17. Summer
Summer
It felt good to be working again. Although I hadn’t been out of a job very long, being unemployed made me anxious. My thoughts would spiral, and I’d worry about how I was going to take care of Nate.
And I didn’t want Paul and Marlene to think I wasn’t willing to pull my weight. They’d already done so much for me—including watching Nate while I was at work. I didn’t want to have to ask them for anything more than they were already doing.
Fortunately, the Copper Kettle Diner had needed a waitress. It wasn’t full-time yet, but Rob, the owner, had assured me he’d do his best to put me on the schedule as much as possible.
My shift was almost over, my last table finishing their meal, and I grabbed a rag to wipe down some tables. I wasn’t familiar with all the side work yet, and no one had told me to do anything else, but I wanted to stay busy.
Things were coming together in Tilikum faster than I could have imagined. Reese spent his days working on the house we were going to rent. I had a job. Nate spent a lot of time with Reese’s parents, and he was happier than I’d seen him in a long time.
It left me wondering when the bottom was going to fall out. Because it always did.
I wanted to believe this was how things were going to stay.
Calm, stable. But in reality, most of it was built on fiction.
I wasn’t Summer Haven, and Reese and I weren’t always going to live together.
He wouldn’t always be there to watch out for us.
And no matter how nice they were—or how quickly they’d accepted us into their circle—the Havens weren’t really my family.
I’d need to keep that in mind and not depend on them too much. Eventually, I’d be on my own again.
“I’m serious,” a man at the booth behind me said. “Reese Haven is back.”
The mention of his name caught my attention. A man and a woman sat together chatting over their food. Chatting about Reese.
It wasn’t the first time I’d overheard townspeople mention him. Everyone had questions.
“I wonder why he was gone so long,” the woman mused.
“I don’t know. But he brought a wife and kid with him.”
“Did he? That must have been a shock to the family. I wonder if they knew.”
“Hard to tell,” the man said. “But they didn’t run him out of town, so that seems like a good sign.”
“The Havens are good people.”
She was right about that. They were very good people. Some of the best I’d ever met.
As if on cue, Reese himself came in the front door. He drew the eyes of more than a few customers.
“That’s him right there,” the man in the booth said, lowering his voice.
“No it isn’t. That doesn’t look like him at all.”
“I’m telling you, it is.”
Stifling a laugh, I ducked behind the counter to put away the rag. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that, either. Apparently the Reese Haven who’d returned to Tilikum looked a lot different from the one who’d left.
He took off his sunglasses, and his eyes swept the restaurant, as if he were assessing the area for threats. He did that wherever he went, and I got the impression he wasn’t even aware of it.
“Hi,” I said as he sat on one of the stools at the counter. “You’ll never guess who I met today.”
“Who?”
“Santa Claus.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. “No kidding?”
“He gave me a candy cane.”
“An old man giving out candy? Sounds suspicious.”
I smiled. “I see they finally let you off the hook. How long were you out there?”
“Long enough to be hot and miserable.” He rubbed his jaw. “The beard made me itch.”
“You guys put on quite the show.”
“Leave it to my brothers to go overboard.”
“How long is the Christmas stuff going to stay up?”
“We’re taking it down tonight after dark. Zachary figures we’ll hit maximum hilarity if everything disappears as quickly as it came.”
“At least you won’t have to wear the beard again.”
He rubbed his jaw again. “No kidding.”
“I’m just waiting for one last table to finish up. Once I cash them out, I can go.”
“Take your time. Mom told me to tell you she took Nate to my sister Annika’s house. They have a son who’s twelve, I think. She thought they might get along.”
“That’s nice of her. Can I get you anything while you wait?”
“I’m good. Unless you need me to buy something so I can take up a seat.”
I glanced around the half-empty restaurant. “I think you’re fine. We have plenty of tables.”
His subtle smile sent a swirl of butterflies through me. Suddenly, it was like we were back in the diner in Arizona, exchanging what might have been flirtatious glances. Had he been flirting with me back then? I’d never been sure.
And he was just as hard to read now.
My table finished up and I took their payment. One of my coworkers said they’d clear the table, and I was free to go. I clocked out, grabbed my things, and went to join Reese.
A few heads turned when we left together.
He was parked right out front, and I climbed into the passenger side.
“I heard a few customers talking about you again,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s not surprising.”
“It doesn’t bother you?”
He shrugged. “It’s just inevitable here. Tilikum loves gossip.”
“And I suppose the return of Reese Haven is big news.”
“Unfortunately.”
“They were talking about me, too. Saying you brought home a wife and child.”
He cast a quick glance at me. “I figured it wouldn’t take long for that to get around.”
“Seems like a good thing. At least no one’s talking about the new girl with the dangerous ex who’s hunting her.”
“Exactly.”
“Any word from your partner? Has he been to my apartment yet?”
“Not yet. But if I don’t hear from him soon, I’ll give him a call.”
“Thanks again. For everything. I feel like I could say that a million times and it wouldn’t be enough.”
The corners of his mouth lifted again. “No problem.”
He turned onto the bumpy driveway that led to his parents’ house.
When we reached the top of the hill, he parked and we went inside.
The house was quiet, and I went straight to my room to change.
Hoping I could stay in for the night, I put on a tank top and loose pajama pants, and fixed my ponytail.
My phone rang, so I dug it out of my purse. As soon as I saw the name and number on the screen, my heart dropped. It was my mother.
She didn’t call often, and when she did, I never knew which version of her I was going to get. The one who remembered she had a daughter and a grandson and seemed to care about us in her own way. Or the one who handed out guilt like a dealer at a casino.
With a deep breath, I answered. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hi, baby girl.” Her syrupy-sweet tone made me suspicious. “What’s new?”
I hesitated. Was there anything I could safely tell her? Not really. Anything I said to her would get back to Stryker, and probably Axel. “Not much.”
“How’s Nate?”
“He’s fine.”
“So what gives, Sum Sum? Why are you keeping him from his daddy?”
And there it was. Of course that was why she called. “His daddy? Axel is not his daddy. He’s basically a sperm donor.”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Not mine, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Well it isn’t his fault, either. He did what he had to do.”
“Mom, do you know how many times Axel reached out to Nate over the years? Zero. None. He’s ten. If Axel wanted to be in his life, he could have at least sent him a birthday card. But he didn’t. And then he gets out of prison and suddenly he wants to be a father? I don’t buy it.”
“He got out of prison and realized his son ain’t being raised right.”
I rolled my eyes. “You mean raised in the club. That’s not going to happen.”
“Why? You think you’re better than us?”
“It’s not about that. It’s just not the life I want for him.”
“We live free, baby girl. You’re the one stuck in the system.”
I’d heard that before. What a lie. My mom wasn’t free. She was under the thumb of her boyfriend. And his first loyalty wasn’t even to her. It was to Mayhem. I’d never understood how she could live like that.
“Listen,” she continued. “Let Axel see the boy. It’ll be better if you cooperate.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t think he’s letting this go, Sum Sum. He wants his son.”
A sick feeling spread through me at how she’d phrased that. “He can’t have him.”
“Why do you have to be such a stubborn brat?” she snapped, the sweetness gone from her tone. “That kid needs a man in his life. You’re turning him into a weak little pansy.”
That was it. I was done. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Don’t you dare—”
I ended the call.
She called back, but I didn’t answer. If she wanted to scream at my voicemail, she was welcome to. I wasn’t going to listen to that, either.
I lowered myself onto the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths to calm down. I wasn’t surprised by her call. Her loyalty was to Stryker first, Mayhem second, and everything else—including me—came a very distant third. She’d take Axel’s side over mine every time.
It hurt. But I’d learned a long time ago that I couldn’t really count on her. Especially when Mayhem was involved.
When I came out, Reese was in the kitchen. And it hit me. No one else was around.
We were alone.
Not that it meant anything. But even after the frustrating phone call, my hormones woke up and took notice.
My gaze settled on his broad back as he stood in front of the open refrigerator. I wondered what those hard planes of muscle would feel like beneath my hands. Heat pooled in my core, and for a second, I imagined that big, strong body braced on top of me, his mouth dipping to mine, his—
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Or did you eat at work?”
Blinking away the fantasy, I took a quick breath to clear my head. “I ate a little, but it was a while ago.”
He turned to look at me, and his eyes narrowed. “Are you all right?”
Was it that obvious? “Yeah. My mom called. It’s not always pleasant.”
“What did she want?”
“She was trying to convince me to let Axel see Nate.” I slid onto the stool at the island. “She said it would be better if I cooperate.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“She also said he wants his son. Not that he wants to see his son. He wants his son.”
“We already knew that.”
“I know, but I didn’t like hearing her say it.”
Reese held my gaze. “He’s not getting him.”
I nodded. “Anyway, she’s mad at me now, so I probably won’t hear from her for a while.”
We lapsed into silence for a moment. My eyes moved up and down his thick, tattooed arms, and I wondered what it would feel like to have them wrapped around me.
Warm, strong, comforting.
I blinked again and got down from the stool. “You asked if I’m hungry. Are you? Can I help?”
“Sure.”
I joined him in the kitchen, and we got to work putting together a meal.
He cooked a flank steak in a cast-iron pan while I chopped and sautéed some vegetables.
Standing next to him at the stove, my arm kept brushing against his.
He was so big, it was impossible to avoid, and the feel of his skin touching mine sent pings of electricity through me.
We were still alone, and my body was very much aware of it.
Did he feel it, too? It was impossible to tell. Reese Haven kept his cards close.
He sliced the steak into strips while I finished sautéing. I got out two plates from the cupboard and set them next to the stove. I was about to grab forks, but Reese and I turned at the same time, almost colliding.
“Sorry.” He looked down at me, but didn’t move.
My heart fluttered. His eyes held mine then flicked to my mouth. Warmth crept across my cheeks, and my lips tingled.
The back door opened, and Paul Haven came into the kitchen.
I stepped away from Reese, and he cleared his throat. Paul didn’t seem to notice.
“Smells good.” He went to the sink and started washing his hands.
“I didn’t know you were home,” Reese said. “Sorry, I would have made more.”
“I’ll eat later.” He dried his hands on a towel and with a quick nod at me, left the kitchen, heading for the master bedroom.
Reese put some food on a plate and nodded toward the dining table. There was nothing in his expression to indicate he was flustered. Unlike me. For a second, it had felt like he’d been about to kiss me.
But maybe not. Maybe I’d imagined it. Wishful thinking.
I dished up and took my plate to the table. Whatever was going on with Reese—if anything—I needed to stay cautious. Pretending to be married to hide from Axel was one thing. Bringing someone into my life for real was quite another.
I’d already trusted Reese with so much. I didn’t want to make the mistake of trusting him too far.