Her cell phone buzzed. Mallory’s name popped up.

“Hey, sis, what’s up?”

“My car won’t start.”

“What?”

“It makes a clicking noise, but that’s it.”

“Did you leave a light on or something? Is it the battery?”

Mallory huffed into the phone. “My car is old, but not that old. Everything turns off in a few minutes after I walk away. I opened the hood and looked.”

Parker laughed. “And what? You thought you’d magically know what to do?”

“No! I called Jase and he said to look and wiggle the battery. I found a nest in there, Parker.”

That caught her attention. “What kind of nest?”

“I don’t know . . . mice, rats. The De Lucas have been complaining for months about a rat problem at their house. Ever since the fire.”

That didn’t sound good. “I’ll be home in a couple of hours, maybe it’s something simple.”

“I have a final today. I have to get to school.”

Parker squeezed her eyes shut. She’d forgotten.

“Come here and take my car.” She could bum a ride home.

“Great idea, I’ll just fire up the broomstick.”

Right. Bumming a ride off someone in their neighborhood last minute wasn’t going to happen. It would take twenty minutes for an Uber to get there minimum.

“It’s a final. I can’t be late.”

Parker looked at her watch. She only had five minutes left on her break. She jumped up and grabbed her purse. “I’m on my way.”

“Thanks, Parker.”

She rushed an explanation. “Rats got into Mallory’s car and it won’t start. She needs mine to get to school.”

If there wasn’t any traffic, she could make it home in eight minutes. She rushed up the hallway, poked her head in Janice’s office. “Hey, Janice. My sister is having a car emergency. I’m going to rush home and be right back.”

Janice glanced at the analog clock on the wall. “The bell is in three minutes.”

“It can’t be helped. I’ll be fifteen minutes.” A stretch, but she could channel her NASCAR skills.

Janice sat both hands on her desk and glared. “Who is going to be out on the yard when the kids go to lunch?”

“Fifteen minutes, Janice. Maybe one of the teachers can—”

She pushed her chair back. “You know what, I’ll take care of it. Fifteen minutes is almost half the lunch. Go take care of your sister.”

Parker started to feel relieved.

“In fact, take the rest of the day off.”

Okay, not so relieved. “I’ll come right back.”

“Hmm, right. I have it, Parker. Take the time on our holiday break to prioritize a few things. When you come back, be ready to work.”

The or else was implied.

“Janice, I can—”

The bell rang.

Her boss scowled and walked past her and out the door.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“Looks like they got into the wiring.” Colin dug a little deeper under the hood of Mallory’s car.

“Can you fix it?”

“Sorry, hon . . . way out of my scope.”

She dropped her head between her shoulders. She really didn’t have a budget for these kinds of things. “I need to catch a break.”

“I know a good mechanic that won’t screw you over for repairs.”

That was something.

“We’ll have to tow the car there.”

“That’s a hundred bucks minimum.”

Colin lowered the hood on the car. “I have AAA.”

“What if you need to use the tow miles?”

Parker started to recognize “The Stare.” The look where Colin pressed his lips together and lowered his head just enough to appear like he was looking over reading glasses. Only he didn’t wear glasses. It was the best Mr. Ridiculous expression he owned.

“Fine.”

He wrapped his arms around her before he could dial the number on the AAA card. “Progress.”

She snorted, but hugged him back.

Thirty minutes later they followed the tow truck off the property.

“I appreciate the invitation, I do. But I’ll be with my aunt and her family.”

This was the first time Parker had heard of any aunt. “I thought you said you didn’t have any family close by.”

“She’s in Arizona.”

“Oh.”

Parker couldn’t argue that spending time with family on a holiday should trump time with friends. “As long as you’re not going to be alone.”

“Of course not. It’s Christmas.” Erin lifted the shovel in her hands and attacked the pile of sand. Parker held the bag open, and together they were quickly running out of bags to fill.

“So what do you think of Matt?” Parker asked.

“Matt?” Another shovel of sand went in the bag.

“Yeah, you know . . . the good-looking firefighter who was making you blush the other night?”

“I wasn’t blushing. It was cold.”

Parker grabbed a new bag, held it wide open.

“He was having a hard time spitting out words around you.”

Erin grinned. “I thought that was just the steroid use.”

She laughed. “He is a big guy.”

“Too big for me,” she said so low Parker almost didn’t hear her.

Matt was definitely no stranger to working out. “He’s a good-looking guy.”

“I’m not interested.”

That’s not how it appeared when they were walking around looking at Christmas lights.

“Really? It seemed like—”

“Not my type.”

On the fourth bag, they switched places. Parker took the shovel and Erin knelt down by the bags.

“What is your type?”

“Less . . .”

“Less what?”

“I don’t know, just less.” Erin closed the bag one shovel too soon and opened another one. “When will you get Mallory’s car back?”

“A couple days.” Another scoop into the bag. “Nice changing of the subject, by the way.”

Erin looked up, briefly. “Sorry. I just don’t need someone like Matt taking notice. I don’t need that in my life.”

Parker didn’t press further. She was starting to feel like Erin was finally confiding in her and didn’t want to screw that up. “So when do you leave?”

Erin closed the bag, grabbed the next. “Leave where?”

“Your aunt?”

“Oh, yeah . . . uhm, the twenty-third.”

“I hope it’s an early flight. We’re expecting rain that night.”

“Yeah, it’s early. I’ll be gone before you’re out of bed.”

“I’ll have to go into your place and make sure there are no leaks if it rains hard enough.”

Erin hesitated. “Uhm, right. Of course.”

Parker felt her nerves. If anyone understood the desire for privacy, it was her. There really wasn’t a way around invading Erin’s space if she wasn’t there to report any issues.