“Which is why I’m asking younotto encourage her coaching business any more than you already have.” His words landed with a thud, and I didn’t hear a word he said after that, my ears ringing, blood pulsing. I…Hewas asking menotto encourage her? Surely he didn’t understand the magnitude of his request.
“After she gets her MBA,thenshe can decide what kind of business to start, if any.”
“What do you mean—if any?”
“I just—” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I think she’d be better off working for someone else. In a more stable job. It’s part of the reason I asked you to take this on in the first place.”
“I’m not sure I agree,” I said. “And anyway, isn’t that Sumner’s decision to make?”
“I don’t know that she’s in the right frame of mind to consider her future logically. I’m afraid she’s getting too attached to this Jack. It feels like that fiasco with the douchebag all over again.”
I frowned. “What douchebag?”
“I never told you.” He leaned in, lowering his voice. “But she was dating a professor.”
Dread curled in my gut. It felt wrong—obtaining information about her this way. But it wasn’t like I’d asked Ian about Sumner’s dating history. Ian was the last person I expected to be talking about this with.
“Well, he was her professor before they started dating. And he was wrong for her on so many levels.” Was this the ex she’d been referring to on the flight back from New York?
I could see the similarities in our relationship. Older. Professional. Secret. I didn’t want to know, but I had to ask, “Because of the age difference or their roles?”
He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Both.” He shook his head. “She always goes after these guys who seem to have it all together, but who are a mess. They have the emotional maturity of a goldfish. Yet she bends over backward to be with them.”
I gripped my thigh beneath the table, hating the idea of Sumner with another man. Hating the thought that I might fall into the category of men Ian described. I didn’t want to admit it, but I wondered if I was hampering her ability to take care of herself. To be happy.
“Anyway, I’m concerned this Jack guy is clouding her vision when it comes to grad school. It just feels like the situation with the professor all over again. I mean, he won’t even make the time to meet Lea and me.”
“Maybe he’s not ready to take that next step,” I offered, wishing I could tell him the real reason “Jack” wouldn’t meet him and Lea. The more Ian spoke, the more I realized how impossible that idea truly was.
“It’s dinner. Not a marriage proposal.” He shook his head. “I expect more for my daughter. She deserves better.”
“I agree,” I said. She did deserve better than me.
“But she won’t listen to me.” He sighed, leaning back so the waiter could place our meals before us.
My heartbeat slowed, and it felt as if I were underwater. It was difficult to breathe, to think. I had a feeling I already knew where this was headed, but I wanted to hear him say it.
Ian cut into his lunch. “I know the two of you have grown close this summer, and I wondered if maybe you could try talking some sense into her.” When he peered up at me, his eyes questioning, three thoughts flitted through my mind in quick succession.
Does he know?
Don’t look away.
Don’t flinch.
“She respects you. Admires you. And I think receiving career advice from her mentor would carry more weight than from dear old dad.”
I laughed, tugging at my collar. “I’m not so sure about that.” Whether Ian realized it or not, his approval mattered to Sumner.
“She’s been skipping things with Lea, ignoring Piper. All for…some guy.”
I tightened my grip on my fork and knife, the need to justify myself and my relationship with Sumner rising with every passing second.
“Maybe they’re happy together. Maybe they love each other.” We’d never said the words, but I loved her. I was pretty sure she felt the same way.
“It’s been—what? A few weeks?” He shook his head, skepticism marring his features. “No.” He scoffed. “It’s not love. It’s lust. Why are you defending him?”
“I just… Maybe he has good intentions, even if it doesn’t seem like it.”
