wondering what got into her last night. She’d behaved abominably. It was one hundred percent unfair to place all the responsibility for what happened on him.
“Ergh.” Nothing made her conscience prickle more than admitting she’d done a stupid.
Caught between an apology and her need for a bathroom, she was pulling herself together when a loud noise in the living room made her flinch and run to the bedroom door. Yanking it open, she hurriedly stepped from the bedroom in time to find Arnie coming from the bathroom. They looked at each other with wide eyes because no joke, someone was trying to knock her door down.
He held up his hand to stop her. “Stay there. Whoever is pounding on the door needs an attitude adjustment.”
Stomping across the room and through the kitchen, he flung open the door and barked at the same time. “This better be important.”
Summer tamped down the nervous energy running wild inside her. She looked at the kitchen clock. It was almost seven thirty. Who in their right mind caused such a racket so early in the morning?
“Out of my way, son. I’m here to pay my respects to the lady of the house,” a loud voice boomed.
She jerked with total surprise when Ned Wanamaker, wearing a suit and tie, marched through the door carrying an enormous arrangement of pink and white flowers. Stan shuffled behind him, wrangling a balloon bouquet large enough to fill the kitchen.
Painstakingly aware of her state of undress and early morning bedhead, she tugged on the robe’s belt and double-checked to make sure she was completely covered.
Ned came straight to her. His face carried the biggest smile she’d ever seen a human being make. Reacting to the kind concern and love she saw shining in his eyes, she smiled back and blushed.
“Summer,” he murmured gently. “Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Darnell Wanamaker Junior. My goat of a father is Darnell Senior, so I’m called Ned. It is my delight and pleasure to formally make your acquaintance.”
He held out his hand, and Summer giggled at the courtly ritual. Graciously accepting the warm handshake, she quipped, “Goat?”
He winked. “Greatest of all time. And I mean it. Call me Ned,” he added. “These two miscreants”—he chuckled with a nod at Arnie and Stan—“are my offspring. Can you believe it?”
She smirked. “You mean the McGee brothers? Yeah, we’ve met.”
Shoving the flowers toward her, he said, “These are for you. I hope you don’t mind, but I signed the card from Ned and Lianne.”
“Oh, Ned,” she cried. “Really?” Cradling the enormous bouquet like Miss America on the runway, she tore open the card and felt tears stinging her eyes.
Dear Summer, thank you for our first grandchild.
Arianne is beautiful—just like her mother.
Welcome to the family.
Ned and Lianne
With a strangled cry, she threw an arm around Ned’s neck and kissed his cheek.
“I’ll treasure this card forever.” She glanced at Arnie and then looked away to wipe her tears.
“The balloons were my idea,” Stan announced as if he also invented them. “I tried for two dozen, but they wouldn’t all fit in the truck.”
She imagined Stan and Ned rolling down Ventura Boulevard in a truck with a balloon-filled cab. The visual struck her funny bone, and she snorted with laughter.
Arnie stood rather sheepishly behind his dad and brother as this formal acknowledgment of names and roles took place. She couldn’t read his expression.
Gifts exchanged, she placed the bouquet on the kitchen counter and waved them into the guesthouse. “Come on in.”
As Stan walked past, she stopped him with a hand on the arm holding the balloons. His other arm was restrained by a sling.
“Are you okay, Stan?”
He valiantly tried to laugh off what happened, but she heard his turmoil and knew it was going to take time for him to process everything.
“Hey, what’s a bullet or two between mother and son?”
She let him have his stoically cavalier moment and nudged him playfully. “Did you at least have a pretty nurse?”
He rolled his eyes. “A gunshot wound is assigned to a medical forensics team. Evidence,” he said dryly. “Not one of them qualified as pretty.”
Just like with her brother Reed, Summer’s matchmaking impulses flashed on and off like a neon sign. She liked Stan and had from the moment they met. A little true romance would do the man a world of good.
All of a sudden, Arnie sprang into action, squeezed past them, and ran into the living room. Curious what got his shorts in a knot, she