Chapter 40

“Parrish! Merry Christmas to you, too. But how many times have we asked you to call us by our first names?”

Every time he’d spoken to them after he’d aged out of foster care. It felt almost as odd as calling Mrs. Campbell by her first name, but…”I’ll try.”

She said nothing, obviously waiting, and he chuckled.

“Dulcie.”

“See? That wasn’t too hard, was it?” Fortunately, it must have been a rhetorical question, because she didn’t wait for an answer. “Thank you so much for the lovely and thoughtful gifts.” She’d called to let him know when they’d arrived, unlike his brother. Parrish’s nieces and nephew were ten, nine, and eight now, and he had no idea what they liked, so this year he’d sent them gift cards for Target, Best Buy, and Michaels. The only way he knew the cards had arrived was by checking their tracking numbers online.

“It was my pleasure.”

“The children love them.”