Disclaimer:  In first chapter.

 

Chapter 7

 

It had been a little over an hour since Miss Parker and Sarah had their fight.  It figures she would have a daughter that was just like her at that age.  She just prayed Sarah wouldn’t follow in her footsteps.  The words that came out of her mouth hurt Miss Parker more than she thought they would.  Now she was beginning to wonder if Jarod and Zoe were more than just lawyer and client. 

 

There was something about Zoe she didn’t like.  She seemed to be putting a show on for Jarod when she met her earlier in the day.  Miss Parker couldn’t help but smile when she remembered the way Josh acted towards her.  Obviously she wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

 

Miss Parker glanced over at Brandon who was sitting on the couch with Buddy, watching TV as if it was the only thing left in the world.  As if sensing her staring at him, Brandon looked over, flashing her his adorable smile that she was starting to fall in love with.  Smiling back, she got up and went over to the fireplace.  She let her gaze fall on all pictures that adorn the mantle.

 

She could feel tears already burning in her eyes when she saw the first one.  It was a picture of her mother, Lyle, and herself when they graduated high school.  Lyle was in the middle with his arms wrapped around both of their shoulders.  She couldn’t believe how normal they looked.  She let her fingers glide over her mother’s face.  Her mother was still beautiful as ever.  Even though she was older and had gray streaks in her hair, Catherine still had that quiet grace to her.  “I miss you so much, Mom,” she whispered to herself.

 

She let out a soft chuckle when she saw the next picture.  She couldn’t believe Jarod and her were married and had three kids together.  The picture was of their wedding reception.  It must’ve been one hell of a night from the way everyone looked in the picture.  Kyle, Lyle, Broots, Angelo, and Jarod had Miss Parker propped on their shoulders as they danced around in the middle of the dance floor, obviously all drunk out their minds.  She smiled to herself as she noticed that Broots actually had some hair on the top of his head.

 

Then her eyes fell on a picture of just the five of them; her, Jarod, Josh, Sarah, and Brandon.  They were sitting in front of the Christmas tree, posing for the camera.  Josh and Sarah had to be no older than eight.  All three kids had on matching Christmas outfits.  She had to admit, Jarod did look handsome.  As for her, she truly did seem happy in the picture.  She would’ve never guessed being married to Pez head would make her look so happy.  She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard a knock at the door.

 

“I’ll get it,” said Brandon as he jumped off the couch, running to the door.  When he opened the door he exclaimed, “Dad!”

 

Jarod stepped in, giving Brandon a bear hug.  “Hey there sport.”  Miss Parker watched as the chocolate Labrador, known as Buddy, came hurtling across the room towards Jarod.  “Whoa there, Buddy,” Jarod commented cheerfully as he fell down on the ground, while the dog licked his face.  Once Buddy was done licking Jarod’s face he turned his attention on Miss Parker.

 

“Don’t even think about it,” warned Miss Parker.  The dog gave her a quizzical look, tilting its head to the side.  When Jarod stood up, the dog began wagging its tail, barking at him.

 

Jarod knelt down beside Buddy, flashing Miss Parker a mischievous look.  “Go on Buddy.  Go give mommy a kiss.”

 

“Jarod, I’m being serious don’t.”   She watched helplessly as Jarod lightly slapped Buddy on the back, encouraging the dog to move.  Buddy came darting across the room.  Miss Parker instantly put her hands up in defense, trying to keep the dog away, but to no avail.  The dog jumped up on her, knocking her to the ground.  She tried to stay mad as the dog licked her face, but she couldn’t fight off the giggles that were building inside her.  After awhile, Buddy went back over to Brandon as Jarod walked over to her.

 

“Do you need a hand?” he asked with amusement, offering his hand to her.  With some reluctance, she took his hand as he helped her up.

 

“So Jarod, tell me.  What are you doing here?  And please don’t tell me it’s to check up on me.  It was hard enough getting Josh out of here,” she said.

 

“Why, where’s Josh at?” he asked.

 

“He went to the movies with his friends.  He wanted to stay here, but I told him I’m not some helpless woman that needed everyone’s help.  I can take care of myself.  You know, your son worries too much,” she replied light heartily.

 

Jarod smiled at her. “Well, I guess it’s just one of those unfortunate traits he inherited from me.”  Changing the subject he continued, “Anyways, the reason I’m here is to drop off Brandon’s history book.  He left it at my place when the kids came to visit me today.”

 

The joyfulness that was once in Jarod’s eyes became solemn.  Miss Parker took the offered book out of Jarod’s hands, clutching it too her chest.  “Where is your place at?”

 

“I live at your mother’s summer place, but once I find a place of my own I’ll be out.”  Feeling uncomfortable with the topic at hand, Jarod shifted uneasily on his feet with his hands stuffed in his leather jacket.

 

Feeling uncomfortable herself, Miss Parker walked over to the table putting the book down before taking a seat on the couch.  “Jarod, there’s no rush.  That’s the least of my worries right now.”

 

Feeling this might be an alone time his parents needed, Brandon grabbed Buddy by the collar and said, “I’m going to go up to my room and take Buddy with me.”  With that, he climbed up the stairs with Buddy in tow.

 

Resting his elbows on his knees, Jarod leaned forward an asked, “What’s wrong?”

 

Miss Parker let out a tired sigh, leaning back into the couch.  “Well, for one, I feel like I’m in some messed up version of It’s A Wonderful Life.  But, instead of being dead, I’m alive and kicking.  Secondly, I’ve got a daughter who’s ready to bite my head off at anything I say.  Thirdly, I’m frustrated because I have no idea with what’s been going on around me,” she rattled off.

 

Jarod reached over, giving her a reassuring pat on the knee.  Miss Parker instinctively flinched at his touch, knocking his hand away.   She instantly regretted it when she saw the hurt flash in Jarod’s eyes.  Looking down at his hands, he said softly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.  It’s just that when we were married it always seemed to calm you down whenever I did that.”

 

“It’s not your fault, Jarod.  I’m just still stuck in the life I used to…”  She stopped herself, before she revealed anything she would regret later.  Unfortunately, she just piqued Jarod’s interest more.

 

“What do you mean when you talk about this other life?”

 

“Forget what I said, Jarod.  I don’t want to talk about it right now.  Besides, we need to talk about Sarah.”

 

Jarod gave her a worried look.  “Sarah’s okay, right?”

 

Miss Parker looked away, glancing at the stairs.  “I really don’t know, Jarod.  We had a huge fight tonight when I walked in the door.  She hates me with every fiber of her being,” she answered sadly.

 

Jarod edged himself more closely to her.  Lifting her chin up, he said gently, “Hey listen to me, she does love you.  More than you know.  I’m not making any excuses for her, but she has a lot on her plate right now.”  He gave her a wry smile.  “Face it, we’re parents of teenagers now.  I can’t help but yearn for the days when they were ten years old.  They were both so sweet an innocent then, now they’re just grumpy an irritable all the time.  You just can’t win with them.”

 

Miss Parker let out a soft chuckle.  “I guess this is payback for all the awful things I did back then.”

 

Jarod’s grin got broader.  “Well, more likely what we did back then.  But, you’re right, you were a little terror back in the day,” he joked.

 

Miss Parker grabbed a pillow beside her, throwing it at his head.  Instead of hitting him, he caught it and put it behind his head.  “Thanks, I needed something to rest against,” he said smugly as he sat back and closed his eyes.

 

Miss Parker still couldn’t believe this.  Here she was, having a civil conversation with wonder boy.  Shaking her head she asked, “How do you do it, Jarod?”

 

“What?” he answered, still keeping his eyes closed.

 

“Sarah.  How do you keep the peace between the two of you?”

 

Opening his eyes, he sat back up again.  “Well, I could ask the same thing about you and Josh.  To tell you the truth, I don’t know.”  He paused.  “So tell me, what’s up with Sarah?”

 

Miss Parker took a deep breath.  “Jarod, we got in a fight about some guy she’s seeing.”

 

“What guy?  I don’t need to go get my shotgun do I?” he asked playfully.  However, when she didn’t respond back he knew this was serious.

 

“The guy she’s seeing is in college.  Of course, I didn’t find out about this till today.”  Looking over at Jarod she asked, “Did you know about this?”

 

“Of course not.”  Getting up, he started pacing back and forth.  “How long has she been seeing him?”

 

“I don’t know, but from the way Josh sounded, it seemed like maybe a few months.”

 

Jarod stopped pacing, resting his hands on his hips.  “Josh, knew about this and didn’t say anything?” he asked with disbelief. 

 

Miss Parker stood up, crossing her arms.  “Jarod, don’t get angry at him about this.  At least he did say something.”

 

“Yeah, but how long would he have waited, until she was pregnant,” he said sarcastically.  “I can’t believe this.  How dumb is she?”  Letting his eyes fall on the steps, he stormed over.  He was just about to climb up the stairs when Miss Parker stopped him, grabbing his arm.

 

“Jarod, before we go up there, you need to calm down, okay?”  She waited as Jarod took a few calming breaths then continued, “Remember, we have to stay united on this.  She’ll try to persuade one of us to her side, but we can’t budge on our views.  Now, let’s go.”

 

When they reached the landing they found Buddy outside of Sarah’s room.  He whined as he lightly scratched the door, trying to get the attention of Sarah to let himself in.  Walking to the door, Jarod knocked and said, “Sarah, open up this door.  We need to have a little talk.”  No answer.  Jarod tried to open the door, but it was still locked.  “Sarah, open this door right now,” he ordered.  Still, no answer.  Reaching up above the doorframe Jarod grabbed a small key.  Putting it into the keyhole he unlocked the door.

 

Miss Parker walked past Jarod, looking around wild-eyed.  “Where is she?”

 

“Mom, Dad, what’s going on?” asked a worried Brandon from the doorway.

 

Jarod walked over to his son, kneeling down in front of him.  “Have you seen your sister since you’ve been up here?”

 

Brandon shook his head from side to side.  “No, the last time I saw her was when mom and her got into a fight.”  He cast a worried glance at his mother.  “She’s okay, right?”

 

Miss Parker knelt down beside Jarod, taking both of the boy’s hands in hers.  “Sweetie, everything is going to be okay?”  She shivered at the sudden chill in the air; looking behind her she found the window to be open a crack.  Looking back at Jarod she commented, “Jarod, I think we have an escapee on the loose right now.”

 

To Be Continued…