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“It does.”
“If it did, you wouldn’t need to step back and take that moment. You said you’d always say what you mean. I heard you. I’ll give you what you want.”
“What about the deal?” her dad asked. The one Cody knew nothing about. And now never would.
“What’s the point?” she asked her father, knowing he’d understand. “Thank you for these last few weeks. I’ve really loved getting to know you. This isn’t the end. It just can’t be like this, here. I’ll call you.”
“This is your home,” he reminded her.
“I know you want it to be. That will have to be enough for me.” She walked out, knowing no one was coming after her, but hoping someone would.
And that someone was the bravest of them all.
Haley rushed out to the driveway just as Summer opened her car door. She threw her arms around Summer and held on for dear life. “Please don’t go.”
Summer held her sister and kissed her on the head. “I just can’t be here right now. But I’ll come back to see you. You’ll come see me.”
“We’ll go to your house in Wyoming, like you said.” Tears filled Haley’s eyes and clogged her throat.
“Someday. I promise.” In fact, that sounded like the perfect place to spend the next couple of days collecting herself before she returned to work and went on with the life she’d been given, even if it wasn’t exactly the life she wanted. Because Cody wasn’t in it anymore. And the love and family and life she thought she’d build with him remained a dream while reality broke her heart yet again.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Cody stared toward the entrance to the foyer, shell-shocked and confused.What the hell just happened?
He must have said it out loud, because Jessica answered. “They say we pick partners who are like our parents. In this case, Summer chose someone who is so very much like me.”
He did not want to be compared to her in any way, shape, or form. He was nothing like her.
And then she proved him wrong. “You don’t want to get hurt, so you don’t trust, but you so desperately want to be loved. And you love her. But you’ve loved all of them longer. You don’t want to lose them, so you cut Summer loose, because you know they’ll always be here for you. They’ve proven that, and you’re still wondering if Summer will choose her life in Texas over you. Which proves you haven’t been paying attention, otherwise you’d see it’s the people in Summer’s life who mean everything to her. The rest... the job, the money, the properties, here or there or anywhere... it’s just stuff. But the people she cares about... they’re everything to her. She would do anything for them. Even forgive me for being a bad mother. She loved you even though you were waiting for her to choose a job when she always chose you.
“She read you like a book. And you did what she expected youto do but hoped with her whole heart that you wouldn’t. You chose everyone else, instead of her. Not even,and her. You disappointed her. Worse, you hurt her. Believe me, I know how deep that cuts because you really do care about her, it’s just you’re more concerned about yourself.”
“Stop talking.” He meant it to sound like an order, but it came out more like a plea.
“The truth hurts. I know. She throws it in my face all the time. I can’t seem to help myself and the things I do, though I really do try. She knows that. But it doesn’t erase what I’ve done.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Nate interjected. “Just tell me why?”
Jessica shrugged a shoulder. “The same reason he let her walk out of here. I loved you. I didn’t want you to see that I didn’t deserve the way you loved me, so I left before you left me.”
Cody swore under his breath. He hated that she was right.
He’d spent his whole young life thinking his mother left him because he hadn’t been good enough, worthy enough for her to stay. Then he’d worked his ass off to prove her wrong, doing well in school, being the best at sports, taking over where his father left off at the company, working hard to not just earn his spot but prove to everyone that he had what it took to take the company to greater heights.
And when he’d failed at his relationship with Amy, he’d kept things casual with other women so he didn’t have to feel that failure again, that he wasn’t good enough to hold on to. So long as he kept things simple, women adored him. They thought he was smart and funny and charming, and he always aimed to please in bed. He never left a woman thinking he wasn’t a good guy.
He was upfront with them about this just being fun while it lasted. He had other priorities. Work. Family. The long term was for later.
But Summer had been different. From the beginning, he’d beenclear with her that he wanted more. He told her she was the one he wanted. He wanted to be her everything, but wondered if her job and life in Texas appealed to her more.
And tonight, instead of stopping the arguing and telling everyone to remember that Summer hadn’t asked for any of this and just wanted her time with her dad and space from her mom until she was ready to forgive and move on, he’d done what they all did and blamed her for the discord.
If she wasn’t here, none of this would have happened.
And because she was here, he’d learned that he could care about someone so much that even the thought of losing her made him crazy and say and do stupid things. And lose her.
He was so afraid of getting his heart broken again, he broke hers instead.
