a few weeks and we’ve been trying to plan something fun and different. You see, his daddy stayed in Nashville and well, Dexter isn’t the most dependable man in the world. He’s already called to tell me he won’t be able to come the weekend of the party. Brandon was so disappointed.”
Parker sat still, his fingers templed together over his lap as he thought about what it was like, not having a father around. He certainly knew that feeling. He also knew all about disappointment. Disappointment and disgrace sliced through him each time he reached for a cane. “What can I do?”
She looked at him then, really looked at him, her eyes so full of thankfulness and gratitude, Parker almost hated the light shining in them. He’d never want to disappoint Kate.
But her next request was going to make him have to do that very thing. Even as he listened to her soft plea, Parker knew he’d never have the courage to help her. He was still so afraid of letting her down, of being that disgrace he’d always known he was.
“What do you want?” he asked again, his voice low.
“Well, Brandon wants to have his party here in your yard, but I know that’s out of the question. So I was just wondering if you could at least make an appearance at the party instead. It would mean so much to Brandon. He has all your comic books and most of your toy characters, too. But to have you there at his party, well, I don’t think anyone could top that. Would you be able to come for just a little while maybe?”
Parker sat there with the sun shining down on his face, with the woman he so often thought about sitting across from him asking him this one simple request, and felt his world shifting. He didn’t want to turn her down, but he had to. He wasn’t ready for that kind of exposure, that kind of public scrutiny.
So he looked directly into her eyes and decided it would be better to hurt her now than to wait for her to hurt him later. “I’m afraid I can’t help you, Kate. I’m sorry, but the answer is no.”
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