Page 54 of The Summer of Us

She nodded. “I ran to the door, and he followed me, laughing at my pain. He grabbed my arm before I could leave and told me that girls like me were a dime a dozen. He knew it and you knew it. He made some other scathing remarks about me and my family and pushed me out the door. I fell on the porch, sobbing, and he kept laughing. It was the cruelest sound I ever heard. Then he slammed the door shut. I wept all the way home. I couldn’t reconcile the boy I loved with the words I read on the screen.”

“Sunny,” I begged. “Baby, it wasn’t me.”

“I know that now. If I’d been thinking clearly, I would have known he’d never let me touch the cell phone if it was really you.” She shrugged. “But I wasn’t, and he knew that.”

I stood and paced the room. “But can you get past that? All the mistrust and pain?” I spun on my heel, facing her. “You are the opposite of everything he said. Priceless. I thought of you every damn day. Sometimes it was the only way I could make it through the days. Jesus, Sunny, seeing you again is like a miracle.” I dropped to my knees in front of her. “I never stopped believing in us—loving you. But it was different for you. You thought I betrayed you. You thought I used you. Can you get past that? Can you reconcile the truth you know now with the truth you believed all those years?”

Her eyes searched mine, her dark gaze soft. “Yes, Linc. I know the truth now. I’m coming to terms with it.” She cupped my face. “You have to as well.”

“I hate him more than ever. I hate him for the years he stole from us. The pain he caused you. All the what-ifs he stole.”

“What-ifs?”

I leaned into her touch. “I imagined us married, maybe a baby or two by now, Sunny,” I said quietly. “Building a life together as a family. He stole all that from us.”

“You wanted to have babies with me?”

“Yeah,” I breathed out. “I still do.”

“Oh.”

“I used to dream of a little girl who looked like you whom I could spoil. A little boy I could carry on my shoulder and teach about baseball and fishing. A house we’d share. The love we’d give our kids. Each other.”

She tilted her head to the side, studying me.

“Sometimes, our dreams change,” she whispered. “Or sometimes, they’re put on hold.”

I pushed closer to her. “Are you saying you’d still have my babies, Sunny?”

Pink tinged her cheeks. “It’s not impossible, Linc. We’re still young, and we can rebuild our dreams.”

“Sunny.” I captured her mouth with mine, running my hands up her neck and bunching them into her hair. I kissed her with everything in me. The years of pain, the emotion of the moment, the joy of realizing my future—the one I had thought I had lost all those years ago—might still be possible. Of knowing that regardless of what had transpired, she was back in my life. I kissed her until we were breathless. Until she knew, without a doubt, the boy who loved her then, was the man who loved her now. That I was here and not leaving her.

I kissed her until my knees ached, and I knew if I didn’t stop now, then I wouldn’t stop. Not until she was under me, naked and pleading, and I was inside her. And I didn’t want that to happen with my assistant not far away and no privacy. I needed to take Sunny somewhere we could be alone. I wanted to rediscover her all over again.

And I had an idea of where we could go. I would have to arrange for Sunny to have some time off, but I would wait until this weekend was over before I told her about my plans. For now, I was all hers—whatever she needed me to do, I would help.

But then, she was mine.

16

Linc

I sipped coffee and watched Sunny race around the bakery, her owner hat firmly in place. She directed, moved, adjusted, instructed, and never once lost her patience or the smile on her face. She was in her element, and I felt a glow of pride observing her.

I had put aside my own work for the next few days. The long weekend would bring in a flurry of tourists, many of whom would want to buy cookies, biscuits, or other tempting treats. Sit for a few moments and eat a sandwich or sip a coffee. Sunny had extra staff, lots of her delicious baked goods, and tons of supplies for sandwiches and coffee on hand. She also had one area set up with samples. Her idea was simple. Let them taste before they buy. Because, she assured me with a wink, once they taste, they always buy.

That was my job this weekend. Official sampler overseer. I had a T-shirt and hat, both branded with Sunny’s logo. Abby was helping in the kitchen. She was excited and relaxed, which was great to see. Much to my delight, she and Sunny had become friends, and the two of them worked well together. We were both eager about helping out Sunny.

The door opened, and Michael came in, his arms filled with towels and linens. Sunny liked white cloths on the tables, and she went through a lot every day. Michael kept them clean, as well as all the towels, aprons, and other items she wanted pristine. Her entire shop had an old-fashioned feel to it. The soft color on the walls, the woodwork, linen cloths, and the mismatched pieces of china all gave it a homey vibe. It suited Sunny.

Sunny hurried forward with a smile. “I’ll take those, Michael.”

He gave them to her, then came over and shook my hand. “Linc.”

Sunny came back through the kitchen door. “Sit, and I’ll bring you a coffee.”

He smiled as he sat, pulling off his baseball cap. “A cinnamon bun would go well with that,” he called out. “I’ve been smelling them baking all morning,” he informed me. “A man can only take so much.”