Summer's Song

by Lindi Peterson

  He holds his arms out as I loosen the car seat straps.

  “Mommy.”

  I scoop him out of his seat and hold him tight. He wraps his little arms around me, and it’s the best feeling ever.

  “Oh, baby. I’m so glad you are here. I’ve missed you.”

  He pushes back, and I’m lost in his little baby face. He gives me a big kiss on the cheek.

  “Summer.”

  The voice of my mother. She’s not my biggest fan right now, but I put up with her so I can see my son without seeing my ex, and she puts up with me so I don’t cut her off financially. We have a very special mother-daughter relationship.

  “Mother.”

  “You’re looking rural.” She eyes me with a frown.

  “Thanks,” I reply. “I’m trying.”

  “Coleman was right about your hair. Doesn’t flatter you.”

  “I’m keeping the hair.” I walk toward the trunk. “Let’s get your stuff out.”

  She pops the trunk with the key fob.

  “Are you ready to stay with Mommy for a whole week?” I say to Sam.

  “Yes. I want to stay with Mommy.”

  “Good.”

  I set Sam down and hand him his suitcase. It has a handle he can pull. After grabbing my mother’s over-packed bags we all make our way to the house. I’m going to need a chiropractor after lugging her luggage up the stairs to her room.

  Sam and I race back downstairs to the kitchen.

  “So,” my mother says as I make Sam a snack. “What was that fiasco with Meghan Cascade about? Coleman told me you really blew it and practically kicked her out of here.”

  I sigh. It’s going to be that kind of week. “I don’t want to talk about it. It’s fine now. I’m going to do her show when I get back to California next month.”

  “You’re lucky you have Coleman to smooth these things over. How you manage to make a mess of everything, I’ll never know. Except for this gorgeous boy. Now here, you did good. He’s beautiful.”

  I don’t comment as I give Sam some crackers and a cup of water. Maybe Mother will take a nap soon.

  I indulge myself for a moment and think of Levi. His kind, encouraging words. I don’t think the man has ever said a negative word toward me. Have I thrown away a friendship that I shouldn’t have? Have I made a huge mistake?

  Make me yours, make me purr, I’m your forever girl. Was I subconsciously thinking of Levi while I was writing about the perfect guy?

  It doesn’t really matter. He’s out of my life.

  “Summer, don’t you have anything besides water for this child? Something with a little flavor?”

  Regarding the cardboard verses fudge battle, my mother is fudge. For sure. But she’s badly burnt, crusty hard, horrible tasting fudge.

  Yuk.

  “Water is good for him. I have milk for dinner.”

  “Milk makes for strong teeth and bones. Maybe you have learned something from your therapist.”

  I love these kudos from Mother. They mean so much.

  “Once you get back to LA,” Mother continues, “you can hire your nanny back. Wasn’t her name Stephanie or something like that?”

  “Her name is Stacey, and I’m not hiring her back. I’m not hiring a nanny. I’m taking care of Sam. I’m his mother.”

  “Honey, it’s fine if you take care of him here, in this rural part of the country, but once you get back to LA you’ll see there’s much too much going on for you to be tied down with Sam. Everybody who’s anybody has a nanny. Look at all of your movie star friends? They are fabulous moms, but every one of them has a nanny. Some even have more than one, I think.”

  “A lot of my friends have multiple children, Mother. I have one. I think I can handle him.”

  “According to your sister’s book, you can’t handle a whole lot.”

  My warm light-filled kitchen has turned cold with my mother’s attitude. The soft wood cabinets and the homey dishtowels can’t compete with her stinging words.

  “Really, Mother. You could have at least warned me.”

  “Not on your life. The book is hers. I had nothing to do with it. That is between you and Valentine. And speaking of Valentine, how was your visit?”

  “Peachy. After her confession of betrayal I avoided her until she left.”

  “Summer, she’s in a difficult position. She’s kind of a somebody, but not really. You know?”

  “I’m done, Mommy.” Sam looks at me, crumbs around his mouth. He’s starting to squirm in the chair. He’s probably restless from the drive.

  I’m thankful for his interruption. I don’t want to spend any more time talking about Valentine and her tell-all book. I want to spend every minute with Sam while he is here. I can’t get back the time I’ve lost, but I can make sure we don’t lose any more time together.

  “Do you want to play outside?” I ask as I take him out of his seat.

  “Yes. Outside.”

  Mother rubs her temples. “I’m going to go lie down for awhile. You know how that drive from the airport wears me out. You’d think they’d have an airstrip or something close by where we could fly a private jet in. I can’t tell you how glad I’ll be when you get back to real life.”

  She continues to mumble as she walks out of the kitchen. There are plenty of smaller airports she could fly in on, but I’m not forking out that kind of money.

  “Anne’s sad.” Sam looks at me, his face puckered. My mother refuses to be called grandma or anything relating to being a grandma. She insists Sam call her by her name.

  “She’s tired, honey. She’ll be okay.”

  Sam runs over to the box with his outdoor toys in it as soon as we step onto the patio. He pulls out a ball. “Kick with me, Mommy?”

  “Sure. Let’s do it.”

  He places the bright red ball on the ground then kicks it to me.

  “Very good.” The ball stops just short of where I stand. “That’s far.”

  I kick it back.

  Visions of Levi teaching me how to throw the Frisbee pop into my mind. But I push them back. It is not the time for Levi.

  Not now.

  If I thought the visions of Levi were vivid while playing in my backyard, they were nothing compared to the visions I’m having while I’m actually in the park where he taught me to throw the Frisbee.

  I broke down and bought one in town. Sam loves it. Neither of us is very good, but we’re having fun. And I think that’s the whole point.

  My mother came into town with us, but she is shopping. The park is much too tame for her. No doubt she’ll buy lots of things she doesn’t need with money that she hasn’t earned. But that’s the way it goes. It was my decision to give her an allowance.

  “Mommy, look. A tree.”

  I laugh. “Yes, sweetie. That’s a tree. There are a lot of trees here in the park, aren’t there?”

  “Yes. Can I climb one?”

  I look at the tree. There are some low limbs. I’m not sure if there are any rules against climbing in the trees, but I don’t think it would hurt anything if he stood on a limb or two.

  “Just stay on these bottom limbs. Don’t climb up.”

  “Okay,” he says. I watch carefully as he holds onto a limb with his hands while he balances his feet on another one. He smiles.

  “Look, Mommy!”

  “I see. You’re such a big boy.”

  “I’m not falling.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “Summer Sinclair?”

  I turn to find a woman staring at me.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you really Summer Sinclair?”

  This lady might be in her mid-thirties. She’s short, slightly overweight, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. She looks like a normal person, not a media person. “Yes. I’m Summer.”

  Her eyes widen. She smiles and offers her hand. “Oh. I can’t believe it! The Summer Sinclair. My name is Kate. Kate Stephens. I am such a big fan. Huge. The hugest.”

  I sha
ke her hand. “Well, thank you. I always love meeting my fans.”

  “No. You don’t understand. Fan is such a small word to describe me. I wasn’t sure what happened to you. It’s like you disappeared off the face of the earth. I searched and searched the Internet but nothing. And here you are. Right here in Lawson’s Ledge.”

  “I guess you could say I’ve had a little down time. But I needed it.”

  Kate starts digging in her purse. “Will you autograph something for me? Anything? Let me see what I can dig up.”

  “Sure.”

  I watch as her fingers work through the huge bag she calls a purse. She finally comes up with a pen which she shoves at me. Then she digs some more and hands me a receipt from a grocery store.

  “This will have to do. It’s all I have.” Her hand actually shakes as she grips the receipt.

  “I’ve signed everything. This is pretty tame.” It takes me moments to scrawl my name across her receipt. “Here you go.” I hand her items back.

  “Thank you. You can’t imagine what a thrill this is.”

  Meeting me should not be a thrill for anyone. “I thank you for being a fan. It means a lot to me.”

  “Mommy! Look!”

  Turning I don’t see Sam until I look up. Panic races through me. He’s up in the tree. Precariously high. He’s smiling but he looks scared. “Sam. What are you doing?”

  “I’m high up, Mommy.”

  “Too high. Oh, Sam!” Crossing my arms, I walk around the base of the tree trying to assess the situation. Not an easy feat. While other kids were climbing trees, I was climbing the charts.

  “Summer.”

  Just hearing him speak my name calms me. “Levi. I need help.”

  “I see.” He looks into the tree. “What are you doing, little Dude? Trying to catch a ride on a cloud?”

  “I can’t get down.”

  Sam’s voice is now somewhat quivery. Like my heart.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a hand.”

  “Is that your son in the tree?” Kate asks as Levi starts his ascent.

  Kate is harmless I’m sure, but I need to keep my family protected as well as I can. “It was nice meeting you, Kate. Thanks again for being such a great fan.”

  “Hey, that’s not Todd Torrent. Do you have a new boyfriend?”

  “No.” Obviously she’s not easily deterred. This is the first time in Lawson’s Ledge I wish I had my bodyguards. I’m not used to handling these types of situations.

  I turn my back on Kate, concentrating on Levi’s ascent into the tree. The sleeves of his T-shirt pull taught as his muscles work.

  In moments Levi reaches Sam, who throws his arms around Levi’s neck.

  Kate’s arm grasps mine. “Thank God.”

  God? I have a fan who believes in God?

  Levi unwinds Sam’s arms then navigates the both of them down through the limbs. I feel the tears behind my eyes as their feet safely touch the ground.

  Levi hands Sam to me. “Here he is.”

  Sam wraps his arms around me and buries his head into my neck. I hold him, my palm rubbing soft circles on his back. “Honey, you were way too high.”

  He lets go of his stronghold around my neck and looks at me. “I know, Mommy. But it was kind of fun.”

  Ruffling his hair, I rub my nose against his. “Kind of scary, too, huh? Can you thank Levi?”

  Sam smiles turning towards Levi. “Thank you, Mr. Levi.”

  “Hey, no Mr. here, little Dude. It’s just Levi. I think you were very brave.”

  Sam laughs.

  “I wish I had a knight in shining armor. Y’all sure are sweet together.”

  Kate.

  “Levi’s just a friend.”

  She taps her index finger next to her eye. “The eyes tell all. And your eyes and his eyes? Well, they say a whole lot more than friends.”

  She jaunts away, humming one of my more provocative tunes.

  I pray this doesn’t end up on the Internet.

  Giving myself a minute, I try to compose my thoughts before looking at Levi. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here.”

  “No problem. Glad I could be of service. Who’s your friend?”

  “A fan. She wanted an autograph.”

  “And look. She got to witness a knight in shining armor rescue a damsel in distress. Well, in this case a damsel’s son.”

  “I’m sure you’re thrilled. Summer needs rescuing. Again.”

  He laughs. “I never mind coming to the rescue of a beautiful lady.”

  There he goes calling me a lady. If he only knew how it affects me. “Thank you.”

  As much as I enjoy being around Levi, I can’t be around him. If Coleman thinks I’m still hanging out with Levi, there’s no telling what might happen. And I can’t do that to him. I refuse to do that to someone I could love.

  Love?

  Ha. I don’t even know what love is.

  At least that kind of love. I love Sam. I hold him closer. He’s laid his head back on my shoulder. I glance at his angel face. His eyes try to shut.

  Since Levi isn’t making a move to leave, I will. “I need to get him home. He’s sleepy.”

  “All right, then.”

  “Thank you again.” Can this scene get any more awkward?

  “Don’t forget the Frisbee, Mommy.” Sam’s voice is quiet, but Levi still hears him.

  “Frisbee?” Levi asks.

  “Yes. I’ll get it. It’s right there.” I point to my right at the orange blob in the grass. Yes, the scene just became more awkward.

  “Let me.” Levi walks over and picks it up. “Teaching the little guy how to play?”

  Busted. “Yes.” I know I’m blushing.

  A breeze blows as we walk across the park toward town. The shade from the trees hides the sun. My insides are a little nervous from the whole tree ordeal. What if Levi hadn’t shown up? Could I have climbed the tree?

  I’m glad I didn’t have to try.

  Glancing sideways, I look at Levi. He’s so together. He took his previously messed up life and made it uncomplicated. I’m the last thing he needs. Can you say Complications-Are-Us?

  “There’s my mother.” For once I’m glad to see her. She gives me a reason to get away from Levi.

  “That’s Mom, huh?” Levi asks.

  “That’s her.”

  But Levi doesn’t go his way. He stays by me. We meet Mother on the sidewalk. This should get interesting.

  “Summer. There you are. I was about to call you. I need the keys to put these bags in the trunk.”

  “Sure. Mom, this is Levi. Levi, my mother Anne Sinclair.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Levi couldn’t sound any more like the gentleman that he is.

  “Likewise. How do you know Summer?”

  Her tone makes my skin prickle. “Mother. Really. He’s a friend.”

  “Levi saved me out of the tree.” Sam suddenly perks up.

  “Out of what tree?” Mother asks.

  “It was nothing.” I send a look to Levi to go along with me here.

  But Sam’s excitement can’t be contained. His face is flushed, and he’s wiggling as I’m holding him. “I was high up, Anne. Really higher and higher, and I got scared, and Levi climbed upped the tree and gotted me down.”

  So much for my attempt at trying to downplay the situation.

  Mother’s expression tightens. Her look of displeasure is one I’m familiar with. “Sam stuck in a tree doesn’t sound like nothing to me. It sounds dangerous.”

  “I wasn’t dangerous, Anne, I was scared.”

  Her lips purse together momentarily. “See, your son was scared. How high were you, darling?”

  Sam’s hands shoot straight into the air. “High, Anne. Way higher.”

  “Summer, what were you thinking letting him climb up a tree? Your custody hearing is less than a month away, and you put your son in a dangerous situation. What if someone had witnessed this? Can you say front pag
e?”

  “It’s all fine, Mother.” What more can I say? She’s right. I mean, here I am, trying to obtain full custody of my son, and I’m making bad decisions. Right out in the open for the whole world to see. And my “biggest fan ever” was there witnessing the whole thing. If she were to tell anyone about this story and the media heard about it, it wouldn’t look too good.

  “Can you say truce, ladies?” Levi says. “Our reporter friend is walking towards us.”

  “Reporter?”

  Mother’s voice is so loud. I turn to my right to see Blake Anthony walking our way. Great. I wonder where he’s been the last few minutes. I hope not in the park.

  “Hi again,” he says.

  “Blake.” Levi and Blake shake hands.

  Blake looks at me. “Summer, you haven’t changed your mind yet, have you?”

  Thinking back on my disastrous interview with Meghan Cascade, I shake my head. “No. Sorry. I’m still laying low.”

  “I heard Meghan Cascade came into town a couple of days ago. Was she here to see you?”

  “No, she came to see the Queen of England,” my mother mouths. “Who else in this town could garner such attention?”

  I hold my palm up in hopes my mother will quit talking. “Look, Blake. I’m just not ready for the media, okay? That’s all I can say.”

  “All right, I told you before I just need a break. Everything on your terms. Okay?”

  Something about this guy seeps into my heart. In a good way. Maybe he’s like me, trying to start over. But I have to put Sam first. I can’t try to save anyone when I’m trying to save myself. “I remember. I still have your card.”

  “Great.” He turns to Sam. “Hi there, little fella. I see you made it out of that tree just fine.”

  My insides jerk. He saw the whole incident?

  “Levi gotted me down.”

  “Levi’s a good guy, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Take care, and stay out of trees, you hear? Summer, don’t forget me, okay?”

  He speaks with such sincerity. Can he be real? Will he keep my secret safe? Who am I kidding? I have no secrets. Everything I do, say, and attempt is all for the world to view.

  “I won’t.”

  He walks away. My mother starts shaking her head. “You’re done. He’s going to report back to whoever he reports back to all about how you let Sam climb that tree.”