Scattered Colors (22 page)

He rested his own fork on his plate, the fake smile he’d been wearing all evening finally melting into something more genuine. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I? You’re so intuitive. Just like your mother.” In the past, that comparison would have caused a pain to radiate through my chest. By that point, though, it just felt right. I smiled in return and reached out to squeeze his hand. Before I could pull back, Dad flipped his hand palm-side up and wrapped his big, strong fingers around my own.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how you have less than a year left before you go off to college, and I guess I was just wondering where you were thinking of attending.”

It was funny that he’d bring it up. I’d been giving a lot of thought to where I wanted to go. When we first moved to Sommerspoint I was so certain I’d rush back to Chicago at the first chance, but things had changed. My outlook on life was different.

“I applied at a few schools at the beginning of the year, but nothing’s set in stone yet.”

“Out of state?”

“Well…yeah.” Dad pulled in a deep breath and nodded in understanding, even though the expression on his face wilted before my very eyes. He pulled his hand back and reached for his fork once again before I continued. “But I’ve been thinking…things are going pretty well here. I thought maybe I’d try and stay local.”

His bite was halfway to his mouth when he paused. “Because of your boyfriend?”

A blush spread across my cheeks at the mention of Parker. “How did you know?” I’d intentionally avoided having that conversation with my dad. We were still on somewhat shaky ground, and I didn’t know how well he would have handled finding out his daughter was in a serious relationship.

The corner of Dad’s mouth tipped up just slightly. “A father knows these things, honey.”

My cheeks grew redder as the tips of my ears started to burn I twisted my fingers together in my lap, unable to meet his gaze. “I was going to tell you, I just didn’t know if it would have been too much.”

“Is he good to you?”

“Very,” I replied whole-heartedly.

“Then I’d like to meet this boy, see what’s so special about him. I mean, he must be something if you’re thinking of giving up an out-of-state school for him.”

My gaze flashed to his as my brows tipped down. “Daddy, I’m not staying because of Parker. I mean, yeah, I’d love it if we went to school close to each other, but we haven’t even talked about that.”

“Then what changed your mind?”

“Well…you. Things are getting better between us, and I just thought that…maybe leaving...” I trailed off as my voice grew hoarse and my eyes clouded over at the thought of leaving my dad. While Parker had been fantastic in helping me through some of the darkest times in my life, I still very much needed my dad. “Maybe leaving isn’t the right choice. I want to stay because of you.”

He was on his feet in a heartbeat, pulling me from my chair and wrapping me in a tight hug. “I love you, baby girl. So damn much. Never, ever doubt that.”

“I love you, too, Daddy,” I responded as I snuggled further into his chest.

After several long beats, we finally pulled away. “Now, I think it’s about time I meet this young man, don’t you think?”

I grinned up at my father warmly. “Yeah, I do. But only if you promise to be nice.”

“I promise.” He chuckled light-heartedly. “But you better warn him. If he messed up my arbor, I expect him to be the one to fix it.”

Well, now. I hadn’t seen that coming.

“You know, I can’t remember ever seeing Parker like this,” Stella commented out of the blue as we navigated our way to our lockers. The hallways were flooded with students eager to get home after a long week of school.

I turned to her after banging on my locker door and pulling it open, my curiosity piqued. “What do you mean?”

She glanced around the hall before stepping in close, her voice dropping to a near whisper. “Did he ever tell you about Toby?”

My stomach flipped at the heartbreaking reminder of what Parker had suffered through. “He did,” I admitted before asking, “You know about that?”

“One of the curses of living in a small town. Nothing is ever really a secret. Especially something as awful as that.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

Stella’s green eyes washed over with sympathy as she leaned her shoulder against her locker. “It wasn’t really my place to tell you. The only reason I brought it up now was because I figured you’d know the truth, seeing as you guys are practically attached at the hip. I just felt like you should know…he’s been different since Toby died. Even when he was with Cassidy, he never looked as happy as he does with you.”

My chest flooded with warmth at the realization that I’d given Parker something so important. Yes, he always made a point to tell me how he felt when we were together, but something about having a third party speak to the changes they witnessed in his demeanor made it seem all the more special.

“You’ve changed, too,” she continued. “When you first got here, you always looked so unhappy, but now your eyes glow. You two are so good for each other, Freya.”

I flash of guilt ran through my system. Even though things in my life were improving every day, I still hadn’t confided in Stella about my mother’s death. The hallways were growing quieter as more and more of our classmates barreled through the doors and out of the school. As I watched the hallway empty around us, I decided it was as good a time as any to finally tell my best friend the whole story.

As I spoke about my mother’s passing and how my dad had pulled away from me, how bleak things had been for me once I arrived in Sommerspoint, her emerald eyes grew glassy with tears. I opened up about how Parker and I had leaned on each other, how the commonality of our losses formed a bond I’d never experienced before. I told her how it felt like we’d somehow helped each other to heal and how each day was happier than the one before. As I kept talking my heart ached for my mother, but I didn’t suffer with the same gut-wrenching pain I had months before. It was manageable, no longer ruling every aspect of my life.

“I’m so sorry I never told you about any of this, Stella. I just didn’t know how to find the words. It was easy with Parker. I felt something different about him from the very beginning.”

“Oh, God,” she cried as her tiny body barreled into me. Her arms wrapped me in a hug so tight, the breath was forced from my lungs. “I’m so sorry you went through all of that.” She sniffled.

“It’s okay now,” I wheezed, trying to disengage from her vise grip. Once I was able to breathe again, I pushed on. “It doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as it used to. Parker was a big part in helping me with that.”

With one last sniffle, Stella wiped a few tears from her cheeks and looked at me with a ridiculously huge grin. “You’re in love with him!”

“What? No! I don’t…I mean, I-I… No, it’s too soon! I can’t…” As I stumbled my way through the denial, it began to feel like I was trying harder to convince myself than her. I couldn’t possibly be in love with Parker already…could I? We’d only been together a little over a month. It was too soon…
right
?

“Whatever. Tell yourself that all you want, sweetie, but you totally love that guy. It’s okay, really. He’s in love with you, too.”

My heart skipped a beat before picking up a frenetic pace. “You think so?”

“Oh, absolutely! Have you seen the way he looks at you? It’s written all over his face. It’s so obvious, Freya. I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet.”

As I walked down the hallway a few minutes later, I played mine and Stella’s conversation over again, the truth hitting me like a sledgehammer. I was in love with Parker Owens. I was so dazed by the realization that I didn’t hear Cassidy coming up behind me until she was close enough to bump her shoulder into mine, sending me stumbling to the side. “Watch it, loser,” she sneered as she pushed out the doors. Part of me wanted to respond, to throw some hateful words in her face, but something dawned on me right then. She didn’t matter. None of them did. I had Parker and that made her crazy, but I wouldn’t let her affect me. I’d already won.

Staring at her back as she shoved through the doors into the parking lot, I watched as she walked past Parker, where he stood waiting for me, and climbed into her car. I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her.

Parker’s voice pulled my mind back to the present. “Hey, baby. I was starting to think you got lost.”

“Oh, no, I was just talking to Stella. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

He opened the passenger door for me and helped me up, an inquisitive expression on his face. “You okay? You look a little distracted.”

I buckled my seatbelt before turning to look into his gorgeous brown eyes, noticing the flecks of gold in them appeared just a bit shinier. “I’m great,” I smiled sincerely.

I was more than great. I was in love with Parker Owens…the boy who made the colors in my world come back.

And it felt fantastic.

Winter had arrived in Sommerspoint, bringing with it a frigid chill in the air. Despite our best efforts, some days the cold was just too much to deal with and Parker and I would have to retreat to the warmth of my house to watch the rest of the sunset from the window. My father had taken to Parker right off the bat, having already seen the changes he helped make in me. From the first dinner where I introduced them, it was clear Parker was accepted in our home…and more than welcome to use the front door.

I shivered against the biting wind whipping against my face, huddling down further into the blanket Parker had wrapped around us. “Can we please go back inside? I’m freezing. We can watch the sunset from the kitchen.”

He pulled my back tighter against his chest and rubbed his hands up and down my arms, trying to generate as much heat as possible. “Just a few more minutes, gorgeous. There’s something I have to do.”

He slipped the blanket off his shoulders and wrapped it tightly around me as he hunched over in front of the log we always sat on. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of those little red, Swiss Army knives and popped the blade out.

“What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.” He grinned at me before turning back to the wood and focusing on whatever he was carving into the smooth, weathered surface. After a few minutes, he slid the knife closed and tucked it back into his pocket. “Done. Come here, baby.”

Placing my palm in his outstretched hand, I let him pull me up and into his chest. With his arms wrapped firmly around me from behind, I looked down at the log to see what he’d done. My mouth fell open on a gasp as I took in the carving.

F.L. + P.O.

“This is our spot, Freya. This is our beach and those are our sunsets. I wanted to do something so anyone who walked past could see this is ours. Always will be.”

The words I’d been holding onto for weeks began working their way up my chest. Even after the epiphany I’d had during my conversation with Stella, I kept the words to myself, fearing Parker didn’t feel as strongly as I did. At the sight of those four little letters carved into the log…
our
log, I knew my feelings weren’t one-sided. I felt it bone-deep that he cared just as strongly for me as I did for him. And I couldn’t hold it back any longer.