Page 26 of Summer with a Navy SEAL

“Then Willy and I will figure it out. Together. Because that’s what people do when they care about each other.”

Mother’s expression softens but her voice remains firm. “Darling, I know you think you have feelings for her. But you come from different worlds.”

“So did you and Father.”

Her expression hardens. “That was different.”

“How different?” When she doesn’t answer, I shake my head, disgust rising in my throat. “You don’t get to decide what’s inevitable in my life. Or in Willy’s. What you did is manipulative and cruel.”

“I did what any mother would do,” she insists. “I protected my son from making a terrible mistake.”

“No,” I say, my voice low and controlled. “You made the mistake, Mother. And now, I’m going to fix it.”

As I head toward the wing of the house where Preston and my bedrooms are, Mother calls out her, voice tinged with desperation, “Brogan, please. Think about what you’re doing. Think about the future!”

I pause at the foot of the stairs and look back at her. “I am thinking about the future, Mother.Myfuture.”

Inside my room, I’m pacing, trying to figure out my next move when there’s a knock at the door and Preston steps in, closing the door behind him.

“Heard you had quite the chat with Mother,” he says, his tone casual but his eyes sharp.

I run a hand through my hair, frustrated. “You could say that. Did you know about her meddling? With Willy’s job?”

Preston shakes his head. “Not until I overheard her on the phone earlier. She moves fast when she wants something.”

I scoff. “Yeah, like controlling our lives.”

Preston is quiet for a moment, then says, “You really care about her, don’t you? Willy, I mean.”

I nod, sinking onto the edge of my bed. “I do. And now she’s gone, thinking this amazing opportunity just fell into her lap.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Preston asks, leaning against the wall.

I look up at him, conflicted. “I don’t know. She’s got this new job, this chance to prove herself. I can’t get in the way of that.”

“And you won’t.” Preston shoves his hands in his pockets as he stands in front of my bed. “But it also doesn’t mean you’re giving up on what you want. It just means you have to find a way to make it work, together.”

“How? I’ve got my own job in Virginia Beach to go back to.”

He shrugs. “You’ll both figure something out.”

I exhale. “How can I even tell her that the opportunity she thought she earned was just one of Mother’s manipulations?”

“Doesn’t mean Willy didn’t earn the position, to begin with. I doubt Bryce would have agreed to something without verifying she at least earned it,” Prestonsays. “Maybe Mother just sped the promotion up a little bit.”

There’s a moment of silence before Preston speaks again. “Look, Brogan, I owe you an apology. About Willy, about how we treated her when we were kids.”

I raise an eyebrow, surprised. “Where’s this coming from?”

Preston looks away, his jaw clenched. “I was jealous of her. She seemed so... free. No expectations, no pressure. Not like us.”

The admission hangs in the air between us. I think back to our childhood, the constant pressure to be perfect, to live up to the Hollister name.

“But that doesn’t make it right.”

“I know,” Preston nods. “It was more than that, though. Willy... she was loved for who she was. No prep schools, no expectations of greatness. Just unconditional love from her parents. I resented that.”

I stay silent, letting him continue.

---