I send up a silent prayer that she's not pregnant. "Oh, yeah?"
I pour myself a cup of coffee to buy some time before I turn back to look at them. When I do, my daughter holds up her hand. She has an engagement ring on her finger, a decent-sized one too.
I stand there in complete shock. They’ve only recently started dating, and I only met him for the first time a few weeks ago. Further, he never talked to me about this and didn't ask for my blessing. Not that he needs it, but it would have been a nice gesture, especially with how new the relationship is and how close my daughter and I are. Something about it rubs me the wrong way.
I pull her in for a hug. "If you're happy, I'm happy, sweetheart."
I don't want to ruin this moment for her. I can process my feelings on it later. I want her to be happy, and I don't want to overshadow this moment, but Summer is sleeping upstairs, so this talk can't wait.
"I have some news too. And I hope you can be happy for me," I begin.
"Oh, my God! Did you finally meet someone? Can I meet her?" Gemma is more excited than she was a moment ago. She claps her hands and does a little dance, eager to meet the new woman in my life.
"Yes, but—"
Summer walks into the kitchen wearing nothing but my shirt. Her hair’s a mess, and there's no hiding that she’s slept over.
She sees Gemma and her boyfriend and freezes. Her eyes go wide as she looks at me. Her look begs me to tell her what to do and how to handle this situation because that’s my role with her. Giving her direction is what I'm supposed to do.
I walk to Summer’s side and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her to me. All the excitement on Gemma’s face has vanished, and she looks angrier than when she found out her football player boyfriend cheated on her with the cheerleader.
"Are you kidding me? Summer is the new girl? She's my best friend and way too fucking young for you, don't you think? And seriously, Summer, my dad? Don't you think he's been through enough in his life without you doing this to him? What the hell were you thinking?" Gemma’s voice is full of disgust.
I can’t believe those words came from my daughter, and her anger is enough to send Summer into tears. She rips herself away from me and runs upstairs.
"I think the two of you should stay at Dustin's house," I say, keeping my voice neutral because I don't want to say something I might regret later.
Pure shock crosses Gemma’s face."You’re kicking me out of my own house?"
"No, I'm kicking you out of my house and soon to be Summer's house. You will never talk to her like that again. Be gone by the time I come back, and thank you for breakfast."
I head for the stairs but stop to look at Dustin."You and I will talk later, as we should have before you promised to spend the rest of your life with my daughter." I turn and go up after Summer. I don't need her getting any ideas that things have changed between us.
When I get back up to my room, Summer is already dressed in the clothes she was wearing yesterday. She moves frantically around the bedroom, gathering up all her stuff and packing it into the tote she brought with her.
Walking to her, I wrap my arms around her waist and halt her movements. I won’t have her thinking she's going to leave me. "I'm sorry. I didn't know they were coming home early. I was getting ready to tell them about you when you walked in. Gemma was way out of line, but I sent her Dustin's to cool off."
"She’s the nicest person I know, but I've never seen her so upset or mean toward anyone, much less me. I knew she'd be upset, but I never thought she'd act like that. This is why I was scared to make a move. Her friendship means so much to me. She was my only friend when I needed someone and didn't have anyone. She’s always been there. I can't imagine my life without her."
Summer breaks free from my hold, grabs her bag, and before I can even register what she’s said and what's going on, she's out the door.
Chapter 9
Summer
When I get home, I’m thankful to find Skye there. She takes one look at me and pulls the ice cream out of the freezer along with two spoons, and we both collapse on the couch. I tell her everything from the last couple of days, from how I’ve fallen for Knox to what Gemma said.
Skye knows Gemma because she's constantly over here. The three of us often hang out, and even Skye is shocked at her reaction."My guess is it came as a huge shock, and as things calm down and she realizes what happened, she’ll feel differently. I know she wants both of you happy."
I don't say anything because I hope she's right. We end up watching TV and talking while we finish the ice cream and simply sit together. Finally, she wraps her arms around me and holds me because what else can she do? At some point, I drift off to sleep and wake up to my phone going off.
Checking it, I see Knox is calling me and ignore it. A few moments later, Gemma calls me, but I ignore it too.
I shower, get dressed, and try to get some social media work done, hoping a distraction will make things easier. When that doesn't work, I decide to get out of the house. Since we ate all the ice cream last night, I head to the store and get some more. Before I leave, I let Skye know where I'm going. It feels good to get out of the house among strangers, people who have no idea what's going on in my life and honestly could care less.
By the time I get home, Skye has gone to work, and Gemma is sitting on my front porch. Knowing I can't avoid this talk forever, I open the door and invite her in.
"I'm not happy about this, but after you left, I was talking with my dad,” Gemma begins as soon as we’re inside. “I've never seen him so happy as when he talks about you. How did this happen? Couldn’t someone have told me the truth?"