“Clara,” she reminded me. “We’re practically family.”
“Not yet,” Ben muttered, shoving another spoonful in his mouth. He was going to be a delight asa father-in-law.
“Pop!”
The arguing was never going to end. They came to some kind of truce last night, but now, it seemed to have flared up again.
“What? All I’m saying is that you just brought her home. We know nothing about her except that she threw you through a window!”
“I worked for the FBI—” I tried, but was immediately cut off by more bickering.
“She’s the woman I love. Isn’t that enough?”
“Of course it’s enough. It just would have been nice if you had come home a few times and introduced us earlier instead of dropping this bombshell on us.”
“It’s hardly a bombshell. I fell in love. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“Because you ran out of here. You left us behind without caring at all about the ranch or your responsibilities here, all so you could play with guns.”
“That’s hardly how I would describe joining the military,” Parker muttered.
The arguing was getting out of control, and the stress was only making my stomach churn even harder. I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping to block out some of the noise, but it didn’t work.
“Maybe you could tell us a little about how you met,” Clara interrupted. “Is it a good story?”
“He already told us she threw him through a window,” Ben argued. “What more could there be?”
“Actually,” I said, hoping to get them to come around. “We met because we were both digging into some crooked senators. They were doing some terrible things, and we were trying to stop them.”
“What terrible things?” Ben asked.
“They—”
“Blake,” Parker interrupted, shaking his head at me.
“What? You don’t think they have a right to know?”
“We kept it quiet for a reason.”
“These are your parents. We told my dad and brothers,” I pointed out.
Ben slammed his fist down on the table. “Will someone tell us what the hell is going on around here?”
I wasn’t about to keep anything from Ben and Clara. Not when I felt every citizen had a right to know about what had almost happened just a few months ago.
“Michael and I were both digging into crooked senators who appeared to be investing in a medical facility.”
“What’s so strange about that?”
“They were making hand over fist in earnings, and they had more moneythan they should have had to invest. It’s a long story, but through our investigation, we found out that the medical facility was actually producing a virus.”
My eyes flicked to Parker’s, but he was staring at the table, his jaw clenched in anger. I had a feeling it wasn’t just because of the fact that I was telling his parents, but because of the fallout.
“Don’t medical facilities study viruses all the time?” Clara asked.
“They weren’t studying a virus that already existed,” Parker said quietly. “They were making a virus more deadly than anything we’ve ever seen.”
His eyes rose to meet mine in silent remembrance.
