What Happens in Summer

by Caridad Piñeiro

  “The plague couldn’t have cleared people out faster,” Jonathan said once they were all alone.

  “I guess they thought we might need some time to ourselves,” she said and motioned in the direction of the beach. “Would you join me for a walk?”

  “I’d love to,” he said and offered her his arm.

  They strolled down the lawn, across the boardwalk, and down to the sand. Connie paused to slip off her high heels and left them by the steps. Lately, her back ached after a day of heels, and she longed to sink her toes in the sand and maybe chase away the dull pain.

  “You okay?” he asked as he saw her wince.

  “Heels are killing me,” she admitted and watched as he toed off his dress shoes and socks.

  “Nothing better than barefoot,” he said, and she silently added, And pregnant.

  They ambled side by side quietly until the light started to dim with the coming of dusk.

  * * *

  While Jonathan loved nothing more than spending time with her, even in silence, there was so much he wanted to say to her. So much that he hoped would bring them back together. “How have you been?” he said, anxious to hear what had been happening to her during their time apart.

  “Busy.”

  Patience, he told himself. “Goodwyn been busting your chops again?”

  She shook her head, smiled, and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “I can happily say that I no longer work for that prick.”

  He stopped short and laid a hand on her arm when she continued walking. “You quit? Really?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I did. I decided they needed me more than I needed them.”

  “Epic. So where are you working now?” he asked, almost afraid to hear her answer. But as he glanced at her, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the mischievous grin on her face.

  “Actually, I don’t have another job. Not yet,” she said.

  The enormity of that blanked his mind. He let it settle in and said, “Connie Reyes, she of the plans and determination, doesn’t have a job? That’s too gnarly to believe.”

  She took hold of his hand and guided him in the direction of the steps to the Pierce home. She sat and patted the spot beside her. At his hesitation, she said, “You really need to sit to hear this.”

  He did as she asked, and as a sharp breeze suddenly swept off the water, she shivered beside him. He whipped off his jacket and slipped it over her shoulders.

  “Thanks,” she said and went on with her story before he could ask another question. “I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately. I realized that even if I got over this rough patch with Goodwyn, he’d never acknowledge all that I did for the firm. I also realized that if it were up to him, I’d never be able to represent my kind of client.”

  “Like the people you helped in Sea Kiss,” he said, understanding where she was coming from.

  “Like them and like all the other companies that just didn’t rate in some small minds. I had a headhunter searching for me, and he found some other firms that had a different mentality. They were interested in me, but I received a much more exciting offer.”

  His heart actually stopped for a moment as he waited for the details, and in that split second, he told himself that no matter where she was going, he would follow if she wanted him to. “Where was the offer? Boston?” he said, aware that she’d spent time there when she’d interned during one summer in law school.

  “Sea Kiss,” she said, surprising the shit out of him.

  “Sea Kiss,” he repeated shakily, unable to believe where she might be going with that decision.

  “You know the town council was so awed by the presentation I did for you that they asked me to interview for the township attorney’s position. I did, and they offered me the job, and I took it. It’s only part-time, but that’s okay. It will give me time with my private clients. In the last week or so, a number of those clients have left Goodwyn to come with me. Because of that, I was hoping you could help me with some things.”

  “Anything. Whatever you need,” he said eagerly, but he was not ready for what she did next.

  She got down on one knee on the sand in front of him. “I’ve always been kind of traditional, but I know you appreciate drawing outside the lines,” she said.

  It took him a second to realize what she was doing, and by then, she was saying, “Jonathan Pierce. Would you do me the honor of being my husband?”

  He was so honestly tongue-tied that he couldn’t speak. So he swept her up in his arms and kissed her, answering her in the only way he could at that moment. She kissed him back, laughter on her lips as she whispered, “I hope that’s a yes.”

  “Sweet lord, of course it’s a yes,” he said and reached into the pocket of the suit jacket he’d draped over her shoulders and extracted the velvet box. Popped it open to show her the diamond ring inside. “I’ve been holding on to this for weeks, hoping that there would be a right time to ask, but you beat me to it.”

  She grinned as he removed the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. “You know how determined I can be,” she said.

  “For sure.” He reached into an inside pocket of the jacket on her shoulders to take out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to her and said, “That’s why I was going to give this to you as well. I didn’t want you to have any doubts that I was here to stay.”

  Her hands shook as she unfolded the document. Shock filled her features as she read it. “It’s a deed to your family’s beach house. How?”

  He shrugged. “I made the old bastard an offer he couldn’t refuse. I’m hoping you’ll want to live here, but I also wanted to tell you that I would go anywhere you wanted to go. My home is anywhere I can be with you.”

  When she didn’t answer at first and just continued to stare at the deed, he plowed on. “I was hoping we could have our wedding here. Maybe one day, Maggie and Owen’s kids will be playing with ours down on the beach while us old folk sit on the sand and watch them.”

  She carefully folded the deed and handed it to him. “I would love to get married here. Live here or anywhere else with you, because I’m home when I’m with you.” She paused for a second and took hold of his hand. Brought it down to rest across the softness of her belly. “As for babies, we might have gotten a head start on Maggie and Owen.”

  Her words sank in slowly, joyfully. He pressed his hand against her and said, “No way. We’re going to have a baby?”

  “In about seven months, right around Memorial Day.”

  He cradled her head in one hand, wrapped his arm around her waist, and drew her even closer. “I love you, Reyes. I have since the day I first set eyes on you.”

  “I love you, Jon,” she said and undid the tie holding his hair back. As it fell free, she raked her hands through it and said, “I love that you’re a dreamer and that you have a heart as big as the ocean you love so much. I love that you can make me laugh and that you can make me burn for you.”

  “I plan on making that happen a lot before the baby gets here,” he said with a grin.

  “What’s stopping you right now?” she kidded and waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  “Excellent! I just love independent women.” He surged to his feet and carried her up the stairs and across the boardwalk. There were still sounds of activity from the Sinclair mansion, but no one was supposed to be in his home. Both his dad and Owen had known that he had planned to ask her to marry him after the wedding and that he might need some time alone.

  He threw open one of the side doors to the house and then kicked it closed behind them. He hurried with her up the stairs to his room and the immense king-sized bed in the center of the space.

  “Do you realize we’ve never made love here?” she said, peering around his bedroom and wrinkling her nose. “This looks like a sports bar married a tech center. We will definitely have to
redo this room.”

  “For real? Not even married and you’re already getting bossy?” he said as he let her slip to the ground in front of the bed, grabbed his suit jacket, and tossed it aside.

  “You’re totally going to like bossy. Now sit.” She pushed him playfully, and he sat on the edge of the bed and hauled her between his open legs. He laid his hand on her belly again, still in wonder at the fact that he was going to be a dad.

  “It’s still flat,” he said.

  “Some of my suits are already tight,” she groused. “So is this dress,” she added with a pout.

  “Then let me help you get comfortable,” he said and reached around her to draw down the zipper.

  The dress fell free, and he balanced her as she stepped out of the puddle of expensive raw silk. He carefully laid the dress aside and hardened at the sight of all her lush curves in nothing but dusky-rose lace and silk. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you’re even more beautiful now.”

  “I feel fat, and my back hurts a lot. My breasts are so sensitive.”

  “Are they now?” he said and didn’t wait for her answer. He leaned forward and sucked at one tip through the silk and lace, drawing a rough moan from her. As he cupped her other breast and her nipple peaked, he tweaked it, and she shuddered in his arms.

  “That feels so good,” she said.

  He undid her bra, baring her to him. He brought his mouth to her breasts again and suckled her. Touched her over and over while she cradled his head and swayed against him as her knees weakened.

  * * *

  Connie’s head was whirling from the sensations his loving was creating. Every tug and pull of his mouth, touch of his fingers, sent a blast of need straight to her core. She couldn’t last much longer and needed him with her.

  With unsteady fingers, she undid his shirt and pulled it off him, tearing the fabric in her haste. He helped her undo his pants, and she couldn’t even wait for him to have them off. She jerked down his briefs and freed him. Urged him down with her to the bed and guided him to her center.

  He locked his gaze on hers as he slowly eased into her until he was buried deep. Just the feel of him there, the pressure of him inside, had her climax rising faster than she could control. Sensing that, he said, “It’s okay, Connie. Let go, love. I’m here to catch you.”

  She came so hard and fast, the edges of her vision dimmed from the force of it, but he was there, holding her. Kissing the tears from her face and murmuring words of love. His tenderness slowly brought her back from the peak, but it wasn’t long before his slow caresses had her rising up again.

  He moved in her, seeking his release but taking her up with him again. This time, they both neared the edge together, and as they did, he leaned down and kissed her. Whispered against her lips, “I will love you forever.”

  “Forever,” she said, echoing his promise as they tumbled over together.

  Chapter 30

  Connie felt no shame as she, Jonathan, and Dudley walked into the Sinclair home the next morning for the brunch for those who had stayed overnight. Jonathan had leant her an oversized T-shirt and sweats to replace the dress she had worn the day before. Her high heels were probably still on the boardwalk steps, the leather ruined from the morning damp. Considering they were Jimmy Choos, she should have been upset, but she couldn’t be after the amazing night she had spent with Jonathan and the good news she had to share with her friends.

  Maggie and Owen were sitting at the table with the two dads. Connie was surprised that Robert was still there and that he and Bryce seemed to have buried the hatchet somewhere besides each other’s heads. Tracy was there sans husband, and hopefully there was no trouble brewing in that camp. Carlo was at the stove with Emma, helping her prep breakfast, looking so right together as they worked.

  Connie grew a little teary that her mother wasn’t going to be there, but a second later, Mrs. Patrick and her mother walked in together, chatting like old friends. At her confused look, Maggie said, “When the two of you went off together and didn’t come back last night, we figured there might be cause for celebration this morning.”

  “Thankfully, from the looks of the two of you, we weren’t wrong,” Tracy said.

  Connie held out her hand to display the beautiful diamond ring on her finger. “You weren’t wrong. I asked Jon to marry me, and he said yes.”

  Emma shook her head and pointed between the two of them, as if to confirm that she had heard right. “You asked him?”

  Jonathan grinned and nodded. “Yes, she did. My Connie is not as traditional as we all thought.”

  “Smart woman,” Carlo said and laid a hand on Emma’s shoulder in support as she teared up.

  Connie looked up at Jonathan, silently asking him to continue. He did a quick little bobble of his head, and still grinning, he said, “There’s more. Come Memorial Day or thereabouts, we’ll be having a very special celebration at our house next door.”

  “You bought the beach house? Father, you sold it to him?” Owen asked, happily surprised.

  “He made me a very generous offer. I intend to set up a trust fund for your children with the money, so you better get going. Bryce and I are eager to be grandparents,” his father explained.

  “You’ll get your wish sooner than you thought, Father. Connie and I are having a baby,” Jonathan said and wrapped his arm around her waist to splay his hand across her belly.

  The room erupted into all kinds of congratulatory celebration. Dudley hopped and yipped happily, sensing the happiness in the room. The women rushed forward to hug her and Jonathan while the men slapped him on the back as if he’d just won the lottery.

  And maybe he had. Maybe they had, she thought as he slipped his arms around her and drew her close as everyone sat back down around the table, except Emma and Carlo, who went back to prepping the brunch fare.

  “Not so fast, you two,” Connie said, drawing Emma’s and Carlo’s attention. “Even if I have to walk down the aisle six months pregnant, I want the two of you to plan the wedding.”

  “The most epic of all weddings,” Jonathan tacked on.

  Emma and Carlo shared a look. Tears shimmered in Emma’s eyes again as she said, “We will give you the most excellent wedding possible for two amazing people.”

  “But it won’t take months and months. How does a Christmas wedding sound?” Carlo said.

  Jonathan hugged her lovingly. “It sounds better than any gift I could ever get under the tree.”

  Epilogue

  Connie held her breath as she gazed out at the rows of chairs filling the open area of the Pierce beach house. All the furniture had been moved out to accommodate guests. Besides, she and Jonathan had decided the house needed a total makeover to bring it back to life. The only things that would remain were the wonderful landscapes that his mother had done and had been hanging in the home for so long.

  His mother, Genevieve, whom Connie had met when she, Jonathan, Maggie, and Owen had flown out to meet her and Thomas. It had been an emotional time for all but a good first step in rebuilding the Pierce family.

  Now, just over two weeks later, Genevieve had flown in for the wedding and was sitting in the front row, but not next to Robert Pierce. There was still too much hurt there that Connie hoped would heal in time. Maybe with the arrival of the baby, she thought and rubbed her hand across the organza overlay of the blush gown.

  “Mija, don’t worry,” her mother said from beside her.

  “I want everything to go right,” she said and glanced back at Maggie and Tracy as they stood beside Owen, Jonathan’s business partner Andy, and Carlo, who Jonathan had asked to be his groomsmen. Emma was off to the side with Carlo, looking slightly harried, and Connie suspected it was about more than just the wedding plans. Her friends had managed to put together everything for the wedding in just over a month, well in advance of Christmas.

 
As Carlo hurried away to deal with something, Connie excused herself and walked over to Emma. She hugged her and said, “Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.”

  “I know. I just need to make sure everything’s under control,” Emma replied, her voice cracking with emotion.

  Connie drew her in tighter and laid her cheek against Emma’s. She stroked one hand down her back to soothe her. “Hey, Auntie Em,” she teased.

  “Dear God, please do not call me that, although with all of you married, I do feel like I’m lost in some other world,” her friend confessed.

  “Nothing will change, Em. If anything, you’re going to get to see more of me for sure since we’ll be neighbors.”

  “There is that,” her friend grudgingly admitted.

  “And you know Maggie will be coming down more often too. And I suspect Tracy will be needing us.” She shot a look back at her friend who had come alone to the wedding.

  Emma glanced toward her friend. As hard as Tracy had been trying to hide it, not all was right in her world. “Yes, she’ll need us, and we’ll be there, right?”

  Connie nodded. The front door opened a second later, letting a sharp gust of cold air blast into the foyer where they were waiting before heading down the aisle. Carlo came in brushing snowflakes off the dark fabric of his dark-gray suit.

  “Great. Snow. What else will go wrong today?” Emma groused and rolled her eyes.

  “The drivers said not to worry. It’s only flurries,” Carlo said, referring to the trolley operators who would be ferrying the guests from the Pierce home to the old guitar building for the wedding reception. The main floor had been totally renovated just in time for the early December ceremony. By Memorial Day, they hoped to have the building open and ready for business.

  “Everything will be totally fine today, because I’m getting married, Em. Getting married! Can you believe it?” she said to alleviate her friend’s worry.