Chapter 21
Twenty-One
SUMMER
Ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars. That’s how much this client is offering to pay me to draw scenes from some of their favorite books. For personal use. I don’t even charge this much for commercial rights.
After I read through the email for the tenth time, I sent it to Hazel to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. “Do I tell them my rate is, like, a tenth of what they’re offering me?”
“Why the hell would you do that? Thank them and send an invoice.”
I’ve never made this much in a year from my art, and now I have a ten-thousand-dollar commission that will take me maybe a month.
“When is Adam meeting us?” I ask my mother.
At the table across from me, she squints at her phone held at arm’s length. “He ran into some traffic, but he should be here in about fifteen, twenty minutes.”
“I still think it’s weird you two didn’t carpool.”
They’ve been attached at the hip for months, traveling all over the globe, and they finally scheduled a two-day stop back in Maine before they take off for one of the Balkan countries. Greece, maybe? Their travel schedule is harder to keep up with than Hazel’s.
Mom sets her phone down on the table, disappointment clouding her gaze.
She’s been unsettlingly quiet tonight. Normally, she’d be gushing about all her adventures on her travels, regaling me with the stories of all the quirky locals she met, and happily reiterating the same stories for nosy diners at nearby tables.
But she hasn’t breathed a word about any of it since we sat down in our favorite restaurant ten minutes ago.
“I think maybe he wanted to come here separately for a reason,” Mom finally admits.
“Like what?”
She sighs, propping her chin on her fist. “He’s going to dump me.”
“Dump you? He would have to be the biggest moron to break up with you.” My heart thumps harder. Witnessing my mother’s devastation after losing my dad was awful. I don’t want her to go through any kind of heartbreak again.
“He’s been so distant for the last few days. I swear he’s keeping secrets. So either he’s hiding a crime, or he’s done with me.”
“Let’s hope he has a few bodies buried in his backyard then.”
Mom snorts and sips at her martini. She’s finally found someone she’s happy with again after years, and now he’s going to end it.
I could punch him in the face. He and his nose better hope he doesn’t bother showing up tonight.
“Anyway, how is Noah? Is he recovering okay?”
“Great. His doctor said he should be back to normal soon.”
“And things are good between you? You like his family?”
“They’re great.” I love Noah’s family. Mom would too. Christine and David are super friendly, Killian is hilarious—“But I’m pretty sure his sister hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.” Beside me, a chair scrapes and a tall, gorgeous man grins at me.
Noah.
He must’ve planted another GPS tracker on my car. I didn’t even notice. He’s getting better at this stalking thing.
I shouldn’t find it as hot as I do.
“What are you doing here?” I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips.
“Meeting your mom, finally.” He holds out a hand to my mother and gives her a winning smile. He’s still wearing that bullet around his neck, and I pray Mom doesn’t ask about it. “Nice to meet you, Angela. I’m Noah.”
She beams at him and shakes his hand. He winces a little. I would’ve warned him about my mom’s handshake if he’d let me in on his plan to crash our lunch date.
“What a nice surprise!” Mom gestures for him to take the seat beside me, and he happily joins us. She smiles at me in that way only a mother can. “He’s very handsome.”
“Mom, he can hear you.”
“You’re very handsome,” she reiterates with a megawatt smile. My mother is definitely trying to steal my boyfriend. I can’t say I blame her.
Fake boyfriend. Now we’re not just faking our relationship for Noah’s family—we’re faking it for mine too.
“Thank you very much. I can see where Summer gets her beauty.”
She waves him off, but she glows under the compliment. To me, she says, “I like him.”
“Me too.” When I meet Noah’s gaze, like doesn’t even begin to cover the butterflies that burst in my stomach.
Mom plucks a roll from the basket between us. “So why do you think his sister hates you?”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Summer. She’s perfect.” Noah’s hand squeezes my shoulder. Perfect. He thinks I’m perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect—“My sister is a bit of a skeptic. After the way my last relationship ended, she’s been . . . overly protective.”
I shake my head. “She hates me. She’s like a bloodthirsty bloodhound that’s out for . . . blood. My blood.”
Mom waves her hand dismissively. “I’m sure it’s nothing more than protectiveness, like Noah said. She’s being a good sister, looking out for her brother. She’ll come around.”
“Now might be a good time to mention you’re invited to her bridal shower,” Noah tells me.
“See?” Mom points as if this is all the proof needed. “She does like you.”
“Really? She actually wants me there?”
Noah must’ve bribed her for an invitation.
“It was mostly at my mother’s insistence,” he admits. “But I’m sure Vee is warming up to you.”
He, in fact, does not seem sure of that at all.
For Noah, though, I will put up with his terrifying sister. Hopefully, it’ll be a co-ed bridal shower so Noah will be there to run interference. If not, I’ll need to count on Christine to protect me.
“So Noah, Summer told me you’re a pet sitter? What’s that like?”
While Noah entertains Mom with stories about all the pets he’s been boarding and taking care of while their human companions are away, horrific scenarios of Victoria’s bridal shower run through my mind. I’m going to fuck it up somehow.
Victoria already knows something fishy is going on.
She’s just waiting to catch me in a lie and ruin everything.
If she discovers the truth, not only will Noah’s family realize he lied about moving on from his ex, but they’ll never trust me again.
Victoria won’t be Noah’s only relative who hates me anymore.
Noah gently squeezes my shoulder, like he’s noticed my mind is elsewhere.
“Have you still been working on your art, honey?” Mom asks me.
“Actually, I got this huge commission.” An involuntary smile takes over my face. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about my work. “If I can keep getting commissions like this, I could probably go full-time soon.”
Mom gasps in delight and claps her hands together. “That’s wonderful news!”
“That’s amazing, Summer.” Noah squeezes me close, wearing a huge grin. He’s as happy as I was when I first got the commission request. “I’m proud of you.”
The praise makes warmth spread through my chest. Other than my parents, I can’t think of a single time another person has ever told me they were proud of me.
“I’m a little nervous about it, though.” In my lap, I twist my hands together. “My tablet is so laggy now. I’m not sure it’ll make it through every piece the client commissioned before it takes a shit.”
“You can buy a new one, can’t you?” Mom asks. “Use some of the funds from this new project?”
Noah’s arm slips from around my shoulders as he frowns down at his phone screen beneath the table. A text, maybe?
Technically, my mom is right. My client is paying me enough for this project to cover a new tablet and then some. But I’ve never been good about treating my art like a business and investing back into it. “A new tablet is so expensive, and it’s just—”
It’s just art. But I bite back the last word before it can leave my mouth. Mom and Noah would both spend the rest of the night scolding me if they heard me dismissing my own work.
But it’s so hard to believe your art is worth anything when you’ve been told your whole life that you’d be lucky for anyone to want your work for free, let alone pay a dime for it.
Starving artist is a stereotype for a reason, and the prospect of taking the leap to go full-time doing what I love and failing is more terrifying than not taking the leap at all.
“Can’t you just draw on paper like you used to?” Mom’s hand twirls theatrically in the air to mime drawing. “You used to spend hours in your room and on the living room floor, sketching and painting and getting ink all up and down your arms.”
“She’s the same way now.” Noah shoves his phone back into his pocket. “It’s adorable.”
Noah is playing the fake-boyfriend role very well. A little too well. Mom is eating this up.
And so am I.
On my phone, a notification lights up the screen. A receipt.
I bring the phone closer, heart pounding. A purchase. Did someone steal my credit card? I really don’t want to deal with some identity theft shit right now—
A tablet. It’s a new tablet.
Someone bought me a new fucking tablet after I was just complaining about the outdated version I’ve had since college.
Beside me, Noah sips from his water nonchalantly. For a stalker, he’s not sneaky. If my mother weren’t sitting across from me, I’d tell him so. “Noah, did you do this?”
“Do what?”
“Do what, honey?” Mom parrots, brows pulled together.
“Noah just bought me a new tablet.”
Mom’s hand flies to her chest. “Oh, Noah! That is so sweet!”
“You really didn’t have to do that.” I try to swallow around the lump in my throat.
His steady blue gaze meets mine, smile easy and comforting. Exactly as it has been since day one. “I believe in you, Summer. Whatever you need for your art, tell me, and it’s yours.”
I blink furiously as the tears come. He might as well have gotten me a ring with how much this means to me.
Noah believes in me. He’s believed in me from the beginning, before he even saw any of my drawings. “Noah—”
“Adam!” Mom leaps up from her chair, waving chaotically above her head and drawing the attention of some of the diners around us.
My mother’s boyfriend shows up glistening with sweat, eyes darting nervously between us and the exit. He’s ready to bolt.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Mom waves him off. “Oh, that’s all right!”