The idea of having Aunt Caroline in my house even for a week this summer made me cringe. But I did miss Lana. I couldn’t not see her because her mom drove me nuts.
“Sure. What week are you thinking of coming?” I asked, hoping it was only a week.
Lana paused a moment. “I was kind of wondering if maybe I could come down after graduation and stay the summer with you. Before we go off to college—maybe have one last summer to hang out?”
Wait . . . the whole summer? There was no way I could put up with Aunt Caroline all summer. My dad may even move out if that happened. But surely Aunt Caroline wouldn’t have Lana calling me to see if they could stay the summer. She’d just call my mom. So did that mean . . .
“Do you mean just—you—come visit for the summer? Not your mom?”
Lana let out a small laugh on the other end of the line. “Yes, I mean just me. Mom has things to do this summer. I need some distance from her before I go crazy. She and Dad are still at each other’s throats.”
“Then, YES! I would love for you to come spend the summer . . .” I paused, realizing that Lana wasn’t a fan of Beau and that he would be with me all summer. Was this a good idea? I didn’t want her to make him feel unwanted. He had enough of that with his stupid father and his aunt.
“I think this is a great idea. I’d love to see you but you understand that I’m with Beau now . . .?” I trailed off, waiting on her to respond.
“Oh, yes, I know. I’m glad y’all worked this all out. How are things going with those two these days? Is Sawyer handling the fact you and Beau are together better now?”
Not exactly. Maybe. I didn’t want to give her cause to dislike Beau more so I decided on a small white lie.
“Yes, we are all moving on. Sawyer and Beau are even bonding again. Soon it will all be water under the bridge.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m so glad it’s all worked out so well for you.” The sincerity in her voice made me feel guilty. I loved Lana but her sweet, innocent, trusting heart made me feel like an awful person sometimes.
“Yep, life is good.” That wasn’t a lie. Life was good. I had Beau.
“So, do you think you might talk to your mom about calling my mom and convincing her this summer thing is a good idea?”
She really must need to get away if she was already planning her escape. The least I could do was get Mom to help her out. Besides, it would be fun. I could fix her up with Kyle, or Ethan or Justin. Ethan was the sweetest out of those three. He was probably a better fit.
“I’ll talk to her in the morning. I’m sure she’ll love the idea.”
“Thank you so much,” Lana replied. I could hear the excitement in her voice. Yeah, I’d be excited too if I was going to escape Aunt Caroline a few months sooner than planned.
“No problem. It’ll be fun,” I assured her.
We said our goodbyes and hung up. I rolled over on my back and stared at the ceiling fan. Tonight had been amazing. Both my parents had been nice to Beau and congratulated him. We’d had a good dinner. Then Dad had even let Beau drive me home. He’d gone very slow and I’d taken full advantage of him while he was driving. A smile tugged at my lips when I thought about how sexy he looked trying to drive and remain calm while I teased him.
Then an image of Sawyer flashed in my head. I hadn’t spoken to him after the game. His parents had been with him and I wasn’t ready to face them just yet. He’d also had a few cheerleaders hanging on his arms. I didn’t care but I figured it was best I kept my distance. Maybe he’d move on with one of them. I wanted to find a way for us to be friends again. I missed him. He was important to me. We didn’t belong together but we had been friends way before we’d entered into a relationship. Reaching for my phone I decided I’d leave him a text before I chickened out. Small steps to help bridge the gaping hole between him and Beau and me.
Me: You played an excellent game tonight. I’m so proud of you.
I pressed send and waited. Just when I thought he wasn’t going to respond my phone dinged.
Sawyer: Thanks.