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“Yeah,” I replied with a smile. Crossing to the dresser, I pulled out my clothing for the day. “The weather is perfect. How’s Lucy?”
“She’s an angel.” I heard the sound of a door opening in the background. “Come in, Luce.”
“She must love having a backyard to run around in,” I said, glad that I asked her to dog sit for me. The Pyrenees puppy that I adopted last month was a sweetheart and I would have hated the idea of putting her in a kennel with strangers while I was here.
Luckily, Mom just moved into her new place, a small ranch-style home in upstate New York with a privacy fence and an HOA. She loved it, but I suspected that had more to do with her new independence. Separating from my dad a couple of years ago had turned out to be the best thing for her. Now that they were taking the final steps toward divorcing, she was able to officially start over.
“It’s not just the backyard she loves. I got her a new collar, a sparkly pink one, and a couple of squeaky toys.”
“You’re spoiling her,” I said, grinning.
“Of course I am. If you don’t like it, give me a grandchild to shower with gifts instead.”
“Wow.” I chuckled. She was anything but subtle.
“I was just calling to tell you that I want to take Lucy to get her nails trimmed today. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure. Just remember that she hates riding in the car, so she’s going to whine the whole time.”
“You know what’s funny? I remember when you went through a phase where you were scared every time you got in the car.”
“Really, Mom?” I drawled. “Comparing me to a dog?”
She laughed lightly. “I’m just saying, you were so anxious about getting into an accident. I think you watched some movie that freaked you out or something.”
I remembered specifically which one. “Yeah, I was ten years old and I watched a movie with Summer that had a bridge collapse. All those cars going into the river gave me nightmares.”
Mom let out a small sigh. “Sweet Summer. I wonder how she’s doing these days.”
I hesitated a moment, then said, “I actually saw her yesterday. She’s here.”
“She’s on the island?” mom asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I was surprised too,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Have you heard about Michael getting married?”
“No.”
I could hear the sadness in her voice, and knew she felt the painful loss of losing the Hendrix’s friendship, too. “I came across a picture of the wedding invitation on Instagram. Turns out the whole family is here for it.”
“Have you talked to her?” mom asked tentatively.
The memory of kissing her flashed through my mind. “Briefly.”
“Well, don’t take it personally if she doesn’t want anything to do with you,” she said softly. “Or any of the family, for that matter.”
“I know, Mom.”
I thought about the conversation we had a few years ago. I was so bitter and resentful back then, hurt by Summer cutting me out of her life so easily. My anger was affecting all aspects of my life until my mother sat me down and explained things from Summer’s point of view.
From her perspective, I was the bad guy. I helped my dad betray hers.
That wasn’t entirely accurate, but Ididunknowingly play a part in my father’s scheme. I had to live with the guilt of that, and I resigned myself to never seeing her again.
“It’s for the best, honey,” Mom continued. “Giving the Hendrix family the distance they need is the least we can do to make up for your father’s actions. They’ll eventually heal and we just have to move on with our lives without them.”
I knew that she was being reasonable, thoughtful even. Unlike me, she actually had nothing to do with my dad’s betrayal, but I knew that she felt guilty about the whole thing, too. Maybe that was because she was getting a fat settlement in the divorce that came from the money Dad was now making as the sole owner of the restaurants.
Either way, I wasn’t going to argue with her, and Idefinitelywasn’t going to tell her that I had no intention of leaving Summer alone anymore. It was different before, when we had a clean break. But now, I had gotten a taste of her lips and seen the conflicting emotions of want and desire in her eyes.
