“Good. Then go.” Julie made a shooing motion with her hands.
But Elliot still didn’t look in her direction. His gaze bored into Parker, as though waiting for her to say something. Parker stared at the table. The sight of him filled her with a hollow, wrenching feeling of despair. Not long ago, he’d made her feel like there was hope for her—that someday, with appropriate help, with work, she could even find some peace. That made his betrayal sting all the worse.
Julie shook her head, her eyes wide. “I’m not going to let you get away with stalking Parker. You’d better lay off.”
Elliot’s dark eyes seemed fathomless. “I’m not stalking anyone,” he said calmly.
“Oh yeah?” Julie said loudly. A passing waitress gave them a questioning look. “Then what were all those photos on your computer?”
“Parker shouldn’t have found those,” Elliot said. “Look, I was just trying to find out more about Parker’s condition. I think I can help her. I might even be able to help you, Julie. If I can help one of you, I can probably help both of you.”
Julie scoffed. “I don’t think I need your help, but thanks.”
Parker felt his eyes on her again. “Parker, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was watching you. But I did it for important reasons.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here for you.” His voice became urgent. “Please give me a chance. You can trust me.”
His words hung in the air for a long time. Parker could sense that both Elliot and Julie were waiting for her to finally speak up. She took a deep breath, looking up and meeting Elliot’s eyes.
“You know who got chance upon chance upon chance?” she whispered. “My dad. Lesson learned.”
Elliot’s face went pink. He took a step toward her, but Julie stood up and stepped between them, her eyes blazing. When she spoke, her voice was low and controlled, but there was no mistaking the fury underneath.
“Arizona or not, if we catch you following Parker again, we’ll report you to the medical board. We’ll tell them you seduced her. You’ll lose your license. You’ll lose everything.”
The therapist’s expression changed, the carefully neutral mask slipping to reveal a cold and arrogant smirk. He raised an eyebrow, looking directly at Julie for the first time since he’d come to their table. “Even if that were true, no one would believe her.”
“Then I’ll say it was me.”
He and Julie stared at each other for what felt like forever. Then, slowly, Elliot smiled. “Fine. You win. I’ll never contact either of you again.”
He took a few steps toward the door, then turned back and smiled at them, this time almost gently. “You know, I’m glad you girls have each other,” he said. “You help each other survive.” Then he held his hand in a good-bye wave. The bells on the door jingled in his wake.
Parker stared down at the cold fries lying under a blanket of congealed cheese. “Well,” she muttered. “That was weird.” Then she grabbed Julie’s hand. “Thanks. For, you know. Everything.”
“No problem,” Julie said softly, hugging Parker tight. “Thank god he’s leaving.”
After that encounter, Parker felt exhausted, drained. But Elliot had been right about one thing: She really did need Julie. The very idea of going away from Julie, after all they’d been through together, filled her with panic. Julie was the only person who still loved her. The only person who knew her, who knew what she’d been through and still cared about her.
She looked up and realized Julie was staring at her, too. And, in that way the two of them often had, Parker had a sense Julie was thinking the exact same thing.
“I don’t want to leave you,” Julie whispered.
“I know,” Parker said. “If you want to stay here and go to school, I’ll stay, too.”
“Deal,” Julie said. Then she grinned. “But we’ve got to get our own place. Those cats are cramping our style.”
“We’ll get a place up on Capitol Hill,” Parker said wistfully. “We can decorate it ourselves.”
“I’ll get a job at the university pool, and you’ll get a job in the bookstore insulting customers’ book choices,” Julie daydreamed.
“No one will be able to bother us. We’ll be all right on our own.”
Julie took Parker’s hand and squeezed it tight. “All this crap with Nolan will be behind us forever.”
Parker smiled, all at once believing it wholeheartedly. To hell with Elliot Fielder and his bullshit attempts to help. She was with Julie, and that was all that mattered.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT, MACKENZIE sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Even though it was early, she could hear the sounds of breakfast downstairs. Swallowing hard, she threw on her slippers and padded to the kitchen. Her mom and dad were at the counter, both wearing their bathrobes. Sierra was there, too, sipping hot chocolate from a mug that had a treble clef printed on it.