and keep your opinions to yourself. Understand?”
“Why aren’t you coming with?” he grumbled.
“Because you don’t need a babysitter, and I have a date with Avery.”
At the hotel, she all but pushed him out of the car. He stumbled onto the sidewalk and shot her a dirty look.
The door to the hotel suite she arranged was barely closed before he ripped his phone off a portable charger and checked his messages.
With his heart beating wildly, he listened to several voicemail message from Summer. She was furious when he hadn’t picked her up from work and let him have it. In another call, she was less angry but sounded confused by how he could stand her up without a word. There was another message that was nothing but dead air and what he suspected was her crying and unable to speak.
The mother of all guilt storms raged inside him. She was never going to forgive him, and he was also sure she’d never give him another chance.
Not even the best excuse of all time kept him from feeling like a piece of shit. No amount of presidential gratitude was going to mend a young girl’s first heartbreak.
He knew what he had to do.
Scrolling his contact list, he found the number of the charter plane service NIGHTWIND used. It was a ridiculous expense, but what the hell good were his piles of money if not for something like this?
His official government debrief was standard and by the book. A squad of dark-suited feds crowded into the junior suite and did their thing. Arnie’s personality dominated the whole lot of them. He got bored quickly and let his mind wander. When they tried to steer the conversation into a highly classified area, he shut them down and sent them on their way.
Not long after they left, Dottie texted to see if he’d been left in one piece. She was actually checking to make sure he hadn’t sparked an incident with his ill temper. He answered by informing her he was westbound and would be in touch.
Following a brief wrestling match in his conscience, he also left a voice message for King. He kept his justification for running off short and not too sweet by simply saying that he’d fucked up a personal matter and left it at that. King would either understand, or he wouldn’t.
Wasted time ticked by with each second, so he checked out of the Sheraton and grabbed a cab for home. He needed to pack a bag with real clothes and change into something less severe than black pants, shirt, and shoes.
The entire time he packed, his movements were by rote. He needed his mind working on a forgiveness speech because flying by the seat of his pants wasn’t going to get him the results he wanted.
When he passed by a wall mirror and caught his reflection, Arnie stopped to stare. To the casual eye, he looked like every other guy in a suit, but a wildness in his expression gave away his state of mind.
He loosened the knot on his tie and took the damn thing off. It was overkill at best. Nobody at the private airfield he was heading to gave a shit about anything except his wallet. He could roll up to his chartered jet dressed like a killer clown, and they wouldn’t flinch.
His hand slid inside his suit jacket and felt for the small velvet pouch holding a pretty bracelet he bought from the London storefront of a jewelry artisan. It wasn’t fancy or expensive. Its value was in the message. Dangling from the delicate chain was a small heart and a sunflower.
On his left wrist, he wore an unadorned silver cuff. The skilled jeweler etched the word sunshine in fancy script on the inside. One word was all he needed to connect his beloved mother to the girl who held his heart and future in her hands.
Something hit his heart with a violent thud. The surge of emotion almost put him on his knees. He wobbled and grabbed the back of a chair for safety’s sake. There was nothing he could do about losing his mother. It was a wound he’d carry forever, but losing Summer would kill him.
“Mom,” he moaned. “I need some help.”
Arnie wasn’t in the habit of speaking to his dead mother. In fact, calling out to her was a first and only confirmed what he already knew. This situation between him and Summer wasn’t a one-off. He couldn’t live without her. She