Ethan
After dinner the whole family is on the porch to watch the meteor shower.
Mia is sitting between me and Summer on the porch, three heavy blankets covering us while Cas and Penny are out on the field, Penny went to get her entire gear to get some shots.
Dex went to the bar and Grace is sitting on the chairs by the lake with Caleb who came over to watch with her.
Mom and dad are sitting on the steps in front of us.
“Mommy did you see!” Mia is enthralled by the sight.
Summer too. I study the way her gaze drifts up to the sky.
It’s like she’s searching for something she’s lost a long time ago.
“What about some hot chocolate now to warm up?” Josh stands up and helps Lily stand up too.
“Can I mommy?” Mia asks Summer who nods and laughs. “Just this once ok?”
“Yes!” She gives a cute little fist pump, shoves the blankets off and runs to my dad, who’s already holding his arms wide to catch her. I don’t know if Summer knows it yet, but my parents have mentally adopted Mia as their first grandchild. I smile at the sight.
“You guys coming in?” Penny and cas walk up the steps.
“Oh no, I think I’ll stay out here a while.” Summer says.
“Me too.” I’m not letting the chance to be alone with her get away.
Summer’s eyes fly to mine. I don’t think she expected that. I know she doesn’t trust me yet, so I just smile.
The night air still hums with crickets and the faint smell of rain-soaked grass.
The porch lights glow soft and golden through the windows, and somewhere inside I can hear dad laughing low at something Mama said.
It’s the kind of stillness that makes you notice small things, the leaves rustling in the wind, an owl singing in the night, your own heartbeat. And hers.
“Can I ask you something?” I dare.
She pulls the blanket up again, I’m not sure if she’s cold or hiding. “Sure.” She stares back at the night sky.
“What happened to Mia’s dad?”
Summer’s fingers tighten around the edge of the blanket. “Long story short, he didn’t want her.”
“What if I want the long version?” I ask quietly.
She exhales, long and tired. “Do you know my last name?”
“Montgomery?” I frown.
“Does it sound familiar?” she asks, still watching the sky but with a stiff, sad smile.
I search my memory. “…Montgomery Oil?”
She gives a humorless laugh. “Yeah. My great-grandparents.”
And then she tells me.
Not all at once, not cleanly, more like pieces she’s never said out loud before.
The childhood shaped by expectation.
The arranged future she didn’t choose.
The marriage that looked perfect from the outside.
How Mia was the only good thing to come out of all of it.
How he drifted. How he cheated.
How everyone around her cared more about names, legacies, and headlines than the woman bleeding behind the curtain.
She talks, and I listen.
And the more she says, the more anger coils low and sharp in my gut.
When she finally wipes a tear with the back of her hand, she whispers, “Want to know what he asked me before he signed the custody papers?”
I nod, bracing myself.
“‘Does this mean I can keep my money?’” Her voice breaks on the last word.
Something inside me snaps. Not loud. Not violent. Just… final. Because now I know exactly the kind of man he is.
“Any man who thinks Mia isn’t worth more than all the riches in the world is stupid… and worthless,” I growl. She finally meets my gaze.
“Want to know something funny?” Her lips curve into a small, sad smile. I nod, careful not to scare her with the anger simmering in me.
“I’ve had everything money could buy, home, car, clothes, schools. Yet nothing ever made me as happy as the day Mia and I slept on a blow-up mattress in a broken-down cabin, not knowing our future.”
I watch her closely. That quiet strength, the courage that made her leave security behind to build a life for Mia, hits me hard.
“When I finally left, I didn’t even miss him. I just… ran. I told myself it was for Mia, but the truth is, I think I was running for both of us.”
“You’re so strong,” I whisper, my voice breaking a little.
She shivers under the faint porch light, twisting the blanket around her. Her shoulders tremble, a tear glints at the corner of her eye.
“You left a comfortable life because you wanted something better for Mia,” I murmur, voice low. “Forced to hide behind masks, expectations, money… from the people who were supposed to love you.”
Another tear slips down. I reach out instinctively, brushing it away with the back of my thumb. Her skin is warm under my hand.
“You didn’t stay where it wasn’t right. You took Mia and built a new life. That’s brave. That’s admirable. It didn’t break you, it shaped you.”
Her lips tremble. She looks small beneath the blanket, curling in on herself, but there’s something in her eyes, a quiet fire, stubborn and alive, like it refuses to be snuffed out.
I lean a little closer, thumb brushing over hers. “Maybe now… maybe here… you can let some of it go. With my family, with me. You don’t have to hide anymore.”
Her hands still twist the blanket, but she doesn’t pull away. I press my hand a little firmer over hers. “You did the right thing. For Mia. For yourself. That’s enough.”
She exhales slowly. “It doesn’t always feel like it,” she whispers.
“Healing isn’t neat. It’s never perfect,” I say. “It’s messy. Starting over, chasing your dreams, doing it all alone, that is fighting. That is character. And you have a strong soul, Summer. I admire it.”
She suddenly stands, a mix of resolve and vulnerability in her eyes. “I think I’ll go inside.”
I nod, letting her take the choice. She turns, hand on the doorknob… then stops.
“Ethan?”
I hold my breath. She turns back, and I see her, the real Summer. Scared. Vulnerable. Strong.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
Before I can answer, she slips inside. I’m left on the porch, watching the door close, feeling the weight of everything she just gave me.
I follow Summer inside and join everyone in the kitchen.
After a while I slip away unnoticed, moving down the quiet hall.
The house is almost asleep now, laughter and clinking dishes fading into the hum of nighttime settling over the ranch.
Somewhere outside, a horse nickers softly in the stable, and the faint scent of woodsmoke drifts through the hall from the fireplace, curling around me like a whisper.
Summer said she’d give Mia a bath before bed, so I need to make it in time to leave the flower and note on her pillow. Floorboards creak faintly under my boots, lamplight spilling in long, golden stripes across the floor.
I pause outside her door. Mia’s small, sleepy voice drifts through the crack:
“Will you sing me a song now, Mommy?”
I freeze.
The door is half open. Summer sits on the edge of the bed, back to me, hair loose and messy, catching the soft lamplight. Her hand moves slowly through Mia’s damp hair, smoothing it over the pillow, and then she begins to sing.
Her voice is soft, warm, and low, wrapping around the room like a blanket.
She’s singing My Wish by Rascal Flatts, and I can hear the weight behind every word.
Mia’s tiny hand curls against Summer’s leg, already heavy with sleep, and Summer’s eyes glisten with unshed tears, though her voice remains steady, unwavering.
I stand there, frozen, heart tight.
I step back silently before she notices and make my way over to her room, I place the wildflower and note gently on her pillow, careful not to make a sound, leaving the door slightly ajar so the hall light spills in and make my way downstairs.
At the bottom of the steps, Grace smirks, arms crossed, hair still damp from her shower.
“This is the third time I catch you sneaking upstairs, thinking no one sees.”
“Wouldn’t have anything to do with the woman you were staring at all night, would it?” she asks, one brow raised, smug and unbothered.
I grin, shaking my head. “You know, I was driving by the diner the other night, and I swear I saw Caleb kissing a girl that looked a lot like you.”
Her expression shifts instantly. “But you were over at Cassie’s to study, so it wasn’t you, right?” I add, feigning innocence.
I wanted to get out of my car and bring her home right then, but while my other brothers are more impulsive like that, the way Grace smiled with Caleb made me pause.
Don’t get me wrong, if that boy ever hurts her, he’ll know exactly what my fist on his jaw feels like.
But Penny had a point when she confronted us a month ago right before Grace went on her first date with Caleb.
I don’t want her to go to college sheltered and naive, trusting every boy she meets because we protected her too much.
So I keep my eye on her from afar and wait for the boy to screw up before I act.
Grace’s smirk dies, replaced by a glare.
“Your silence for my silence.”
She sticks her hand out to me, the same way we used to as kids when we needed to hide things from our parents.
“Deal.” I shake her hand firmly, then pull her into a hug.
“That boy ever hurts you, you come to me, okay?” I say, eyes locking with hers. She hesitates, then nods.
“He loves me,” she says quietly, but it doesn’t sound happy. Her voice wavers, eyes dropping to her feet as she fiddles with her sleeve.
“And you don’t?” I ask gently.
“I really like him,” she says, a shrug that doesn’t reach her eyes.
I lift her chin with my finger so she’ll meet my gaze.
“It’s okay if you’re not there yet, and of course he loves you, Grace.
You’re ten kinds of special, beautiful, smart, and cowgirl to the bone.
The man that wins your heart one day will be one lucky bastard.
Well…he’ll only get to you after he goes through us, but that’s just to make sure he’s ready to fight for the treasure you are. ”
Her lips tremble into a smile, eyes glistening.
“You think I’m beautiful?”
My chest tightens. Maybe we’ve been too hard on her about dating if she doesn’t even know how special she is.
“I know so,” I say softly. “And not just because you’re my sister, but because you’re one of the bravest, kindest, most beautiful souls I know, inside and out. No man will ever be good enough for you.”
I hug her tighter this time, like I’m trying to shield her from everything I can’t control.
“Thanks, Ethan.” She kisses my cheek, her voice small.
“You know you’re my favorite brother.”
I grin and ruffle her hair. “Oh, quit it, you liar. We all know you and Jace have a special bond. But you’re my favorite sister, that’s for sure.”
She scoffs, wiping her cheek. “I’m your only sister!”
“Exactly,” I nod with a grin.
She rolls her eyes, but her smile stays.
Her laughter echoes softly down the quiet hallway, blending with the creak of the floorboards and the faint whisper of wind brushing against the old windowpanes.
For a moment, it feels like everything is exactly as it should be, home, warmth, family…
and the woman upstairs I can’t stop thinking about.