always like this?" Mattie asked softly, calmly stroking her hand over Sage's hair. Her Australian accent seemed much more noticeable in the hushed room.
Parker was quiet as he gathered his thoughts before he answered.
"No," he said finally. "When they are together and they are good...man, they are amazing. It's like nothing in the world can harm you, even though usually it tries."
"We go apple picking and then have contests to see who got the most and who can peel fastest." Sage suddenly spoke up.
"And there's family movie nights, even though Mom is usually out voted on what we watch." J.J. said, cracking a smile.
"We have barbecues that end up in food fights where you have to be hosed down afterwards." Parker said, smiling at his siblings.
"I miss it when Mommy reads to me at night and then Daddy comes in to sing to me until I fall asleep." Sage said, her voice quieter now.
"When I bring home a garden snake and Dad chases Mom around the house with it while she's threatening to hit him with a frying pan." J.J. added, his eyes twinkling.
"Or when you are lying in your bed at night and you just listen to them talking low and laughing downstairs, knowing that they think you're asleep." Parker said softly.
All three of them fell silent again, lost in individual memories of the many happy times. And there were many...they just seemed so far away now.
Then Parker sighed, looking back at Mattie, suddenly remembering she was there.
"But when they're bad…" Parker frowned, trying to put into words just how hopeless it all seemed sometimes.
"It's like even divine intervention couldn't make it work." Mattie finished for him, laying her head back against the couch like him, and he looked at her sharply.
"Yeah," he whispered out and she met his gaze. The pain there echoed in her own eyes and instantly Parker recognized that she had gone through something very similar. It occurred to him then that through all of their talking today he didn't know anything about her family other than the fact that Lee was her uncle. Where were her parents? Did she have any siblings?
Mattie read the unspoken questions in his eyes and shook her head. She couldn't or wouldn't answer them tonight. Despite the feeling of strong friendship between them, they really had only known each other for less than 24 hours.
She sat up abruptly and shook herself off. "Okay, well this definitely not how I saw this night going. Come on, what do you say we get back on track?"
Parker recognized what she was doing and nodded, knowing that sitting there moping wasn't going to help anyone. "Sure, what do you suggest?"
"How about Sage and I versus you and J.J. in the super triathlon mode? The losers have to clean up dinner and make the winners ice cream sundaes however they want." Mattie said, raising an eyebrow at the two boys.
"Puh-leese, Oz! You're gonna lose in five minutes flat." Parker said, rolling his eyes at J.J. who smirked back, both boys feeling incredibly confident.
"Wait, we don't have stuff to make sundaes." Sage piped up leaning forward to frown at them.
"Sage, come on." Mattie said, grinning at her and rising from the couch. "You think my uncle would pick up flowers for your mom at the store and not slip in sundae materials? He may be bossy and weird, but he is definitely not stupid!"
As they all got up and headed towards the kitchen, discussing the best and worst toppings for sundaes, Parker slowed and paused by the fireplace mantle. His eyes caught a photograph half hidden behind the potten plant that rested there. It was from J.J.'s last birthday when Jack had tried to gently smash birthday cake in Carly's face but she had surprised him and gotten him first. The camera had caught them all laughing, with his dad's arm around his mom's shoulder. Everyone had ended the day smiling and for one shining moment, the Snyders had truly been a family again.
Frowning and closing his eyes, Parker sighed heavily. He reached up and straighted the picture, his fingers running down the side of the smooth gold frame a moment longer before he followed the sounds in the kitchen and joined the others.