The Summer Place

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE



“HELLO?” SUMMER DIDN’T HAVE to look at the caller ID to know who was on the line.

“Did you know Rick’s going home today?”

Tears stung at the backs of Summer’s eyes. Again she sighed in resignation. “Yes, Mom. I know. Tara called earlier with the news.”

She’d cried with relief and happiness when she’d gotten the call from Tara. After she hung up, the tears had been of anguish because she wasn’t ever going to see Rick again. According to Tara, he was considering a job offer in Arkansas. That was a good thing, but it still hurt.

Maybe these tears would be cathartic. The ones that would wash away everything else and leave her feeling resolved. Healed.

“Are you going to visit him?” Her mom’s tone took on that testy edge that came right before a lecture.

Summer considered lying, but that would just be putting off the inevitable. “No. I’m not going to visit him. I’ve made my break from Rick. It was the right thing to do...probably the most right thing I’ve ever done.”

“This isn’t like you, Summer.” The voice on the other end rose at least an octave. “You’ve been flighty and selfish, but I’ve never known you to be cruel before.”

Ouch. “I’m not being cruel, Mom.” No matter what you and the rest of the world think. “It wasn’t meant to be. He needs someone...different from me.” Someone worthy of a hero. She wiped off the tear scalding a path down her cheek.

“He asks about you every day.”

And I think about him all the time. “He’ll get over it.”

“Well, I can see talking to you about it isn’t going to do any good. You’ve made up your mind, I can tell. And when you get your mind made up, you’re just like your fath—”

“I’ve got a party to get to, Mom.” That was a lie, but her battered heart couldn’t withstand any more blows. “Was there anything else you needed?”

“Actually, I called with other news.”

The words held a note of apology, so the news had to be about Sunny Daze. Summer gripped the phone tighter.

“We sold the camp this morning.”

“You took the state’s offer.” Irritation burned Summer’s throat. Sunny Daze was worth so much more than the paltry sum Riley Gibson had offered the day after the shooting.

No doubt, he was convinced the bad publicity of the incident would ruin the camp—which it might—and that her parents would jump at any chance to have the property taken off their hands. He wasn’t far off the truth. They did want to be rid of the camp and the memory, but they still had their retirement to think about.

“We didn’t have to. Another offer came in. A respectable one.”

For a second, Summer’s world came to a halt. Her knees wobbled, forcing her to sit. “Who from?”

“Chance Brennan.”

“Rick’s friend?” The news sent Summer’s heart in two directions. One half leaped for joy. Chance and Kyndal Brennan were good people...heroes in their own way, deserving of the property.

The other half splattered at her feet. A subdivision was probably in the property’s future.

“He came to see Rick a couple of days ago while we were there,” her mom continued. “Rick introduced us and told him about the property. He called the next day and said he was interested and had some investors.”

So Rick was directly responsible. Was he still trying to save the camp, or was this his way of getting the last word?

It didn’t matter. This was the news she’d been waiting for.

The end of the story.

“I’m so happy for you, Mom.” Tears were coming fast now. “I really am.” She marveled at the words. She really meant them.

“Are you crying?”

“Happy tears.” Cry enough of them and maybe they’ll fill up the hole that bullet left in my heart. “I do need to go now, though.” It wasn’t a lie this time. Too much emotion clogged her throat to allow her to talk any longer.

“Okay, Nubbin.” Her mom’s tone modulated back to its normal sweetness. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Summer laid the phone down, grabbed a fistful of napkins from the basket on the table and sobbed loud and long until she had no tears left.

Eventually, the weight in her heart would lighten...wouldn’t it?

Doing the same thing she’d done for the past week and a half to combat the grueling wait for nothing in particular, she pushed up from the table and moved. Keeping her body moving kept her mind at least partially occupied, and that kept the despair from consuming her. Her apartment had never been so clean, and she fell into bed every night, too exhausted to think...or dream.

She set to ironing the new fairy princess costume, a replacement for the one she had to throw away. It had arrived a couple of days ago, but she hadn’t had the courage to put it on yet.

Go with the symbolism. Off with the old, on with the new.

Taking a deep breath of resolve, she slipped out of her shorts and top and into the dress. The zipper went up easily...too easily. She glanced at the mirror, grimacing at the woman reflected back. Dark circles shaded red, swollen eyes. Toothpick arms dangled from the sleeves. The dress hung slack on her, barely touching anywhere but the shoulders. The neckline gaped. The waistline needed cinching. She looked more like a zombie than a fairy princess. No child was going to believe this creature held the secret to a pretty heart.

A knock at the door jerked her attention away from the frightening image. Kate was early. Summer gathered up the dress and hurried to let her in.

She swung the door open. “Rick.” She should’ve checked the peephole first.

“Hello, Summer.”

His voice palpitated her heart, making it come alive for the first time since...

“I haven’t seen you in over a week.”

Since over a week. She sidestepped his comment. “You look good.” He was obviously trying to stand in his normal, marine posture, but the slump of his shoulders hinted at the deep scar hidden beneath the blue dress shirt. He’d lost weight—his clothes fit baggy like her dress—and his hair was longer than she’d ever seen it, almost touching his ears on the side, the front combed off his forehead from a part that had never appeared before.

He was the most beautiful sight her eyes had beheld since...since the last time she saw him.

“Can I come in?”

No! her mind screamed. She wasn’t ready to talk with him yet. Her emotions were still too close to the surface. But her mouth opened and “Sure” dropped out. She stepped back to let him in, motioning to the wingback where she thought he would be most comfortable.

He carried a box of candy, which he placed on the table by the chair, and waited for her to sit. She chose the couch, as far away from him as the small room allowed. As he eased into the seat, he looked around, the blue shirt bringing out the turquoise hue of his eyes. “Nice place.”

“Thanks.” Her eyes roamed over him. The way he sat so carefully. “Does it hurt much?”

“Only when I sneeze.”

“That’s good.” She scratched an imaginary itch on her nose.

His steady gaze waited for more, and when it didn’t come, he settled deeper into the chair. The subtle movement said, I can wait.

Okay, she could fake her way through this. She started with a fake smile. “How’s the therapy going?”

“No nightmares so far.” He rapped his knuckles a couple of times on the table. “Ironic, isn’t it? I finally let go of Dunk, then you step in to haunt my dreams.”

She tried to think of a snappy comeback, but her brain kept misfiring. She shifted uncomfortably and smoothed at a wrinkle she’d missed.

“Is that the way you generally dress at home?” He handed her an escape.

“No, I have a party.” She clenched her teeth to stop her mouth from adding “in a couple of hours.”

“Then I’ll get to the point.” He leaned forward like he was going to put his elbows on his knees, and then straightened and leaned back again. “You quit coming to see me, and you won’t answer any of my calls. Obviously, you’re finished with me. But I need to hear you say it...and I’d like to leave knowing why.” The hurt emanating from those blue-green eyes spoke of more than just physical injury. They pierced her heart.

Her brain scrambled for a lie or even a half-truth that would satisfy his curiosity and squelch his desire to know more. Something, anything that would allow him to walk out of there and never look back. But also something that wouldn’t make him hate her. No matter what she’d thought earlier, she couldn’t bear him hating her.

“I...I...” she stammered, but the ocean of his eyes caught her thoughts in an eddy, swirling them around to the same point again and again, getting her nowhere. She was drowning in those eyes. Taking a deep breath, she changed her mind and plunged into the truth. “I think it’s best if we don’t get back into a relationship. I...I don’t deserve you.”

“What?” His eyes and words alike echoed disbelief.

“Your mom’s a good woman. She deserves men in her life like you, your brothers...your dad. I don’t. I’m not like her.”

Even with several feet separating them, Summer could see the tightening of Rick’s jaw in his thin face. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s not crazy.” Summer raised her chin. It quivered, and she lowered it again. “The day after you got shot, Mom and Dad went home for a while. While they were home, the guy called with the offer from the state, which was terrible by the way. It got me to thinking again about how much I wanted the camp, and if I could find a way to counter that offer. But more than that, it got me to thinking how much I wanted to be there again with you. I was being selfish, just like you said. I wasn’t thinking of Mom and Dad after all they’ve done for me. Just thinking of me, me, me and my happiness.” A heaviness centered in her chest at the admission.

Hope softened the edges around Rick’s eyes—a hope she couldn’t let grow. It would be cruel, and despite what her mother said, that was one thing she wasn’t. She continued her story. “Your mom and I were standing in the hallway, watching your room. We saw the commotion. Everybody running toward it. That’s when your heart had st-stopped.” Her voice was shaking now, and the tears fell freely, but she pressed on. “Your mom had been talking about deserving a place in your life. It hit me then—the ripple effect you talked about. The one I caused. My marketing idea, like you said, had a purely selfish motive. I just wanted the publicity of that newspaper article. The same article that Howie’s dad saw, which gave him the idea to get Howie, which then got you shot.” She’d been forming circles with her hands. She let them fall into her lap with a shrug. “Selfish acts hurt people, and I’d graduated from fairy princess to queen of selfish. My actions are undeserving of a hero like you.”

Rick leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his knees, studying the ground intently. “So what kind of woman deserves a man like me?” He raised his eyes to lock with hers. “Describe her to me.”

“She’d put other people first.”

He nodded.

“She’d be strong in the face of danger. Courageous.”

“With a pretty heart?” His mouth quirked at one end.

She gave him a real smile to show she was going to be okay as long as he was. “Yes, with a pretty heart, the kind that reaches out to protect the people she loves.”

“Would she risk her own safety for a child in danger? Would she face a drunken father and fight him physically to try and keep him from driving off with the child?”

Summer saw where this was going. She shook her head in denial. “That wasn’t being heroic. That was a reaction born of panic.”

Rick’s eyes widened, then he blinked slowly. He stood, picked up the box of candy and came to sit on the couch beside her. His nearness caused her skin to tingle. “This is for you.” He held out the box.

“Thanks.” She took the gift and placed it on the coffee table.

Rick picked it up and placed it back in her lap. “Open it.”

She wasn’t in the mood for chocolates—or anything—but his tone didn’t allow for a refusal. She worked the lid off the box, which didn’t contain chocolates, after all, but held a thick set of papers.

She unfolded them and scanned the legal document. Her hands began to shake so hard she couldn’t keep it in focus. “What is this, Rick?”

He smiled. “The deed to the Camp Sunny Daze property. It’s yours.”

It couldn’t be! Her pulse swished through her ears. “Chance bought it. Investors. How...?”

“My parents and I were the investors. We only let Chance put in a dollar so he could tell your parents he was buying it.” One side of his mouth rose again. “We didn’t want them to sell it to us out of sympathy at too much of a bargain price.”

Summer shook her head, too dazed to think coherently.

The backs of his fingers brushed her cheek. “We want you to have it as a thank-you. You deserve it.”

“For what?” The question exploded from her lips. “For...for almost getting you killed? No. No!” She thrust the papers back at him and tried to stand, but Rick’s arm slid across her waist and held her in place.

“For saving my life.” His voice was husky with emotion. He let go and fished in his pants pocket, pulling out a chain. His dog tags dangled from it, slightly bent, but still intact. He pressed the chain into her hand, holding on with both of his. “The doctor said the angle of the bullet should’ve hit my heart, but it ricocheted off something...something very hard. They found shards of green granite in the wound, Summer.” He cleared his throat, his gaze never wavering from hers. “If you want to talk the ripple effect, you need to find the true action that started the ripple. You started Fairy Princess Parties to empower girls. You taught them about their pretty hearts and how to earn their wands. I was given one of your wands, and it blocked a bullet from hitting my heart. It saved my life. You saved my life.”

With a trembling finger, Summer caught the single tear as it left the corner of Rick’s eye. “Oh, Rick...”

He took her hand and pressed it to his lips. “If you believe that everything happens for a reason, you’re the reason I’m sitting here today. I think it’s a sign we’re meant to be together.”

Summer’s heart swelled with joy until she thought it would rupture. “I love you so much.” The words came out as a whisper, although she felt like shouting.

“I love you, too.” His hand caressed her cheek, then moved into her hair, pulling her face close to his until their mouths touched. He kissed her long and deep, and she responded with the fervor his lips were deserving of.

She leaned her head back to look him in the eye. “I get you and the camp, too? You’re not moving back to Arkansas?”

Rick chuckled. “I’m planning on sticking around here. Forever.”

Summer raised her chin and gave him an impish grin. “We’ve never even been on a date, and we’re talking about forever.”

“Would you have dinner with me tonight?” He leaned over and nibbled on her ear, sending a shiver from her head to her toes.

“I’d love to.” She sighed, delirious with joy and thankfulness.

“Then I think our forever just began.”