“Good. I’ll see you in an hour or so. I would actually like some time to shower and change my clothes. I slept in them last night.”
“Should I be worried?”
There was a hesitation. Finally, Misty said, “No. Not for the reason you’re thinking. No walk of shame or anything.”
And before she could say any more, he said, “I’ll meet you there around eleven.”
She disconnected, leaving him to wonder what she was being so mysterious about. Whatever it was, he’d find out later. Right now, he had to call Dante and hope his little brother wasn’t using his beloved sports car.
* * *
Misty had just enough time to wash her underwear and blow-dry it. Then she showered, brushed her teeth and hair, put on mascara, and borrowed some clothes from Julie. She was glad they found something cute that fit. A pair of skinny jeans and a pretty magenta sweater. She was also glad she wasn’t back at the Fierro house waiting for Gabe.
She didn’t want to chat with her future child’s grandmother. Gabe needed to know first, and his mother seemed to have some kind of psychic power or something. She always knew what other people were feeling. And she had a way of getting them to spill their guts.
When the doorbell rang, she jogged downstairs to answer it, but Julie had gotten there first.
“Surprise, Misty. It’s Parker!”
She froze halfway down the stairs. “Parker?”
“Hey, Sis!”
“How are you here? And how did you know where I was?”
“I have a short leave between training and shipping out.”
“He called me to arrange a little surprise for you. I didn’t know if I’d have to kidnap you to get you here, but fortunately, you were easy to convince.” She winked.
Crap.Now she’d have to tell Parker and Gabe at the same time. There was no way she could keep this to herself until she saw each one alone. In a way, it was a good thing Parker was here and not half a world away. He might need to see for himself that she was really all right.
“Don’t I get a hug?” he asked.
“Of course!” She ran into the foyer and hugged her brother hard. “I missed you!”
“I missed you too. More than you’d think.”
“Oh yeah? You must have been really homesick.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“Holy shit!” Gabe exclaimed. “Is that Parker?”
Parker whirled around and met his best friend coming up the walk. They gave each other a man hug with many slaps on the back.
“Good to see you! Hey, Julie, I didn’t realize you knew Gabe.”
“I don’t. Well, not really. I thought he was a stripper, and then he ran off before proper introductions could be made.”
Parker’s brows rose.
“Jeez, Julie,” Misty interjected. “It’s not what it sounds like. I was having a party at my apartment for Julie and my friends from high school, and Gabe just showed up to check on me. I thought he was the pizza delivery guy and went into the other room to get my wallet and, well…the girls thought I had arranged something else—which I didn’t, by the way.”
Parker laughed hard. “So, I guess you’re still looking after my little sister, Gabe. Thanks.”
“What are you doing here?” Gabe asked. “Did you get emergency leave when you heard that Misty’s house blew up?”
Parker took a step back. He grabbed Misty’s arm. “Your house blew up? How? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”
