“That’s a portrait of my grandmother’s house,” Parker said, and I realized I’d asked the question out loud.
“It’s beautiful.”
“That it was. I wanted something to remember the place.”
“You grew up in the boonies, too?” I asked.
“No. Just lots of visits.”
I tamped down my disappointment. Almost no one here had grown up in the country. No one understood how stifling the suburbs could be, with all its ridiculous rules and tangled traffic. “I guess you can tell where I’m from, thanks to my accent.”
“Nah,” he said, stopping to look at the painting with me. His lips quirked, threatening a smile. “What accent?”
“Ha ha. Very funny. Bless your heart and kiss my grits.”
He turned then with a blinding grin. “I like it. It’s cute.”
“Cute?”
I didn’t have time to be indignant, because his daughter appeared at the top of the stairs wearing a long black dress and a scowl. She looked like a goth bride at a shotgun wedding. Gathering up the skirt to keep from tripping, she came down the stairs slowly.
“This is my daughter, Cassidy,” Parker said.
I would’ve known she was Parker’s daughter without the introduction. She had the same warm brown eyes, same mouth, same dark hair.
“Pleased to meet you,” I said, offering my hand.
She softened slightly at being treated like an adult, but the aura of sullen teen remained.
“Did your dad tell you that I do YouTube videos?”
“You do?” Cassidy immediately lit up, her smile wiping away all the teenage sass and leaving only a sweet girl behind.
“It’s brand new, so I’m not famous or anything, but ... guess what?”
“What?” she asked as her expression slid back into exasperated cynicism.
“Your dad is going to do all the work. I’m just filming it.”
Emotions rolled over her face: surprise, delight, concern.
I had forgotten how exhausting it was to be thirteen.
“Dad, please tell me you’re not going to mess this up.”
He hesitated but then found a smile of his own. “How can I mess it up if Miss Vivian is telling me what to do?”
She digested that information and came to the conclusion that she could trust me. Lord willing, I wouldn’t prove her wrong.
“I’ve been thinking about starting a YouTube channel, too,” she said.
“Let’s worry about grades first,” Parker added.
She rolled her eyes.
Once I’d set up my phone on a tripod to record, I had Cassidy stand on a chair.
“All right, Parker. You ever done any sewing?”
