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Overcome with exhaustion, I looked up at Parker, where I’d been lying in his arms, swimming in the aftermath of our lovemaking. “Park, I’m not spending another second, much less the night in this place. It stinks of filth, and I can’t breathe. Can we go to my place? You’ve not even seen the remodeling.”
His eyes sparkled with love as he rubbed my face. “Yes, baby. We can go back to your place.” He got out of bed, retrieved my dress, and handed it to me. He helped me navigate through the rubbish of his home and back to my house. Though I was eager to show him around, I could barely walk from the extra excursions.
Seeing the pain, I was in and my weakened state, Parker picked me up and carried me to bed. He covered me up, and before his lips touched my forehead, I was asleep.
***
I stood there for what felt like an hour but was only a few moments, watching her steady breathing. Knowing I could at least shower and shave, I left the room and entered the bathroom. I took a long hot shower, reliving the moments we had in the last two hours.
Wrapped in a towel, I trimmed my beard short enough to shave. I looked in the mirror and knew I’d have to get my arm checked out and get back into shape. With gentle steps, I quietly went to Olivia’s bed and climbed in beside her, taking her intomy arms. She roused enough to lay her head on my chest before her eyes closed again. We slept well past noon the next day.
I lay there with his arm wrapped around me and watched him sleep. He woke with a smile as he looked down at me, knowing he had some wrongs to right, and he would do that after he did so with me. “What would you like to do today?” I asked. I could see the wheels turning in his brain as he thought about it, then tilted his head.
“Liv, please forgive me for what I’ve done. I need to make things right. I love you, and I did all this to you. You deserve better. I promise never to abandon you again.”
I sat up on my elbow and looked into his shiny eyes. “Parker, what you did hurt more than the shark attacking me. It scarred my soul. I do forgive you. I love you. Forgive yourself and apologize to the hundreds of people who reached out to you, or at least to the ones that matter most. Your mom, dad, sister, best friend–like me–none of them deserved your silence.”
He nodded in agreement. “I will. But first, I want to make it up to you. We love to cook together. I’d like to make something simple for lunch. I was thinking about the ultimate burger. While we eat that, we can watch a crew take that boat away. I no longer want to see it. I’ll replace it if you ever intend to go on a boat with me again.”
I smiled at him and touched his face. “I’ll always want to go out on a boat with you. This–” I pointed to my scars– “was an unfortunate accident. I will not let it define me; I love the water and boating, and the accident didn’t change that.” I took a deep breath before going on. “As for ultimate burgers, what are we waiting for? I’m starving.” We both laughed.
“I need to run an errand, “he said. “Could you have a snack while you wait? Then we can make burgers.”
I laughed, wondering what errands he had to run right at that moment after two months of neglect, and then touched his face.
“While you’re out, I’ll call our landscapers and have them over to clean up and mow outside. Then I’m calling a crew to come in and clean that place out completely. We can have the repairs done in short order. You call whoever it is to have them take the boat away and fix the seawall before someone gets hurt.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
I kissed him with urgency as a tingle and warm sensation swept through my body.
Parker smiled and held me at arm’s length. “That will have to wait. I love you.”
Then he was gone.
A little bewildered, I got up and dressed, made some coffee, and started making phone calls. The first one was to his mother, because she deserved a little peace of mind.
“Hi Liv, is everything okay?”
I smiled at his mother’s concern. “Yes Martha, everything is fine. I wanted to let you know I got through to Parker last night.”
I could hear the relief in Martha’s voice when she spoke. “Oh dear, I’m so thrilled. Is he all right?”
I told her what she needed to know and said we’d have her over soon. After hanging up, I called all the contractors. Happy with such a positive response and a promise to get to the tasks immediately, I sat in Mr. Globo, waiting for Parker with Simba by my side.
Almost two hours later, Parker pulled into his driveway and walked to my house. He bent over and kissed me.
“I love the haircut and shave,” I pointed out.
He smiled at me and sat to pet Simba. “Ready for the ultimate burger?”
“Are you kidding? I thought you’d never get back here.” We went into the kitchen and collected all the ingredients. Parker cut the potatoes up and started soaking the thin French fry strips. I started cooking bacon and sautéing the onion cut into rings. The aroma of the onions simmering in mustard and other spices made my stomach growl. After seasoning the fries with dill, garlic, and onion powder, I tossed them in the oven. Parks oversaw grilling the burgers while I made over easy eggs. I assembled the burgers in the order that Parker told me while he opened some wine. First, the patty with the cheese, and then came the bacon. On top of that was the onion mixture, topped with the over-easy egg and arugula, all done and piled so high that I wondered if I could open my mouth wide enough to take a bite. I thought to myself,Hell, I’ll manage; it looks amazing.
We carried our plates to the lanai and sat at the table; while eating, we watched a crew take away the broken boat with heartbreaking memories. Parker cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher while I sat, enjoying the afternoon sun. He returned and cleared his throat. Turning to look up at him, I smiled.
“God, I love that smile.” He went down on one knee in front of me; I touched his face softly as I leaned over and kissed him.
Parker
