Page 76 of The Summer of Us

Her eyes widened. “If that’s true, then nothing I do will work.”

“Unless she thought we broke up.” I threw out wildly, hating myself the instant the words were out of my mouth.

“No!” Sunny gasped. “I will shut this bakery before I even allow you to say another word, Lincoln Webber. You take that back right now. I am not living in secrecy again. We did that, and it was awful.”

I pulled her into my embrace. “I couldn’t do that, Sunny. Not really. I’ll figure this out.”

She tilted back her head. “Leave it, Linc. Leave it alone.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m asking you to. This is my business. I will handle it.”

“Stop being stubborn.”

She pushed away. “Being stubborn is how I made it this far. This is my problem, and I’ll handle it.”

“A problem you have because of me,” I seethed. “I’ll handle it.”

“No, you will not. I’m telling you right now—leave it alone.” She crossed her arms. “If she is doing this out of revenge, then you being involved will make it worse.”

Her words stung, even if they were true. She kept talking. “And don’t tell me what to do, Linc. You are not the boss. This is my business, and I’ll handle it the way I see fit.”

“I can solve it.”

“How exactly?”

“I’ll figure it out. I’ll find a way to take her down or—”

“No,” she snapped, interrupting me. “It’s a problem I need to solve legally. I don’t have time to stand here and argue with you. Go deal with what you came here for, Linc. Get the revenge you need on your father. Maybe then you can find some peace.” She sighed. “Maybe then the Linc I knew will be back.”

“I already told you, this is me. This is Linc now. I thought you accepted it.”

She ran a hand over her face, suddenly looking exhausted. She sat down, looking at me. Her expression frightened me. It was one of resignation.

“I thought I could. But I’m not so sure I was right.” She ran a hand up her neck, leaning on her palm. “Right now, I don’t know what to think. But I need to work. And I think you need to go.”

“What? No, Sunny—”

She spoke the words before I could stop her.

“Maybe this was a mistake, Linc. Visiting the past. Thinking we could outrun it.”

“Don’t say that.”

She stood, her shoulders slumped. “I can’t do this again, Linc. Our entire relationship when we were younger was shrouded in secrecy and anxiety. We had to sneak around, hide our feelings. I lived in constant fear that you’d walk away.”

She held up her hand before I could speak. “And when you disappeared, it took me years to find my life again. To stop looking for you. To be able to smile and get on with life.”

“Sunny—”

“You insist you’re here with me in the present, but the truth is, you’re still so mired in the past, you can’t see through it, Linc. Your first instinct is to react with anger. Seek revenge. Just like your father.” She sighed. “I can’t live in fear again. I won’t.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying we need to step back and think. This is all too much. It’s all…too much.”

She turned and walked away.