by Katie Lane
“You still there, Rye?”
“Yeah, I’m here. And I don’t think you should worry about Summer. I think she’s going to be fine. She’s just stressing about her store going bankrupt.” Here was something he could come clean about. “I know I told you that I wouldn’t help her, Dirk. But I think helping her might ease some of that stress. If I tell her that her plan isn’t going to work, she might listen to me.”
“Doubtful. She doesn’t listen to anyone when she gets something into her head. But I agree it’s the store that’s stressing her out. Which is why we’re closing it.”
“What?”
“After the accident, Autumn, Spring, and I talked it over, and we all agree that it’s making Summer crazy. So we decided to close it while she’s here recuperating and can’t put up a fight. Autumn is hanging the Going Out of Business signs today.”
“You can’t do that, Dirk. You know how much the store means to Summer.”
“That’s the thing, Rye. I don’t think it means that much to her. She just doesn’t like to fail at anything. Once it closes, she’s going to end up being relieved that we took the decision out of her hands.”
“And what if she isn’t?”
Dirk blew out his breath. “Then my ass is grass.” He paused. “Hey, Gracie’s on the other line, so I need to let you go. And Rye, make sure you don’t mention anything about closing the store to Summer, okay? We plan to tell her when everyone is back in town.”
Before Ryker could reply, Dirk hung up.
Ryker sat there for a moment, wondering how he’d gotten into this web of lies and how he was going to get out. The only answer he could come up with was to leave town as quickly as possible. But that was hard to do when he didn’t have a car. He could call a car service to take him to Austin where he could wait for his car to be fixed or rent another one. But that would be like thumbing his nose at Granny Bon’s hospitality. The woman had rubbed his neck with tea tree oil and made him fried pork chops and mashed potatoes for lunch. He couldn’t just say a quick “thank you” and run off.
One more day. He’d let Dirk’s grandma mother him for one more day before he got a car to come pick him up. In the meantime, he would try to avoid Summer. He didn’t want her wasting any more time on a business that her siblings were closing.
But he should’ve known that avoiding Summer would be impossible. He’d been trying to do it for months and hadn’t succeeded. He had just settled down with his laptop to answer emails when she walked into the room. If he’d thought the bridesmaid dress was sexy, it was nothing compared to the form-fitting t-shirt and cut-off shorts that hugged her butt and made her legs look a mile long.
“Hey, you lost the dog collar,” she said.
As much as he’d hoped to avoid her, he couldn’t help being happy to see her. There was something about her feistiness that made him smile. “And you lost the wheelchair.”
She lifted her bandaged foot and wiggled her aqua running shoe. “It feels much better. And . . .” She swept her dark hair aside to show him the flesh-colored bandage that was much smaller than the one they’d put on at the hospital. “I no longer look like a mummy.” She released her hair and glanced at the glass of sweet tea and cookies on the nightstand. “So I guess Granny Bon is taking good care of you.”
“A little too good. I can’t make a move without her being here to help.”
She snorted. “And she dropped me off at Waylon and Spring’s and couldn’t leave fast enough.”
“That’s because you’re the assailant and I’m the poor victim.”
She grinned. “I think I got the better end of that stick. Being mothered by Granny Bon can be suffocating.” She walked over and grabbed a cookie off the plate. He had never thought that watching a woman eat could be a turn on, but he was wrong. And maybe it wasn’t the eating part that made him semi-erect as much as the way she sucked the crumbs off her plump bottom lip.
“What are you staring at?” she asked. She held out the cookie. “You want a bite?”
He did. Just not of the cookie. “No, I’m good.” He went back to looking at his emails. Or pretending to look at them. He couldn’t concentrate when Summer was around.
“I emailed you my business plan,” she said. “Did you get it?”
He scrolled down his emails. Sure enough, there was an email from summer_time33. “What’s the 33 stand for?”
“I was born at 3:30 on the dot. Autumn came out a minute later. And Spring took her good sweet time as usual.”
“So you were the first?” It made sense. He couldn’t see Summer letting her sisters go before her. Or anyone for that matter.
“And proud of it.” She took another cookie and sat down on the bed. “Go ahead, look it over and tell me what you think.”
With no other choice, he opened her email and then the file she’d attached. He was surprised. After hearing Dirk talk about the way she’d jumped into the retail business without doing her homework, he expected her business plan to be amateurish and incomplete. But she’d done a thorough, comprehensive job.
And all for nothing.
She wanted to combine her personal shopping business with her retail store. But now she wouldn’t have a retail store. He felt bad for her. He understood what it was like to get your hopes up and then have them crushed. His father had been an expert at crushing hopes. Ryker had lost count of how many birthday parties and school functions his father hadn’t shown up for.
Ryker knew that Dirk and his sisters were only trying to help Summer. But he didn’t think they understood how much she wanted this. She would be devastated when she found out that her family had closed the store behind her back. Damn, he didn’t want to be involved in any of this. But he couldn’t seem to find his way out.
“It looks good,” he said. “But I’ll need to take some time to read through it.” Hopefully, he could put it off until Dirk and her sisters told her the truth. He should’ve known better.
“I’ll wait. It’s not like I don’t have the time.” She fell back on the pillow and munched her cookie. “I have nothing but time.”
Before he could think of another excuse for why he couldn’t read it, Granny Bon swept into the room. He’d never been so happy to see the woman.
“Don’t eat in bed, Summer Lynn. I’m sure Ryker doesn’t want to sleep in cookie crumbs.” She looked at Ryker. “And you need to close that computer, young man. Looking down like that can’t be good for your neck.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He shut down his laptop and slid it back in its carrying case on the table.
Granny Bon looked between them. “You are both looking much better, but still a little pale. It’s a beautiful day. Why don’t you take Ryker outside for some sunshine, Summer Lynn?”
Summer opened her mouth as if she were going to argue, but then closed it again. “Yes, ma’am.” She got up. “Come on, Ryker, let’s go get skin cancer from the blazing hot Texas sun.”
The sun was blazing hot when Ryker and Summer stepped off the porch. And the humidity was even worse. Sweat had dampened his shirt by the time they made it to the Jeep parked in front.
“Whose car?” he asked.
“Spring’s.” She headed for the driver’s side, and he hurried over to open the door for her. As he walked around the car, he took note of the dings and dents.
“I guess she drives like you?”
“Very funny.”
He laughed as he closed her door and walked around to the passenger side. Before he could even get buckled in, she started the car and backed out in a cloud of dust and spitting gravel. “Do you do anything slow?” he asked.
She tossed him a smile, then took off down the dirt road like a bat out of hell. “Just for the record, Spring didn’t bang up this car. We have my daddy to thank for that.”
Ryker grabbed onto the dashboard when they hit a bump. “It was his car?”
“No. He stole it from my sister when he was running from the law and beat it to hell and back.”
<
br /> Ryker glanced at her. “Dirk mentioned that Holt had been arrested for running an illegal gambling hall, but he didn’t mention that he’d stolen your sister’s car.”
“And her trailer.” She shook her head. “What a deadbeat.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “Spring and Autumn still get hurt by his actions, but I couldn’t care less.”
He knew better. He knew because he still cared about his daddy, even though he tried to act like he didn’t. “You care,” he said as he stared out the windshield. “Everyone wants a good man for a father. A man who is strong, upstanding, and moral. A man who loves his children more than he loves himself. Unfortunately, not everyone gets that kind of father. But that doesn’t stop us from dreaming. Or from feeling slighted that we were one of the unlucky ones.”
When she didn’t reply, he glanced over. She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. Her jaw was set and her lips pressed firmly together. He would’ve thought that she was trying to hold in her anger if he hadn’t caught the glimmer in the corner of her eye.
Summer wasn’t trying to hold in her anger. She was trying to hold in her tears.
Chapter Ten
Summer didn’t want Ryker to be right. She didn’t want to care about a man who had never cared about her. But deep down, she knew he was right. As hard as she tried not to, she still dreamed of a daddy who would love her and her siblings. A strong, dependable father who watched out for his children so they wouldn’t always have to watch out for themselves. Instead, they had a father who cared nothing about them. He hadn’t even come back after their mother died. He’d just left their grandmother to care for them. And Granny hadn’t been able to do it all. She’d needed help. So it fell to Summer. She became the mother and father to her siblings. The one who wanted them to be happy, safe, and protected.
And sometimes it was just too big of a burden to carry.
Not that she would ever let anyone know that. She had no trouble showing her anger, but she would never show her pain. Never.
As usual, she took her feelings out on the road. By the time she pulled to a dust-spitting halt, she was sure Ryker was scared spitless. But when she glanced over, he didn’t look scared. His eyes were a soft velvety brown that seemed to look straight through her. She didn’t like people trying to look inside her. Things were too screwed up in there.
“What?” she asked.
He reached out and brushed the corner of her mouth. “Cookie crumb.” He glanced around. “Where are we?”
“Whispering Falls.” She opened the door and got out.
He caught up with her on the path that led through the trees. “And what are we doing at Whispering Falls?”
“Swimming.”
“I didn’t bring swimming shorts.”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to skinny dip.” She was teasing. She had no intention of swimming naked with Ryker. She’d made the mistake of getting naked with him once. She wasn’t going to do it again. Which didn’t explain why she got a little annoyed when Ryker felt the same way.
He stopped suddenly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She turned to him. “I was kidding, Ryker. I’m not trying to get you naked and have my way with you again. I’m only interested in your brain.”
A flicker of something that looked like annoyance flashed in his eyes. He wasn’t wearing his cute nerdy glasses, and she could see his eyes clearly. She’d thought his irises were solid brown, but in the sunlight she could see the golden rings around each dark pupil. He hadn’t styled his hair like he usually did, and it fell over his forehead in a swoop of chestnut.
Okay, maybe she’d lied. Maybe she was interested in the rest of him. But she shouldn’t be. He wasn’t like most guys. She liked him. Which was why she refused to get into a relationship with him. She didn’t want to hurt him.
She turned away. “Come on. The falls are this way.”
It took a hike to get to Whispering Falls. But after being cooped up for so long, it felt good to exercise and be outside. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed a walk, or anything outdoors for that matter, and she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it.
She had always been athletic. She’d enjoyed playing sports in high school and had been on the women’s softball team in college and biked to and from classes. Once Seasons opened, she hadn’t had time for sports or exercise. And when she added the online business, she really wouldn’t have time. She wasn’t looking forward to the long hours of work. But it would only be until Seasons started making money. After that, she would make time to hike or bike.
Just not in temperatures this damned hot.
By the time they reached the falls, they were both dripping with sweat and Ryker’s button-up dress shirt was soaked through.
She toed off her running shoes. “Do you always dress like a preppy?” She sat down on a rock and pulled off her socks, then unwound the elastic bandage around her ankle. It was no longer swollen, but it still felt a little sore. “Do you even own a t-shirt and shorts?”
He sat down on the rock opposite her and unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling them back. “You seem to be extremely interested in my clothing. Why is that? And yes, I own causal clothes. But I didn’t exactly plan on staying in Bliss long enough to wear them.”
“That’s too bad.” She stood. “Because if you were dressed casually, you wouldn’t be cooking your butt off. And you could do this.” She walked straight into the glistening pool and sighed as the cold water lapped around her calves. She waded a little further out until the water touched the tops of her shorts.
It was a beautiful spot. The water glistened in the sun like a pool of sparkling diamonds. On one end of the pond were the falls the spot was named for. A tall stack of slate and stone had formed a small waterfall that cascaded down and hit with a soothing splash and bubbling foam.
She thought about swimming out to the spot. She didn’t care if her t-shirt and shorts got wet. But then she felt bad about leaving Ryder sitting on the rock sweating his butt off. She turned to head back to shore. Except Ryker wasn’t sitting on the rock. He wasn’t anywhere in sight.
His clothes were. They were lying in a pile on the bank.
A splash behind her had her turning to see him coming up out of the water. “What are you doing?” she asked. “I told you I was kidding about the skinny dipping.”
Ryker stood and scraped his hair back from his eyes. “Sorry, but the water looked too tempting.”
What looked tempting were all his water-slick muscles. They rippled from his shoulders all the way down to his low-riding boxer briefs. She was relieved that he wasn’t naked, but him standing there in only his thin underwear wasn’t much better. An image of that hard, naked chest brushing against her breasts as Ryker thrust deep inside her popped into her head.
She blinked it away. “Race you to the falls,” she said before she took off swimming. She thought she was a pretty good swimmer, but Ryker easily passed her with strong, steady strokes. She arrived at the falls to find him standing in the midst of the frothy bubbles that the waterfall made, grinning.
“I won.”
“Only because I had to keep my head out of the water because I didn’t want to get my bandage too wet. When my stitches are out, I demand a rematch.”
He laughed. “I figured you would.”
She floated on her back and let the sun warm her face. “This feels good.”
He lifted his feet and floated. “Yeah, it does,” he said. “It’s been a while since I took any time off. I forgot how good it feels to just be.”
She stuck a foot in the cascading water. “I’m not very good at just being.”
A smile creased his face. “I think anyone could figure that out. Of course, I’m not very good at it either.”
“Why is that? I’m driven because I want my business to succeed. Your business is already successful. You could take
off whenever you want.”
He lowered his feet and treaded water. “Maybe I want to be more than successful. Maybe I want to be number one.”
She blinked. “Wow, that’s quite a goal. I didn’t take you for the competitive type.”
“What type did you take me for?”
“The kind of guy who spends all his time on his computer doing techy stuff.”
The smile that had been flirting with the corners of his mouth faded. “At one time, that’s exactly the kind of guy I was. My mother was what you’d call overprotective. She became even more so after she and my father divorced and we moved to Dallas. She was worried I’d inherited my father’s wild streak, and I’d get with the wrong sort of kids and get into trouble. So she decided to homeschool me. That might’ve worked out okay if I’d had brothers and sisters to play with, but I didn’t. All I had was my computer.”
Dirk had mentioned that Ryker was socially awkward. Now she understood why. “That had to be lonely,” she said.
He shrugged. “You adapt. My mother finally figured out I needed to learn how to socialize my sophomore year of high school. By then it was too late. Everyone had formed their social groups and cliques, so I was the odd man out. It didn’t help that I was shy. Dirk was the first person to make an effort to get to know me.” The smile returned. “He sat down next to me in English class the first day of our freshman year of college and started talking. There was no way to get him to stop.”
Summer laughed. “Dirk’s a talker.”
Ryker studied her. “And what about you? I bet you were the most popular girl in school.”
“Actually, that was Spring. Everyone loved her. She was constantly invited to parties and sleepovers.”
“And you weren’t?”
“If I was, it was only because of Spring.” She paused. “In high school, I was the overachiever. The one who answered all the questions and tried out for everything. Teenagers don’t usually flock to people like that. I’ve been told that my personality is a little . . . intense.” He laughed, and she splashed water at him. “It’s not funny.”
