Chapter 27
Summer was pretty sure she was more nervous than Max as they approached the school. She wasn’t worried that Max wouldn’t be able to handle saying goodbye—she was worried that she wouldn’t. Her nephew raced ahead of her and Benjamin, and she reminded herself that school was only half a day.
“Maybe that shirt wasn’t my best idea ever,” Benjamin said with a rueful chuckle as the long t-shirt flapped around Max’s knees.
But Summer shook her head. Benjamin had been an absolute hero, coming up with that solution. “TJ would like it.” She reached to pull her hair, damp and sweaty from the humid morning, into a quick ponytail.
Max was already at the school door, and he gestured them forward impatiently.
Benjamin touched a hand to Summer’s back to guide her through first, and a ripple of goosebumps traveled up her arm. She stepped through quickly, leaving his hand behind and telling herself that the goosebumps were from the sudden chill of the air conditioning in the school.
“Wow.” Benjamin sounded awed as he stepped through the door. “Everything looks so different.”
Summer nodded. The school had been renovated several years ago, and she barely recognized it from the days when she went there. They followed a sign that pointed toward the preschool classroom. Inside, the room sported four different colored walls. A few children had already arrived and were busy exploring the space. A woman dressed even more vibrantly than the room approached them with a wide smile, her friendly eyes sparkling behind purple glasses. “Good morning. What’s your name?” Her voice was as cheerful as her clothes.
“I’m Max.” Max shuffled back into Summer a little bit.
“It’s nice to meet you Max.” The woman held out a hand to Max, who shook it dutifully. “I’m Mrs. Rayburn. I like your shirt.”
“It was my dad’s,” Max announced proudly. “But it shrank in the wash.”
Mrs. Rayburn smiled, her eyes going to Benjamin, then Summer. “And is this your mom and dad?”
“Nope. My dad is in heaven,” Max answered before Summer could get past her mortification enough to explain. All of the phone calls she’d made over the past few weeks, and somehow it hadn’t occurred to her to call Max’s teacher.
“Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry.” Despite the sympathy in her voice, Mrs. Rayburn’s smile didn’t falter. “So you must be . . .” She turned to Summer.
“This is my Aunt Sunny,” Max introduced her. “And my Benji.”
“I— Oh.” Mrs. Rayburn’s smile still didn’t budge, though Summer could see her confusion through it.
“I’m Summer.” She held out a hand to the teacher. “Max’s aunt. I have temporary guardianship of Max, and hopefully permanent guardianship soon. And this is my . . .” She couldn’t quite get the word husband to roll off her tongue. “This is Benjamin.”
She watched Benjamin’s hand land in Mrs. Rayburn’s but didn’t have the courage to look at his face.
“It’s so nice to meet you both.” Mrs. Rayburn was still smiling away. “Would you like me to take a picture of the three of you, and then you two can be on your way and we can get to having some fun?”
“Yes,” Max said definitively. “Do we get to play with those dinosaurs?” He pointed to a bin in the corner of the room.
“Oh yes. Sometimes.”
Max shot an arm in the air, yelling, “Boy oh boy! I like school!”
“Calm down, Max,” Summer murmured, but the teacher didn’t seem in the least bothered by his enthusiasm.
Mrs. Rayburn took the phone Benjamin held out to her and glided a few steps backwards. “Get close to each other,” she called.
Before Summer could move, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, and she sucked in a breath as Benjamin snugged her close to him. His other hand rested on Max’s shoulder in front of him.
“Say preschool,” Mrs. Rayburn called.
Max and Benjamin both repeated the word obediently, but Summer couldn’t speak past the breath she was holding.
“Can I play now?” Max asked as Mrs. Rayburn passed the phone back to Benjamin.
With Mrs. Rayburn’s cheerful, “Yes,” he took off without a backward glance.
“Pickup is at noon.” Mrs. Rayburn smiled them to the door. “Y’all have a good morning, and we’ll see you then.” She disappeared back into the classroom, and Summer let out a breath.
“You okay?” Benjamin was studying her a little too closely, and Summer let herself take one last peek through the door, but Max must have gone straight for the corner with the dinosaurs.
She nodded. “That was easier than I thought it would be. And harder.”
Benjamin nodded too. “Are you ready to go?”
“No.” But she started toward the exit.
Benjamin held the door open for her, and then they were back out in the bright, stifling heat. It was the kind of day TJ would have said licked you in the face.
Benjamin was unusually quiet on the walk home, and Summer’s mind kept going back to the question she knew she should ask him: Did he want to get an annulment?
He’d said last night that he didn’t think they’d made a mistake. But now that he’d had the whole night to think about it, maybe he’d changed his mind.
Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to ask. Because she knew what he had said last night was right—even the part-time job at the bookstore might not be enough to win her guardianship of Max over Stacy. She and Benjamin would need to stay married until after the hearing. And then they could visit the topic of an annulment.
She’d done some more research in bed last night, and as long as they didn’t consummate their marriage, an annulment was still a possibility. Given that they hadn’t even kissed, aside from at the courthouse, she was pretty confident that wasn’t going to be a problem.
A little cavity opened in the middle of her chest, filling her with the desire for this to be more, but she stuffed it full of reminders that she was doing this for Max, not for herself.
“Next stop?” Benjamin asked as they walked up the driveway at TJ’s house.
Summer grimaced. “I still think I should go by myself.”
“We’re going together.” His tone didn’t leave room for argument, and Summer didn’t try.
The truth was, even though she didn’t want Benjamin to come along, she was pretty sure she needed him there for this.
“We’ll bring some cake,” he said cheerfully. “No one can be upset when there’s cake involved.”
Summer nodded. But she knew it was going to take a lot more than cake to make telling Mama go smoothly.
Benjamin could feel the anxiety radiating off of Summer from the other side of the car. He wanted to reach over and take her hand, but she clutched the plastic container holding the leftover pieces of cake so tightly that he wouldn’t have been able to get a finger in edgewise.
He wished he could tell her that they didn’t have to do this.
But she couldn’t exactly go through life without telling her mama she was married.
Then again, it had sure seemed like not telling people was Summer’s plan at school this morning. He hadn’t missed the way she’d stopped short of calling him her husband to Mrs. Rayburn. Who that sweet, smiling teacher thought he was, was anyone’s guess.
He pulled into the driveway and parked the car. They both sat for a moment, and he offered a quick prayer that this would go well, for Summer’s sake. After the way her mama had behaved at TJ’s funeral, Benjamin didn’t much care if she approved of this marriage or not—but he didn’t want things to be any harder for Summer than they already were.
“Come on.” He touched a hand lightly to Summer’s, though what he really wanted to do was pull her close and protect her from whatever they were about to face. “Let’s do this. And then it will be done.”
She nodded, and they got out of the car and started toward the house. At the door, Summer hesitated, then lifted her hand as if she was about to knock. Then she dropped it and instead fished a key out of her purse. She unlocked the door, knocking as she opened it. “It’s just me, Mama,” she called.
“Of course it’s you. Who else would it be? Stop letting all the cold air out.” Mrs. Ellis’s voice was none too welcoming, but Benjamin stepped in behind Summer, who shot him an apologetic look.
Her mama sat in a worn recliner on the other side of the room, near a large television. She didn’t bother to look away from it as she called, “Grass is getting long. You here to mow?”
Indignation clawed at Benjamin’s chest. He already knew Summer did the shopping and the cleaning for her mama, besides taking her to all of her doctor appointments. But she did the yard work too?
“I’ll mow it.” His offer seemed to startle both Summer and her mother, who finally pulled her eyes off the TV. They widened as her gaze fell on him, and her mouth twisted into an expression that may have been a smile—if a smile could be hard and cold. Without pausing to consider whether it was wise, Benjamin slid an arm around Summer’s waist. She stiffened but didn’t pull away, and her mama’s smile grew harder.
“And why would you mow my lawn?” she asked.
“Mama.” It was probably good that Summer cut in before Benjamin could reply. “You know my— You know Benjamin Calvano.”
“I know him.” Mrs. Ellis’s words were as hard as her smile. “I don’t know why he’s here.”
“I— Well, we—” Summer stammered.
“There’s something we wanted to tell you,” Benjamin said for her.
“So go ahead and tell me. I’m not getting any younger sitting here.”
“We got married yesterday.” Summer dashed out the words so quickly that Benjamin barely understood them, but they seemed to register with her mama immediately.
Her hard smile fell away, replaced by a complete lack of expression.
Summer’s eyes flicked to Benjamin, then back to her mama. “Did you hear me, Mama?”
“Of course I heard you,” Mrs. Ellis snapped. She gazed at them another moment, then shook her head and turned back to the TV.
Summer held utterly still for a moment, then gave a shuddering sigh. Benjamin hugged her closer, then took the plastic container from her hands. “We brought cake,” he said, approaching Mrs. Ellis.
Her eyes flicked to him, then back to the TV. But when he held the container out to her, she took it.
“I’ll go get started on the lawn.”
She grunted, but he could almost convince himself he saw a slight softening in her eyes. He’d count that as a win.
“I think she likes me,” he whispered to Summer when he returned to her side.
She rolled her eyes, but a light smile dusted her lips. He considered brushing a quick kiss there—but then decided that he didn’t want their first kiss since their wedding to be in front of her mama.