CHAPTER 37 Sophie Summers
What’s Next for Our Famous Friend
I don’t know why I didn’t tell my mom we picked a date. Maybe because I wasn’t sure whether we were really doing it, so I didn’t want to get her hopes up when it might not actually happen—regardless of the fact that I want it to happen.
And I’m still sort of feeling shut down by all that when Cassie turns to look at me, and I realize about two seconds too late that I never told her that my parents don’t know about my books.
“So what’s next for our famous friend?” Cassie asks me.
My eyes widen, but I glance at Miller to try to play it off. “Oh, training camp, I suppose,” I say, my voice an octave higher than is natural.
“I mean you, silly,” she says, not getting my hint.
“Famous friend?” my mom repeats, and fuck , of course she heard.
“Her books,” Cassie says, smiling at my mom. “I read Married to the Enemy , and I loved it. Please tell me there’s more of the Hendrix clan coming our way soon. ”
I’m frozen to the spot as I try to come up with something to say, but I’m at a total loss. I don’t know how to get out of this one.
“Her books?” my mom says.
Cassie finally seems to put it together, and she slaps a hand over her mouth as her eyes widen. “Oh my God,” she murmurs. “Do they not know?”
I close my eyes as I slowly shake my head.
“I’m so, so sorry. I had no idea. I just—”
“It’s okay,” I interrupt. I glance over at my parents, who look…confused.
Well, my dad does. His brow is a little furrowed, and his head is tilted. My mom, who always looks a little judgmental, on the other hand, has her lips puckered up so tightly it looks like she just sucked a lemon.
“What’s going on?” she manages through those puckered lips.
I clear my throat. “Mom, Dad, it’s time I tell you the truth. I’m thirty years old now, which means I’ve been an adult for a long time. You’ve always been so conservative that I’ve felt the need to keep some things from you.”
Okay, so I’m not being fully honest even with those words.
The truth is…I don’t want my parents reading my books.
They’ve always been supportive, and I’d know they want to read them.
But knowing they’re reading my words might make me write them differently, and that was never a risk I was willing to take.
Silence envelops our table as all eyes are on me.
I keep my eyes down on my dinner roll as I finally admit the truth. “For the last four years, I’ve been secretly publishing romance books under a pen name.”
My mom gasps, and I peek up at her. She’s back to sucking that lemon, but my dad’s eyes are sort of lit up .
They are completely opposite reactions.
“You…you—” my mom begins, but my dad interrupts.
“Sophie June, that’s incredible. I’m sorry you felt like you had to keep it from us,” my dad says.
“You’re writing pornography under our noses?” my mom demands, her voice a hushed whisper.
I blow out a breath. “This is why I didn’t tell you.
I knew this would be your reaction. No, it’s not pornography, Mother.
I write stories that explore complex themes about people finding love even in unlikely situations.
” I lift a shoulder, hating that I need to defend what I do to anyone , most of all to my parents.
Or my mom, anyway. “It allows readers to find a connection to someone who might be like them. It helps people see that there can still be happily ever afters even after the darkness, and don’t you think this world could use more happily ever afters? ”
My mom opens her mouth to shoot back with something most likely nasty, but my dad stops her. “Judy, enough.” He turns to look at me. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart. You’re really going for it, reaching for those dreams, and that’s all I ever wanted for you.”
“Is this why you left your job?” my mom asks, clearly not on board with things the way my dad is.
I shake my head. “No. I left my job because my ex posted about my books on my student message board as me, and there was going to be a huge investigation that would’ve only publicized my pen name.
So I quit before that became public consumption.
” I glance at Miller. “Miller swooped in and saved the day. He showed up for me, and he took care of everything.”
His arm is already draped on the back of my chair, and he moves it a little to wrap his hand around my shoulder in solidarity.
“And before you ask, that is why I’m marrying him. Because he does that. He shows up for me. He takes care of me. He saves the day every day, and he supports me. He encourages me. He believes in me.” I glance over at him, and I hope he can see how much I adore him from those words.
“Supports you how? Financially?” My mother snorts.
Miller jumps in to tackle that one. “We’re a couple that’s planning to get married next year, Mrs. Summers. I will support her in every possible way I can.”
My dad looks beside himself with happiness for me, but my mom just isn’t having it. She’s sputtering and pursing her lips, and then she says, “So you quit your job to write porn and live with yet another man you’re not married to. Did we teach you nothing?”
I clench my jaw before I say something I’ll regret, and Miller jumps in to…well, to save the day, as he does.
“Mrs. Summers, I would really appreciate it if we could continue this conversation privately later. Let’s celebrate the bride and groom, shall we?”
He turns toward Tanner and opens his mouth to ask a question, but my dad interrupts him before he can get it out.
“Since we’re dropping truth bombs here tonight, I have one.”
Everyone at the table turns their attention to my dad. I have no idea what he’s about to say.
My mother is glaring at him, though, so whatever he’s about to say, he’s saying it without her express written consent.
She tries to stop him. “John, do you really think this is the time?”
He shrugs, and truthfully, as I study him for a few seconds…he looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. Maybe it’s the cruise.
Or maybe it’s his truth bomb.
“After thirty-six years of marriage, Judy and I have decided to get a divorce. ”
I hear a variety of gasps all over the table, and I feel eyes on me as everyone awaits my reaction.
I’m not sure how to react, exactly.
I’m a grown woman. It’s not like I’m a kid who is going to have to split time between Mom and Dad.
Is it weird? Yes. But they’re both here on this cruise—sharing a stateroom, no less, which means cramped quarters together—so they must be on decent terms despite the news.
Before I say anything, my dad adds, “I figured the news would come out some time on the trip, so why not just get it over with the first night so we don’t have to pretend?”
I’m not sure if he’s saying that to me or to my mom, but suddenly heat rolls over my body from the top of my head down to the tips of my toes, and I have the strongest urge to get the hell out of here.
I take a sip of water to try to calm whatever that feeling is, but it doesn’t help.
“I’ll be right back,” I mutter, and I stand, toss my napkin on my chair, and bolt out of the room.
Tears pinch behind my eyes. First my mom’s disapproval, then my dad’s announcement—and all when we’re supposed to be here celebrating Tanner and Cassie with the Nash family.
Why did we invite my parents along on this cruise?
Oh, right. It was supposed to be a fun family vacation. Chris and Marie couldn’t make it work, but it would sure be nice to have my older brother here so we could talk about the news. I wonder if he knows.
I feel like I should be upset. Like I should be crying.
Instead, I just feel…panicky. Thirty-six years, and they couldn’t make it work. They stopped fighting to make it work.
Will the same thing happen to me and my own future husband? Will it be Miller, or will we both jump ship before February ?
Will I lose his friendship? Will I lose him …forever?
I wish I could skip ahead to the end to see how things pan out, but I can’t. Instead, I’m stuck on a boat with my parents, who are divorcing, my fake fiancé, and my fiancé’s entire extended family.
In fact…I don’t think it’s panic at all. I think it just might be claustrophobia.
But then a hand slips onto my shoulder, and it’s like things are immediately better. I know who it is without even turning around. It’s the clean, familiar scent, the warmth, the love that radiates from something as simple as a hand on my shoulder.
This is what I meant by support. He’s here for me even when I don’t know how to ask him to be.
I turn around.
“Hey. You okay?”
“This boat suddenly doesn’t feel big enough,” I admit. I turn into him and rest my forehead on his chest, and he clutches me with his arms tightly around me.
“Do you want to go to dinner somewhere else?” His voice is quiet and soothing.
“Can we, like, just have a parent table and a kid table?”
He chuckles. “Maybe tomorrow night.”
I blow out a breath and don’t move my forehead from his chest. “How weird is it that they’re getting divorced?”
“Any weirder than finding out my dad isn’t my biological dad?”
I can’t help a laugh at that. I pull back, and I wrap my arms around his waist as I look up and catch his eyes. “Same sort of lane, I think.”
“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Parents are people, too. They’re human, and I guess that’s what I’ve learned over the last year and a half. Take it for what it’s worth.”
“Thanks, Millby. ”
“Anytime, Summers. You know that.”
“I do.” I tip my chin up and press my lips to his.
“Do you need to talk about it?”
I twist my lips and shrug. “I don’t know. I need to process, I guess.”
“Then let’s process, let’s eat, and let’s go for a walk tonight and talk. Sound okay?”
I press my lips together and nod. “Sounds good.”
When we return to the table, the food has arrived. Everyone is quiet as they dig in, and I’m debating whether they’re quiet because of the situation or because the food is here.
I’ve lost most of my appetite, but I force myself to eat some of the salmon. It’s delicious, and I guess what I’ve heard about the food on these cruises is true—it’s top-tier.
When our server comes by, I think about ordering a pina colada, but instead I settle on a dark and stormy—stronger to dull the nerves faster.
It feels like a lifetime passes before dessert arrives, and my mother excuses herself early. I don’t know where she goes, and frankly, I’m not sure I care right at this moment in time.
Everyone is involved in their own little side conversations over dessert. My dad is to my right, and I lean over toward him as he digs into his key lime pie. “So when is all this happening?”
He clears his throat. “It’s in progress. We’ve filed all the paperwork, and it should be finalized in the next month or so.”
“What made you decide to give it all up?”
He tilts his head, and I swear I see a little sympathy in his eyes. “Truthfully? It was you, sweetheart.”
My brows push together. “Me?”
He nods. “You up and moved to San Diego in the middle of the school year to be with the person you love, and it just felt so…” He trails off, and I wait for him to fill in the word.
“Brave. And now we find out you’re giving your dreams a shot, do ing this writing thing you felt like you had to keep from us. I’m sorry you felt that way.”
“You know how Mom is,” I mutter, and I don’t want this to turn into a me and him against her thing, but part of me feels like that’s just the way it’s always been.
And a bigger part of me is starting to realize that’s the reason that likely fueled this whole thing between them.
“I do,” he confirms, and then he goes a step further to confirm the rest of my hunch.
“And I got to a point where it just felt like we were too different to stay on the path we were going down. We grew apart, and it’s as simple and as difficult as that.
As you get older, you get more and more set in your ways, and rather than growing in the same direction… well, we didn’t.”
We’re both quiet as we take a bite of our pie, and then he adds, “Every marriage is a little different. Some can go the distance, and others can’t. So I don’t want you to think you’re doomed to failure.”
I nod, and I glance over at Miller as I think about how well my dad knows me.
I wonder what my dad would think about knowing the entire reason we’re even engaged was due to an elaborate lie to Mom.
I’m about to admit the truth when he says, “But it’s you and Miller. You have a strong foundation of friendship. You’ll figure things out.”
I hope he’s right, but since I’m not even sure if we’re actually going to go through with this, I guess there’s no way of knowing.
But I do think that’s something we need to talk about—maybe tonight on our walk.