What Happens in Summer

by Caridad Piñeiro

  At one point, his brother’s eyes closed, and the beep of the monitors slowed and became regular. Too regular. Thomas had fallen asleep.

  “It’s time we go. He can’t really handle too much excitement, and this was a lot for him today,” his mother said.

  Jonathan nodded, and they left the room. On the steps of the facility, they paused and looked at each other. “Thank you for bringing me,” he said.

  “He liked seeing you. I could tell,” Genevieve replied and kicked at something imaginary on the cement of the step.

  “I’d like to come back, only…I need to get home. Owen needs me.”

  “I understand. Don’t take too long to visit again, Jonathan.”

  * * *

  Connie had tried her best to convince Maggie not to serve Owen with the divorce papers. It hadn’t done any good. Days later, they’d sat in the conference room in Connie’s law firm, waiting for Owen and his lawyers to show up. They hadn’t.

  It was a good thing she hadn’t had to sit there for long, as another wave of sickness, more powerful than the others over the last few weeks, had hit her. She’d barely made it to the restroom, where she’d tossed the minimal amount of food she’d been able to eat that day.

  Nothing seemed to sit well with her, and it was long past time she acknowledged that it wasn’t a stomach flu, she thought as she leaned against the counter in her bathroom at home the next morning.

  It was more, way more, she thought as she stared at the test with the pink lines that said she was pregnant. She tossed the test into her bathroom garbage can and grabbed the second test she’d done as a precaution. One of the fancier kits that was supposed to be more accurate. Its little screen not only had “Pregnant” across its face, but an indication that said “3+ weeks.”

  Three plus weeks, she thought and laid her hand over her still-flat stomach, trying to think back to the last time she’d had her period. It had been over two months since the night of Maggie and Owen’s wedding. Had it been that long since she’d had her period? She had been irregular at times, especially when she got stressed out. She’d been stressed out a lot lately.

  And now this, she thought. Shit. She laid her hands on the rim of the sink and lowered her head, wondering how her life had gotten so complicated. She had made plans and worked so hard to stick to them, only God had laughed and laughed hard.

  She threw out the second pregnancy test and straightened. Stared hard at her reflection in the mirror, wondering what she would do now. What would she do with her life and the baby growing inside her?

  Is that what her mom had felt like so many years earlier? Like mother, like daughter? she thought and realized it was long past time she call her mother. Long past time that she talked to her about the past and tried to understand. Tried to put it all together so she could decide what to do with her life and with Jonathan.

  She pushed away from the sink and hurried to her bedroom, where she grabbed her briefcase and coat. She had work today, just like she’d had work for the last four years, only today it was different. She was different in a major way.

  Connie planned to call her mother once she got to the office. Her mom would be at work also, but hopefully, she’d be free tonight so she could talk to Connie about what she had felt like when she’d realized she was pregnant. How she’d let her dreams disappear and struggled as a single mom after her father had left.

  Once Connie had talked to her mom, she’d have to decide what to do. She had to make her plans, because that’s what she did. It was what she always did, and being pregnant wasn’t going to change that.

  * * *

  A half inch of condensed milk sat in the bottom of the espresso cup, waiting for her mother to fill the rest with potent Cuban coffee. She knew pregnant women were supposed to avoid caffeine, but Connie had sacrificed her morning coffee, and this cup was more milk and sugar than coffee. Besides, her mother would totally know something was going on if she passed it up. It was always a favorite for her along with the guava and cream cheese pastelito her mom placed in front of her on a plate.

  “My favorite,” she said and offered her mom a smile, but her mother, Lilli, wasn’t fooled.

  “It’s about time you stopped avoiding me, Consuelo,” Lilli said.

  Her full name was never good. If her mom dragged out the rest, she was done, Connie thought.

  “I’ve been busy at work,” she lied, avoiding her mother’s gaze and focusing on the cup of coffee and stirring it. Watching it go from the dark, nearly black of the coffee to the beige that said the sinfully sweet milk had mixed in.

  “I suspect it’s more than that. Mija, whatever you need, I’m here,” Lilli said, reaching out to still Connie’s stirring hand with her own.

  Connie’s stomach did a flip, but not from illness. From fear. She didn’t know where to start or where to end.

  Tears slipped down her face, and her mother gently squeezed her hand. “Mija. There is nothing you can tell me that will make me love you any less than I do.”

  “I’m pregnant, Mami,” she blurted out and met her mother’s surprised gaze. She plowed on. “I don’t know how it happened.” At her mother’s raised eyebrow, she added, “I mean, I know how, but not when. We used protection. We were careful.”

  “Things happen, Connie. If I know you, you’ve already decided what to do.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what to do. About the pregnancy. About my job,” she almost wailed.

  A chuckle escaped Lilli. “Funny how you don’t mention the man. I guess that means you’ve made your mind up about him.”

  Connie laughed hesitantly and shook her head as she wiped away the tears. She wrapped her fingers around the small demitasse cup and took a sip of the sweet but still bitter coffee. It was a lot like the pregnancy, both sweet with possibilities and bitter with all that she might have to give up.

  “I love him,” she said and then repeated it with more strength. “I love him, but I’m not sure if he’s the right man for me. I’m not sure he’s the kind who will stay, just like Papi.”

  Lilli’s hands trembled on the cup she raised. “Your papi… I knew he wasn’t meant to stay, but I tried to get him to change. To be the kind of man we both needed, but some people just can’t change. I wish I had realized it sooner to avoid all the fighting and upset. It would have spared both of us a great deal of pain.”

  Connie nodded. What little she remembered of the time her father had been in her life had not been good. What followed had been as rough until her grandparents had relented and decided to help out their daughter.

  “Why did you keep me? You were going to go to college and become a nurse.”

  “I did all those things, only a little later than I thought I would,” Lilli said and finally sipped the coffee. When she set the cup down, she continued. “It wasn’t easy to be a single mom and all alone. I know those early years were hard on you. It’s why I understood how driven you were. Why you were determined to not be like me.”

  “You’re a good mom. I always knew I could count on you, but yeah, I never wanted to be single and unwed, and here I am, just like you.” Connie grabbed the pastry and broke off a piece, needing something to do with her hands.

  Lilli’s harsh laugh drew her attention. “Mija, you’re nothing like me when I found out I was pregnant. You’ve got a good job—”

  “Which I’m thinking of leaving.”

  “Because of the pregnancy?” her mother asked, arching a brow in surprise.

  With a determined shake of her head, she said, “No. Because Goodwyn is a prick and doesn’t appreciate what a good lawyer I am.”

  “And if I know you, you’ve already got another job lined up,” her mother said with pride and a smile.

  “I have a few possibilities. One interesting one in fact. Township attorney in Sea Kiss.” The offer that the council member had m
ade had implanted itself like an earworm and had refused to let go.

  Her mom eyeballed her directly, scrutinizing her features. “As weird as it sounds, I can see a city girl like you there. I mean, look at this ‘city,’” Lilli said using air quotes. “Fulano de tal at the bakery knows what the other fulano down at the grocery store is doing. He knows who’s sick in the neighborhood and who’s expecting. Who’s hungry and out of money so they can slip them an extra bocadito for their kid. This city is like a small town but without so many trees,” her mother said with a bright laugh.

  Connie couldn’t argue with that assessment. “It is kind of a small town. I just never pictured myself working anywhere but New York City.”

  Her mother thought over that statement but then continued. “What about your man? The father? Is he a city boy too?”

  Taking a bite of the pastelito, Connie chewed on it thoughtfully as she considered Jonathan. Thought about Jonathan and his indecision on the home. Thought about the way he changed directions the way the tides shifted on the shore in Sea Kiss. But as mutable as the ocean was, there was also something constant about it. Steady in the way it returned to shore time and time again. Life giving in so many ways.

  Like Jonathan had brought life back to her. Life she hadn’t even know she’d been missing until he’d roused her passion and helped her come alive. Held her when she’d needed support. Listened to her when she’d needed an ear to vent. Given her space when she’d needed it.

  “He’s…interesting. He can be at home in so many places,” she said.

  “But he’s only truly at home with you. I don’t need to meet him to know that. I can see it on your face, Mija.”

  “He confuses me, Mami. I never know what to expect with him,” she admitted.

  Lilli clapped her hands together and laughed out loud. “Que bueno. I always thought you could use someone to shake you up. Make you see there’s more to life than your job.”

  Connie couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, he’s made me see there’s more, Mami. So much more, but I’m not sure he’s really ready to settle down.”

  “This man is the one from that summer, isn’t he? The one who left school?” her mother asked.

  Connie nodded and reluctantly said, “He is.”

  “The same one who was always in the newspapers?” her mother pressed and stared at her over the rim of her espresso cup.

  Again, she had to confirm it, although she felt guilty doing so, as if she was betraying Jonathan with that admission. “It is.”

  With a dip of her head, her mother said, “And I guess you worry that he’s just like your papi?”

  It was what she’d been thinking, and yet hearing her mother say it made her want to defend Jonathan. “Maybe,” she said, hating that that word seemed to be defining her life lately.

  Lilli reached out and laid a hand over Connie’s. “You know what I see, Mija? Your papi was always coming and going because he didn’t really want to be with us, no matter how much I hoped it would be different.”

  “He wasn’t happy being tied down.”

  Nodding, her mother said, “He wasn’t, but this man, Jonathan, it seems to me that his reason for coming and going is to build a life. To be able to provide for himself and maybe a family.”

  She wanted to believe that. She truly did. “But if that’s what he wants, why can’t he choose a house? Why ask me to marry him when he knows I’m trying to decide what to do with my career?”

  A long silence was followed by the clink of china as her mother took another sip of her coffee and then placed her cup down. With another subtle incline of her head, Lilli said, “You’ll never know until you ask him.”

  Chapter 27

  Owen was hurting badly, but he hadn’t given up on getting Maggie back. That much was clear as Jonathan stared at his brother across the width of his oak trestle table. Jonathan had actually cleared it of all his papers so they could have dinner together and talk after his return from California. Owen hadn’t asked why he’d gone, and why should he? He was used to his brother running from one place to another for his company. Another trip was just par for the course. At least until he got settled, Jonathan thought.

  Owen sat across from him, mindlessly shoveling into his mouth the Chinese food that Jonathan had ordered in. Dark smudges made Owen’s charcoal-gray eyes look dead, flat like a shark’s emotionless stare. Beneath the remnants of his summer tan was a hint of pallor. Deep lines seemed to have been etched around his eyes and mouth in just the short week or so since his blowup with Maggie.

  Dudley must have sensed Owen’s upset also. Since Owen had first stepped into the loft, the little terrier had been at his side, rubbing himself against Owen, trying to draw him out of his mood, staying beside him even when his doggy efforts failed.

  “What’s happening with Father?” Jonathan asked, fearing that his brother would lose the only thing holding him together: his work.

  “He hasn’t really been around much since… After Maggie overheard, he told me that he’d loved Maggie’s mom. That she was the reason for the feud all this time. Not the properties, but losing her to Bryce Sinclair and then to death.”

  Just like their mother had told Jonathan just two days earlier. Not that he could tell his brother about that and his visit. About their brother Thomas. He wasn’t sure Owen could handle yet another upset in his life at the moment.

  “What are you going to do?” he said.

  “About Maggie?” Owen asked. At Jonathan’s nod, he said, “I’m going to convince her to take me back, even if it takes groveling or pleading.”

  What if she doesn’t? he wanted to say, but he bit it back. He not only bit it back, but also took a bullet for his brother, in a figurative sense.

  “How’s Connie been treating you with all the divorce stuff? Has she been civil, because I know she can be a shark when she wants to be,” Jonathan said, shifting the discussion away from Maggie.

  “She’s been supportive, and speaking of that… Rumor has it she charmed the town council into dropping their notions of rezoning that property you bought,” Owen said, eyeing him with a half glance as he ate another forkful of lo mein.

  “She did. She can be convincing when she wants to be.” Adam Eaton, the head of the town council, had called the day after he had arrived in California to tell him the news. He’d thanked Eaton and wondered why the call hadn’t come through Connie until the other man had said that Connie had specifically requested that the call be made directly to him if it was good news.

  Which meant that if it was bad news, she would have handled it for him. Just like she’d helped so many people in town over the years. Just like the smaller clients who had come to her for help. It had probably chafed Goodwyn’s ass that she’d managed to win those cases when her colleague hadn’t even been willing to take them on.

  “What are you going to do about Connie?” Owen asked, echoing Jonathan’s earlier question.

  Jonathan picked up a piece of General Tso’s chicken with his chopsticks and popped it into this mouth. He chewed and swallowed as he thought about what to say, then smiled as he said, “I intend to grovel and plead if I have to.” But before he could do that, he had some other things to settle.

  He’d already made peace with his mother. Now he had to make peace with his father so that his future would be free of the demons of the past.

  * * *

  Whenever something important happened in Connie’s life, Maggie would have been the first one she called to share the news. Immediately after, Emma and then Tracy. Her friends had been her support in both good times and bad, but for some reason, the baby news was something she wanted to keep to herself. Something she wanted to hold on to until she could decide what to do about her job and Jonathan, but not about the baby. From the moment that the pregnancy test had yielded its results, she’d had no doubt that she would keep the baby.<
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  At the moment, she had to help Maggie deal with Owen and all that was happening in her life. Which meant a long weekend with Maggie and her friends down in Sea Kiss. It had already been two weeks since Maggie had tossed Owen out. A week since Owen had been served with the divorce papers but had failed to show up for the meeting a few days later. As she’d warned him and his lawyer, they wouldn’t wait much longer for Owen’s reply. If after this weekend they didn’t have the signed papers, she’d be forced to take the next step in the divorce proceedings. She hated the thought of doing that and was still hoping Maggie would reconsider.

  The weekend away would be good for Maggie but also for Connie. It would give her time to think about her own life and what to do about it. Hopefully, the Pierce boys would be staying away, but if they didn’t, she could deal. She was a big girl, and she could handle it. She’d help Maggie handle it as well, if necessary.

  That’s what friends did for each other. Just like she’d taken care of Jonathan’s problem with the town council. She had hoped that doing so would give her closure with the council, until Adam Eaton had floated that ridiculous offer.

  Her as the township attorney. She had almost laughed at the thought at first, except that in the last few weeks, it had started to feel not so far-fetched. And in all the times she’d pictured herself married—usually to Jonathan during those passion-filled nights of their youth—she’d never thought about children. But even if she had, the picture would never have been one of her wheeling a baby carriage down a crowded New York City street. As a city kid, sweltering in the heat of summer sandwiched between brick buildings and hopping across scorching cement walks, she’d always pictured herself at the shore, swimming in the sea and running all around a town where people didn’t lock their doors. Enjoying cool ocean breezes and the susurrus of the waves to lull her to sleep and not the murmur of the city’s never-ending street life.

  Which she and the baby could enjoy if she interviewed for the position Eaton had mentioned. With his backing and her past involvement in Sea Kiss, she thought she stood a good chance of getting the job. That would mean buying a house in the area. Maybe a cute little cottage like Emma had. There was only one thing missing from the picture: Jonathan.