Page 28 of The Summer of Us

Sunny’s cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. I had to chuckle at his words. “Came to settle the last of my father’s estate. I had planned on being here one day, but things, ah, changed.”

He grinned. “Is that a fact? Well, Sunny, I think I need a coffee and a muffin. Linc and I have some catching up to do.”

She scooped up the pile of linens from the counter. “What about you Linc? Are you coffeed out?”

I smirked at her—she had no idea. “Nope. Coffee and a couple more biscuits, please.”

Michael and I moved to my table, and I shut off my laptop, slipping it into my bag. Sunny slid a tray onto the table containing a pot of coffee and two plates holding muffins and biscuits. I caught her hand. “Thank you.”

She smiled and bent down, brushing a kiss to my forehead, then headed back to the kitchen. Her tender gesture did something to my chest. I hadn’t been touched with gentleness since the day I was forced to leave her. I squeezed her hand in silent appreciation. She shut the door this time, leaving Michael and me alone in the shop.

“Should I extend condolences about your father?” he asked.

“Absolutely not. The only thing I felt when he died was relief.”

He nodded, sipping his coffee. “Nasty son of a bitch, he was. The things he did to this town were bad enough, but the way he took his anger out on you was unacceptable.”

I rested my elbows on the table. “How did you know, Michael? I never spoke about it. I thought I hid it well. You were kind to me, even though we weren’t really friends. Close ones anyway.”

He took a muffin off the plate, unpeeling the wrapper and breaking it in half. He took a large bite, chewing it slowly. “We weren’t close, no, but I understood why. I understood you.”

“Sorry?”

He finished the first half of his muffin and wiped his fingers. “My god, that woman can bake.”

I had to agree. I took a biscuit, already buttered with a thick layer of jam on top, and bit into it. I would always think of Sunny when I ate one of these.

He sat back, gazing over my shoulder. “We moved here when I was young. My father was a mean, sorry drunk, and he liked to use his fists on me and my mother. She planned and saved, and one day, we were able to run. We came here—a small town where we could start again.”

“Your father never found you?”

He shrugged. “He might have tried, but a couple of weeks after we left, he got so drunk, he fell down the stairs. He never woke up. A friend of my mom’s knew where we were and let her know. She got the life insurance and total freedom to live her life again and not look over her shoulder all the time.”

“I’m sorry for what you went through.”

He lifted a shoulder. “The point is I recognized what was happening to you, Linc. I saw the signs. When your mom died, you changed. The happy kid I knew disappeared, and a frightened, standoffish person replaced him. I tried to let you know I understood, but I got it when you refused to get close to anyone but Sunny. Your father was a force unto himself and, frankly, scary. Still, when I could, I tried to let you know you had a friend.”

“Like the day in the diner.”

He met my gaze, both of us thinking of that day. “Your father was so angry, and I knew if he found you hanging with Sunny, hell was going to rain down on you. I heard him, more than once, talk about his plans for you and that they didn’t include some low-level waitress.”

I was surprised at his words, and it must have shown on my face.

“I was a clerk in the dry cleaners and the drug store. A nothing to your father. Invisible. He would be on his phone talking, and I could hear him. He never even noticed me most of the time.” He barked out a laugh. “Unless he wanted his dry cleaning carried to his car, then he’d snap his fingers and tell me to get it done. But that was the only time he ever spoke to or took notice of me. I can guarantee if I passed him on the street, he’d have no clue who I was.”

“Yeah, he was like that.”

“So, I understood your wariness, Linc. I know a lot of kids thought you were a snob and too good for them, but I knew you were just trying to survive.” He met my gaze. “And protect Sunny.”

“I was.” I sucked in a long breath. “Thank you for being a friend, even when I wasn’t.”

“You were okay. You kept to yourself, but you were never a jerk.” He paused. “Until you left her.”

I rubbed my eyes. “I know how it looked.”

“Your father?” he guessed.

“Yeah.” I laughed bitterly. “My father.”