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So be it. Summer had managed to be friends with his brother; she could be a friend to Luke, too, tell her heart to stop beating so quickly around him, and focus on her own life and her own goals.
She showered quickly, brushed her teeth and threw on sweatpants and a pink cotton sweater, not bothering with makeup. Luke had already seen her without any and she didn’t want to seem to be primping for him.
By the time she got back to the kitchen, he’d found glasses and plates and arranged their breakfast on the table, in the center of which stood a vase containing white tulips and purple hyacinths.
“Luke.” Summer clasped her hands to her chest. She couldn’t remember the last time a guy had given her flowers. And this guy did so after she’d insulted him. “Where did those come from?”
“The florist.”
She rolled her eyes. “I mean, where did you hide them?”
“Outside your door.” He was clearly pleased with himself. “If you hadn’t let me in or weren’t home, I was going to leave it. The lady told me the purple ones mean I’m sorry and the tulips stand for new beginnings. I figured that about covered it.”
“Thank you.” She was deeply touched. Not only had he gotten her flowers, he’d cared about which ones to buy.
“Yeah, well, I’m sorry about the fight after San Miguel.” He looked it, too, sincere and a little embarrassed, all his smugness gone. “I was pissed because we had a nice time and I felt like you could be a real friend, and then you said you didn’t trust me, which is stupid. Of me, I mean, to be pissed that you didn’t. I thought we were...I don’t know. I’m kind of a mess right now, so I shouldn’t blame you.”
“I get it. I really do.” She folded her arms across her chest. He was being really sweet again. One minute after she’d told herself to keep it under control, her heart was racing again, and she was feeling weirdly vulnerable. “I shouldn’t have said I felt sorry for you. That was mean and not really true the way it came out.”
“It’s okay, you were mad. I like that you give as good as you get.” His grin came back halfway. “So...we’re good?”
“We’re good.”
They smiled at each other until the awkwardness was nearly unbearable.
“Okay, we are so done with the emotional crap.” Luke made a sweeping motion with his hand. “Let’s eat and have fun.”
They ate muffins and drank coffee and juice, debating options for spending the rest of the morning together, and finally settled on the short drive up the coast to the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery, one of Summer’s favorite places. She found watching the seals oddly comforting. They always did exactly what they were supposed to do, what was best for them as individuals and as a species. The human race could take lessons.
Route 1 took them along the coast, through small towns and past surf-pummeled rocks and beaches. Summer was driving her car after she found out Luke had gotten a ride to her house from a friend of Zac’s. He must have been quite sure she’d forgive him, or he’d have had to walk a long way home.
At the rookery, they parked in the designated lot and followed the crowd onto the viewing platform set over the beach, where the animals lay by the dozens, females and pups and bulls, an impressive mass of life crowding the sand.
“I’m warning you, Luke.” Summer gestured to the animals. “It’s mating season. You might see some crazy action.”
“No way.” Luke surveyed the animals beneath them. “But they have babies now.”
“They’re just weaned. Then the bulls have to impregnate the females for next season.”
“A man’s work is never done.”
“Ha!” Summer snorted. “The females are the ones doing all the work. Those pups gain ten pounds a day.”
“Yeah?” Luke stepped closer and they listened to the deep belches of the males, the croaks of the moms and the high-pitched barks of the weaned pups, their arms touching. “So who did the housework in your family? Your mom? Did your dad help?”
Summer stiffened, then made herself relax. For better or worse, she had come to trust Luke a lot more, and he might as well know where she came from. “My parents had a pretty traditional work split.”
