Page 82 of Summer Kisses

Cooper turned off the water, satisfied it was working. "Do you know if Hazel's seen it?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "I haven't really seen or talked to her since the dinner at Mom and Dad's."

His brow furrowed. "Didn't she walk out? Mom said something about that."

"Yeah, and then Dalton showed up, and we were preoccupied with him." I couldn't believe I hadn't followed Hazel or gone home sooner.

"You should probably talk to her about the article and see if it's going to be a problem for the library. I'd hate to see her program cancelled over something like this."

"Is it wrong to support causes you believe in when your fiancée or best friend is the leader of the program?" I still couldn't get past the idea that the public had an issue with this. It didn't seem fair when we were trying to create something good and lasting.

"I don't know. But it seems like the news likes to tear people down, not lift them up."

"I hate this." I was torn between being there for Dalton, talking to Dad about this, or going to Hazel. Which one was the right thing to do?

"You can go if you need to. Ivy's got this part."

"You don't think Dalton needs me here?"

"He's going to have to start standing on his own two feet here soon. We can't be with him every step of the way, and I think he's getting that. He'll rise to the occasion."

"If you're sure—" I didn’t want to leave my family if they needed me.

"I've got this. Go."

I didn't need any more encouragement. I was out the door and inside my truck, driving toward home since it was time forHazel to be home from work. I tried calling her first, but she didn't answer.

I just hoped I wasn't too late.

Chapter Twenty-One

HAZEL

Ivy forwarded a link to me, and I'd clicked on it. It was from one of the reporters who was at the opening for the program. They'd done an exposé of Kingston Construction and how they only support causes related to their family even though they were purporting to be a community-focused company.

I did a search to see if there was anything else on the library and Kingston Construction. There was another one that revealed Brady's streaming show and how no one on the island seemed to know it was him. Like it was a dirty secret or something, and there was even a mention of how he'd dated me so that he could improve his show ratings and get the family-friendly designation. How could they possibly have figured that out?

I couldn't believe this was snowballing out of control. I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn't think it was wrong when we went forward with the plan. If I had, I wouldn't have agreed to it. I thought the worst thing that could happen is that we'd be a disappointment to our families.

I never thought this would affect Brady's show or his family's business. I checked my messages to see that Brady had tried to call me, but I must have missed it with my phone still on silent after work.

Before I could call him back, my phone rang again. "Brady?"

"Where are you? I came home to talk to you, and you aren't here. There's nothing in the closets, the bathroom. I never thought you'd leave without talking to me first." His voice sounded frustrated.

"You've been gone the last two days—" I said, realizing how lame that sounded.

"I've been dealing with Dalton and everything he's been going through. I know I should have checked in with you sooner, but I had to make sure Dalton was okay."

There was an ongoing issue with Dalton coming before me, but technically we weren't in a real relationship, and there were more pressing issues at the moment. "Have you seen the news articles about Kingston Construction and the after-school program?"

"I wanted to talk about us."

"I think that has to wait. We have bigger issues."

He sighed long and hard. "Fine. What is it?"

"The reporters that covered the after-school program did some digging. There's a couple of articles, one about Kingston giving money to family?—"

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