by Kailin Gow
FREE
FALL
kailin gow
A Contemporary Adult Loving Summer Novel
Free Fall
Published by THE EDGE
THE EDGE is an imprint of Sparklesoup Inc.
Copyright © 2015 Kailin Gow
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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Author’s Note
Due to popular demand, Free Fall was written in order to bring you more of Nat’s story, but as you will see from reading Free Fall, there is still a lot more to tell about Summer, Drew, Rachel, and Astor so it is their story.
Free Fall is in a sense a new series, about Summer and the Donovans 10 years later. It can be read as the first book in a new series – Free Fall and/or can be read after Perfect Summer of the Loving Summer Series.
This is a Contemporary Adult book with language and adult sexual situations.
Prologue
Nat’s Letter to Summer
My Perfect Summer,
It’s been years since we’ve seen each other. I know since I left, my intel tells me you have finished college, gone unto med school, and even work at a hospital in Los Angeles. I am so proud of you, of all your accomplishments, and how you’ve become the woman I’ve always dreamed you would be. It makes my decision to leave years ago worth it hearing how you’re fulfilling your destiny and living life to the fullest. The only regret I have is feeling as though I’ve missed out on so much of your life. I left trusting that my good-for-nothing little brother Drew would take good care of you, and from this wedding invitation in my hand from both of you, I trust that he has.
I am honored to be the best man at your wedding. I will be there next week at Aunt Sookie’s Malibu Pad for the rehearsals. You two can count on me to be there for both of you.
Love Always,
Your Nat in Shining Armor
Summer
I’ve read Nat’s letter to me over again for the hundredth time, and held it up in my trembling hands close to my chest. Nothing these days can get my hands to tremble the way it was trembling right now. I was known to have one of the steadiest hands in the country. It got me on the fast track to become a neurosurgeon at USC, where I also went to medical school.
I could not believe Nat will finally be back at the Pad after being gone for nearly 10 years.
In a flash, I could remember the last time I saw him as though it was just yesterday. It was the day after Drew and I spent the night together at Drew’s place, a modern penthouse suite built on top of the Donovan Dynamics Los Angeles building.
Being that it was the location housing most of the data servers containing valuable and highly classified top secret information, the building was one of the most secured and safe places in the country. It was also the most logical place for me to move to following the threat I received from my old stalker and his international hacker ring friends who were also into other illegal and far more dangerous activities.
Nat, who had undergone a complex identity change, and who was the main target of the revenge plot by that group, stayed in one of the rooms set up for him by Drew at the building. It was down the hallway, but out of sight. Although the place had an appearance of a typical office building in Los Angeles, less than a half an hour drive to the beach and to Aunt Sookie’s Malibu Pad, where I lived, it was not open to the public, for obvious reasons. So…having Drew, Nat, and I in the same place all under one gigantic roof was like being home once again, as we were when we spent our summers at the Pad as children.
We had the entire building to ourselves, yet Nat was just down the hallway from Drew’s room, and I…I spent the night with the Donovan brother I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. It was the hardest decision I have ever made in my life, being in love with both for so long, but it was one I had to make so the one who had to leave…could move on.
Could let me go and pursue his own life’s goals.
I loved them both – Nat and Drew in their own ways, but I had to let one of them go.
Nat had chosen a life’s path that placed him in constant danger, and Drew…Drew and I had an incredible chemistry and friendship that enhanced the love we have always had for each other for years.
After “choosing” Drew, and getting Nat’s blessing, in a way, Drew and I spent the night together. When we finally opened Drew’s bedroom door to see if he wanted to get something to eat, he was already gone.
Not a note or a letter as he usually leaves.
Not even a pen. The room was empty.
“Nat?” I called.
“Nat…” Drew joined in. “We’re getting something to eat. Want to come with us? Oh yeah, you’re not supposed to be seen with us…new identity, so do you want us to pick up something for you?”
Silence.
Drew took long strides into the Nat’s room, checking out the bedroom, the bathroom…anywhere where Nat could be, and walked over to me. “He’s gone.”
I walked into Nat’s room and looked everywhere as if I had to see it for myself instead of taking Drew’s word for it. It was empty.
“Maybe he just went out for an errand,” Drew said walking up to me from behind and placing his hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head. “No, I think this is it. Nat is going back to being his new identity.” I felt tears in my eyes. For one crazy, strange, and dangerous night; Drew and I got to see our old Nat once again. Now he was gone…and who knew when and if he would ever return to being our Nat again.
As I clutch his handwritten letter to me – he always wrote letters the old-fashioned way because he thought they were more personal, I had a strange but peaceful and warm feeling envelope me as though the letter provided this glow of light, of warmth. Our Nat was returning home as Nat. Finally Nat would be back.
Chapter 1
Drew
I didn’t think it would happen…that Summer would get a response to her invitation and letter sent through Lamar, Nat’s FBI contact, to Nat.
Dammit, Nat, it finally takes Summer and I getting engaged and getting married to get you to acknowledge our existence.
I knew Nat loved Summer something fierce, but I didn’t think that he would disappear the way he did upon finding out Summer chose me over him. And for ten Fucking Years!
As manly as I am, even I was devastated by his disappearance act. Gone once. Here again, and then gone in a blink of an eye. A real magician, my brother. Like some kind of modern ninja. Even the security cameras at our building Donovan Dynamics couldn’t capture him leaving the building. Whatever training he got from those ex-Seals, ex-Special Ops, ex-Best of the Best military guys when he went undercover to save Dad, it seemed he excelled in it, as he always did with everything.
Computer genius. High School football hero. Model perfect son to Mom. Dad’s right hand ma
n. And Summer’s first love and crush.
Nat was always that kind of guy. So…when he was set on disappearing from his old life as Nat Donovan, son and heir to Donovan Dynamics, he did a fine job disappearing too. A too good of a job that even our Tracers, the specialist we have at Donovan Dynamics, who are able to follow and find traces of any leads on people and information, couldn’t find Nat. I should know, the guy himself, trained them. So when Nat wanted to disappear, he disappeared. No question about it. Except when he wanted to be found. Ten freakin’ years, Nat! It took you that long to finally be able to accept Summer was now with me. Ten years was a very long time for all of us. I’ve finished college, finished getting my MBA from Stanford, took over as CEO of Donovan Dynamics for Dad so he could retire and look after Mom, and now have my own homes in the San Francisco Bay area, Malibu, New York, London, Paris, Hawaii, and wherever Summer and I wanted to spend time at together.
Summer…she was and still is the best thing that ever happened to me. She turned this scrappy bad boy into a man. I love her so much, I get tears just thinking about how much I do. She is my everything, and to me, ten years wasn’t even enough time for me to spend with her. To me, it would take a lifetime and more to ever get enough of her. If I was away from her for over ten years like Nat was, I would have changed so dramatically, I wouldn’t even recognize myself.
I wonder how he’d look. He had on a disguise last time I saw him that made him unrecognizable. If I saw him, would I even recognize him?
I wonder if he could recognize me or Summer or even our kid sister Rachel, who was still crazy as before, but now she gets to be crazy in the public eye as an actress on the small screen.
I wonder if he knew about Rachel’s success, about Mom’s progression, and of Summer becoming a neurosurgeon. I wonder if he ever bothered checking up on any of us, seeing how we were doing, seeing how we’ve grown.
He was my big brother, and I hate to admit that I missed him, but I did. It made me angry at him at first, but then again, if I had lost Summer to my own brother, as he did, I wouldn’t want to be around to see them together.
So…now that we have his attention, and he was coming back for our wedding, the big question remained…I wonder if he still feels the same way he did about Summer that many years ago.
And if he did, would I need to be worried?
Chapter 2
Summer
I never thought planning a wedding would be harder than brain surgery. But to me, it was. Thank God, Rachel was helping me with most of it. It was something she lived for, having become more of a girly girl than I could have ever imagined.
Gone was the heavy black eyeliner she used to wear as a goth, and gone was her school girl, punk rock outfit. She was now a beautiful stylish brunette with jet black flowing long hair, a curvy figure dressed in designer dresses, and a collector of beautiful shoes. The only reminder of her rebellious days as a teen was that streak of purple hair. It was still there, but blended in more with her black hair, tinted with a slight burgundy tone. Needless to say, she grew into her role of a billionaire daughter, and matched her twin brother Drew so well when they had to go into shareholders meetings, commanding the room with their striking jet black hair and sapphire blue eyes.
And her crush on Astor Fairway? It was something she barely told me or hinted to me about.
Guess she still thought there was something there with Astor for me or vice versa, but I never got a chance to really discuss it with her, although I could have sworn I saw a spark or two over the years between them.
“I swear,” I said to Rachel, who was sitting patiently on the creamy leather sofa in the bridal boutique, flipping through some fashion magazines as she waited for me to try on my hundredth dress. “I never had to go through more wedding dresses and dress changes than I had when I was styled to match Astor.”
Rachel smiled, her eyes lighting up with the mere mention of her favorite actor’s name. “Well, you know Astor, any woman who is to be seen with him had to look worthy of being with him. You would think.”
“Yes or suffer the ire of spurned girls all over the world,” I said.
Rachel laughed. “Thank God, that paparazzi-crazed days of Astor Fairway, teen heartthrob is over, and he could finally pursue other roles that were more meaningful to him.”
“He’s really grown as an actor these years,” I said. “His latest film is a contender for the Oscar. It blew me away. I love when he chooses a role in an independent film that has more meaning and substance over some of the big tent poles the studios had him in following the success of some superhero film. Not that it’s bad for his career or anything, but he really shines in these parts that shows off his acting chops from these indie gems.”
“Absolutely,” Rachel said, standing up and coming toward me. She walked all around me, her face serious for a second. “Hold on…hold it a minute, this dress…” her eyes went wide with excitement as she spread out her arms. “This dress is the one!”
“Really?” I turned around on the platform facing the 180 degree mirror. “It’s just a simple plain white silk strapless gown.”
“Exactly,” Rachel said, “It is pure innocence and romance. Simple and understated, a natural, like you didn’t fuss too much with it. You look darling in it, and it would be perfect for the beach wedding.”
“You know,” I said. “I was thinking about having a train, but when you reminded me that it was at the beach at the Pad, of course! It had to be this dress. No trains, easy to walk in bare-foot on the beach, and just there.”
“Just you, Summer,” Rachel said. “You don’t need a fancy dress to shine. In fact, that would only take away from your brilliance.” She looked at me with a wistful smile and said shakily, “My dream of having you as a real sister is finally coming true.”
I stepped off the platform and went to her, enveloping her in my arms. “Mine too. You’ve always been like a sister to me, and now, it’s becoming official.”
Rachel smiled as she quickly wiped away tears. Then she scolded me. “It’s about time! I don’t know why you and Drew kept us all waiting. It should have been years ago.”
“I know, Rachel,” I said. “I guess time just flew by when I was busy trying to skip grades in college and then getting myself buried in work at medical school and at the Academy. And Drew, it took so much for him to have to step into Nat and your father’s shoes at Donovan Dynamics. We barely saw each other sometimes… but now…”
Rachel hugged me tight, “I’m so happy you two are making it official finally. Mom and Dad will be so happy. And, well, although we didn’t have much time to plan this wedding…you gave me less than a month, I think I’ve got most of the details with the catering, and stuff down. Since it’s at the Pad and outdoors, we don’t have to worry about finding a place. We now have your dress. We’ve got the invites out. Your mom will officiate, and the reception afterwards…Astor has it taken care of.”
“Astor?” I asked.
“Oh yes, Astor is helping of course, Summer. You know he wouldn’t miss it for anything. He’s been so close to us for years. I’ve asked him to take charge of the catering.”
“Okay,” I said. “You can do whatever you like, wedding coordinator, even if it’s a ploy to see Astor more…”
Rachel blushed. “Who said I want to, and also, who said if I wanted to, I needed an excuse like this one to see him. As far as Astor Fairway and I…I’m tight-lipped. Especially since we’re both actors, and even the mention of us seeing each other or even as friends will send the press wild with some kind of scandal.”
I laughed. “Okay, I won’t pry. You always had your own way of doing things anyways so I’ll leave you at that.”
“Good,” Rachel said, “Because my love life is as complicated as it is, and I don’t need Astor making it even more complicated. Um, I hate to leave you, but since the wedding is next week, and you nearly gave me a heart attack worrying whether you will finally find your perfect dress, I have to go foll
ow up on everything. You know me, wedding coordinator and all, I’m on top of things!”
“Okay,” I said, watching her fly out of the bridal boutique. The owner of the boutique came around to help me unzip the dress. “I’ll take this one,” I said smiling.
“It does look beautiful on you, Miss Jones,” she said. “I’ve never seen a dress look so right on anyone. This is the one.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Can you have it delivered to my address in Malibu?”
“Of course,” the chic boutique owner said. “And don’t worry about it, Mr. Donovan has taken care of the bill.”
“Oh no,” I said. “I couldn’t. I make enough to pay for my own dress. Can you cancel his card and place it on mine?”
The woman looked surprised. “He would be very disappointed. He said it would be his wedding gift to you.”
“I can’t. Here’s my credit card,” I said, handing mine to her. “What’s the damage?”
“Are you sure?” the woman asked. “This is a one-of-a-kind London Lenore.”
I glanced down at the invoice she had placed with the dress and inhaled a sharp breath. $250,000 for this dress. “Oh My Gosh!” I said.
“Did you change your mind?” the woman asked.
“Is there another dress similar but for a fraction of the price?” I asked.
“I’m afraid not, and this dress, it’s just perfect for you.”
