Page 103 of The Fire

It was beautiful.

It also sounded like something they’d discussed before, and the resignation on my mother’s face clinched it.

“Did you know?” I demanded. “Did you know Jamie broke up with me so I could go to college, in a very sweet but incredibly, unbelievably misguided attempt to ensure I was happy?”

“I… no!” Beatrice insisted, slapping a hand on her chest. “I may have mentioned to Jameson that your father and I were… disappointed… in your decision not to go to college, but I had no idea what he planned. When you broke up, I assumed you’d come to your senses and ended things yourself so you could go to school. Which is exactly what I told him.” She nodded once. “When he came to talk to you.”

I looked at Jamie, who winced, and then back to my mother. “When he came to talk to me?”

My mother pushed back a stray strand of blonde hair from her temple. “You and your father were already on your way to Boston,” she said. “I thought you’d broken things off, and you didn’t say any differently. I didn’t want to… trouble you.”

I shook my head, momentarily speechless, and Jamie’s hand rubbed up and down my back, reminding me that whatever had happened to get us where we were, he was here with me now. And maybe that was all that mattered.

But Angela Ross’s words came floating back to me too. There was a point where you didn’t care how things went over, and I was at that point.

“Let me be clear,” I told my mother. “We—that is to say, my boyfriend Jamie and I—are going inside in a minute. We’re going to sleep in the guest room with the memory foam bed you keep telling me about. And then tomorrow, we’re going back to O’Leary. Because I’ve got a bar to run.”

She shook her head minutely. “Fine. Do as you like. But I’m afraid you’ll regret this someday. Tell him, Lance.”

My dad laughed. “I’m not telling him shit, Beatrice. Now would somebody open the damn door? Judge Jeanine’s gonna be on soon and I’m hungry as hell.” He clapped me on the shoulder—hard—as he passed me and winked at me. “Proud of you, Parks.”

“That… was weird,” I told Jamie after they’d gone inside and left us wrapped together in the gathering darkness. “Pretty sure my dad never told me he was proud of me before.”

“He should have,” Jamie said against my neck. “You’ve done a lot to be proud of, Parker.”

“Yeah? I don’t know.” I mapped the planes of his back with my hands, fucking thrilled that the universe had given me another chance to do this. I wouldn’t waste it.

“You had the best bar in town.”

“I had theonlybar in town.” I snorted.

“And now you’ll have an even better one.” Jamie brushed his hand through my hair.

“Wewill. That is, if you’re interested in doing this with me. There’s no pressure, okay? I know you already have a job you like. And maybe running a bar isn’t the best choice for you, and that’s okay. You just have to tell me and—”

“Parker,” he whispered. “What part of ‘We’ll rebuild your bar’ was unclear?”

I grinned. I couldn’t help it. “Well, then it won’tbemy bar. It’ll be ours. Not Hoff’s, but something else. Maybe we can call it… Lucille’s.”

“After your plant?” Jamie pulled back just enough to see my face, and his lips twitched. “Nah nah nah. How about Burke’s Beer and Chicken Wing Emporium?” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

“Oh, wow. Anemporium.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Impressive. And will you be the one cooking the wings?”

“Parker,” he chided. “Of course not. We’ll have both our recipes on the menu.”

“Aw.” I reached up to peck his lips. “See? That’s really—”

“I mean, mine will get top billing. Naturally.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Parks, they’ve wonawards.”

“Oneaward,” I argued. “One. And it was awarded bymeunder what were, quite frankly, extremely challenging circumstances.”

“The blizzard?”

“The sugar in my pants!”