“Well, I still have that, but um, something happened recently. At the annual family retreat.” He cleared his throat. “My grandfather didn’t wait for a will and simply signed over his house in Connecticut.”
She shook her head to clear it. “Wait. What? Your grandfather has a house in Connecticut? I thought he lived in Montecito.”
“He does, but the family homestead is in Connecticut.”
“Oh, okay. I get it. How nice. Are you going to keep it?”
He looked at her like she was crazy. “Keep it? Of course I’m going to keep it. We need a proper home base.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means we’ll have a home in the suburbs. Great schools with loads of parks. Nice community.”
“We?”
Color broke out on his face. “Well, yeah. I mean, we’re going to fix this, right? I love you, Summer, and for as long as we’re together, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make up for the past year. You and me and baby makes three. We’re a family.”
“Arnie. Please slow down.”
“No problem,” he swiftly acquiesced. “When you’re ready, okay?”
The TV show was interesting enough to fill in the awkward gaps and silences. When it was over, he handed off the remote and stood.
“I think I should go.”
The regret and anxiety he detected earlier made a return. He didn’t hesitate to pull her into his arms.
“You’re safe here. Hotel security has been briefed.”
She looked genuinely relieved.
“There’s no way I’d leave you unprotected.”
She nodded jerkily and bit her lip. “I’m not ready for what we both know will happen if you stay, but I can’t help being nervous.”
“It’s to be expected after what you’ve been through and totally normal, so don’t let it worry you.”
He kissed her tenderly. She was so dear to him. Emotion swept him away.
“I love you so much.”
She stroked his face and nodded.
It was hard to leave her, but he had no choice. He took a moment to make sure she was okay with the new phone and showed her three separate times how to find his number.
At the door to her suite, she took a deep breath, and asked, “So what’s next?”
He caressed her cheek. “Tomorrow, we do nothing and give King time to tie everything up. I’m sure at some point my dad will show up. He’s eager to get his Pop Pop groove on. I’ll be here bright and early, smelling a lot better and looking less like a giant ninja and more like a guy trying to impress his girl.”
Her smile was everything.
With a sly smirk, she asked, “Do you remember my drink order at our first Starbucks run?”
“Of course!”
Walking her fingers down his chest like a 1950s sex kitten, she winked and purred, “Impress me with my favorite morning beverage, and you never know what might happen.”
36
Despite the chill, she and Ari sat on the terrace, enjoying the early morning quiet. After sleeping like a rock, she woke refreshed and less anxious.
With the baby enjoying swing time, Summer picked through a mountain of organic fruit nibbles artfully arranged on a square platter.
Her mind was a whirl of disjointed, rambling thoughts. She had a lot on her plate.
Making a list on her phone, she tried to organize what was a chaotic mess.
Call Reed
Call Lynda and Bud
Call Cy and Joanne
Call Papa Leo’s
Wow. She had a lot of calls to make. Remembering Dottie telling her to find a lawyer made her tummy rumble, so she stopped thinking about it. In this matter, denial was her only option.
Her new phone vibrated and nearly scared her shitless. She needed to open the settings and play around with the sounds and notifications.
The message was from Arnie. She smiled and chewed on a fingernail. Last night, he checked in after arriving back at his hotel, and there began a back and forth text conversation rife with ridiculous GIFs and memes.
She felt like a kid giggling over the attention of a cute boy in her algebra class. Damn the man! His goofy charm couldn’t be ignored. The only thing saving his cocky ass from getting shut down was how adorably uncertain he was.
His text was to let her know he’d be arriving soon. As she’d already given him a room key so he could let himself in, the contact was a courtesy heads-up.
Ari was blowing saliva bubbles and laughing. She grasped a plastic key in her chubby fingers, but it went sailing when she waved her hand because her motor skills were a work