Page 118 of Masters of Secrets

“Hey, Mom, I’m here.” Here and trying not to be grumpy about it. Julie took a deep breath as she closed her parents’ front door behind her. The cats had a tendency to try to escape out the door if it was left open.

Having to say a rushed goodbye to Connor before leaving Marquis had not been on her agenda this morning. She’d wanted to spend more time with him. Have breakfast with him. See where his head was after last night.

Instead, her mom had called, and she’d had to hurry away because her mom needed her help right now. No, she couldn’t explain over the phone. Just ‘get over here, Julie. I’m your parent, and I need you.’

Thankfully, Connor had been very understanding, although disappointed. He’d walked her to her car, and she’d gotten a very nice goodbye kiss before getting into it.

“Mom?” She raised her voice a little louder, walking down the hall. “Where are you?”

“We’re back here,” her father called from the sunroom.

Suppressing another sigh, Julie headed back. What did her mom need help with that her dad couldn’t take care of? When her mom had demanded she come over, she’d assumed her dad was out of the house for some reason.

Walking into the sunroom, she came to a dead stop. Her dad was kneeling on the floor, assembling what looked like a new television and wall mount, while her mom was standing beside him, holding the instructions in one hand. One hand because the other one was in a sling.

“Mom!” Julie rushed forward, her gaze scanning over her mother. Other than the sling, she looked like she always did. Her hair was dyed black, so not a single strand of grey showed, but the wrinkles on her face gave away some of her age. She still looked years younger than the sixty-five she’d turned on her last birthday, which was how it was with most of Julie’s family. Her mom liked to joke that Asians didn’t age until all of the sudden, they did, usually overnight. With her long hair up in a bun, she was wearing neatly pressed beige pants and an orange silky blouse, even though it was a Saturday. No casual clothes for her mom. “What happened to your arm?”

“Nothing.” Her mom huffed. “At least nothing I know of. My shoulder has been sore for a while, so I’m trying not to move it around and make it worse.”

“How long is ‘a while’?” Julie demanded to know.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t keep track.” Her mother waved the hand holding the instructions at her. “That’s not why I called you over, though. Your dad needs help lifting the TV. I can’t do it.”

But she’d probably tried.

Gritting her teeth, Julie closed her eyes for a brief moment, sending up a prayer for patience. When she opened her eyes, her dad was looking up at her with a slightly guilty expression. Probably because he hadn’t been able to stop her mom from trying.

“Right. Got it.” Julie kept her sigh inside. Her parents were who they were, and they weren’t going to change. All she could do was try to set reasonable boundaries with them, and convincing her mom not to overdo certain things wasn’t within her power.

Plus, if she didn’t help, her mom was likely to try again and injure herself.

Or, worse, call Julie’s ex to come over and help.

Crouching, Julie helped her dad pick up the television. The good news was it was going where a picture of Julie and John’s wedding had formerly hung. Part of her was happy to see it gone, but she was trying not to get too hopeful because there was always the chance her mom was just moving it to a more prominent position somewhere else in the house.

“Oh, careful… yes… right there…” Even though she couldn’t be part of the actual lifting, her mom was determined to be involved. “Good! Ow.” Her mom had tried to clap her hands together, apparently forgetting that her shoulder was sore.

Pressing her lips together in amusement—because it was better to be amused than annoyed when she could direct her emotions—Julie held the TV in place while her dad got it secured to the mount.

“I think that’s good. Come look at it.”

Julie and her dad dutifully moved over to stand beside her mom to take a look at their work. It looked good to Julie, but she wasn’t going to be the one watching it.

“So, why a television in here?” she asked, hoping her mom would also tell her where the huge, framed wedding picture it was replacing was being moved to without having to ask directly.

“This way, we can watch TV and the bird feeders at the same time,” her mom replied. “And your dad can keep an eye on the squirrels.”

Ah. Her dad had a long-standing feud with the neighborhood squirrels. He liked birds. He didn’t mind squirrels, as long as they weren’t ‘stealing’ food from the birds.

“I got a new birdfeeder, too,” her dad said, stepping around to where Julie could see him and pointing out the window into the backyard. “This way, I’ll be able to watch and see how well it works.”

She looked out the window at the birdfeeder in question. It was in the middle of the yard on a post, what looked like a giant dish attached about four feet up from the ground.

“I take it that’s an anti-squirrel birdfeeder?” she asked dryly.

“Exactly.” Her father beamed at her, and she shook her head even as she smiled back. He looked so proud of himself. Only a few inches taller than her and her mother, he had embraced aging and let his hair start to go grey. He was also losing some of it on top of his head, but there was still enough that it couldn’t be truly called a comb-over. When he grinned, the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes were far more pronounced.

Damn. Her parents were getting older.