Chapter 28
Summer
On Thursday, after everyone finishes their exams, we decide to go to the beach house for a few days to celebrate. I pack for three days before Nick and Seb pick me up. We meet Alex, E, and Bay there, and everybody seems to be a little lighter now that school is done.
Once I unpack in my beautiful room and talk to Sarah, we decide to go for a swim.
The water is still chilly, but with the heat of the day, it works out fine.
We laugh and play in the waves; Nick even picks me up and tosses me around a few times.
After a while, I get out and flop onto a blanket on the sand, and Seb joins me.
“Sarah wants me to stop taking my sleeping pills,” I tell Seb.
“Are you going to?”
“Yeah, tonight I think. I’ve been able to sleep past six hours several times in the last few weeks, so I’m hoping I don’t need them anymore.”
“We’re all nearby if you need us tonight, Sunshine. I volunteer to snuggle with you tonight if you want,” he smiles.
“Thanks Hurry. I’ll see how I feel at bedtime. How is Beth?”
“Good. We text every couple of days. It’s still strange for me, and I’m not a fan of her boyfriend, but it’s okay,” he shrugs.
The guys soon join us, and after everyone is dry and warm, we head back to the house. We take turns showering before E and I make supper. It looks like Alex had groceries delivered before we got here, so we whip up a chicken salad.
Seb suggests we play a game, so we split into teams and play Pictionary.
I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.
At one point, I couldn’t even speak because I was giggling so much.
Alex is terrible at drawing, and Bay can only draw stick figures and machine parts.
Surprisingly, Nick is fantastic. He’s a hidden artist which makes me wonder if he’s drawn his own tattoos. I’ll have to ask sometime.
When we decide to go to bed, I get nervous about the nightmares, so I ask Seb to join me. He’s more than happy to oblige, and with him wrapped around me, I sleep a full eight hours without issue.
After breakfast, I bring my laptop to the island, determined to get started on our schedules for the summer. After entering the holidays and the chef course, I ask Alex and Nick for their schedules. While I’m inputting everything, my phone rings. I answer the call while I’m still typing.
“Hello Summer, this is Mr. MacLeod. Are you available to chat for a few minutes?”
“Sure. Is everything okay? Has there been an appeal?” He’s a great attorney, but I don’t want to be talking to him so soon after the trial.
“No, everything is fine regarding that. I received a letter on Monday, and unfortunately, it’s not good news. I wanted to wait and discuss it with you until after your exams were done.”
My stomach feels uneasy as a chill rolls down my spine. “What’s happened?”
“There is no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to tell you. Someone claiming to be Lily Easton’s father has come forth and is suing you for your settlement money.”
“What? That makes no sense. Who is it? Why now?” I ask.
“His name is John Bancroft, and he is Ben’s father,” he replies.
I drop the phone and just try to breathe. Ben’s dad.
Ben, who wanted to rape me.
My half-brother?
No, Lily bee’s half-brother?
Oh my god…
“Sunshine, open your eyes. Come on, look at me.” I hear through the fog.
With a groan, I blink a few times and crack my eyes open, the smell of the ocean filling my nostrils. Seb's leaning over me, his brows furrowed with worry. “Seb?”
“Hey, there you are. You passed out on us. Nick carried you upstairs to your room, and you dropped your phone. What happened?”
The memory surfaces slowly, like a bubble rising from deep within my mind. Oh, shit, I feel nauseous. “It…it was Mr. MacLeod. Ben’s dad is claiming to be Lily bee’s father and is suing me,” I say as tears begin to fall.
Seb gathers me in his arms as he instructs the other guys. “Okay Sunshine. We’ll figure this out. E call Zander. Alex call Mr. MacLeod back. Bay, get her laptop, please.”
“Why is this happening, Seb? Will I ever get rid of him?” I cry, hot tears streaming down my face.
“Yes, you will. Hopefully, this is just some sick, desperate joke,” he says, as E hands me his phone.
“Zander?” I ask.
“I’m here, darling. E filled me in on what he knows. I’m going to call Mr. MacLeod, but I wanted to check in with you first.”
“Why is this happening?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll sort this out. Do you want me to drive out there, or you can come home?”
“I’m not sure, Zander. I think I need more information right now. I just freaked out for a bit. Can we conference call Mr. MacLeod?”
“Yes, that’s a great idea. I’ll set up the call. E said your phone broke, so I’ll call you back on this phone.”
“Crap. Okay. I’ll wait for your call. Bye Zander.” Looking around the room, I see everybody standing or sitting around. “Sorry, guys,” I say, feeling embarrassed.
“No apology needed, Sunshine. That was an enormous shock,” Seb says.
E’s phone rings, so I put it on speaker. “Hi,” I answer.
“Hi darling. I have Mr. MacLeod with us.”
“Okay, sorry for dropping the phone on you,” I say.
“Perfectly alright, Summer. It’s not the first time,” he says.
“What details can you give us, Mr. MacLeod?” Zander asks.
“First, I need to ask if you would like me to represent you in this case. Since I was your attorney for the kidnapping case, I received the letter. You are free, however, to choose someone else if you wish.”
“I’d like to keep you as my attorney, please,” I respond.
“Wonderful. So, I don’t have a lot of information at this time.
There will be a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for a trial.
The first thing I will request is a DNA sample to be provided to test against Lily Easton.
That is where I will need your help, Summer.
I'll need a DNA sample from Lily and any other pertinent information you can give me.”
“Okay, um, there’ll be something at the house you can use. I know her birth certificate is blank under the father’s name. That's in a safe deposit box at the bank.”
“Excellent news. How difficult would it be to get those items for me?”
Very difficult, I think to myself as more tears fall. I haven’t stepped foot into the house since the accident, and I’m really not prepared to do that yet.
“Mr. MacLeod, Summer can't go to the house at this time for her mental health, but if she wouldn’t mind, I can fly up and get the items you need,” Zander offers.
“Yes,” I quickly agree.
“That will work. I’m going to suggest that you bring an officer of the court with you, just so there's no reason to question whether you tampered with or switched the samples.
I'll have you gather several items in case we need to complete more than one test. Summer, you will need to identify the items for the court, so be prepared for that.”
I take a shuddering breath before agreeing. “What else?”
“At this point, nothing. Please let me know how quickly you can procure the items, and we will go from there. I’ll request the DNA evidence first thing tomorrow, as I assume the judge will want that completed as soon as possible.
Once the hearing is scheduled, I’ll update you, and we can proceed accordingly. ”
“Okay. Thank you,” I respond.
“I’m sorry I had to call with this kind of news, but we will get it settled as quickly as we can, Summer.”
“We appreciate that, Mr. MacLeod,” Zander says, “thank you.”
Mr. MacLeod hangs up, and I sort of deflate against Seb. “Summer, are you doing okay?” Zander asks.
“I don’t know. Maybe. No. I think I’ll call Sarah.”
“Good idea, darling. Call me if you want me to drive out there. I don’t care what time it is, or if you need to come home, I can drive and get you.”
“Thanks Zander. I’ll see how I feel after talking to Sarah and let you know.”
“Alright darling. Talk soon,” he says and hangs up.
Bay hands me my new laptop before the guys leave me alone to call Sarah.
She answers right away, and I fill her in on what’s happened, and she’s as surprised as us.
She reminds me Ben is locked up and to think of Mr. Bancroft as a stranger if it would help, and he is one, since we’ve never met.
Sarah reminds me not to play the “what if” game, since there is no evidence yet that this is a legitimate case.
My biggest concern is not the money, but having to identify Lily’s things, but she reminds me I’m much stronger than I was before, and I only need to give Zander a list of items to search for.
One moment at a time. As usual, I feel more settled after we talk.
I bring the laptop downstairs with me to search for the guys, who are spread out between the island and the living room. “Hey,” I say.
“Feeling better?” E asks with a gentle smile.
“A bit. Still kinda shocked.”
“We all are Sunshine. It’s messed up,” Seb tells me.
“What would you like to do now?” Bay asks. “We can take you home if you want?”
“For now, I think I’ll stay here if that’s alright with you guys?”
“Of course, Summer,” Alex replies as the others nod in agreement.
“Can someone text Zander that, please? And is there somewhere nearby to get a new phone?”
“I’ll ask Zander about the phone warranty and what store he purchased it at,” E offers.
While E and Zander figure it out, I need to take my mind off things. “Anyone want to go for a run?” Nick offers to join me, so we go upstairs to change. I lather on sunscreen before offering to do Nick’s back.
Once we get to the beach, I kick off my sandals and stretch before starting a jog. Since it’s Nick with me, I know he can keep up, so I pick up my pace and am soon running full out. It’s much more tiring to run in the wet sand, so I don’t last as long as I usually would.