The Miner's Girl

Chapter 66

(((May 1, 2016)))
Nicole's POV

"So what did y'all do last night?" I asked Rick while I was standing at the stove flipping pancakes and he was sitting not too far away.

"Beer, bonfire, little bit of music. It's a good thing you're doing brunch, because probably no one would've gotten up for breakfast except for me and Brennan. And that's only because we gotta work." Rick yawned.

"Yeah, you just left Brennan over there at Indian River." I smirked.

"I've only been here for like five minutes and it's almost time to eat."

"Did you tell Brennan to come on?"

"Yeah, I think he's on the way now." Rick replied.

I grabbed my radio and radioed Parker, who was--I don't even know where he was, really, maybe outside helping Chris getting the dirt in the buckets for the cleanup.

"Yeah, babe?" Parker radioed back.

"The food is almost ready. You might as well stop what you're doing and come eat." I radioed back to Parker.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few minutes." Parker replied.

I set the radio back down beside the stove and started flipping pancakes again. I was humming to myself when Rick said, "You know, Parker's different with you."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, when I stayed with you guys for that week during the winter and the couple days before we came up here, and now all this summer, it's like he's different when he's around you."

"What do you mean he's different, Rick?" I chuckled.

"He's not stressing a lot. And it's like he can be mad as a hornet but when he sees you, he forgets what he's mad about. He doesn't really cuss around you, and the way he looks at you, girl, whenever you're in the room, it's amazing if he keeps his eyes off you for more than two minutes. And he always makes sure he's here whenever you get through cooking, no matter what he's doing. Well, except for a couple times."

"I guess a girl changes a man, huh?" I smirked. "And he knows that if he's mean to me when he's mad, I can cut him off."

Rick laughed, "That might be exactly why he's how he is with you. He knows if he acts right, he'll get some."

I giggled. "It's not like that all the time. But he's told me before that when he's mad, he likes to be with me because he knows that he can vent to me and I'll make him feel like it's going to be alright."

"Parker told you that?" Rick asked.

"Yeah." I nodded. "You sound surprised."

"I just never thought that Parker would be the touchy-feely type of guy." Rick smirked.

I smiled. "Well, he's only like that to me, so don't go telling anybody. And don't tell him I told you that."

"Okay, shortstack." Rick said.

A few minutes later, Parker and Chris came into the kitchen. Chris sat down beside Rick, and Parker came and wrapped his arms around me. I set the last pancake on the plate before turning around, smiling, and wrapping my arms around him in a hug. I looked up at him and smiled to see him smiling down at me. I gave him a quick kiss before running my fingers through the front of his hair to get it out of his face. He smiled and pulled away from me to pick up a piece of bacon.

"Parker!" I said as I slapped his hand. "You just wanted a piece of bacon!"

"Nuh-uh." He mumbled as he ate the bacon. "I really wanted a hug and a kiss, too."