Sweeter in the Summer

by Olivia Miles

  Sam may have ruined her hope for a second chance for them, but he wasn’t going to take a second chance away from Sunshine Creamery.

  Grabbing the papers, Lila stuffed them into a folder and grabbed her bag. “Meeting,” she explained to Penny as she hurried back to the front door. She reached for the handle, but the door pushed open before she could turn the knob. She stepped back with growing impatience, desperate to be on her way, to be the first party there, with any luck, to beat Sam at his own game.

  The door creaked, inching open, forcing Lila’s attention. She felt the color leave her face as a man appeared in the frame.

  It was Sam.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Lila demanded, blocking his path into the waiting room of her office. She raked her eyes over him, noting the suit, the tie, and felt her anger boil to the surface. He was ready for the big meeting with Reed, while she was left in a pink sundress and flip-flops and a folder full of haphazard scribbles.

  Sam didn’t flinch. He didn’t smile. He didn’t even blink. He just stared at her with those piercing blue eyes and that little pinch between his brows that made her have a way of doubting herself. She stood a little straighter, recalling his silence, the numerous phone calls that had gone ignored. The meeting he’d rescheduled with Reed. Behind her back.

  “I have to be somewhere,” Lila said, pushing past him into the vestibule. She stopped and nailed him with a hard look. “And according to Jeremy Reed, you do, too.”

  His eyes flickered, but that was all he gave away. “Lila, five minutes, please.”

  Lila stared at him heavily, hedging her position. There was only one thing he could say right now that could take it all back, and he wasn’t going to say it. He couldn’t say it. He didn’t have it in him.

  Sam wasn’t a man who lived by his heart. Sam didn’t even have a heart. She of all people should know that by now. For someone who wanted so desperately to be accepted by their father, he’d done a mighty fine job of proving he was a Crawford.

  “Sorry, Sam. I’ve wasted enough time on you.” The words were out, clear and crisp in delivery. She could do this—she had to. She couldn’t let her guard down again. Not with Sam.

  Fool me once . . . Shame on her for daring to open her heart to him a second time. She’d be damned if she did it a third.

  Over his shoulder she caught Penny’s wide-eyed stare. Her mouth had formed a little circle. If there was a bowl of popcorn in reach, no doubt she’d be dipping her hand, taking in the show.

  Releasing a sigh of frustration, Lila turned and pushed out into the warm morning sun. Below her on the street, shops were opening for the day, owners were turning signs and watering flowers, and people were strolling by with beach totes, enjoying the perfect summer day. She hurried down the stairs, wanting to join them, wanting to forget everything that was happening. Wanting to forget the way her heart was breaking . . . all over again.

  “Lila, wait!”

  She was already halfway down the stairs when she realized she should stop. Jeremy had said the meeting had been arranged by Sam, and yet here he was. If he had something to tell her before she hailed a cab, she wanted to hear it.

  But it stopped there. All they had left was a professional tie. Not a personal one.

  She looked up at him. “Five minutes,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

  Sam walked down the stairs, holding his palms up in front of him. “I just want to explain. I just need you to hear me out.”

  Lila shifted on her feet. She glanced down the street. No sign of a cab.

  Turning back to face him, she squared her jaw as her eyes met his. She wasn’t going to let him get to her. Not now. Not after everything. “What about the meeting with Reed?”

  Sam shrugged. “What about it?”

  A fresh burst of fury coursed through her. “Don’t play games, Sam. Jeremy called. I know you pushed up the meeting. Thanks for bothering to tell me.”

  “It was my brother, Lila. Rex called Mitch.”

  Lila stared at Sam in disbelief, and then barked out an unhappy laugh. “Of course. And good brother that you are, you stood back and let it happen and then didn’t think to inform me.”

  Sam’s expression looked pained. “Lila, I told you . . . when it comes to my family, it’s complicated.”

  “And I told you, Sam, what landing this account meant to me. To my family. That ice cream parlor may not seem like much to you, but I can tell you, it’s everything to my sister. And it was everything to my grandparents.” She cursed under her breath as hot tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t want him to see her like this. He didn’t deserve to know how much he’d hurt her.

  She could only imagine what Mary would say when she knew it was gone. That they’d have to sell the parlor, say good-bye to their grandparents all over again, and close the door on any family history they had left. Her sister was working two jobs to pull her weight, and it was such a simple thing to want. She wasn’t going to get rich. Or famous. All she wanted was to make ice cream, to work hard, and to put a smile on everyone’s faces. The way Gramps had.

  Lila swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

  “Lila.” Sam took a step toward her, but she backed up until she was standing on the sidewalk. “I know how much that place means to you.”

  “No.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, and shook her head forcefully. “You can’t. That ice cream parlor is all I have left of my grandparents . . . of my mother. All my sister and I have left of them is Sunshine Creamery. And you took away the only chance I had to hold onto it. All to what? Make your father proud by showing you’re just as ruthless as he is? That’s a pretty sad way of impressing someone, if you ask me.”

  He reached the sidewalk, his gaze travelling to the shops across the street, and finally back to her. He rubbed a hand over his jaw, seeming to contemplate something, and then met her square in the eye. “Lila, I didn’t leave the other day because of business.”

  “Oh no?” A part of her was interested, but the other part of her said not to bother listening to his sorry excuse. Time was ticking by, and unless he had something to tell her about the meeting, she couldn’t afford to let him make her late for it.

  She scowled. This was probably all part of the plan. Rex probably sent him over here to stop her from making a scene. To stall her from making an appearance at all. The Crawfords stopped at nothing to get what they wanted. How could she have overlooked that?

  “My father didn’t retire from PC Advertising,” Sam said with a huff.

  Lila pursed her lips. When she’d heard he’d left his sons to take over the company, she’d been perplexed. Preston Crawford was only in his sixties, and that agency was his life.

  “My father has Alzheimer’s,” Sam said. “He’s a proud man, and that agency means everything to him. He stepped down on his own, but it was still against his will.”

  Lila stopped looking for a cab and glanced at him. His forehead was creased. His mouth was pulled into a thin line. And the little part of her that had loved him, and had listened to him open up to her the other night, couldn’t turn her back on him now.

  “Sam.” Lila blinked, trying to understand what he was telling her. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”

  “No one has any idea,” Sam replied, his eyes hard. “Well, not many. My father’s a proud man. Too proud, if you ask me.”

  “So that’s why you went back.” Shame tore at her when she considered how hard on him she’d been. If he could have just been honest . . .

  She stopped herself. Sam had never been very forthcoming.

  Sam nodded. “Yes. He had a setback. It was worse than the last time, and . . . I wouldn’t have felt right if I didn’t go see him. Even if he probably didn’t care if I was there.”

  Her heart broke for him, but despite it, she couldn’t overlook the phone calls that had gone ignored. The meeting that had been set up without her knowledge. Preston
said jump, and Sam jumped. And in this case, Lila could only assume that Preston had ordered her off the account. They had her ideas now, so what purpose could she serve?

  “And everything else?” she asked.

  “I didn’t plan it, Lila. It just happened.” Sam set his jaw. “We’re about to lose a major client. Gaining a new one seemed like the best way to save face.”

  “And sharing the credit with a freelance copywriter you fired six years ago stood in the way,” Lila concluded.

  Sam’s eyes drooped. “It wasn’t like that, Lila. I tried to tell—”

  “You tried. Just like you tried to stop your father from letting me go all those years ago.” Lila knew he could see the hurt in her eyes, but she didn’t even care now. “It’s one thing if I deserved to be let go. But I didn’t, Sam. I know it, and I think you know it. I didn’t deserve it. I don’t deserve any of this.”

  “I loved you, Lila,” Sam said quietly. “I think you’re the only girl I’ve ever loved. You saw me for who I really am.”

  “Oh, you can bet on that.” Her laugh was brittle. She looked away, before the tears fell again.

  “You saw the real me. Not the person I’ve tried to be.” Sam took another step toward her and grabbed her arm before she could back away. “I don’t want to be that person anymore, Lila. I don’t want to be Sam Crawford.”

  “But your father. Your brother. That agency!”

  “Screw the agency,” Sam spat.

  Lila gasped in surprise. “But—” Her mind whirred. The meeting. Reed Sugar. What was he saying?

  “I’m done with it, Lila. I don’t . . . I don’t like the person it’s made me become. I’ve tried so hard to get to know my father, to make him proud, to make him want me in his life. And now, well, I’ve realized that’s never going to happen.” Seeing her expression, he added, “Not because of his illness, but because I don’t think anything I could ever do would make him truly love me. He is who he is. I wanted to know him, and now I do. It’s time to let go of the fight.”

  Lila shook her head, trying to imagine how it must feel to love someone who could never return the sentiment. He’d given up everything for one person. Including her. “I’m sorry, Sam.”

  “Not as sorry as I am,” Sam said. “I wasted too many years. Years I can never take back.”

  She was crying now, crying for the sadness she saw in Sam’s eyes, for the dream that had come crashing down around her, for the loss of Sunshine Creamery, and for the heartbreak Mary was about to experience all over again. She’d fallen for Sam. Long and hard and fast, and it had cost her everything. “Sam—”

  He put a finger to her lips. “I lost you once before. I can’t bear the thought of losing you again. Six years ago I made a choice. Now I’m making another one.”

  ***

  A cab came down the street and Sam lifted his arm swiftly, holding it high until the car swerved to a stop. They had to hurry if they were going to get to the restaurant before the Reed team arrived. There was no telling what damage would be done if Rex got to them first.

  “Get in,” he told Lila firmly.

  “What?” Her brows creased in confusion. She didn’t move, even as he opened the car door.

  Sam waved her over, more forcefully this time. “Get in. We’re going to be late for the meeting.”

  Lila looked at him in despair. “What are you talking about, Sam?”

  “I’m talking about the meeting.” He waited a beat, but she remained firmly in place, a solid five feet from the curb. “Lila, I told you. I made a choice. And I chose you. You earned this account, and so help me, you’re going to get it. Now, do you want to hand over Reed Sugar to Rex, or do you want to get in this cab with me and win the business?”

  Lila blinked and then hurried across the sidewalk. He grabbed her elbow and helped her into the backseat as he rattled off the address of the restaurant where his brother was already waiting. He glanced at Lila, hating what he saw. He’d thought she’d be happy, he’d thought she’d forgive him, but instead she just stared out the window, biting her thumbnail, blinking rapidly.

  “I’m not ready,” she announced. “I didn’t have time to prepare anything.”

  “Maybe not,” Sam said, “but I did.”

  Lila’s eyes widened in surprise. “You?”

  Sam grinned. He nodded and pulled a folder out of his briefcase. He showed her a few visuals, rough sketches of a potential ad. Two little girls sharing an ice cream cone on a park bench. A dog at their feet licking a cone that had fallen.

  “Oh, Sam.” Her voice cracked on his name, and he reached over and squeezed her hand. “That dog. It reminds me of the painting at Sunshine Creamery.”

  “That’s where I got the idea,” Sam said. “Do you like it?”

  “Like it?” Lila laughed. “I love it. But . . . I still don’t understand. You didn’t call—”

  Sam closed the folder. He could only imagine Rex’s expression when he walked into the restaurant with Lila, and his gut burned with fresh anxiety at the underhanded tactic. It wasn’t in his nature to do something like that—it was in Rex’s nature. Preston’s nature. Maybe his brother was just taking the lead. Or maybe his brother was no different than him—desperate to please a man who could never be satisfied.

  He checked his watch. If they made good time, they’d arrive before Reed. He’d talk to his brother. Tell him that he was walking away from the agency. But that he hoped he wasn’t walking away from his family.

  It was up to them now. They could take him as he was. He was ready for the risk.

  “I had to figure things out, Lila. I had to be sure.” And now he was. He’d given years to that family, trying desperately to belong, willing to do anything it took to prove he was one of them, even if it meant becoming like them. He was exhausted. Defeated. And for the first time since he’d knocked on the door of that stone mansion, walked through the cool dark halls, and shook the hand of the man with the ice blue eyes, he felt like he could breathe again. There was nothing to hide. Nothing to pretend. He didn’t have to try anymore.

  Lila’s eyes searched his face, her expression seemed torn, as if she wanted to believe him, but didn’t know how. And how could he blame her?

  “And are you sure?” she asked.

  He smiled. “It was always you, Lila. Even when I didn’t want it to be, even when I told myself it wouldn’t work. I tried to forget you, but I never did. This was our second chance, Lila. We can still have it, if you want it.”

  A tear fell from the corner of Lila’s eye, and Sam brushed it off her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “We’ve wasted a lot of time, Sam.”

  “And I don’t intend to lose another second,” he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

  Epilogue

  The line for Sunshine Creamery extended out the door and down the block, but no one thought to turn back or try something else. Children clung to their parents’ hands, waiting patiently for a taste of Mary’s most popular creation, the quadruple scoop, triple dip waffle cone.

  “Only Mary,” Lila laughed, as she and Sam joined the line. “I can only imagine what my grandparents would say if they could see this.”

  “Personally, I like the bucket list sundae. Why choose just one when you can have a scoop of all forty flavors?” He flashed a wicked grin, and Lila could only shake her head.

  Since Sunshine Creamery had officially reopened at the beginning of August, she and Sam often stopped by to visit Mary on the weekends, sometimes even rolling up their sleeves to help with the effort if the crowds got too big.

  It had been a busy July, with all three of them brainstorming late into the night about branding and marketing. Lila helped Mary with a website, and Sam came up with a tagline for the flyers she posted around the city. They spent nearly every weekend rolling fresh paint, scouting for new tables and chairs, and taste testing the menu—Sam’s favorite part, Lila couldn’t help but notice.

  “I still can’t believe you ordered that thing,” she s
aid, recalling the stares from other patrons when Mary happily set the platter of ice cream on their table last Friday night, right after their sushi dinner.

  “Hey, I’m a fan of supporting local businesses,” Sam said. “Besides, our biggest client supplies one of the main ingredients. How could I resist?”

  “Oh, so that’s your excuse then? Showing your allegiance to Reed Sugar by indulging in enough ice cream to feed a little league team? Maybe our next client should be a dentist.”

  “You know, that’s not a bad idea, Lila. But then, that’s why I went into business with you.” Sam winked, and Lila reached down to take his hand.

  She’d had reservations when Sam suggested they team up, but only for a few minutes—he had a way of winning her over like that. Sure, Sam was stubborn, and he might not always agree with her brilliant ideas, but he had plenty of his own, and together, they were better than they were alone.

  In every possible way, she thought, adjusting her hand so her fingers laced with his.

  Finally they neared the front of the line, where Mary had set up some small bistro tables and white benches. Planters bursting with brightly colored flowers flanked the open door, just below the crisp pink-striped awning that had replaced the old, faded one. The sign was the only thing that hadn’t changed, because some things never did, and, Lila thought with a little tug in her heart, never should.

  “Oh, look, Penny and Jim are here,” Lila said as they stepped into the air-conditioned room. The cool air prickled her clammy skin. It had been a hot, sticky day, and she was looking forward to another day on the lake tomorrow with Sam. He was determined to make a sailor out of her, and she wasn’t going to argue with that.

  “They seem to be getting along well these days,” Sam observed.

  When they’d decided to go into business together, they’d had no choice but to upsize their office space. The panic that had rolled through Penny’s expression confirmed Lila’s suspicions about her feelings for Jim, until Lila happily announced they were relocating just upstairs, directly next to Jim’s office. Soon Jim started casually popping in to see if Penny was closing up for the day, and the two could be seen walking to the “L” stop together, as cute as two high school sweethearts.