Matt smiled because he knew it was the truth. “I’m more than just a piece of meat.”

That had them both laughing.

“Seriously, though . . . I’m over the whole scene. The bar scene, the singles scene. Half my friends are married. Most of the guys at the station have families. I’m the third wheel they invite out to the desert when we wanna go riding.”

“Someone is feeling sorry for himself.”

“Really, Colin . . . don’t you ever get bummed sitting at home alone at night?”

“You mean like right now?” With his family, he was never home alone for long.

Matt tilted back his beer again. “Maybe I’ll try Match.”

Colin shook his head.

Before he could offer his brother a suggestion, he heard his front door open and close.

“Hello?”

It was Grace.

“Back here,” both he and Matt said at the same time.

Her heels clicked on the tile as she walked through the house.

Colin glanced over his shoulder while she made the same circuit as his brother.

“No call first?” Colin asked.

“I saw Matt’s bike, figured it was safe.” She made an attempt to open her beer, gave up, and handed it to Colin.

He took care of it for her and handed it back.

“So, you’re having a party and didn’t invite me?” she asked with a grin.

“Not a party, just happy hour.”

She lifted her beer in the air. “Cheap drinks.”

Matt did an “air cheer” from across the room and they both drank.

“We were just saying how much we don’t like Robert.”

Gracie did this squishy lip thing she did when she wasn’t happy with something. “I know. I’m cutting him loose this Saturday.”

“Dad will like that,” Matt said.

Her shoes met Matt’s on the floor and she tucked her feet under her on the couch.

“How did today go?” Grace asked Colin.

“It went well. The equipment is on-site. The ground is staged. I have everything lined up for the week. Not one hitch.” That was a rarity in his world, but necessary since he was new in the position.

“And Parker?” Grace said her name with a lift at the end and suggestion in her tone.

“Who’s Parker?” Matt asked.

“Just the single, sexy homeowner that our brother has the hots for.”

“I never said I had the hots for her.”

Grace pointed the neck of her beer in his direction. “You didn’t have to. Your smile said it all. Kinda like the one you’re wearing now.”

Colin forced the grin from his lips.

“She noticed you today, didn’t she?”

Colin took his empty beer and unfolded from the couch. “Your interest in my love life is a direct reflection on yours being a mess.”

“No denying that,” she said. “Now answer the question.”

He opened his fridge, snagged another beer. “She asked if I had a wife.”

Matt made a sound somewhere between a moan and a hum.

On second thought . . . “Not asked . . . more like assumed.”

“And you denied that.” Grace was like a dog with a bone.

“Not immediately. I called her on it. Asked if that was her way of finding out if I was single.”

Matt gave him a thumbs-up. “Good for you.”

“Wait . . . what? That’s rude.”

“How?” Colin asked.

Grace set her beer aside, sat taller. “If a woman subtly asks about a wife, it’s her way of testing the water.”

“Yeah, I know. I think I suggested it to you at one point.”

She shook her head. “But you don’t call her out. That makes her defensive.”

Now that he thought about it . . . “Yeah.”

“Defensive is not how you turn on the charm, Colin.”

He paused for a minute to see if his sister had a point. “Too late now.”

She shook her head. “Men can be so stupid sometimes.”

“This from the woman dating the twenty-five-year-old gamer . . . Does he even shave?” Matt didn’t hold back any punches.

“He’s twenty-seven, and . . .” She grabbed her beer and scowled. “Only every third day.”

CHAPTER TEN

Janice called Parker into her office before the school day started.

As Parker looked down, her palms started to sweat. The look on her boss’s face suggested she wasn’t happy.

“Sit, please.” Janice took her seat behind her desk and waited.

“Is everything okay?” Parker asked as she perched on the edge of the office chair.

Instead of answering the question, Janice offered, “You look like you’re feeling better.”

Okay . . . so this was about her calling in sick. “Yes, thank goodness. Yesterday was awful.”

Her boss wasn’t buying it. “Right. I like you, Parker, I do. I know you’re going through a hard time, and the last thing I want to do is add to it.”

She felt a but coming.

“However, as you know, dealing with our special needs students requires continuity. When the parents of those students come to me with concerns, I cannot ignore them.”

“What kind of concerns?”

“Behavioral problems at home, lack of attention in the classroom. These students need consistency to trust and grow.”

Parker had some backpedaling to do. “I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t need to take any more time off—”

“You do know that Mrs. Fields lives right down the street from you.” She was one of the third grade teachers.

“Yes.” Her heart was beating way too fast, and way too loud.

“She informed me about the magnitude of the activity going on at your house.”

“Yes, but—”

“I think it’s safe to say that you’re going to need to call in sick several more days this year in order to manage everything going on.”

“We don’t know that,” Parker argued.

Janice waved a hand in the air, cutting her off. “None of that really matters. I need to make sure Molly has as stable a school experience as the district can give her. And right now, I don’t feel that is you.”

“You’re firing me.” She felt tears in her eyes.

“No. I’m reassigning you. I’m putting you on yard duty before school starts, and during recess and lunch, relief help in the classrooms.”

The same job she’d gotten when she first started with the district right after her parents died. She managed to get up to full-time work and per diem pay last year, now she would be cut back to part time with no guarantee.

“I’m sorry, Parker. I think this is for the best. It will give you more flexibility and not leave the district in a bind every time it rains this winter.”

She couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

“Go ahead and take the morning. Let this sink in and come back at ten thirty for the first recess.”

Parker ignored the looks she received while she walked down the short hall to the teachers’ lounge where she kept her purse locked up.

“You okay, Parker?”