I liked her already, and I was just getting to know her.
“Tell me all about you first,” she said.
“Not much to tell. I work in a store called Vintage. I like drinking Coke. You may have heard that my father is a musician.”
“Can you two keep it down?” Parker complained behind us. “I’m trying to focus on the game.”
Kimmy rolled her eyes at me, and we both giggled again.
We helped ourselves to a couple of beers, and then we settled into some chairs off to the side, away from George and down a few seats from Parker so we wouldn’t interrupt his game viewing.
“He’s the best big brother a girl could ask for,” she started. “I was adopted into his family when he was about five, and he accepted me in without question and protected me from the start.”
“Do you mind if I ask where you were adopted from?”
“China. After Parker, our mom couldn’t have another baby. Both of our parents wanted more, so they decided to adopt. I lucked out with Parker.”
I noticed that she said she lucked out with Parker. There was no mention of their parents.
It just added more to the mystery of the James family.
“Oh, come on!” Parker yelled, and we both turned our attention to the field, where we saw two of the White Sox players running toward the outfield wall after someone from the other team hit a ball between the two of them.
After the ball had been recovered and the next player was up to bat, Kimmy and I resumed our conversation. “He’s always been in love with the Sox. He played baseball in high school.”
“I always found baseball players kind of sexy,” I said with a cheeky grin.
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s my brother you’re talking about.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. He lights up in a new way around you. It’s pretty refreshing to see him settling down instead of playing the field.”
A cheer roared up from the crowd and cut our conversation short, but her words about her brother warmed me over for the rest of the day.
Between drinking beer and watching the game, we didn’t get much of a chance for more gossip, but if first impressions meant anything, I absolutely loved Parker’s sister.
He only let me in on the pieces he wanted to, and learning about him through a family member was a precious, rare commodity that I cherished.
All too soon we were saying our goodbyes, exchanging numbers, and getting back into the car. George drove us back through downtown to our hotel, the Four Seasons Chicago.
We checked into our room. It was still early, but Parker had to meet up with the guys for the next day’s performance, and I had to track down my dad and get my journal.
I kind of wanted to just send George to do it, but it was my journal and my responsibility.
But George tagged along anyway after Parker headed out.
I wondered who was protecting Parker when he was on his own. Keith had been attacked; what made anybody think that Parker was safe?
George led me to my dad’s room. I knocked on the door, my heart beating faster as nerves kicked in. I didn’t want to see Jadyn. I couldn’t be responsible for my actions if she answered the door. I didn’t trust her, and I planned to make that very clear to her.
Luckily for her, my dad answered the door.
“CC,” he said, reaching to pull me into a hug.
I darted out of his reach. “I’m just here for my stolen property.”
“Don’t be like that.” His voice was a soft plea, but I wasn’t going to let him get to me. I was too upset and the betrayal was too fresh.
“Just hand it over and I’ll be on my way.”
He sighed and glanced over at George, who was standing behind me. I imagined George shrugging, as if to say that he should just give me what I wanted.
My dad walked to another room for a moment, and then he returned. He held my journal in his hands.
I moved to grab it from him, but he held it back from me. I felt hot tears burning my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them fall.
“I really don’t think she took it. You don’t know her like I do.”
“I know she’s jealous of the time you spend with me. I know she doesn’t like me. And I know she happened to be missing the night this was stolen out of my room. It’s fine if you want to believe her over me, but I refuse to sit here and listen to this bullshit.”
“I’m not picking sides, CC. I am trying not to place blame on someone who is innocent. You want the truth?”
I nodded, and he lowered his voice.
“I don’t know what to believe. I see the facts, and I want to believe my wife when she cries to me that she didn’t do it. But I don’t know what the fuck is going on anymore.”
He shoved my journal toward me with a heavy sigh.
“Take it and just go.”
I grabbed it out of his hands and spun on my heel to head out the door.
I didn’t want to be mad at my dad. I understood that he was stuck in a shitty place. But he wasn’t making any of this easier on me.
George trailed me back to my room. He scanned the room quickly and then left me alone.
I sighed as I settled into the bed I’d be sharing with Parker. As lonely as I’d felt prior to the whole engagement thing, these moments alone in the hotel room really felt kind of nice.
It seemed like I was always mad at somebody. As soon as I forgave my dad for hiring Parker to watch me behind my back, I was mad at Parker for lying to me. And as soon as I forgave Parker, I was mad at my dad again.
It was a vicious circle, and I was kind of ready to just be done with the drama.
I wanted no part of it in the first place, but it somehow managed to find me.
And then I had an epiphany.
This was all my dad’s fault.
Every single shitty thing that had happened traced back to him. Since Damien left, really. He was protecting me from Randy for some reason still unknown to me, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever learn the truth.
It was unfair and unreasonable, but I was stuck. I was professional enough to know I couldn’t just abandon my duties mid-tour, and I didn’t want to, anyway. I liked traveling the country on a bus with Parker.
But I didn’t like everything that came with that. I didn’t like the reason behind my dad inviting me on the tour. I didn’t like the fear that lurked behind every corner.
I opened my journal. It looked exactly like it had before I’d lost it.
I flipped through the pages that contained some of my innermost thoughts. Snippets of thought, really. I never wrote full, complete sentences or paragraphs. It was just a place where I was able to record my thoughts as they came to me.
And so I grabbed the pen off the nightstand and set to work.
seven
“You awake?”
I heard Parker’s soft voice. It sounded far away, and I wasn’t sure if he woke me or if I hadn’t really been sleeping.
I sat up sleepily and rubbed my eyes.
“You’re extra sexy when you’re tired,” he said, sitting on the bed next to me.
I smiled weakly as I drank him in. He was in his signature black clothes. I spotted the Sox hat on the dresser across the room. He ran a hand through his messy hair, and I had the strong desire to do it for him.
“Everything okay?” His eyes landed on the journal that was in my lap. I must’ve fallen asleep writing in it.
I closed it and shrugged, eliciting a look of contempt from the man I had fallen for.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “It’s my dad.”
“What happened?”
“I went to get my journal and he just kept insisting he didn’t think it was Jadyn.”
“What if it wasn’t?” he asked.
I stuck my hands in my hair and pulled. I felt like I was losing my mind. “Are you seriously siding with him?”