Page 14 of Summer Affair
“That’s too bad.”
Not wanting to touch that with a ten-foot pole, she said, “I never even asked about your injury.”
“I like that you didn’t ask me. Everyone asks me every time I see them. Not because they really want to know, but because they need me to attend some event, get back on offense, or because they’re worried about their fantasy picks,” he said, and the resignation in his voice spoke to something deep down inside of her. Something that she knew from personal experience was isolating.
“Don’t you ever get tired from carrying all of that weight on your own?”
“No one’s ever asked me that.” He smiled, and instead of the playboy smile from a moment ago, it was softer and warmer. “Thank you for being the kind of person to ask, but really, I’m fine.”
“I know that line. I use it all the time and I never mean it,” she said quietly. “Part of the reason this place is so magical is that the only kind of pretending you have to do is in a fort.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
Silence fell over them once again, but this time it was a comfortable silence, the kind that was common among friends. “Well, I should probably let you eat your breakfast.”
“Or you could join me,” he said as if he didn’t want her to leave. As dangerous as it was, she wanted to stay.
Before she could answer, she heard Sammy cry out and panic bubbled up inside. She raced into the backyard right as Sammy ran past, tears in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, but he was already halfway up the tree and climbing into his fort. And that’s when Jillian saw the red midlife crisis on wheels idling in her driveway and her heart sank.
Dirk.
Tightening her hoodie around her, she walked to the front yard. She looked from the fort and back to her ex. “What happened?”
“Sammy can’t come on the boating trip.”
“It’s canceled?”
“No,” he said as if Jillian were slow on the uptake. “Nikki’s dad isn’t feeling so well after his stroke and her parents decided to keep it a family vacation.”
She walked closer and lowered her voice. “Sammyisyour family.”
“I know that.” Dirk ran an exasperated hand down his face as if he were the injured party. “I meant, just Nikki’s and my family. I’ll make it up to Sammy when we get back.”
“In a month? Do you have any idea how hard this is going to be for him knowing you’re taking Bentley on the big fancy boat you’ve been bragging about all year?”
“This should make you happy. You didn’t want him coming anyway.”
“Our son is hiding in the tree fort because he doesn’t want you to see him crying. Nothing about this makes me happy, Dirk,” she said vehemently. “Nothing. And I only didn’t want him going because a month away is a long time, but you wouldn’t negotiate, so I gave in. I gave in and let you have what you wanted because it’s what Sammy wanted. Only now you’re telling him, he’s not ‘family enough’ to go on the family vacation?”
“I’m so sorry,” Nikki said, stepping out of the car in leggings and a yoga top, which, on her, looked like couture evening wear. “Don’t blame Dirk. It’s my dad. He’s very proud and doesn’t want strangers to see him until he’s fully recovered.”
“Sammy isn’t a stranger. He’s his grandson.” Was she the only sane person in the group? None of what anyone was saying made an ounce of sense. It was as if the universe was playing some cruel joke on her, testing her to see how far she’d go before strangling someone.
Nikki looked at Dirk and back to Jillian, placing a hand to her too-perky-to-be-real chest. “He’s not as progressive as Dirk and I are when it comes to what makes a family.”
“You can tell him Sammy isn’t after a place in the will, he just wants to spend time with his dad. Get to know his grandparents,” Jillian pled. “With Dirk’s parents dying so young and my parents, um, well, besides me and Eddie, he doesn’t have any other relatives in his life and—”
“Your decision,” Dirk interrupted, his comment cutting her to the core.
“I know, I’ve told my parents this,” Nikki went on. “But they have their hands full with little Bentley here. You remember how overwhelming it is having a toddler around.”
She took a deep, steady breath to brace herself for the conversation they’d had a hundred times. It was an ongoing problem. Dirk would make a promise to their son, then break the promise. “It is challenging. Parenthood is challenging. Unlike you, I don’t have a husband or nanny or parents to help out.”
Nikki cringed, one of those dramatic shrug-hiss combos her generation was famous for. “She’s a mommy’s helper, not a nanny. And I know Sammy’s sad, but maybe next year things will be different.”
Will they though?“Please don’t do this. Sammy won’t come back from this.” It was something Jillian knew firsthand, the kind of soul-shattering rejection she’d worked so hard to protect him from.
