Crush

Letting the water fall over my aching body, I begin to remember last night and this morning. I know I’m running very late this morning, not caring about anything but the moments I shared with Brandon. I reminisce about the way his mouth felt on mine, the way his hands felt across my body. It takes every part of me to stop thinking about our time we shared last night and the proposition he gave me this morning. When he was kissing me goodbye on the pier, he asked me to sail away with him. Now as I stand under this water I contemplate my options. I only could go with him leaving my entire family behind. It’s not like Ariel didn’t do the same thing after high school. Or I could stay here and live the same normal boring life every other Parker child has done. I turn the water off and step out of the shower realizing I only have one choice.

A sudden knock on the door stopped Paige from taking her time getting ready. She grabbed her robe off the back of the bathroom door and answered the door revealing a dozen red roses waiting for her on the doorstep. A wide smile appeared across her face as she grabbed the card that was in the roses.

I think the sweetest joys in life
Are those more felt than seen
When someone sees within our soul
With nothing in between

“Brandon,” Paige whispered picking up the glass vase of long stem roses with fresh accents.

Hidden in the brushes near the front door, Josh’s heart burned once again with the notion that Paige didn’t realize what was standing right in front of her. He realized not signing the card probably wasn’t the brightest idea and now he had to figure out exactly who this Brandon character was. A bouquet of one hundred dollar roses wasn’t enough for her and neither was poetry, he would have do something else to show her just how much they were meant to be. Yet he wasn’t rich and didn’t have a yacht and he was sure this Brandon character could afford dozens of roses for such an amazing woman as Paige. No, Josh would have to work an extra shift at Juniper’s just to cover the roses on his credit card. He would have to show her other ways how he was the right one for her.

Charlotte stormed off the elevator on the top floor of the Donnelly Corporation on a mission. She was going to get to the bottom of the ridiculous court hearing even if it killed her. She pushed right past Tyler’s secretary not caring if he was in a meeting. He was going to get a piece of her mind whether he liked it or not.

“What the hell is this,” Charlotte shouted slamming the court order on the desk in front of him.

“I’m in a meeting, Charlotte, this can wait,” Tyler ordered.

“No, it can’t,” Charlotte insisted waving to the young man sitting in the chair across from Tyler. “I suggest you reschedule.”

“It’s not important,” the young man said running out of the office scared for his life.

“Kelly, call security,” Tyler ordered his secretary coming around the desk to Charlotte. “I don’t have time for this trash.”

“I’ll bet your sister would love to hear what you are doing,” Charlotte said.

“Go ahead and call her, I don’t care. For that matter call my brother, I’m sure he would love to hear from you too,” Tyler yelled throwing the documents back at Charlotte.

“What does your brother have to do with this? I’ve never met your brother. He’s lived in Italy the entire time we’ve been together.”

“Get her out of here,” Tyler demanded waving at the guards. “And make sure she doesn’t step foot in these offices again.”

“Just tell me why,” Charlotte cried as she was being dragged out of the office.

“You betrayed me,” Tyler spat turning his back on her once again.

Two guards carried Charlotte out of the office on Tyler’s demand. She tried to get back to Tyler trying to figure out what he was talking about. He couldn’t have known about that night nor could he? As the guards escorted her out the building, she noticed someone out of the corner of her eye in the lobby. It couldn’t be, she thought. The dark wavy haired man turned to see the blond standing outside crying and in shock. Charlotte couldn’t remember everything about that night in the hotel just the feeling of the stranger’s kisses and his musky scent. She remembered what he looked like just from the few moments they spent together in the bar before she had way too many drinks.

“Janice, who is that woman that was just escorted out of here,” Gregory asked the receptionist at the front desk of Donnelly Corporation.

“That’s Charlotte Parker,” Janice replied. “That’s Ella’s mother.”

“As in Tyler’s Ella,” Gregory wondered turning back to see Charlotte gone.

“The one and only,” Janice commented before going back to her duties as being the one person everyone goes to inside the corporation before they see anyone of major importance.

Gregory stood there in shock of who it was he had slept with the other night. He was shocked and thrilled to know the woman’s name. Now all he had to do was find out why it happened and if she was still in love with his brother.

Luke rushed into the restaurant bumping into an old lady in the process, after picking up her large handbag and apologizing he searched through the small crowd for his father.

“Dad, I need your help,” Luke demanded ignoring the young couple his dad was taking an order from.

“Not now, Luke, I’m a little busy,” Jack replied nodding at the young man at the table.

“It’s important,” Luke reported following his dad into the kitchen.

“So is this restaurant,” Jack reminded his son. “Your sister had to leave, so I’m short handed. If you help me out for an hour, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Fine,” Luke said grabbing the two orders that had come up for table nine and taking them out to the dining area.

“Do those kids ever give you a break,” Pat, the cook asked her employer.

“It’s crisis after crisis with them. I swear they are going to give me a heart attack one of these days,” Jack smiled at Pat, who was like a second mother to him growing up.

Pat was one of the first employee’s of Juniper’s that wasn’t family when Jack’s mother opened the restaurant. After all these years, Pat was still working hard, but now as a part-time cook. Jack always thought Pat would outlast him at the restaurant especially with his kids and their problems.

Forty-five minutes later, Charlotte came running into the restaurant with her eyes bloodshot and fumes coming out of her ears. She looked around and noticed the four customers in the restaurant. She walked back to the kitchen pushing the doors open with all her might.

“Urgh,” she yelled seeing Pat stirring the mixture for her delightful sinful chocolate cake. “I leave for a few minutes and my dad drives all the customers away.”

“He did a fine job, Charlotte. He is actually in the back room with your brother,” Pat stated double checking the oven to make sure it was the right temperature.

“Men, I swear. Pat, be happy that you never married or had children,” Charlotte said grabbing a warm double chocolate muffin that was cooling off of the counter.

“Dear, so am I,” she snickered watching Charlotte leave the kitchen.

“Dad, I need to talk to you,” Charlotte said stomping into the back room where Jack and Luke were.

“We’re a little busy,” Luke snarled helping his dad with the inventory that had arrived earlier that day.

“It’s important,” Charlotte replied standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

“Not right now, Charlotte, after we finish this, Luke and I are going down to Joe’s,” Jack stated knowing his son wanted privacy.

“Great,” Charlotte huffed. “The two of you go out and have a beer while my life goes down the drain.”

“A little overdramatic don’t you think,” Luke acknowledged shaking his head.

Josh walked into Juniper’s for his shift hoping that Paige had already arrived for her shift. He loved that these days their schedule seemed to match more and more at the restaurant. Now he was looking forward to spending some time with Paige. He would forgive her for the mishap this morning if she agreed on taking a little walk with him later during their breaks.

“Hey, Josh,” Ali said waving at him while she cleaned off table seventeen.

“What are you doing here? I thought Paige was going to work tonight,” Josh asked with a look of sadness in his eyes.

“Something came up and she asked if I could cover her shift. I need all the money I can get now since I moved out of my parents’ place.”

“Yeah, how is that going living with Paige and Luke,” he wondered trying to think of someway to find out who the new guy in Paige’s life was.

“It’s going very well. I don’t see Paige as much as I thought I would though, you seem to keep her pretty busy.”

“I wish it was me,” Josh mumbled as he went to punch in.

He was madly in love with Paige and she was to busy with the stranger in town to even realize that Mr. Right was standing right before her.

“I’m sorry, Josh, I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but Paige and I haven’t talked much these days,” Ali responded putting her hand on his forearm trying to show him that she really met what she said.

“I haven’t talked to Luke very much the past couple of days. The two of you seem to be in a good place these days.”

“We are, I just wish Tony was off the streets.”

“So do I, one way or another he will pay for his sins,” Josh said as his good hand formed a fist.

“Well I better get back to work, Charlotte is in one of her moods,” Ali stated clearing off another table.

Josh walked to the back of the restaurant trying to figure out what he could do to show Paige he was the right man for her. He knew once Tony was caught Paige wouldn’t need police protection anymore and she wouldn’t need to sneak around. A light bulb went off in Josh’s head, he knew catching Tony would make him the hero and that Paige would be eternally grateful. Josh had taken criminal justice courses in the past couple of years, so he knew the basics. And he had learned years ago how to use a firearm as the ache in his shoulder every day reminded him of the last time he had used that firearm. Catching Tony would be his top priority now then it would be finding out exactly who the mysterious stranger Paige was spending all her time with.

Luke and his father strolled into Joe’s Bar like it as normal as apple pie, yet neither of them had been there in months. The last time Jack had been in Joe’s was the day after he found out he was going to be a grandfather. As happy as he was for Charlotte and how much he adored his granddaughter, he knew how hard it would be for Charlotte to raise Ella on her own. He raised his oldest kids for years on his own and now he was doing it again to Noelle. Even though he had his mother through some of those precious years, it wasn’t the same, and even the conniving Donnelly family couldn’t help Charlotte.

Luke’s last time in Joe’s had been the night he began his affair with the stunning professor who could destroy everything he became to cherish. He had to tell his father everything, and hope that he would understand the situation and give him the advice he needed to keep Ali around as long as possible.

“Jack, great to see you,” Joe Morgan told his old pal, putting a bottle of Bud Light on the counter for him, and a Coke for Luke. “How is that big ole family of yours?”

“Good, Joe,” Jack replied slapping his hand on his only son’s back. “Luke and I thought we would have some lunch away from the females for once.”

“Luke, do you know how lucky you are to have this man as a father,” Joe asked the kid who had begun coming in the bar during his high school days. Teenagers loved Joe’s for the grown-up atmosphere and the games of pool they could play all night. It also helped that Joe knew every kid in Saunder’s Bay and their parents. So no one under the age of twenty-one ever tried to use a fake i.d. in Joe’s or fights because Joe would go directly to their parents.

“Yes, I do,” Luke mumbled before taking his coke to a table far away from the bar. He needed to explain his situation to his father in private and Joe knew certain citizens in town that could make his life even more miserable.

“I guess your son wants to talk,” Joe said handing Jack a bowl of peanuts then walking off to the other customers in the bar this time of day.

“What’s going on, Luke,” Jack wondered taking a swing of his favorite beer.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” Luke began, “I mean I know I was known as a player for a long time, but every time I used protection. I tried to make sure this wouldn’t happen and now it did.”

“Lucas Jackson Parker, did you get Miss Ali pregnant,” Jack asked praying that it wasn’t the case. He took another slug of his beer hoping the pain wouldn’t hit him all at once.

“No, it’s not Ali. We haven’t even gotten that close, not that I don’t want to, I do, but Ali is special to me. I couldn’t take advantage of her like that.”

“But you got someone pregnant?”

“Yeah, dad, seriously I wish I never had gotten involved with her now. I know you have a lot on your plate right now with Charlotte and Paige and now that Ariel is back. And let’s not forget about mom being back in town and all of her drama she brings to the table.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s Rory, I mean I’m not even sure it’s mine anyway. And her husband won’t stop until he makes me pay for the affair, even when it takes two, you know.”

“You got your Professor pregnant? Oh boy, Luke, this is a pickle for sure.”

“It gets worse, dad. The dean knows about it and gave me a failing grade for the course because of my relationship with the Professor. Now I’m ineligible to play football the rest of the season. We believe it was Detective Spencer who told the dean about the affair.”

“She didn’t tell the dean, are you sure?”

“She told me she didn’t.”

“Luke, that doesn’t mean she didn’t. She has lied before, heck, she lied to her husband for weeks, don’t think she wouldn’t do it to you. Once a cheater, Luke, always a cheater, you’re mom taught me that.”

“I don’t really believe that, people can change, dad,” Luke pointed out since he was in fact changing his ways. “And mom is another story entirely.”

“No, she isn’t, son. Your mother left because she was having an affair with another man. I knew even before that your mother wasn’t faithful, but I thought I could change her. Even after you kids were born I thought she would see the light but it didn’t.”

“Why did you stay with her then,” Luke wondered questioning everything he believed in about relationships.

“Because she was your mother, and I was raised to believe that the bond between mother and child is unbreakable,” Jack explained remembering the trying times he had with his own mother.

“But we didn’t matter enough for her to change,” Luke stated. “I’m not like her. I know what you sacrificed to raise us kids and how hard it was. If this is my kid I will do whatever I need to do to help Rory raise it even if that means dropping out of college and getting a job.”

“Does that mean spending your life with a woman you don’t love?”

“I guess it does. I just don’t know what to do about Ali. Dad, I’m amazed by her, she is one in a million and I don’t want to lose that.”

“Just tell her the truth, and the two of you will work this out,” Jack said hoping that Luke would do the right thing.

“What if this baby is mine though? I don’t think Ali will forgive me, and we are the only family she has now. Her parents basically disowned her and the church too, I guess. Paige won’t forgive me and I can only imagine what Charlotte and Ariel will think.”

“Don’t worry about your sisters, and if Ali loves you as much as I believe she does, she will be right beside you every minute of the way.”

“Thanks, dad,” Luke said before drinking the rest of his Coke.

“I better get back before Charlotte calls the national guard,” Jack commented finishing his beer off then throwing a ten down on the table. “Just remember what I said.”

“I will, dad, thank you,” Luke responded, “I’ll see you later tonight.”

Jack walked out of the bar and began the four block walk back to the restaurant. He wasn’t sure how he felt about becoming a grandfather once again especially now that Charlotte was having trouble with Tyler. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going when he pumped into a dark curly haired beauty.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized picking up her purse. “I guess I zoned out there for a second.”

“It’s okay, it happens,” she replied smiling at the rugged man with a blue and white flannel over a dark blue t-shirt. “Must have been thinking about something important.”

“Just my kids,” he said handing the stunning woman her purse as their hands touch briefly, Jack feels something he hasn’t felt in years. “I should really pay closer attention.”

“It’s really okay,” she repeated. “How many do you have?”

“How many, what?”

“Kids,” she asked giggling for a brief moment as the two walked down the street side by side.

“Five. Four girls and one boy,” Jack answered as he forgets everything but the woman standing before him.

“Wow! How do you and your wife handle it?”

“I’m not married; well I mean I was, twice actually. Not that it makes a difference, I mean of course it does.”

“It’s fine. I understand, I think,” she said stopping instantly. “Here I am getting your personal information and I don’t even know your name.”

“Jack Parker,” he stated putting his hand out. “And you are?”

“Sarah Preston, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Parker.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said taking her hand in his and kissing it. “And call me Jack.”

“Okay, Jack, well this is my stop,” she pointed out standing in front of the Wexler Hotel.

“How about coffee sometime,” Jack asked before Sarah walked away.

“Sure,” she answered. “I’ve only been in town a week, so I’m not really sure where to find a real good cup of coffee.”

“Well, I know the perfect place. How about tomorrow at Juniper’s, it’s two blocks down then take a left at Jones Avenue.”

“Okay, how does twelve thirty sound?”

“Perfect,” Jack said.

Minutes later Jack walked into Juniper’s with a smile across his face and a spring in his step. He wasn’t sure who Sarah Preston was but he was looking forward to getting to know her a little better.

“Dad, where’s Noelle,” Charlotte asked noticing something a little different about her father.

“What do you mean,” Jack wondered thinking that he couldn’t have spent that long with Sarah.

“You were supposed to pick her up at one for the dentist, it’s ten after, dad,” Charlotte stated. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, I lost track of time plus I had a beer at Joe’s.”

“Fine, I’ll go get her. Can you call the dentist, please? Ella is napping right now so listen for her too,” Charlotte ordered before grabbing her purse and running out of the restaurant.

She stood before her work of art fascinated that neither of them would see this coming. She was very proud of herself as she continued to cut up the girl’s bed with the large butcher knife she had found in the kitchen. She stopped her handy work for just a moment as she heard the garage door begin to open. April dropped the knife on the floor and ran for the large bay window that led to the small back yard. She grabbed the chair at the desk throwing it through the window and climbed through it.

As careful as April was breaking into her sister and brother’s house, she wasn’t going to get caught now. No, she would escape just in the nick of time and hoped she would be able to catch a glimpse of the reaction of whoever had just arrived. She ran away from the large oak tree in the back yard the second she heard the young woman scream.

“Revenge is sweet,” April murmured as she climbed into the Mazda a couple of blocks away from Paige’s house. As she turned the engine on she looked into the rearview mirror jumping at the figure sitting in the backseat of her car.

“Who are you,” he asked sitting up making sure she knew who was in charge.

“I should be asking you that question since you’re in my car,” April stated moving her hand over to her purse where she kept a small handgun.

“Don’t even think about it,” he demanded holding up the knife he had used on Paige over a week ago.

“Are you the one that put that little tramp in the hospital a few days ago,” April wondered nodding her head in amazement. “You do pretty good work, but I would have sliced her a little bit more.”

“Who are you,” he repeated.

“April Carson,” she said. “And you are.”

“Tony Sanchez. Why did you trash Paige and Luke’s house? What do you have against them?”

“I should ask you the same thing.”

“Paige made a mistake,” he answered relaxing a bit now that he knew the woman’s name. “I’ve seen you watching Paige the past couple of days. I’ve seen you get on that guy’s boat once he left yesterday. Why are you following Paige?”

“She is a pain in my side that I need to get rid of, Brandon too,” April explained. “You help me out and I’ll do the same. What do you say?”

“Fine, I want that guy out of my Paige’s life. I watched him kiss her,” Tony said as he punched the back of the seat. “Those kisses are meant for me, no one else.”

“You deal with Tony and I’ll deal with Paige,” April said grabbing a pen and a piece of scratch paper that was in the console. She wrote down her cell phone number and handed it to the ruthless man in her back seat. “Here is my number, call me when you get rid of Brandon.”

“This better not be some sort of set up, woman,” Tony replied grabbing the paper from her hand before exiting the car.

“Not a trap,” she told him when he got out of the car, “just some sweet revenge.”

Seconds later Tony walked away from the car leaving April to ponder her actions of the day. She had trashed her sister’s house and now she was teaming up with a man she didn’t even know. April always worked by herself because she never knew when someone would double cross her. Her mother had taught her that very wise lesson one too many times. Now this man was willing to help her out, was it worth it?

“Joe can I get a basket of fries,” Luke asked as he went up to the bar. He really didn’t have anywhere to go at the moment since he should have been in his American Literature course at the moment. Now that was no longer he would have a couple of hours to do nothing on Thursday afternoons.

“Sure, kid,” Joe answered seconds before noticing the guy that had walked into the bar behind Luke. “Here comes trouble.”

“Joe, how about some whiskey,” the man said sitting down the bar a little farther down from Luke.

Joe shook his head while grabbing the whiskey bottle and a shot glass from under the counter.

“I’ll get those fries to you in a second, Luke,” Joe murmured to him before going down to the customer that was becoming a regular at too young of an age for Joe.

The man downed the whiskey in seconds and asked for two more. Then after his third shot, he looked over at Luke shaking his head in disappointment. The man was in his mid-twenties with sandy blond hair and sad hazel eyes. His flannel shirt was unbuttoned revealing his torn stained white t-shirt and it looked like his hair hadn’t been combed in days.

“It seems like much hasn’t changed around here,” Luke mumbled to Joe who had just handed him the basket of fries.

“Hope had to take him home last night,” Joe told Luke shaking his head at the sorry excuse for a man. “He comes in here every Wednesday night and Hope takes him home almost every time, then he’s back every other night, but Wednesday is always the worse.”

“How long has this been going on,” Luke asked.

“Well he would come in here a few times after your sister left town. Since he was under age at the time, he would hustle as many people he could at a game of pool. When he turned twenty-one though, he stopped hustling as much and started drinking,” Joe explained noticing that his patron was over at the pool table by himself.

“Why didn’t you tell me or one of us for that matter,” Luke wondered feeling sorry for the guy.

“Because he wouldn’t listen, Hope and I have tried too many times to help him.”

“Well Ariel is back in town and looks like she is staying for a bit, maybe I can get her to talk to him,” Luke mentioned turning around and heading to the guy he once looked up to. “Want to play a game?”

“No thanks,”

“Come on, Tommy, one game, if I win you take a ride with me, if you win I’ll give you a twenty,” Luke stated putting a twenty dollar bill on the rim of the pool table.

“Fine,” Tommy Carmichael agreed resetting the pool table.

“So Joe told me that you seem to come in here quite a bit,” Luke said standing beside the pool table while Tommy took his first shot.

“I figured Joe would want the business since it’s not as busy here as it used to be with the Applebee’s down the road,” he replied watching two stripe balls go in the far corner pocket.

Luke stood there watching Tommy miss the next shot, then Luke went and missed the next shot on purpose.

“I don’t believe you missed that shot,” Tommy said hitting another stripe ball in the pocket.

“I haven’t seen you in Junipers in a long time you were used to be there all the time. What happened,” Luke asked a couple of minutes later as he finally made a shot.

“You know what happened,” Tommy answered watching the younger man make three shots in a row. Tommy stood there as Luke made a few more shots, then suddenly the game was tied. “You hustled me.”

“I learned from the best,” Luke said as he went for the final shot missing the eight ball by a hair.

“But not as good as me,” Tommy mumbled as the eight ball went in the side pocket. Tommy picked up the twenty and ran off to the bar for another drink to celebrate his victory.

Luke followed Tommy and through another twenty down on the table. He had a reason for throwing his money away and what Tommy didn’t know was he threw the game on purpose. During high school Tommy was someone Luke looked up to. Tommy was a basketball star during high school even earning a scholarship, but he turned it down. He had been a broken man since the night his high school girlfriend disappeared the night after graduation.

“Double or nothing,” Luke suggested putting up his hand to Joe to stop him from serving Tommy another drink.

“No thanks,” Tommy said.

Luke cell phone rang pulling him away from the argument between Tommy and Joe since Joe wasn’t going to serve Tommy another drink.

“Hello,” Luke answered.

“Hey, little brother,” Ariel said. “Are you busy, right now?”

“No, not at all, just over at Joe’s bar playing some pool,” Luke stated looking over at Tommy. “Ariel, how about you come over and play a game or two with me, I need the practice.”

“Sure, I’ll be down there in about ten minutes,” Ariel said as she drove down the streets of Saunders Bay.

“Great,” Luke replied then hanging up the phone and turning back to Tommy. “How about that game this time I’ll make it easier for you and if I win you have to have lunch with my sister and I.”

“What is going on here,” a female voice wondered walking into Joe’s. “Well, well, Luke Parker, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

“Hope, just the girl I was thinking about,” Tommy mumbled turning in his chair and smiling at his close friend. “How did you know I was here?”

“Joe called me,” Hope Johnson announced putting a strand of her shoulder length blond hair behind her ear.

Luke looked over at Joe in defeat. He knew why Tommy was the drinking his days away because he was there at the beginning when Ariel first left. Yet he was hoping Joe would help him clear the air today.

“How about you and I go spend some quality time together,” Tommy whispered putting his arm around the good time girl in his life. Whenever Tommy needed Hope was right there to soothe him in life and in bed. Yet Hope was hoping for one day Tommy would decide that she was more than just a bedmate or a ride home from a night of too much drinking.

“No,” Luke shouted, “what about that game?”

“Sorry,” Tommy responded walking out of the bar with the blond on his arm.

Luke stood there watching him leave with Ariel’s best friend through high school. No matter how long Luke had lived in Saunders Bay, he was still shocked at what he had seen.

“How long have they been together,” Luke asked Joe who was wiping down the bar.

“They’re not, not really,” Joe answered. “Since your sister left Hope has been there picking his sorry butt up. I didn’t know what you were planning until after I called Hope. I’m sorry, kid.”

“It’s okay. Do you know where Hope lives these days?”

“At the Cedar Creek Apartments, I believe. She works at some bank on Washington and she got Tommy a job doing maintenance at the apartments. He’s never gotten over your sister and Hope knows it.”

“Yeah, none of us got over it,” Luke murmured as Ariel walked in.

“Joe,” Ariel yelled seeing the older man.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Joe replied putting a glass of diet soda on the bar remembering exactly what the brunette liked.

“What’s wrong, little brother,” Ariel asked sitting down next to her younger but much taller brother.

“Go ahead and tell her, she will find out eventually, if she stays in town long,” Joe explained handing another bowl of peanuts to the two siblings. He then went to wait on the other few customers that had begun to stroll in.

“It’s Tommy, he seems to be a regular around here,” Luke stated. “And Hope has been with him a lot of the time.”

“My Tommy?”

“He hasn’t been your Tommy since you left him the night after graduation. He never took that scholarship, but you knew that already. Hope came in right after I got off the phone with you and they ran off.”

“You mean Tommy and Hope are together these days? Wow, I never saw that coming. I mean we were all friends in high school, but Hope went more for the rebel without a cause type.”

“Well people change,” Joe interrupted, “when someone they love just disappears in the middle of the night, it changes them and not for the better.”

“Joe, what are you saying,” Ariel asked. “Are you saying Tommy is the way he is because of me.”

“If the shoe fits, sister,” Luke commented putting his arm around his sister, “but if it helps I really like Cooper, he seems to be good for you.”

“We broke up. When I got back to my place yesterday he was moving out. I guess he couldn’t deal with some aspects of my family,” Ariel stated shrugging away from Luke. “Joe, can I get a shot of tequila?”

Ariel’s love life had hit a snag and she still needed to make a certain blond pay for creating that snag. As Ariel drank her shot, Luke’s cell phone started to ring. Luke stepped away for a moment when he heard his twin sister’s voice on the phone. Ariel sat there looking at the worried look on Luke’s face and the way his hand began to squeeze the can of soda in his hand.

“We have to go,” Luke told Ariel as he hung up the phone throwing a few dollar bills down. “Someone broke into the house and trashed the place.”

“What do the police think,” Ariel asked as they made their way out of the bar.

Joe stood there shaking his head at the two Parker kids. The entire Parker clan had been dealt a raw hand many times over, and Joe knew more about it then anyone thought.