Page 10 of It Started with a Sunset
Everett brought in the vase of colorful flowers and set them on a stand beside Pavani’s bed with a couple of other flower arrangements.
“It’s so good to see you all! Oh, I’ve missed you all so much. I can’t believe I missed the first day of school, too!” Pavani might not be feeling well, but she did seem to perk up at seeing everyone. Summer smiled just knowing she’d been right and Brock was wrong.
Tess stepped up to Pavani’s bed and squeezed her hand. “Don’t you worry about anything other than getting rest.”
“Yes, get rest,” Deja said, “and then you milk this surgery for all it’s worth, girl. You want to sit in bed all day and read or binge-watch Netflix? Call it ‘necessary for recovery.’ Want your cute hubby to go get you ice cream? Call it ‘necessary for recovery.’”
Pavani nodded. “Got it. Okay, I’m going to need daily updates on how things are going at the office. It’s necessary for recovery.”
Summer laughed hard. She would probably be the same way. “I’ll text you every day.”
“I will, too,” Elle said. “I’ll give you the details I know Summer won’t think of.”
“Brock?”
Brock looked a little uneasy about checking in with the person whose job he was taking over, but he appeared to understand. If he had a project that was important to him, he would probably want reassurances that they were doing it as perfectly as he would. He gave Summer a quick glance, then looked back to Pavani. “I’ll keep you updated on all the decisions we make for Aquamoose Tracks.”
Pavani visibly relaxed, an exhausted smile on her face. “You are all the best. But still, I’m just missing so much!” She motioned at Summer. “I even missed out hearing about your weekend dates on Monday morning.”
“I went out with this guy I met at the tri-town meet-up at the lake— Dylan. He’s from Golden Springs and it was no big deal.”
Why was she suddenly feeling so awkward talking with her coworkers about her weekend date? She’d done it every week before now, and it had never been awkward. Then she caught Brock’s eyes and realized it was because she wasn’t okay with talking about it around him anymore. She wasn’t sure what to make of that realization.
They all talked and joked for a few minutes, and Pavani told them all about her surgery and the drama leading up to it. Every once in a while during their chatting, Summer snuck a few glances at Brock. A few times she had caught him looking at her, and she immediately averted her gaze. Why was catching him looking in her direction causing such a fluttering in her stomach?
Tess glanced at her watch. “We’ve got to get back to the office soon. Do you need anything before we go?”
“I do. I need a Summergraham.”
Summer’s face immediately heated and she could feel everyone’s confusion at the odd phrasing of the sentence and her name being used as a single word.
Eyebrows knit together, Elle asked, “What’s a Summergraham?”
Summer let out a slow breath. “Okay, I’ll explain it the same way I did as an only child who never had enough people around and constantly sought ways to connect to everyone I came in contact with: It’s like a singing telegram but full of sunshine. And performed by Summer Graham, of course.” And then, just like she did as a kid, she did jazz hands in an arc over her head, like a rising sun. “But no, I’m definitely not doing it in front of you all.”
Everyone made variousawwsounds of disappointment. Except for Brock. He was giving her an amused smile—something she hadn’t seen coming from him before.
“Then stay after everyone leaves and do it,” Pavani suggested. “It’s necessary for recovery.”
Summer shook her head. “I can’t. I drove Elle and Brock.”
“The five of us can squish in my car for the drive back,” Deja said. “It’s fine—you stay and do your sunshine thing.”
Summer waited until everyone had a chance to get at least halfway down the hall before she turned to Pavani. “I can’t believe you asked for a Summergraham.”
Pavani shrugged, a way-too-innocent smile on her face. “What? Deja told me to milk recovery for all it’s worth. I’m just doing as I’m told.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that. A ruptured appendix definitely calls for a Summergraham. I would normally pick a song and change the lyrics to fit the situation, but with no warning, I’m going to have to go with the standard Summergraham from my childhood. And by childhood, I mean I literally wrote and choreographed this when I was seven years old, so don’t expect anything better than what a seven-year-old can do.”
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment,” Pavani said. “Well, not my whole life, but I’ve been waiting for a moment worthy of a Summergraham since you first told me about them last year.”
Summer shook her head. She was going to have to stop telling people the story. “You’re minus a body part now, so I guess you earned it. Okay, well, I hope it’s all you hoped it would be.” She took a deep breath and then started singing, doing all the dancing motions as she went. “If you’re feeling less than fine, your stress is up to nine, something’s hard and you want to whine...” She turned around in a circle and jumped in the air, arms and legs out. “Maybe what you need is some sunshine!
“If you’re feeling kind of gray, if you’re not doing okay, if you’re sick and can’t go play,I am here to brighten your day!” She couldn’t believe she was still remembering all the actions. The cheesy lyrics, though—those would probably always be burned into her mind.
She took a deep breath before heading into the final verse. “I want you feeling as happy as a guppy, as strong as a gorilla, as loved as a puppy, as cute as a chinchilla. So put up your ‘I’m happy’ sign, because now you’re as warm and bright as summer sunshine!” She finished with her hands out, her best flourish of a finish.
Zain was cheering and Pavani was wiping laughing tears from her eyes, saying, “The laughing! It hurts my incisions!” But she kept laughing, holding a pillow on her stomach.
