Please Don't Say Goodbye (Summer Lake Seasons Book 7)

by SJ McCoy

  ~ ~ ~

  Donovan’s heart clenched tight in his chest when she nodded. He’d thought that she was going to dismiss his words, but she didn’t. She smiled. She knew that he’d spoken the truth. She felt it too. They really had made love to each other. Up until now he wasn’t sure if that phrase was just a euphemism—a more acceptable way to describe the physical act of two bodies giving and taking pleasure. Now, he got it. It was so much more, so much deeper than just having sex.

  He rolled to the side and wrapped her up in his arms. It didn’t matter how fast this might seem, it was right. She was his, she was everything. She and Skye were his future. He knew it, and he couldn’t wait for them to build their life together.

  She pressed her face into his neck, making his arms tighten around her.

  “Are you okay in there?”

  He could feel her smile as she nodded, but she didn’t look up at him.

  “What?” He asked with a smile.

  She pressed closer and shook her head.

  “Tell me?”

  “I feel stupid.”

  “Well, don’t. Whatever it is, just say it.”

  She spoke against his neck, her breath sending shivers racing all over him. “I feel like Skye.”

  He chuckled. “You remind me of Skye the way you’re burying your face like that. You call her sweetie. You’re a little sweetie, too.”

  She peeked up at him before pressing her face back into his neck before she spoke again. “No. Skye’s just sweet and soft. I’m kind of hard.”

  He held her tighter. “Only because you’ve had to be.” He smiled as a thought struck him. “Hard on the outside isn’t a bad thing anyway. You’re a Jellybean!”

  Her shoulders shook as she laughed. “A Jellybean?”

  “Yeah. You’re hard on the outside, hard and pretty. And on the inside, you’re just sweet and soft.”

  She pressed a kiss against his neck. “Thank you. I like that.”

  “So, Jellybean. Before I distracted us, you said you felt stupid. Want to tell me what that was about?”

  She sighed. “I feel stupid because I’m letting myself get carried away here. I’ve fallen for you and I think it’s going to break my heart when you say goodbye.”

  He tucked his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him. “That’s the whole point, Elle. I don’t ever want you to feel that way, I don’t want Skye to ever feel that way again. When I say I love you, I mean I don’t ever want to say goodbye to you. You’re it for me. You and her? You’re who I want to share my life with, who I want to build my life around.”

  She searched his face. “I know that’s the way love’s supposed to work but … well, I’ve never seen it work that way, not in my life. It didn’t for my parents.”

  He held her closer. “Your old life is behind you now.” As he said it, Leanne’s words came back to him and he could only hope that he was right. “I think your mom and Cal are living proof that love can work out that way. And we’re on the same path, Elle.”

  Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him. He didn’t get why that should be such a surprise—until it hit him; she’d told him that Cal was going to propose to her mom. He smiled. “I don’t want to rush you down that path, but I’d like to think that we’re at least on it?”

  She nodded slowly and then smiled. “I’d like for us to be.”

  He relaxed. They’d come a long way; much further and much faster than he would have dreamed. Much faster than he would have gone if he’d stopped to think about it, but he was glad that they had. “Then we are. And we can take it at whatever pace we want.”

  She nodded again.

  “Do you mind if ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “I get why you didn’t want to introduce me to your dad this weekend. But do you think …” He was going too fast again, but it was important to him. “How would you feel about telling your mom and Cal about us?” He knew that Cal was keeping an eye on him, and he didn’t like feeling that they were sneaking around.

  He tensed when she blew out a sigh. “It’s not that I’m trying to hide you or anything. You already know Mom’s in your corner. And Cal will be, too. I have no doubt. But would you mind if we wait?”

  He frowned. He couldn’t help it. “If that’s what you want.”

  She looked up at him and planted a kiss on his lips. “I’m not trying to hide you. It’s just … Can we tell them after next weekend? After Cal asks mom to marry him? Maybe it’s stupid, but Mom’s always put me and Skye before herself. I want to let her focus on being happy and then thrilled—I know she will be—when Cal asks her. Cal’s going to be fine with you. But it might take him a minute, and I don’t want us to be what they spend their time talking about next week. Cal’s building up to asking her to marry him and she’s relaxing into enjoying being with him.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you mind?”

  He shook his head. “Of course not. I love that you’re thinking about your mom and not wanting to detract from her in any way.”

  “But?”

  He gave her a wry smile. “It’s just that Cal’s already keeping an eye on me. I don’t want him to think that I’m sneaking around behind his back. I want to be upfront about us.” He chuckled. “My intentions are honorable. But I doubt that he’d believe that since he doesn’t even know that we’re seeing each other. And I can’t say that I blame him—not when I’m lying here in your bed with you.”

  She chuckled, too. “Yeah. You make a good point.” Her smile faded. “Would it be too difficult for you to wait until after next weekend?”

  “No.” He didn’t like the idea, but he understood her reasoning. “Can we tell them after that though?”

  “I can’t wait to. Mom already has a fair idea. And Cal will be fine—especially if we tell them together. Mom says he thinks a lot of you.”

  Donovan smiled at that, but then his heart sank. “Maybe I should go.”

  He loved the way she tightened her arms around him. “Why? I thought you were going to stay and see Skye.”

  “I think that’s exactly what I shouldn’t do. If I’m still here when she gets up, what are the odds that she might just say something about it in front of her grandpa?” He shuddered.

  “Oh. You’re right.” She hugged him tighter, and he dropped a kiss on her lips.

  “I don’t want to go. But I think I should.”

  She nodded. “Yeah. But after next weekend—”

  “After next weekend, we tell them and then, as far as I’m concerned, we tell the whole world that we’re together.”

  She nodded happily. “I can’t wait.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Elle was surprised when the backdoor to the breakroom opened and her mom came in.

  “Hey. I thought Cal would be dropping you off. Did you drive?”

  “I did. I’d forgotten that he’s taken the day off today to finish painting.” She laughed. “When I realized that, I wondered about coming over to the house this morning. But I wasn’t sure …” She raised an eyebrow.

  It was her way of asking if Donovan had stayed the night. But after their talk this morning, Elle didn’t want to tell her that he had. She was probably just being stupid, but she didn’t want to steal her mom’s thunder. If she told her about Donovan, they’d have to tell Cal, it wouldn’t be right not to. Then she had no doubt that Cal would want to talk to Donovan, and it would shift at least some of his focus away from her mom and popping the question. Maybe she was just overthinking it all, but she didn’t want to risk doing anything that might take the shine off the next week for her mom and Cal.

  “It was better that you got to spend a bit longer with Cal,” she said with a smile. “I made the coffee already do you want one?”

  “Thanks, sweetheart.” Her mom didn’t seem to notice that she’d deliberately changed the subject. “Have you heard anything from your dad?”

  Elle made a face. “No. And I left him another mess
age last night. If he’s not coming, then he’s just going to have to wait.”

  “I never thought I’d say this, but I really hope he comes this weekend.”

  Elle felt bad. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s not a problem really. It’s just that Cal …” Her mom shook her head. “It’s not like him, but he’s making this housewarming thing into a big deal. And he’s not happy that your dad might be here. I don’t see why.”

  Elle felt even worse. There was no way she could let her dad spoil it for them. She touched her mom’s arm. “I’m with Cal. I don’t want him to mess up your party either.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded. She could hardly tell her why. “Think about it. How happy would you be if his ex was going to be in town the very first time you guys do something like that as a couple?”

  Her mom blew out a sigh. “Yeah. I wouldn’t be thrilled either. Anyway. Enough talk about all that. What do we have on the books today?”

  “It’s a busy one. You’ve got yourself on till five-thirty, is that okay?”

  “It is, but I’d like to start cutting back. Cal was talking about it the other night. He’s only supposed to be working part time and he asked if I might be able to do that, too.” She smiled. “So that we can start going on adventures.”

  Elle grinned. “You should! I’ve been trying to learn everything as fast as I can and see what I can do to build the business up, you know, bring in more so that you can do less. And I’ve been wondering if I should ask you about bringing someone in. What do you think?”

  “I think that’d be great—at some point. But right now, I don’t think we have the clientele to support it.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that, too. If you want to cut your hours back, then some of your clients would need to go to the new stylist. I wouldn’t mind being able to finish earlier at least a couple of days a week, so that I could get a little more time with Skye. And I’ve been looking online and I think if we bring someone in who’s a nail-tech, too …”

  Her mom raised an eyebrow.

  “I’ve looked into it, Mom. I could get a loan to get all the supplies I need to set it up. And I used to do nails in the city. Between me and a new girl, I think we could do well. Everyone who sees my nails wants to know where I get them done. They all say they wished there were somewhere in town.”

  Her mom wrapped her in a hug. “That’s a great idea, Elle. All except the loan part.”

  Elle’s heart sank. “I can’t do it otherwise. I’m doing well now that I’m back here but being with Tristan left me pretty broke.”

  Her mom scowled. “I’ve been trying to avoid that subject. But do you have debts?”

  “No!”

  Her mom gave her the look. The one that told her she’d better not be lying.

  “I don’t! Honestly. But …” She blew out a sigh. “Tristan does. And he used my card to make some payments—I didn’t even know about it until they started calling me wanting to collect.”

  Her mom rolled her eyes. “They can’t collect a damned thing from you, not unless your name is on the loan, too. Is it?”

  Elle shook her head rapidly. “No! He asked me to co-sign a bunch of things with him, but I never did.” She gave her mom a half-smile, hoping to calm her down. “You taught me well about not going into debt. I even had some decent savings till I met him.”

  Her mom rolled her eyes. “If he used your card to make payments without you knowing, how likely do you think it is that he put your name on loans without you knowing, too?”

  Elle’s heart hammered. She felt stupid. He probably had. She met her mom’s gaze and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Her mom touched her arm. “Have you pulled your credit report?”

  “No.”

  “Well, I think we should. We’ll get you straightened out.”

  “I can do it!”

  “I know. I’m not saying that you can’t. What I’m saying is that I want to help. Is this what you’ve been hiding from me? You know I never liked him. I’ve been worried that he …” She shook her head. “Taking your money’s bad enough. But if that’s the worst of what he did to you then I’m grateful.”

  Elle nodded. It was better to let it go at that.

  “Anyway. We only got onto that subject because I wanted to say that if you want to set up a nail bar in here, you don’t need to take out a loan. It’s part of the business. It’s an investment. You take the money out of the business account, okay? And even if you want to set it up as your own separate business, and that might not be a bad idea, then the only loan you’re getting is from me, okay?”

  She had to smile. “You do that you know, Mom. You sound like you’re nagging, but all you’re really doing is trying to force a good idea onto a daughter who you think might be too dumb to accept it.”

  “I don’t think you’re dumb, sweetheart. You’re not. But sometimes you let your pride get in the way.”

  “It’s not pride.” Elle had to blink away the tears that pricked behind her eyes.

  “What is then?” Her mom came toward her looking worried.

  Elle threw her arms around her as the words came out on a sob. “I just don’t ever want to let you down.”

  Her mom hugged her tight and stroked her hair, reassuring her just like she had ever since she was a little girl. “You could never let me down, sweetheart. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Mom.” She stepped back when the doorbell sounded out front.

  Her mom winked at her. “Okay. We’ve said what we need to. Let’s get on with the day.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Donovan only hesitated for a moment before he knocked on Ryan’s office door. He wasn’t looking forward to this, but he’d told Elle he’d do it so here he was.

  If Manny had been free, he would have gone to talk to him instead. In fact, when Brayden had told him earlier that Manny should be around later, he’d decided to wait. But then Leanne had said that she had a meeting with him and Dan all afternoon about re-organizing the teams. She still hadn’t told him anymore about him possibly getting a promotion and more autonomy, but he knew her, and he trusted her. He was happy to wait. Especially since he had more important business on his mind right now.

  “Come in.”

  “Hey, do you have a few minutes?”

  Ryan gave him a puzzled look. “Sure. Come on in. Take a seat. What can I do you for? Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Everything’s great. At least with work it is. But this isn’t about work.”

  Ryan frowned and leaned forward on his desk. “You’d better tell me what it is about then.”

  Shit. He didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot here. He could only hope that Ryan didn’t think he was here to talk about Leanne. When he and Leanne had first come to the lake, she’d given Ryan the impression that they were together. Ryan hadn’t bought it, not completely, but Donovan knew he was still a little leery of him.

  He gave Ryan what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “It’s about Cal.”

  Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked relieved. “What about him?”

  Donovan blew out a sigh. “Can I talk to you in confidence?”

  “I don’t know. That’ll depend on what you have to say.”

  Donovan let out a short laugh. “Fair enough. I’ll just throw myself on your mercy then. If you tell him and he wants to tear me limb from limb, I’ll at least know that I died trying to do the right thing.”

  Ryan let out a genuine laugh at that. “He’s a very reasonable human being. Nowhere near as scary as he seems.”

  Donovan nodded. “I keep hearing that, but it’s a bit different when you’re sitting where I am.”

  Ryan smiled. “He’s not really against you seeing Elle, you know. He’s just looking out for her. It’s his nature to watch over his people, that’s all.”

  Wow. Donovan hadn’t expected that Ryan would know that much—let alone say it. “Thanks. But it’s not even about that
.”

  “What then?”

  “Elle’s worried that her dad might come to town next weekend. And if he does, he might spoil Cal’s …” he almost said proposal, but he caught himself and changed tack. “His housewarming.”

  Ryan smirked. “Yeah. And spoiling a housewarming party would be a big deal, right?”

  Donovan rolled his eyes. “Okay. You got me. I know what he’s planning, but I’m also very aware that I shouldn’t know. What matters is that Elle’s upset because she doesn’t want her dad to go spoiling the big day for her mom or for Cal.”

  Ryan blew out a sigh. “Sorry. I couldn’t help playing with you. But I’m glad you’re here. You should set her mind at ease. Cal already knows that he might show up. He won’t allow the guy to spoil anything. He’s more concerned about Elle. He wants to get her moved into her new place and obviously, he wants her to be at the party. He’s just worried that she might feel torn if her dad’s here at the same time that’s all going on. I tell you; I wouldn’t want to be that guy if he does show up.”

  “If I didn’t already despise him, I’d almost feel sorry for him.”

  “You despise him?”

  Shit. He shouldn’t have said that. He was giving away the fact that he knew what her dad was like—and that raised the question of how close he and Elle were. She might want to keep it quiet for a while, but he wasn’t going to lie. He met Ryan’s gaze and shrugged.

  To his relief, Ryan laughed. “Hey, you’re not going to get any shit from me. You know I’d be happy to hear that you got together with her.” He held a hand up before Donovan could say anything—not that he’d been about to. “I told you, Cal will be fine with it once he gets over his protective thing. He’s just looking out for her, that’s all. But if you and she are close enough that she’s sharing all this kind of stuff with you, then you might want to man-up and tell Cal that you’re seeing her.”

  Donovan’s fist slammed down on the desk before he knew what he was doing. “I want to tell him! I hate that he doesn’t know!” He caught himself and sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not a pussy, even though I know it must look that way. Elle doesn’t want anything to detract from her mom and Cal. She’s the one who wants to keep it quiet until after they’re engaged.”