“Uncle Beckham said it used to be his friend’s,” Avery answered.
Intrigue lit Parker’s expression. “Really? Which friend?”
“An old one,” I answered gruffly. “Avery, why don’t you go get your coat? I think your mom and dad will behere soon.”
“Okay!” She shot up and was out of the room in a flash.
I began tossing her toys back in the bin I kept stashed in my wooden TV stand.
“It’s nice looking,” Parker acknowledged, standing from her seat to get a better look.
To this day, we still didn’t know how it survived the accident fully intact.
“Are you okay?”
I looked up to find Parker tracking my movements as I put away the toys.
“Yeah. Are you?” I responded.
“You seem different, Beck.”
With the rug now clear, I set the bin back in its spot and stood.
“Ten or so years will do that to a guy.”
A line formed in the center of her forehead, doubt shining between the cracks. “Yeah, but you were never like…”
I stepped into her space, instinct causing me to grab both of her hands and grip them between us. “Like what?”
She shook her head, not in denial, but like she was clearing the fog swirling around in her thoughts.
“You never answered me,” I murmured.
The crease deepened. “What?”
“Are you okay?” I asked again.
She looked down at her belly brushing my shirt and our hands grasped on either side of it. Then her eyes lifted back to me. “You’re holding my hands.”
My thumb moved like the past was fueling it forward, brushing across her knuckles. Memories of me holding her hands just like this, under a wide-open sky filled with stars. Of when I’d help her down from my truck bed after ravishing her. “I am.”
“Beck.” My name was barely a whisper.
“Park.”
Her head moved subtly from side to side.
And just like that, we fell into the past. Into over a decade ago when she was mine and I was hers and we were unstoppable.
Maybe history would repeat itself.
I’d never wished harder for a statement to be true.
A knock on the front door had her sliding her hands from mine and taking a step away. A bouncing Avery emerged from the hallway, coat falling off her slender shoulders.
“Is that them?” Avery squealed.
“It should be.” I glanced once more at Parker to be sure she was alright before heading for the door. Avery skipped alongside me, beating me to it.
