Mom’s forehead creased. “But why?”
“Pregnant woman falls down because of me?”
Her frown deepened, then it cleared and she shook her head. “No, that’s not true. If you hadn’t been there someone else would have been. That Angel one would have ensured that.”
She probably would have, actually. I hadn’t given that any thought in the two days since it all happened but Angel had been very insistent that I go to interview Misty. No doubt she’d known about the pregnancy and wanted it announced right then although Misty had wanted to wait. Could Angel have just wanted to steal Misty’s thunder? “Maybe.”
“Definitely,” Mom said firmly. “And of course you should be proud. All those reporters, people who’ve been doing this job far longer than you, followed your lead. They obviously recognize your skill and talent here, Summer, and that’s significant. You’ve found your niche.”
I sipped my coffee, trying to take this in. I did like the work, when I was interviewing someone who wanted to be interviewed or at least who wasn’t hugely opposed to it, but my niche? Mom had forever been saying that someday I would find that magical thing that I was good at, but I’d never really thought it would happen. The pride in her voice that I’d finally found it was overwhelming. Could celebrity reporting really be someone’s niche? Could it be my niche?
“Mom,” Laurel said, “Great meal as always, but I’m going to need to leave in about ten minutes. Should we...” My sister jerked her head toward me.
“Oh, yes.” Mom got up. “Help me with it?”
As they bustled off, no doubt to get my birthday cake and present, Dad leaned in and said, “She’s right. You should be proud. I envy you, Summer.”
Suggesting I should be proud was one thing. Envy? “Why on earth would you?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
I made my best clueless face to indicate that it wasn’t.
“Your communication skills are utterly exceptional, Summer. I can barely talk to a new student when I get one, and you can march up to celebrities and get them to reveal their secrets. Don’t know where you got that, since it’s not a family trait, but yes, I envy you. I could never do what you’re doing, and neither could your mother or Laurel. You have found your niche and I think you’ll be immensely successful.”
Mom and Laurel returned then so he stopped talking, and I smiled and blew out my birthday candles and opened the box containing my first real Zephyr bag and said and did all the right things, while my mind tried to get itself around my parents being in awe of me for once instead of it always being the other way around.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
That night I stood shifting from foot to foot outside a coffee shop, waiting for Aaron but thinking about Ron.
When I’d met him for coffee after my lunch with my family, he’d seen my beautiful new bag and when I’d told him it was my birthday present he’d been so adorably upset about not remembering it was my birthday. I hadn’t minded a bit, though. He hadn’t brought me a gift in a box, true, but what he had given me had been amazing: he’d told Kent and MC and all the others that he and I were friends again.
From the sounds of it they, especially MC, had taken that news about as badly as I’d have expected, but his refusal to hide our relationship made me feel wonderful. I still wished we were where we’d been the night before Kent’s wedding, instead of just at the friend stage, but I’d never been so grateful to have a relationship with someone at all.
I didn’t know what kind of relationship I had with Aaron, though, and that was why I couldn’t stand still as I waited for him to arrive. I’d received a happy birthday text, two days late, from him that afternoon, and I’d replied to thank him and then he’d replied to ask how I was doing and after a few messages back and forth he’d said he’d like to meet me for coffee after dinner if I was willing to do that. I’d had to give it a bit of thought, since he’d hurt me badly before the wedding and I’d obviously hurt him at it by upsetting his friend MC, but he didn’t seem like he planned to scream at me and I did want to know what he had to say.
I wondered if that had been the right decision when he finally came walking along the sidewalk with a cold distant look on his face. His expression didn’t change as he neared me, and I watched him and wondered why he’d bothered to come if he was so mad at me.
When he was only a few steps from me, he froze, blinked, and then gave me a small smile. “Summer. Sorry, didn’t see you.”
“Really?”
He blinked again. “Lost my last contact lens this morning. I can barely see anything.”
“Didn’t know you wore contacts.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t, until after the island. Things had been going wrong for a while but I ignored them, and then I walked right past my mother without seeing her and she insisted I get my eyes checked.”
“Things had been going wrong for a while but I ignored them” could be the title of my theme song, I thought. It sure described the time since I’d been on the island with Aaron. I tried to smile but it didn’t quite work. “Well, I hope you get new ones soon. Ready to go in?”
He nodded, and we were soon settled at a table. He hadn’t been lying about his eyes: he couldn’t read the coffee shop’s menu board and I had to help him find the right bills in his wallet to pay for his drink. “Aaron, please tell me you didn’t drive here.”
He laughed. “I don’t drive. Never bothered to learn. You know that.”
“Actually, I didn’t,” I said, realizing how little I actually knew about the guy with whom I’d almost had sex.
He seemed to realize the same thing at the same time, because he leaned back in his chair and said, “Okay. Well. I can’t see your face that well but I assume you feel as weird about being here as I do.”
“Pretty much, I’d guess.” I took a sip of my latte, then a deep breath. “Since we’re being honest, I’m surprised you asked me to come here.”
“That makes two of us, gorg-- Summer.”
“Can’t call me gorgeous since you can’t see me?” I said, smiling in spite of how uncomfortable I felt with him.
“No, I’m sure you still are. It’s--” He cleared his throat. “Well, things are different between us now, let’s say. Aren’t they?”
It wasn’t really a question, and I nodded then said, “I agree, in case you couldn’t see that.”
He chuckled. “I’m not that blind.” His amusement faded. “So, anyhow. I have something I want to tell you. So thanks for coming here.”
“I’m just glad someone besides Ron is willing to talk to me.”
Aaron winced. “Yeah. MC is...” He shook his head. “Well, she’s MC. When she sets her mind on something, or more accurately away from someone, that’s it. And she is set against you, I’m afraid.”
“Understandable,” I said, though it hurt. “I mean, I screwed everything up for her and then hid it all which made it even worse.”
He blinked. “You... wow.”
“What? It’s the truth.”
“Oh, I know, but...” He took a sip of his coffee while I waited impatiently to find out what had surprised him. Eventually he set down the cup and said, “Well, to be honest, Ron said you were admitting you’d messed up but I didn’t really believe it. That’s not really your style. But you just came out and said it so I guess he’s right.”
“Not like you don’t all know. What’s the point in hiding it?”
“I suppose, but still...” Another sip of coffee. “Okay, look, I didn’t actually ask you here to talk about all that.”
“No?”
He shook his head. “I came to apologize.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, there’s a first time for everything.” He sighed. “Look, the bachelor party thing... I was way out of line. And I am sorry.”
He sounded so awkward, but also like he meant it. “Thanks,” I said, feeling shy. “I... what was up with you?”
He shook his head. “I’m an idiot.�
��
“I know,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “Care to explain a little more?”
He winked at me, looking for a second like his usual self, then rubbed his forehead. “Wanted to make you jealous,” he said, directing his half-blind gaze into his coffee cup. “Wanted you to... well, want me, let’s say.”
“I did, trust me.”
He looked up. “Really?”
“It’s too bad you can’t see me better because I’ve got one hell of a ‘how stupid are you?’ face on right now. Yes, really. I came closer with you than I have with anyone.” Simon, of course, sleazed his way into my mind, and I shuddered and pushed the thought away. “I really did. But I just... I need to wait until I’m married. I want it to be that way.”
He leaned back in his chair, his slightly unfocused eyes trying to study my face. “I get that, and I respect it.”
I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “I have to say, didn’t look like it that night.”
He grimaced. “No, I know. I...” He shook his head. “Ah, what the hell. I was having a really hard time seeing everyone with someone. Liv with that guy whose name I can’t remember, who she’s thinking about dumping now which is good because he’s an idiot, MC with Kent, Ashley and Sam... and me and you on opposite sides of everything. I should not have done what I did, and I’m really sorry. But I think that’s why. Didn’t want to be alone that night.”
I considered this. It made sense. “And you ended up not being, right?”
I hadn’t spoken to Kia about Aaron when I called her about the swimsuit money issue but I knew she wouldn’t have let Aaron go, and sure enough he grimaced again but nodded. “Haven’t seen her since, though.” He leaned forward and rested both hands on the table. “Look. I really am sorry. I’ve had a lot of girlfriends in the past who wanted to be chased and when I did a little ‘no, you have to chase me’ sort of thing they came running. I was frustrated, then I got drunk, and stupid, and I thought you were like that too. Which was dead wrong. And then to make it worse I told everyone about... well, about why things were the way they were for us. Which was horrible too. Do you think you can forgive me?”
He sat silent, waiting, and I studied his face and saw that he meant every word. He wasn’t blaming what he’d done on anyone else, like Kia had when I confronted her, and with him taking the responsibility for his actions there was only one response I wanted to make. “Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I forgive you.”
His smile was full of relief. “I’m so glad. I’ve missed you, you know, and we had a lot of fun together.” His neck reddened. “Not just when we were... you know.”
I giggled. “I do know. And can you forgive me for the wedding stuff?”
“The way Ron explains it,” he said slowly, “makes it feel like you almost didn’t have a choice.”
“That’s how I felt,” I said, trying not to sound too eager. “I really didn’t want to hurt MC, or Kent.”
“Or Liv,” he added. “She was hurt, though.”
I bit my lip. “I really liked her.”
“She liked you too,” he said. “She’s the one who--” His neck’s color deepened. “Well, she told me I ought to apologize to you. Said that if I hadn’t been such a jerk maybe you’d have felt more able to talk about what was going on.”
I probably would have, but I didn’t want to pile on and I had more important things to say. “She did? But she was so mad at me.” And Ron had told me she was still telling Kent and MC to stay away from me. “When was this?”
“Couple days ago. We went out for coffee to talk about it all and she made it seriously clear how much I’d messed up and how I needed to fix it.” He gave me a small smile. “Took me a while to work up my nerve. You can be scary, you know.”
“Yeah, right. Nothing scares you.”
His smile widened. “You don’t, you’re right, but Liv does.” He shook his head. “Girl gets all fired up and I feel like she could shoot lasers from her eyes.”
I tried to smile but I couldn’t. I’d seen that look, when she was defending MC. Why was she using it to defend me when she herself still hated me?
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As I walked along the street toward the condo building where I’d lived with Kent, I said to myself over and over, “Aaron did it. Ron did it. You can do it too.”
Aaron had apologized to me, on a level I didn’t think he’d ever reached before. Ron, an hour ago at the pool, had told me he had pushed himself further than ever before and had actually submitted his application to become a teacher. He’d be in school in Seattle in September if everything worked out, and though I’d miss him like crazy I admired his guts.
Admired them, and hoped I had even half as many. I was going to need all the nerve of both Aaron and Ron to make this happen.
Ron had mentioned that Liv and MC were spending their Sunday out shopping and would be gone all day. I didn’t think he’d told me out of anything but making conversation, but I’d latched onto it like Simon onto a bit of celebrity gossip.
Because Ron had also said that Kent would be alone all day at home.
So this was my chance to talk to him. Even though I could hardly breathe from fear.
I reached the building and stood looking up at it for a moment, then made myself march up the walkway toward the front door. My hand reached for my keys automatically, as it had when I’d come home when I’d lived here, and I pulled it away from my pocket and shook my head at my own foolishness.
Then I picked up the intercom phone and dialed the three digits to get Kent to open the door. If he would.
“Yes?”
He sounded surprised, which made sense since he wasn’t expecting anyone.
“Kent, it’s me,” I said, then quickly added, “Summer,” because it wasn’t right to assume he knew me any more. “Can I come in? I’d like to talk to you.”
He didn’t answer for a moment, and I was struggling to find more words to use to convince him, but then he said, “I’ll come down. Meet me in the lobby?”
“Okay,” I said, feeling sad that he didn’t want me in his condo but also relieved that he was willing to talk to me at all.
I was less relieved when I spent five minutes sitting in the lobby area before he showed up.
“Sorry,” he said. “I was painting and I had to finish the den wall so it wouldn’t dry funny.”
His pant leg above the knee had a smear of pale green paint on it. Baby green. “Making it into the baby’s room?” I said before I realized I shouldn’t.
He took a step backward and I said, “Sorry. And no, nobody told me, before you ask. I overheard you and MC at the grocery store a while back. Discussing carrots.”
His eyes rolled up and to the side, like they always did when he was trying to remember something, and then he looked at me and sighed. “Ah, that. Then you know we’re not exactly living happily ever after.”
“Because of me.”
He didn’t deny it. He just sighed again and sat down in the chair across from mine. “Why are you here? I assume you know MC’s not around today.”
I nodded. “Ron told me this morning.”
Kent’s eyebrows went up and I said, “I keep saying the wrong thing to you. He didn’t tell me for any particular reason. We were just talking and he said it. He doesn’t know I’m here.”
“And why,” he said again, “are you here?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“We’re talking.”
“No, I’m talking and you’re sitting there. I need us to talk. For real.”
He sighed. “Why? What possible good would it do?”
Kent sounded so exhausted my heart hurt. I blinked hard, because tears would look manipulative and I didn’t want to do this that way, and said, “I want to tell you, myself, what I did and why. I want you to understand.”
“Well, I don’t understand, you’ve got me there,” he said. “But why does it matter now? It’s not like we’re going to be friends again. I don’t
see how we could.”
If he’d stabbed me, it might not have hurt as much. We had to be friends, or at least not enemies. He was my first lover and one of the best people I’d ever known. “But I’m friends with Ron. So I’ll see you occasionally,” I said, wondering if I actually would but trying not to show it. “So we need to not be enemies. And that’ll only work if we talk.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Summer, I’ve got a billion things to do today before MC gets home. I truly don’t have time for this today.”
Today. That didn’t mean he would never talk to me. “Okay. I’m seeing Ron for dinner on Tuesday. Could you come too? We could talk then.”
He looked down at his lap, where the green paint was.
I waited, holding my breath and hoping as hard as I could.
After another few seconds he said, “Okay. Tuesday.”
Happiness flooded me and I started to thank him but he cut me off with, “I’m not committing to dinner, though. I’ll meet you guys and you can tell me what you want to say, and then I’m leaving. I do want to know why you did what you did, because I would never have thought you’d do something like that, but don’t think I’m just forgetting everything, okay? You hurt MC really badly, and I can’t just move on from that.”
It hurt me that he cared so much more about MC than about me. Of course he should, and I’d known he did, but it still hurt to hear that from my former husband. A lot. I did my best not to show it, though. “I understand. And thank you. I know this sucks and I appreciate you letting me talk to you.”
He gave me a single nod. “You’re welcome. So. I’m going to go now.”
I nodded back, because I didn’t know what to say.
“Have Ron let me know where and when to meet,” he said, then he walked away to the elevator.
Once he was gone, I sat in the lobby for a minute gathering myself together. His coldness made me feel sick and sad, but I knew I deserved it. I just hoped I’d be able to melt him, at least a little bit, on Tuesday.
Chapter Forty
Fifteen Minutes of Summer Page 20