Chapter 9
1436 Words
The slam of a car door jolts me awake. My heart skips—Mum’s voice echoes down the hall. I whip my head to the side. Alec’s still asleep, messy hair, mouth slightly open. Crap!
I leap from bed, peek through the blinds. Mum’s car is in the driveway.
Shit.
I hurry back and press my hand over Alec’s mouth. His eyes snap open wide.
“Shh! My mum’s here!”
His pupils flare. “Do you want me to sneak out?”
I shake my head. “No. Just stay here. She won’t come in.”
He nods and dives under the covers like a kid playing hide and seek. I bite back a laugh and tug on track pants before slipping out.
---
“Mum?”
She’s in her room, phone tucked to her ear, pulling clothes from her wardrobe. For once, I’m relieved—it’s just a pit stop.
“Yes. Yes, I’m packing now. Flight’s in an hour… I’ll be there tonight.”
She ends the call without looking up. “Sorry to wake you, sweetheart. I’ve got a meeting in New York first thing tomorrow.”
“Is Dad still in the city?”
She freezes for a second, then keeps packing. “Yeah. He’s flat out—clients, court dates. Not sure when he’ll be home.”
She pauses long enough to kiss my cheek. “We’re trying to come back soon for a day or two, okay? We want to catch up. Talk about some things.”
“Talk about what?”
“Jessica, not now. Just school, your plans, colleges. Have you applied for more?”
I groan. “We’ve already had this conversation.”
Her frown deepens as she snaps her suitcase shut. “Are you seriously throwing your future away?”
“I’m not throwing it away. I just don’t have a career in mind yet. Why can’t I study in Australia like you did?”
She glances at her watch and exhales sharply. “We’ll talk when your father’s here.”
“Rare occurrence.”
“Don’t sass me, Jess.” She kisses my cheek, grabs her case, and is gone in seconds.
I stand in the silence, more disappointed than relieved. She hadn’t noticed Alec. She hadn’t noticed anything.
---
The door creaks open. Alec’s head pokes out, hair tousled. “Safe?”
I let out a half laugh. “Yeah. Safe.”
He steps out, wraps his arms around me, kisses me gently. “Was kind of hard not to hear that.”
“Sorry you had to. Great way to wake up.”
He chuckles. “Honestly, your snoring woke me first.”
I jab his ribs. “I do not snore!”
He laughs harder, dodging. “Come on. Make me breakfast?”
---
While I fry bacon and eggs, Alec sits at the counter, watching.
“So,” he says carefully, “what was that about not going to college?”
I freeze mid-motion. “…I just don’t know if I want to.”
“Why?” His brow creases.
“I was thinking about moving to Australia. Maybe study there—TAFEs, unis. Degrees still count. I don’t see the big fuss.”
His expression shifts. Worry. “Is that what you still want? And where does that leave us?”
I hesitate. “Honestly? I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it.”
His face falls, hurt written across his eyes. “I thought you were as serious about me as I am about you. That you’d considered what moving would do to us.”
My stomach knots. We’ve only been together weeks, yet I can feel how much I matter to him.
“I did apply to one college here,” I admit quietly. “I was accepted months ago.”
Relief flickers across his face. “Which one?”
“…Emerson.”
Alec chokes on his food, coughing. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Why? What’s wrong with Emerson?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Just mutters, “Finish eating. I want to show you something.”
---
We drive in silence until Alec pulls up at an old apartment complex. He looks nervous as he leads me inside.
Photos cover the living room wall—Alec from baby to teenage years. On the counter, a framed picture of him with a woman who looks like him, only softer, lighter. His mum.
“She’s beautiful,” I whisper. “You look like her.”
His smile is fragile. “She was an aged care nurse. Loved looking after people. She never let me go to bed without saying she loved me.” His voice breaks slightly. “What I wouldn’t give to hear it once more.”
I hug him from behind, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.
He takes my hand, leading me down the hall. We pass a locked door and head into his room. Trophies line a shelf.
“You were on the swim team?”
“Yeah. Pretty good, too. One of those is in the school cabinet.”
He rummages through a drawer until—“Found it.”
He hands me a paper. An acceptance letter. Emerson.
Shock hits me. “You… you got in too?”
Alec’s jaw tightens. “Did you think I was just a loser? That cleaning schools was all I could do?”
“No! Of course not. You just never said.”
His eyes cloud as he takes the letter back. “I was going to go. But when Mum got sick… she couldn’t walk, couldn’t eat. I dropped everything to take care of her. Emerson didn’t matter anymore.”
He sits heavily on the bed. “After she passed, I didn’t care about school. Principal Moore offered me this job. Said it wasn’t glamorous but it’d keep me afloat. So here I am.”
My chest aches. “Moore’s a good man.”
“Yeah.” Alec stares at the letter. “Funny, huh? I wanted Emerson so badly. Now you have the chance, and you don’t want it.”
His words sting.
“You must want to do something with your life, Jess. Maybe this is what happens when everything’s handed to you—”
I snap. “Don’t. Don’t you dare say I had it easy, Alec. My parents gave me things, sure, but they were never there. Nan and Pop raised me. Then a nanny until I was sixteen. You know what I’d trade all those gifts for? A home that felt like this.” I gesture around his apartment. “Love. Warmth. Someone who cared enough to show up.”
His expression softens. “You don’t want college because you don’t want to end up like them. Work first. Family second.”
He’s right.
“I just want balance,” I admit. “I’d be happy in a mediocre job if it meant I had love, family, time. That’s what matters to me.”
He pulls me into his arms. “I get it. But you could still go to college and choose a path that gives you that balance. Just think about it. Please. And… I’d rather you be twenty minutes away than a world apart.”
His words spark an idea. “Then let’s make a deal. I’ll consider Emerson—if you finish your GED and do community college at Lilly Ville.”
For a moment I worry he’ll hate it. But he grins. “Deal.”
I grin back, tugging him closer. “Now, Mr. Parker, make love to me in your bed.”
He laughs, scooping me into his arms. “Miss Taylor, you have yourself another deal.”
---
After, tangled in his sheets, I ask softly, “Why did your mum leave Australia?”
“She moved to Melbourne with a boyfriend after high school, went to uni. Later got transferred to San Francisco for work. Thought it was a new start.”
“And your dad?”
Alec chuckles bitterly. “Mum met him while supporting a friend in a divorce case. Guess she figured why not date the lawyer.”
“Romantic,” I tease.
“Yeah. Until he started spending more time in bars than at home. He wasn’t faithful, Jess.” His voice drops.
I stroke his cheek, kissing him gently. “I’m sorry.”
He squeezes my hand. “Not your burden. But I want us to be better than they were.”
I smile, pulling him into another kiss. “We will be.”
- Writer
