“I will. Don’t give the doctors such a hard time. They’re only trying to help you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said. “I love you, squirt.”
“Love you too,” she said and felt like she was on the verge of tears. Again. “Dammit.” Placing the phone down, she slid to the floor next to Gabriella.
Pulling Summer close again, Gabriella said, “Yeah. I know.”
* * *
The next morning, Summer opened the door, expecting it to be the movers. Instead, she found Gabriella standing there looking tall and glamorous, holding a tray with two Starbucks cups and a bag she could only hope contained muffins.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Summer said, still surprised.
“Why yes, I will come in. Thank you,” Gabriella said with a smile as she stepped around her. Walking directly to the kitchen, she placed the drink tray and the bag down before unwrapping her silk scarf from around her neck. Maylene was dancing and barking around her ankles, and she bent down to pet the puppy on the head. “Who’s a pretty girl? Huh? Who’s a pretty girl?”
Summer walked over to peek in the bag and smiled before remembering she was supposed to be annoyed. “We said our good-byes last night and it was horrible. Why are we going to torture ourselves again?” The puppy pranced over to Summer now and danced on her hind legs in hopes of getting in on the action.
“Because you shouldn’t be here alone.” And there it was in a nutshell.
Summer leaned on the counter, her face in her hands. “I really thought I would have heard from him by now.” Something in her voice signaled to Maylene that now was not a good time to play. She sat down regally at Summer’s feet and watched.
There was no question as to who “him” was. “I know you did.”
“And now I’m leaving,” she sighed and reached into the bag and grabbed a muffin.
Gabriella snatched the muffin from her hands.
“Hey!”
“This is exactly what I said to you last night. You need to get off the damn fence, Summer,” she said with a little more annoyance than she had intended. “Besides, the blueberry one is mine. There’s a chocolate chip one in there for you.”
“I’m not on the fence,” Summer said defiantly, grabbing the elusive muffin. “I just…I just thought…” She placed it none too gently on the counter. “How could he proclaim his love for me, and tell me how sorry he is and he’ll do anything to convince me to stay, and then just let me leave?”
“I honestly think for such an intelligent family, you Montgomerys are so clueless sometimes.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Gabriella sighed and placed her own muffin down before getting their cups out of the cardboard tray and handing Summer hers. “Did it ever occur to you that was his grand gesture?”
“What? Letting me leave? How is that a grand gesture?”
“Again, clueless.” And to make her suffer, Gabriella made a big show of taking a bite of her blueberry muffin and then a long sip of her latte. When she was satisfied that Summer’s head looked like it was about to explode, she placed her cup down, wiped her mouth daintily with a napkin, and explained, “He didn’t want you to go. He told you that flat-out, right?” Summer nodded. “But you, in your infinite wisdom, decided you needed to go back east and get your head together. Am I correct?” Again, Summer nodded. “You and I both know that if he wanted to, he could have convinced you to stay. It probably wouldn’t have taken much on his part either. But did he? Did he try to manipulate you? No. He’s giving you the space you said you need. Why? Because he loves you.”
The muffin was like sawdust in her mouth. If it weren’t for the fact that it was chocolate and so bad for the dog, she would have thrown it to the floor. “You really think so?”
“I’ve had to sit at my desk and watch him at work every day since then, Summer. He’s a mess.”
“Really?” she squeaked, knowing it was foolish to be happy that Ethan was miserable because of her, but she couldn’t help herself.
“You haven’t been fifteen in a long time. Please don’t go back there now,” Gabriella said and took another sip of her drink. “The way I see it, you have two options.”
“I’m listening.”
“One, go on with your plans. Go back to North Carolina and get yourself situated. Take a little time to get your head together so you won’t have any doubts about how you feel about Ethan and about your future with him.”
Summer considered it and then glanced at Gabriella. “And what’s plan B?”
“Plan B is get off your butt and go tell him right now that you’re sorry and you love him and you don’t really want to go back to North Carolina. Not permanently and not without him.”
Both plans had merit in Summer’s eyes, but before she could choose, there was a loud knock at the door. She looked anxiously at Gabriella. “What do I do?”
She shook her head. “The decision has to come from you. It’s what you’ve wanted all along, isn’t it? The freedom to make your own decisions without everyone else telling you what to do?”
Another knock. “I hate it when you’re right.” Another knock. “Oh God. I have to let them in. They’re here to take all my stuff back to North Carolina!”
“You can always tell them you changed your mind,” Gabriella suggested, her eyes twinkling.
Another knock. All her life, Summer had been impulsive. It came naturally to her. Thinking and planning and waiting were so not her thing. For the most part it worked for her, but with something as important as this, as important as her future, she wasn’t willing to take that risk. Her eyes said it all as she looked at Gabriella before walking to the door.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said to the two men standing there. “Everything’s right through here.” She led them around and pointed everything out to them before heading back to the kitchen.
“So you’re going.”
“I’m going.”
“Well…damn,” Gabriella said, crossing her arms and leaning against the countertop. “I really thought the muffins were going to change your mind.”
“I did too. But just for a minute. I don’t want anyone accusing me of jumping in and being impulsive. When things go wrong, it’s the first thing I hear.”
“You’d never hear it from me.”
Summer smiled. “I know. You’re such a good friend.” She walked over and hugged her fiercely. “You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you.”
“I do know, because it’s the same for me.” Behind them, the men started moving the furniture and boxes out, and Summer and Gabriella silently finished their breakfasts.
A couple of hours later, the place was completely empty. Summer did a final walk through with Maylene in her arms. They had only lived there a short time together, but it still felt bittersweet. “Our next place will have a yard for you,” she said to the puppy and kissed her little head. She received a snort in return.
“Are you going to be okay?” Gabriella asked, standing in the doorway of the bedroom, watching her friend walk around.
“Eventually,” Summer said sadly. “I knew this wasn’t going to be my forever place, but a lot happened here and I’m sad to leave it.”
There were a million things Gabriella wanted to say. She knew Summer was in pain and this was a very emotional time for her. So rather than lecture and offer suggestions, she opted simply to offer her support.
Walking into the room, she took the puppy from her arms. “C’mon. You’re supposed to meet Mark in an hour.” She looked around the room. “Are you taking anything on the plane with you?”
Summer nodded to the corner of the room where a single suitcase stood. “Just that. I left the majority of my clothes back at my parents’ place. I’m probably going to crash there for a day or two. Visit my mom. Hopefully I’ll get to see Ca
sey and the baby, and Selena too.” She took another look around. “It’ll be good.” Maybe if she said it enough, she’d actually start to believe it.
“Okay, then. Let’s get this show on the road. Do you want me to drive you to the airport?”
Summer shook her head. “I really need for this to be good-bye.” She looked sadly up at her friend. “Because if you’re at the airport with me, I’m not going to want to get on the plane.”
“Good,” she said with a nod. “Because chances are if I got you in my car, I wouldn’t take you to the airport. I’d pull a Thelma and Louise and keep driving until you saw reason.” They both laughed.
Then they both cried a little.
And then they walked out of the condo and out to their cars.
“What are you going to do with your car?” Gabriella asked.
“I’ve made arrangements with the dealer to come and pick it up at the airport. He’ll sell it for me.”
“Oh. That’s good.” They stood and looked at one another for a long time. The moving truck had pulled away and it was fairly quiet. “I’m not saying good-bye.”
“Me either.”
“I’m going to come and visit.”
“You better.”
“Be happy, Summer,” Gabriella said and turned quickly to get into her car. Summer stood frozen in place. Those had been the exact words Ethan said to her before he left.
Be happy. It seemed like such a simple thing, and yet Summer had to wonder if it was even going to be possible. In her head she knew she was doing the responsible thing. But her heart was saying something completely different. Maybe once she was home and surrounded by her mother and her sisters-in-law, they’d help her to find the right perspective.
Maybe.
Securing Maylene in her kennel in the backseat, she climbed in and took one last look at the condo where she’d lived when her life had changed so much. It wasn’t that long ago when she’d moved in and felt completely full of hope. And now here she was leaving it and feeling more or less hopeless.
“Sitting here and staring at it isn’t going to change anything,” she said softly and started the car. The clock showed she was due to meet Mark in a little less than forty minutes. The drive to the airport was going to take at least thirty. With a final look, she said good-bye to her little home and pulled away.
* * *
“What do you mean the plane’s not here?” Summer said with more than a hint of frustration. “It’s not possible. I spoke to the pilot earlier and confirmed our flight. Was there some sort of problem?”
The attendant behind the counter typed something into the computer before turning her attention back to Summer. “I don’t see that this flight was even scheduled, Miss Montgomery. Are you sure it’s for today?”
She wanted to bang her head against the counter. “Yes, I’m sure it’s for today. I’m moving across the country so I know I didn’t get the dates wrong.” She began to search frantically through her purse for her phone to try to call Mark. Clearly there was some sort of misunderstanding.
“You’ll need to step to the side to make your call, ma’am,” the attendant said. “There are people waiting behind you.”
Summer glared at the woman and swung her purse over her shoulder before reaching down to pick up Maylene’s kennel, all the while mumbling about how rude people were and how she was going to kill Mark when she got him on the line.
Kennel in hand, phone at her ear, Summer turned and immediately slammed into someone. “Oh, sorry,” she said softly without bothering to look up.
“Can I give you a hand with some of this?” a deep, masculine voice asked.
Her head shot up and she found herself face-to-face with Ethan. “What…what are you doing here?” she asked lamely.
“I would think that’s obvious,” he said, staring down at her.
“Obvious?”
He nodded. “You’re supposed to leave today, aren’t you?”
She nodded.
“Well, I’m here to stop you.” His words were said so simply, so lightly, Summer thought she misunderstood him.
“Stop me?” she parroted again and realized she was beginning to sound like a complete idiot. “I don’t… How?”
“I’m the reason Mark isn’t here.” He actually sounded proud of himself. “There was a client who needed to be picked up, so we sent him to take care of it.”
“Oh.” Her whole body was trembling. She was nervous, anxious, and more than a little excited. For a week she had dreamed of Ethan showing up and carrying her away. He was here but so far there was very little carrying. They stepped aside to let the next person in line get to the counter. She gently placed Maylene’s kennel on the ground and then straightened and crossed her arms over her chest. “I can just find a commercial flight then,” she challenged.
Ethan stepped in close. Really close. “No.” Her eyebrows rose at his one-word response but she remained silent. “Not gonna happen, Summer.”
Well, if he wasn’t going to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off, then she was starting to get annoyed. “Oh, really? You can’t possibly buy up all of the open tickets that would get me back to North Carolina. Eventually, you’ll have to let me go.”
“Never,” he said quietly, calmly. “I’ll never let you go. I never should have walked away when you told me you were leaving. I thought I was doing the right thing. I wanted to give you what you said you wanted, but in the process, it was killing me.” He reached out and cupped her face in his hands. “I love you. I’ve had to wait a long time to be able to say that and now that I can, I want to say it every day. All the time. If you’ll let me.”
Everything inside of her softened and she swayed toward him. “I love you too,” she said and felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off her. “I should have said it the other day in Zach’s office. Hell, I should have said it back at the springs. I was just as scared as you were, Ethan. But I’m not scared of it anymore. The only thing that scares me is living without you.”
And then he did swoop in and scoop her up in his arms, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around before he stopped and looked deep into her eyes. “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
Placing her on her feet, Ethan pulled her tightly into his embrace, then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He gently nipped and licked at her lips until she sighed and opened for him. Summer was so lost in the sensation, she didn’t notice the action going on around her, as Maylene was whisked away by a porter. Her arms came up around his shoulders and she pressed up against him. Over and over again he slanted his mouth over hers, letting their tongues duel one another until she thought she’d lose her mind.
Quick as lightning, he stooped down and picked Summer up, tossed her over his shoulder, and began to stalk to the exit. “Ethan!” she squealed. “Put me down!”
“Not a chance,” he said and continued walking, paying no attention to the odd looks they were getting from the people around them.
“I can’t believe you’re acting like a caveman in the middle of the airport!”
“I thought you liked it when I acted like a caveman,” he teased and let out a little growl to add to the moment.
“Ethan,” she said with a laugh. “My luggage…my…my dog! Oh my gosh! Where’s Maylene?”
“In the car.”
“Wait…what?” Summer tried to look over her shoulder at him, but Ethan’s gaze was fixed on the door and getting them out of the airport. She was going to question him more, but they were suddenly outside and he was lowering her to the ground next to a black limousine. She looked from the car to Ethan and back again.
And smiled.
“Pretty confident, weren’t you?”
He shrugged. “Hopeful. I was hopeful. Now, are you going to get in, or do I need to carry you in myself?”
> She giggled. She honestly and truly giggled like a young girl and was almost mortified by the sound. Her hand flew to her mouth and she said, “I’m going, I’m going.”
He leaned in close and nuzzled her neck. “That’s a shame because I was looking for another reason to get my hands on you.”
“Well, let’s get in the car and close the privacy glass and then your hands can do whatever they want.” His gaze heated and he managed to keep his hands to himself until they were in the car and the door was closed. “Oh, wait!” she said when he reached for her.
“Now what?”
“All of my stuff. It’s all on its way to North Carolina already. I know it’s supposed to take a few days but—”
“It’s not a problem,” he interrupted.
“I’m sure my mom will sign for it and all but—”
“I’m telling you it’s not a problem.”
“I’ll have to call her and let her know when it will be there.”
“Summer!” he snapped playfully. “Would you be quiet for just one minute and listen to me?” Her mouth instantly shut and she looked at him with big eyes. “Your things aren’t going to North Carolina.” Her brow furrowed as she continued to look at him. “I took care of that too. That truck is currently unloading all of your things at my place.”
If she didn’t love him so much, she might have been angry at his high-handedness. Instead, she launched herself across the seat at him until she was fully on top of him and he was reclined against the seat. “Like I said, pretty confident, weren’t you?”
Ethan’s hand reached around and anchored itself in her long blond hair. “Yeah.” That was it. He was done talking. She was here with him, and he wasn’t going to let her go. Ever. Gently, he guided her face down until their lips met and then he kissed her with all of the pent-up longing and frustration he had felt for the last week. She melted against him, and Ethan knew this wasn’t the place for what was going through his mind but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.
Meant for You Page 27
