Page 95 of XOXO, Summer
The rain has stopped, and the sun is attempting a daring reappearance before it sets for the night. The sky shows off in beautiful pinks, vivid oranges, and striking purples. It’s a beautiful ending to a terrible day.
Most of the witnesses to the accident have already left. There are a few bystanders still hanging out by the fire truck, probably whispering that I was out joyriding. Dolly will love hearing about that gossip. They don’t understand, or care, that I was trying to get to a very important meeting.
One that I missed.
My heart sinks in my chest as I fight back another bout of tears.
“Well, Bessie,” I say, turning toward the fence. “Looks like it’s me and you, old girl.”
She moos in response. I reach over and pet her, feeling my heart slowly splinter into pieces. I’m losing Daniel, and now I’ve lost the cottage, too.
“You’re a good girl,” I tell her.
“So are you,” someone says behind me.
Deep, dulcet tones take aim with an arrow. A clear voice, firm and insinuating so much more than I meant, strikes my heart like his own personal bull’s-eye.
My hand freezes on Bessie’s nose.
I lower my head, clenching my eyes closed. I must have hit my head because I’m imagining things.
Daniel is real, but he’s not here. He’s in New York. Somehow, he manages to have me smiling even in his absence. A balm to my bruises, even from far away.
The warmth of his hand splays across my shoulder blades, causing me to gasp. When he slides both hands around my waist, he presses his chest to the back of me, and nuzzles his face into my hair.
“I love you. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you, Sunshine,” Daniel whispers.
I turn so fast that my nose scrapes across his chest, embracing him so hard that even the ghost of him couldn’t escape. I dare to look up, hoping my imagination didn’t totally run away from me, and this is a figment of my imagination, too.
The soulful brown eyes that I could spend hours staring into, and have, peer down at me. The soft wave of his hair that’s always a little messy from tugging looks especially unkempt. I run my fingers over the scruff of his jaw as if hewanted to get to me so fast that he didn’t have time to shave. His strong arms refuse to let me fall for anything besides him.
“You’re real,” I say, a smile slipping across my face.
“I’m real.” Cupping my cheek, he kisses my head and then lingers on my lips, filling the parts of me that have been empty since he left. “I’ve been looking for you.”
A tear falls as I find his hand, folding my fingers with his. “I’ve been right here all along.”
CHAPTER 30
DANIEL
“We need to preserve the natural beauty of our land by keeping it in the hands of someone who plans to have generations come after them.Me.I want my kids and grandkids to play hide-and-seek in the woods and swim in the water off the shoreline, not have a mega resort built where my parents got married or where they’re now buried.”
She’s sold me.
But I’m not the critic between Mrs. Dover and me.
I don’t think Mrs. Dover knows I’m out here. Summer set me on the front porch in a rocking chair to wait it out, saying it would be more comfortable than in the car. I don’t think so, but I do think she wanted me close, so I’m happy to be outside this screen door. I figure it’s no great secret that I’m here since I drove her after she insisted that she still had to shoot her shot even though she missed the deadline.
My determined, strong girl.
With the door wide open for Bessie and me to overhear the conversation, I listened to Summer tackle this presentation and nail it after she’d been in an accident, and Isurprised her out of nowhere. I’m proud of her. Prepared with bullet points and heartfelt stories, she has me convinced. I’ll buy the whole damn town for her if she asks.
There aren’t any indicators of where Mrs. Dover stands on the topic, though. She’s not spoken much, letting Summer say what she needs to … even when it takes her a little longer to get to her destination.
The mention of “generations coming after” her doesn’t twist me up like it would have in the past. Roman squashed any fears I had about having kids.But marriage?After watching my parents, I’ve never felt the need to walk down the aisle. If anything, I’ve felt the pullnotto do it.
Summer, on the other hand . . . There are holes in my heart that only she can fill. And that has me reconsidering my stance on many things these days.
