Page 43 of It Started with a Sunset
Summer let out a slow breath. “Before Brock and I went on our first date, I told Valeria and Avery that it wouldn’t be a big deal to date Brock. That we’d been friends and coworkers for so long that if we started a relationship and it ended that we’d be able to go back to being coworkers and friends, no problem. They acted like I was naive to think that.” She swallowed. “It turns out that I was.”
“Oh, sweetie. It’s over between you and Brock?”
Summer looked down at her desk. “Not officially, no. I just don’t know how to be the kind of person I need to be for it not to be over.”
She heard a voice that made her sit up straight to see if she’d heard correctly. Then she stood and hurried to her door. She hadn’t been hearing things—her dad had been saying hello to everyone as he headed toward her office. “Dad! What are you doing here?”
He smiled, his arms spread wide, like he was open for a hug as he walked toward her. “You didn’t quite sound like yourself when we talked on the phone yesterday, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to see you in person. So when I got to work this morning, I asked Pete to find me a flight and cancel my meetings and here I am.”
Summer threw her arms around her dad and gave him a really long hug. She hadn’t realized how badly she had needed it and didn’t pull back for a very long time. When she did, there was a tear trying to escape her right eye—she hated that. She quickly batted it away.
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head. She wasn’t going to tempt the tears to make a reappearance by actually using words.
Tess walked down the hall just then and saw the two of them in the doorway of Summer’s office.
“Mr. Graham! Hello! It’s so great to see you again. I didn’t know you were coming for a visit.”
“It was a bit of a surprise, even for me. Summer didn’t know I was coming.”
Tess’s eyes landed on Summer. She didn’t know what Tess saw when she looked at her—probably a mix of something resembling distress and emotional exhaustion. Then Tess glanced back at Summer’s dad before meeting Summer’s eyes again.
“Go with your dad. Take the rest of the day off—whatever you’ve got on your schedule for the rest of the day, we’ll take care of it.”
“Are you sure?” Summer’s mind immediately went to the long list of things she needed to do. She couldn’t actually think of a single thing on the list, but she knew it was hefty.
Tess nodded. “I am. Go.”
So Summer left with her dad.
Chapter Twenty
Brock
Mr. Graham had been popping into the Welcome Center every couple of months for the entire four years that Brock worked there. He was always pretty chatty, too—Summer must’ve inherited it from him—so Brock had gotten to know him pretty well. He was a good guy.
Brock had glanced in Summer’s office whenever he walked out of his, and every time, she looked so sad. Since he felt like anything he tried to do would make things worse, which left him unable to help at all, he was so glad that her dad showed up today.
As Brock walked from the Welcome Center lobby to the common area, Deja looked up at him. “How are you holding up?”
Brock didn’t even know how to answer that.
“Have a seat.”
Brock did as he was told and sat down. “How long have you and your husband been together?”
“Three glorious years.”
“Did you ever need space while you were dating?”
“Me? Heavens no.”
“Oh.”
“But my husband sure did, bless his heart. It was before we got engaged. He had a little freak-out and was outta there faster than a hot knife through butter.”
“So what do you do when that happens? Because right now I’m doing nothing and that’s about the hardest thing to do.”
