Free Pillow Talk by Hailey North

not!"
    Talking over her sobs, Mathilde said, "Do tell us about your parents."
    Meg gestured towards Teensy, but the doctor had taken her in hand again.
    She knew she didn't want to tell this group of piranhas that she was an orphan. They could probably trace their family line back further than the antiques clustered about the room.
    She parted her lips, wondering whether she shouldn't just make up yet another story. But she hated lying and she'd spun such a web already.
    Parker moved from the position he'd been holding beside one of the fireplaces. Stepping over by her side, he said, "Meg probably doesn't want to talk about her parents because she wants us to welcome her on her own worth."
    Meg stared up at him. What did he mean? How could he know anything about her? The shock had to show on her face.
    “What do y ou mean by that, Parker?" Math ilde glanced from him to Meg.
    Meg tried to compose her expression. Unless Parker employed investigators who worked at the speed of light, he couldn't know one fact about her personal history.
    "I mean," Parker said, smiling down at Meg in quite a nice way she hadn't seen him do before, "I'm well acquainted with Meg's parents."

 
     
     
     
     
    Six
     
     
    P arker could have choked his words back but it was t oo late. He h adn't been able to restrain him self. Watching his family weighing and measuring her and being so open about finding her unsuited to the world of the Ponthiers rankled him.
    Doubly so, because he realized he'd been doing exactly the same thing. From the first moment he'd seen this woman in Jules's suite he'd assumed the worst of her. He'd judged and labeled her exactly as Mathilde and Teensy were doing. Only his grandfather showed any signs of independent thinking, which shouldn't surprise Parker. Grandfather Ponthier followed no other man's course.
    With the rest of them, though, no matter who Meg's family was, it wouldn't have been good enough.
    Nothing ever was for the Ponthiers.
    His mouth tightened and the smile he'd produced to reassure Meg vanished.
    "You know my parents?” A curious mixture of excitement and disbelief flashed in her eyes. It was as if she wanted to believe him but found it impossible. Well, it was pretty preposterous. She had to realize he'd lied to protect her, and he wondered if the gesture would cause her to think better of him.
    "Which business are they in?" His grandfather directed the question to him. Naturally he would assume Parker knew them through one of the Ponthier business connections. His grandfather made it a habit to tell Parker at least once a week that his entire life consisted of work and he ought to learn to enjoy himself.
    "Sugar," he answered, noticing how sweet Jules's widow looked smiling up at him.
    "Well, at least that's respectable," Mathilde said. "You'll have to invite them to the wake." She narrowed her eyes. "Did your side of the family receive an invitation to the wedding?"
    Meg shook her head.
    Mathilde looked slightly mollified.
    "Actually," Meg said, "they don't even know Jules and I m-married."
    "You were going to tell them today, too?" Grandfather jabbed at the controls of his chair. "You two sure got things all out of order."
    "I know. And I'm really sorry, sorrier than you can ever know." She sounded so contrite Parker almost forgot his suspicions. Could someone so innocent be a schemer who'd entrapped Jules and lured him back into cocaine?
    Parker hated to think of the situation in such dire terms but the woman had been with Jules when Jules had been using. His brother hated to get high alone, which accounted for his longstanding friendship with Kinky.
    “Call your parents," Grandfather said.
    “Call them?" Meg blinked. “Uh—"
    “Is there some reason you don't want to involve them in your life?" Mathilde had long ago mastered the art of loading a question with a range of implications, all of them negative.
    “Oh, no, but they're … out of the country right now."
    “Traveling abroad?”