North of Normal

Chapter One

"You realize, of course," Parker Royston said easily, "that I'm actually in a military zone right now, right? And that my superiors are probably going to frown on me giving my twin sister marriage counseling when I'm supposed to be monitoring a terrorist cell?"

"Oh c'mon," Polly shot back easily, "The US has been in Afghanistan for years. You can't take ten minutes to help me through what is quite possibly the most earth-shattering, despicable, and emotional day of my life? Watching a cave or watching my marriage implode with the force of a thousand suns: you decide what sounds more interesting."

"Yours would be more interesting if I wasn't hip deep in sand with a dodgy cell coverage and the force of those thousand suns on top of my head right now."

"Are you wearing sunscreen?" Polly immediately asked and Parker laughed out loud.

"Yes, twin, I'm wearing SPF 50, because Navy Seals always take time out of their day for a skincare regimen. I've been holed up here for over 24 hours! You think I have access to a bottle of Banana Boat?"

"You're going to get freckles," Polly said with a grin.

"They'll match the ones on my ass, then."

"Oh, ish, Parker," Polly said, wrinkling her nose, while simultaneously feeling her shoulders relax at the teasing, even tone of her twin brother's voice, despite the thousands of miles between them. Polly may be six minutes older, but sometimes, Parker seemed like the older sibling with his calm demeanor and talent at every single thing he put his mind to, like calmly operating in a war zone on a daily basis.

Since Parker had joined up when he was eighteen, Polly had spent most of her adult life avoiding thoughts of what could happen to him in the service. Life without her twin simply wasn't a thought her brain could process so instead, she pretended he was just 'hanging out' in Afghanistan, instead of going on near daily, very dangerous missions.

At the moment, however, the thought of life without her husband was rating pretty high on her mind.

"So Matthew was..." Parker prompted, and Polly snapped back into the conversation. "Is this the first time he's...?"

Polly sighed heavily. "Matthew claims he's never had another woman since we met, but he was a hound when I met him, and then today..."

"When you caught him..."

"No, the other thing. The reason I went home – Park, the firm's accountant called. North & North, Attorneys at Law, had some 'unsavory dealings' on the books. After doing some investigating, doing a little digging, we think – well, he thinks, but I don't believe it – that Matthew embezzled money from our firm. So, I went home to have him disabuse me of this notion only to find him despoiling our marriage bed."

"Honest to God, Polls, you are the only person I know who uses the word 'despoiling'," Parker said simply, and Polly barked out a laugh beside herself. "And disabuse."

"Tell me what to do," Polly said softly after a pause.

"You already know what to do, you just don't want to do it," Parker replied easily. "You have to go home, put on your big girl pants, and talk to him like a grown up instead of flouncing off in a snit."

"We crossed out of 'snit' territory and into 'so pissed I could kick your ass' territory a while back," Polly said sullenly. "And I never flounce."

"Oh, you flounce," Parker shot back. "And stop changing the subject."

Polly sighed heavily. "Fine. You're right. I have to talk to him."

"And I have to get back to surveillance, so can we wrap up today's episode of 'The View'?" Parker said wryly.