Page 76 of Blackmailing the Bad Girl

And her heart would mend.

An hour later, Ginny opened the door to her. She was smiling. “She told you?”

“Told me what?”

“Oh. She didn’t tell you. Maybe she wanted to tell you in person. Come in.” She held the door. “They’re in the living room.”

They? She’d presumed her mother would be alone. When she opened the door, her mom and Pete were sitting side by side on the sofa. Holding hands. Both smiling. Pete had been a little standoffish at their first meeting. She hadn’t blamed him. She was an ex-con. He probably blamed her for going off and doing bad things and ultimately leaving her mom all alone in the world.

Now the reserve was gone. When he saw her, he rose to his feet and came toward her, his hands held out in front of him. She took them a little warily, glanced at her mom over his shoulder. She was grinning. Then she raised her left hand and Summer caught the glint of diamonds on her ring finger.

“You guys are getting married?”

Her mom nodded.

“But what changed your mind?” She hurried over to her mom’s side and sank down beside her, admiring the ring. It was beautiful and clearly expensive.

“Pete took me to his place today. It’s a beautiful house, but he’d done all these changes so that I could live there. I’d already told him I couldn’t marry him, didn’t want to be a burden, but he did them anyway. Messed up his beautiful house.”

“I knew I’d wear you down eventually.”

Summer sniffed. “Let me just get one thing straight.” She turned to face Pete. “You love my mom, right?”

“Forever.”

She turned back to her mom. “And you love him?”

“Of course.”

Pete sank onto the chair across from them and studied her for a moment. “Elizabeth told me what you did for her. Where the money came from.”

She glared at her mother. This was bad.

“I don’t condone theft, but you did what you thought was right, and you looked after your mother. I’ll never judge you for that.”

“Good,” she muttered. She didn’t know where this was going. Right now, she couldn’t think much past the huge wave of relief. Her mom would have someone to care for her. She wouldn’t be alone. It was like a huge crushing weight of responsibility lifted from her. A weight she hadn’t really realized was dragging her down.

“And,” Pete continued, “I’m a rich man. I can look after us both and you as well, if you need it. We’re family now.”

“Thank you.”

“Maybe the money could be given back,” her mom suggested. “Anonymously. Then you could stop worrying.”

She gave a noncommittal shrug. “I’ll think about it.” But she knew she wouldn’t. Somehow she doubted Trenton would just accept it and forget the crime. And besides, she couldn’t give it back and risk it being traced to Danny. He’d helped her set up the trust fund, which had his digital fingerprints all over it.

She’d come to say good-bye, but she couldn’t bring herself to spoil her mother’s good mood. She was positively glowing. So she drank champagne and tried not to think about getting on that train. And not coming back.

“When is the wedding?” she asked.

“As soon as we can arrange it,” Pete replied. “Your mother doesn’t want a big wedding, but I’d like it to be a special one. You’ll come, of course.”

She nodded, but knew it was unlikely. She hoped her absence wouldn’t spoil her mother’s special day. But it couldn’t be helped. She was no doubt used to it by now. Most of their lives, at least since Summer was fourteen, had been spent apart. And her mom had Pete now to help her through it.

When she left an hour later with the excuse that she had work in the morning, she still hadn’t mentioned the fact that she was leaving.

Sitting on the bus on her way home, staring out the window at the passing fields and buildings, the thought grew inside her that she was wrong. That running away wouldn’t solve anything.

You could never get away from your past. If she ran now, she’d spend her whole life looking over her shoulder. Waiting for the authorities to catch up with her. She would never be safe. And she’d never allow herself to be happy. Always at the back of her mind would be the thought that everything had to be paid for.

Did she want to live like that?

By the time she got off the bus in the city center, she’d made her decision. Unfortunately, she hadn’t quite worked herself up to accepting what she had to do.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, she turned in the opposite direction from home and walked.

This might be her last night of freedom for a long time.

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