wheels. Trouble found us like a magnet. Our parents were still together, but by then, the bloom was off the rose.”
She smiled. “Is this your way of saying you and your brother acted out?”
“Oh, totally. Without a doubt. After a particularly nasty screaming match—my stepmother was and remains to this day, a world class screecher—we snuck into the snack bar at the Little League complex and ate an epic shit ton of candy and ice cream. I threw up in one of the dugouts. It was pretty funny,” he admitted somewhat sheepishly.
She imagined the scene and thought the boyhood trouble he described was amusing. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a similar tale involving her gymnast squad and a secret nighttime raid of the mini fridge in their coach’s office.
“Are you close? You and your little brother?”
He answered tersely but with no hesitation. “We lead very different lives.”
Okay then, she thought when he said no more and tensed up. They both sure did have tangled and sometimes thorny childhoods.
Summer rose from her seat and moved onto Arnie’s lap with a minimum of fuss. He made room, and she quickly found her spot.
“Broken marriages are tough. They leave invisible wounds and scars. But as sucky as it is, I like to think the experience helps us see things differently. I’m never getting married unless my whole heart and soul are involved. I have to be certain going in. And you have to do it for the right reasons,” she murmured when Arnie’s situation came into clear view. It was easy to understand why he’d be conflicted about his father’s second wife and her agenda. Summer was certain there was much more to the story, but she wasn’t going to pry. What he shared was enough.
A tingle ran up her arm when he twined their fingers together. “I didn’t have fully formed opinions about marriage.” He squeezed her fingers. “Until very recently. My parents' interrupted love story and the debacle of Dad’s second union are two very different takes on the institution. But I’m beginning to see things much clearer.”
Was he talking about her? About them as a couple? Did he see this interlude as something more than a random hookup?
Her heart answered. She hoped so.
Curling against him, Summer snuggled into his neck and shoulder. He stroked her back, and even through the plush thickness of the robe, she felt the power of his touch.
“This feels right.” She made the statement quietly, reverently.
“I agree.”
At the present, it was enough for her.
8
Being with Summer was the easiest thing he’d ever done. She had a way about her that spoke directly to his heart.
It had to mean something that they fit together perfectly. When she slid onto his lap, he couldn’t help but think how great it would be if it felt just as good twenty or thirty years from now.
He loved their closeness and how it felt to hold sunshine in his arms. The sensation was extraordinary.
When he closed his eyes, emotions swirled in his soul. A symphony of her childlike giggles triggered goose bumps as he imagined their spirits dancing in an unseen realm.
It was a lot to take on, yet it wasn’t. Destiny was in play.
However, it was capricious and unpredictable. One moment of stupid and anything might happen. And since bonehead moves seemed to be in his family’s DNA, it would be smart to keep his wits sharp.
“My toes are cold.”
He glanced down and saw her bare legs sticking out of the robe. She was rubbing her feet together. Damn. It wasn’t like he had a pair of complimentary foot warmers to offer. But he did have some socks that came along with the god-awful Gucci sneakers.
“I have just the thing,” he announced a second before rising with Summer still in his arms. Carrying her was kind of cool.
He walked her out to the private patio and settled on the cushioned chair closest to the fireplace. When she put her bare feet down, she purred.
“Ooh, this is nice. The tiles are warm from the fire.”
“I’ve got socks. For your cold feet,” he muttered like an idiot. “I’ll just go get them. Do you need anything else?”
“Just you,” she replied with a happy smile followed by a laugh. “I forgot about the playlist. It’s still going. My phone battery has got to be running out.”
He stopped to listen. “I don’t know this one.”
“It’s Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt singing Neil Young’s ‘After the Gold Rush.’ My dad had a