Chapter 14
Summer tapped her toes against the tile floor of the lawyer’s office. The intensity with which Don was examining the paperwork she’d spent all day yesterday filling out was making her nervous.
She glanced at Benjamin, who sat forward in his seat, his hands pressed to his knees, staring as intently at the white-haired lawyer as Don stared at the paperwork. As if he felt her watching him, Benjamin turned to her with a quick smile, but she saw the way the muscle in his jaw jumped with his nerves.
When he turned away, her eyes went to his hands. Those hands had held hers last night, and they’d felt like such a lifeline that she was tempted to reach out and clutch them again.
“All right.” Don tapped the edge of the stack of papers against his desk, the sound sharp enough to make Summer wince. “Based on this, I don’t see any problem with you being named executor of the estate. As soon as that goes through, you can sell your brother’s house and—”
“Sell TJ’s house?” Summer interrupted. “It’s my house too.”
Don looked at her in surprise. “Is your name on the deed too? That changes things.” He reshuffled the papers.
“No,” Summer answered quietly. “TJ paid for it. I mean, I live there too. And Max.”
“Ah.” Don nodded sympathetically, setting the papers back down. “I’m afraid there’s no way for you to hold on to it. It’s going to need to be liquidated to pay off TJ’s debts. Fortunately, the market is pretty good right now, so . . .” Don cleared his throat. “As far as the guardianship, that might be a little trickier.”
“Trickier how?” Benjamin demanded before Summer could say a word. “Summer has been like a mother to Max since he was born. You won’t find anyone who loves him more.”
Don pulled off his glasses and laid them on top of the papers. “It’s not a question of whether she loves him enough,” he said calmly. “It’s a question of financial ability.” He turned to Summer. “I know you just lost your job.”
Summer winced as Benjamin looked at her in surprise. With everything that had happened, she hadn’t even thought to mention that to him.
“But even before that,” Don continued, “you were only working part time.”
“That was so I could help take care of Max,” Summer said defensively, tears gathering behind her lids. She had never dreamed that could be used against her.
“And the judge will take that into consideration,” Don said, still sickeningly calm. “But the fact is that you have next to no savings, no job . . . No way to support a child.”
“I’ll get a job,” she promised.
“And then what about childcare?” Don asked.
Summer threw her hands in the air, then buried her face in them. “I can’t win here, can I?”
“What if I offered to help?” Benjamin asked before Don could answer, and Summer’s head shot up.
“Benj—”
But he kept going. “Could you put me down as a, I don’t know, benefactor or something? I don’t have a lot saved because I just put a down payment on my house, but I could give them a monthly amount, enough to cover their living expenses. I can submit my finances so the judge can see—”
“Benjamin.” This time Summer succeeded in cutting him off. “I am not going to take your money.”
“Fine. Can I give Max an allowance then?” he asked the lawyer.
Don shook his head with a sad smile. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way. If the two of you were married, sure, we could report your income. But short of that . . .”
“What will happen to him if I don’t get guardianship?” Summer could barely force the words out.
“He’ll go to another family member if there is one—”
“There’s not,” Summer said flatly.
“Then he’d likely go to a group home or a foster family.”
Summer closed her eyes.
“Listen, I’m not saying it’s hopeless,” Don said gently. “We’ll fill out the paperwork, submit the documents, publish the notice, and then wait and see what the judge says. There’s a chance he will decide that the stability of being with a familiar adult is more important than your financial situation.” He didn’t sound at all certain, but Summer clung to the possibility.
Don stood, and it was clear that their meeting was over. Benjamin stood too and held out a hand as the older man came around the desk. “Thanks for your help.”
Summer pried herself out of her seat too. “Thank you,” she murmured, more out of politeness than any real gratitude. She knew he was only being honest with her, but still she felt as if he had single-handedly pulverized her world.
Don ushered them to the door, promising to contact them as soon as a date for the guardianship hearing was set.
The moment they stepped outside, every last bit of strength Summer had left seemed to give out, and she felt herself sag. Benjamin’s arm was instantly around her back, and even though she knew she should pull away, she leaned into him.
“What am I going to do?” She didn’t realize she’d said the words out loud until Benjamin said, “God’s got this.”
Summer pulled away and stared up at him. “How, Benjamin? How does God got this? I don’t see him standing here offering any brilliant solutions, do you?”
Benjamin didn’t answer, and she couldn’t decide whether it was satisfaction or disappointment she felt over that.
They walked silently to her car, and Benjamin let her into the passenger seat, then took up what had become his spot in the driver’s seat.
But he didn’t start the car.
“We have to get Max,” she reminded him. He had arranged for his eighteen-year-old niece Mia to watch the boy while they met with the lawyer, but Summer had promised they’d be back before lunch.
Benjamin nodded but still didn’t move.
“I’m not going to let you lose him, you know.” He turned to her, and his eyes held a wild determination.
“I’m not sure you can stop it.” Her head felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, and she leaned it back on the seat and closed her eyes.
“Marry me.”
Summer snorted softly without opening her eyes. “Be serious, Benjamin.”
He didn’t answer, and she let herself settle deeper into the seat. All she wanted was to sleep. When she slept, her heart couldn’t hurt so badly.
“I am serious,” Benjamin said quietly.
Summer peeked her eyes open and looked at him without turning her head. He was staring out the windshield, his hands grabbing the steering wheel even though the engine remained silent. There wasn’t a hint of goofiness in his demeanor.
But that didn’t mean he really meant what he said. He was just . . . Well, she didn’t know what he was. But he clearly wasn’t in his right mind.
He turned to her suddenly. “You heard what Don said. If we were married, you could include my income on the forms. That would be more than enough to take care of you and Max.”
She shook her head. “You don’t want to marry me.” That much she knew was true. He was on a date with another woman just the other night. “And I don’t want to marry you.”
Had she let herself dream about it once upon a time? Sure.
But she wasn’t going to marry someone who didn’t want her—who didn’t love her.
“I told you last night that I would do whatever it took to take care of you and Max.”
Yeah. He’d also said it was the least he could do for TJ. And she was pretty sure even TJ would think this was taking things a little too far. “That doesn’t mean marrying me.”
“But what if it does?” Benjamin’s voice was low, his eyes earnest, and Summer had to turn away.
“Stop it, Benjamin.” Her voice wobbled with the effort of holding back her tears, though she couldn’t say exactly why his offer made her want to cry. “You’re being ridiculous. We’re not getting married, and that’s final.”
She felt Benjamin’s eyes on her, but she refused to look toward him, and after a moment, he silently started the car.
Summer closed her eyes so he wouldn’t bring the subject up again. But he didn’t say a word all the way back to River Falls. And Summer couldn’t figure out why that upset her even more than his ridiculous proposal had.