The Summer Place

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR



Ten months later

RICK CLOSED THE DOOR of the dishwasher and hit the start button for the—he counted—fifth time that day. The next time they held a public event, he would insist they use the big kitchen...and maybe an outside caterer. If he was going to be this fatigued, it should be from something more gratifying than cleanup duty.

The open house had been a huge success. The calendar for their rustic resort, which they’d officially christened the Summer Place today, was filling up faster than either of them had ever dreamed it would.

Rick smiled to himself. Although Summer had been afraid the new name would sound too self-indulgent, everyone else gave it a thumbs-up.

The camp had definitely needed a new beginning.

He pulled out a chair and sank into it just as Summer came in the kitchen carrying their wedding picture. A frown pinched her mouth.

“What’s wrong, babe? Not having regrets, are you?”

The corners of her mouth curved slowly upward as her eyes settled on him. She cocked her head. “What is there to have regrets about?”

He patted his leg, and she snuggled onto his lap. “Oh, I dunno. Marrying me?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

“Eloping to Vegas?”

“Nadda.”

“Having a cheesy theme wedding?” He pointed to the picture. “You look beautiful as a fairy princess but your groom looks like a sweaty dork in his suit of armor.”

She giggled as she examined the picture. “You don’t look like a dork. You look dashing...like every woman’s fantasy.”

“That damn metal suit was like standing in an oven.”

“Mmm.” She nibbled his earlobe, sending a jolt of electricity straight to his groin. “Five months later and you’re still hot, baby.” Her mouth seared a line of kisses up his neck, and he decided he wasn’t nearly as tired as he’d thought he was a few minutes ago.

“Know what Charlie said when he saw it?” she asked.

Rick cleared his throat to let loose his best Charlie impression. “Damn wild child.”

“You got it.” Summer laughed—a sound he would never grow tired of. She ran a fingertip down the slope of his nose and then pointed at the picture. Her mouth drooped again. “But look at all these smudges on the glass. I’ve used almost a whole bottle of glass cleaner today trying to keep it clean.” She laid the photo on the table.

“Hide it next time.”

She clasped her arms around his neck and hugged him. “No way. But I am going to find a prominent place on the wall so people won’t pick it up.”

Leaning back, she brushed her fingertips through one side of his hair and smiled. “Are you too tired to go for a walk?”

“To the bedroom?”

“We’ll come back to the bedroom. Or the couch. Or...” She gave the table a pat and wagged her eyebrows suggestively. He watched the edges of her eyes soften. “But first, I’d like to go back to the Byassee place.”

Until that morning, Summer hadn’t gone near the Byassee place since the shooting. Rick thought once they’d moved into the apartment on the premises back in December, she’d get over the pain and stop avoiding the area, but she hadn’t.

When Tara’s dad showed up this morning to bless the camp, it occurred to Rick that blessing the Byassee homestead might give Summer back her favorite place.

Apparently, his idea worked.

She slid off his lap and held her hand out to him. “I’ve got something I want to show you there.”

The early May evenings were still cool enough to require a light jacket. Grabbing the ones hanging by the door, they sauntered out into a world of wild dogwood blooms capped by a pink-and-purple sunset and scented heavily from honey locust.

They exchanged tidbits of information each had learned throughout the day from the plethora of visitors.

“Tara’s ready for school to be out. She said she’d help me with those flower beds.”

“M&M had grown so much I almost didn’t recognize her.”

“Buck Blaine said Nila Gerard’s engaged, and the guy’s a winner. Treats Howie like his own son.”

Summer’s hand gripped Rick’s tighter at the last comment, and she quickened her steps.

“What’s the hurry?” Rick was back to working out every day. His body still wasn’t in marine shape, but it was getting there. Even with his long stride, he had to hurry to keep up with her tonight.

“We need to get there before it gets dark.”

Maybe the blessing hadn’t quelled all of her fears, after all.

Rick picked up his pace. Everything in good time.

They turned from the main path onto the less worn one and walked the rest of the way to the clearing in silence. A doe munching on sweet clover didn’t hear them approach. Startled when they broke from the tree line into the open, she bolted away.

They stood quietly, holding hands, listening to the sounds of the birds beginning to roost in the tops of the surrounding trees. An opossum beat a hasty retreat out of the broken-down house, glaring sullenly at them on his way to the woods.

“It’s so quiet here right now.” Rick swiveled his head to catch the sounds. “It’s hard to believe a month from now, it’ll be crawling with kids again.”

Summer took his other hand and turned to face him. “Actually, a few months from now, this place may never be quiet again.” Her mysterious smile didn’t mesh with the tears shining in her eyes.

“Why is that?”

She let go of his hand and reached into her pocket, bringing out some kind of stick. She held it out to him.

“What’s this?”

She laughed softly. “My new magic wand.”

Rick squinted in the fading light. “Positive,” he read aloud.

Summer nodded. “Positive by about two weeks, I think. So in about eight and a half months...”

Eight and a half months? It took several seconds for the math to catch up with him, but then his heart started to beat at a quick rhythm. “You’re pregnant?”

Summer nodded, her face breaking into a radiant smile.

He couldn’t, didn’t want to, contain his happiness. “Ooh-rah!” He let out a whoop sure to be heard all the way to the lake.

In one leap, Summer was in his arms, her legs locked around his waist, and he was twirling around and around, in a dance of the most ecstatic joy he’d ever known.

They laughed and kissed and shouted, then laughed and kissed some more, until Summer finally begged to be put down.

“I don’t want to get sick,” she insisted, and he reluctantly set her on her own feet.

He looked around at the Byassee place. The ramshackle old house seemed an odd choice for such an announcement. Catching Summer’s chin with his finger, he raised her face. “So the angels have returned?”

“The angels never left.” She took his hands and kissed them tenderly. “They were here watching over us the whole time.”

He pulled her close and lowered his mouth to hers. “I can’t argue with that,” he whispered. “Right now, I’m holding two of them in my arms.”