He let go of her other wrists and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her to him. “Kiss before you go?”

She kissed him tenderly, wishing she could see herself as he did, or how he pretended to see her. She opened her eyes, staring at her reflection in the window. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t pretend at all.

Chapter Fifteen

Saturday evening, Gabriel took Summer to his parents’ house for the first time, and he was nervous, so nervous it was like he was the one meeting the parents and not her.

He wanted his parents to like her, and he wanted Summer to like them. Growing up, Summer never really got to meet his parents like this. She’d always turned down his invitations to dinners, while he was never invited to Strawberry Grove.

Besides, he wasn’t on the best of terms with her mother, after the hospital incident, though she’d left a long time ago and had never come back.

So, it was as if they were each other’s dirty little secret, without all the secrecy or the implied sex. Lately sex had been occupying his mind more and more often, not that it didn’t inhabit his brain at all times, because it did. Just… his brain knew what would happen soon, so his body was getting all on board and making it hard for him to sleep at night.

He really wished that pun didn’t exist. If Summer knew what he was thinking, she’d either laugh in his face or—he frowned—he wasn’t sure what else she would do. Unless she planned a repeat of Thursday night. Now that, he could go along with.

The perfume she’d worn on each of their dates stole over him as he parked his truck in the driveway. “Is that a new perfume?”

Big, brown eyes met his. “No. I stopped wearing perfume not long after I had Ivy. The scent of it made me… sad.”

“Post-partum depression?” he ventured.

Her gaze fixed on a spot over his shoulder. “Darius liked for me to wear perfume. He liked to buy the samplers from Victoria’s Secret so we could pick out the ones we liked the most without spending a fortune.”

He covered her small hand with his. “You didn’t talk much about him when you were pregnant.”

She shrugged. “What was I supposed to say?”

“Whatever you wanted. It wouldn’t have bothered me, unless he didn’t treat you right.” Gabriel couldn’t be jealous of a dead man, of a soldier who’d fought so Gabriel could sit in an American-made truck, in the middle of his parents’ driveway, on a Saturday night, with the woman who made his heart pound against his chest.

“He treated me right.” She bent her head. “He was kind to me, and I think he loved me, unless I was imagining things.”

“That’s not hard to imagine at all.”

She made a noise of disbelief. “Don’t make me call you a liar, angel. I am not easy to love.”

Gabriel hooked a finger under her chin and applied gentle pressure, until their gazes locked. “Who said love was easy? If it were, then we wouldn’t have entire passages in the Bible about it. We wouldn’t be instructed to love our neighbors, or our enemies. A man is commanded to love his wife multiple times.” He made himself stop talking, because he knew how she still viewed him, how she thought he was this holier-than-thou type, and he didn’t want to ruin this date. He wanted them united when they went inside to meet his family.

“But I’m not patient, or kind, or selfless,” she said softly.

“The girl I knew was, and the woman who gave up her daughter, because she knew she couldn’t take care of her, is incredibly selfless,” he said sincerely. “The woman, who, right now, is putting up with Jemma Leigh dressing her up like some life-sized Barbie doll, because she doesn’t want to hurt her feelings, is very kind.”

“I like how Jemma Leigh’s dressing me.”

He grinned. “I really appreciate how she’s dressing you.”

“Why, because I look decent for once?” she snapped, and then winced a little. “Sorry.”

In answer, he kissed her. “Nonsense. Utter. Nonsense.”

“Gabriel,” she whispered, right before she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and bit down.

Behind his eyelids, sparks of light exploded. Desire wound through him, stoking embers of lust that grew hotter. For so long, he’d been waiting for her, waiting to be able to kiss her just because, touch her because she was near and welcomed it.

A sharp rap on the window startled them both, and he turned to see his sister, Isabella, standing there. Her caramel-colored hair was pulled into a haphazard bun, and she wore a Hurricane’s Jersey with a stain on the shoulder.

She looked less than put together—way less, but he wasn’t about to comment on that, not with the red-rimmed eyes she sported.

Hoping his sister’s ex-fiancé lost his millions while on an extended stay in Vegas might not be very Christ-like, but he was human and he loved his sister, which only made his point about love not being easy. That guy had hurt Isabella, therefore making him the enemy, and Gabriel did not love him for it.

“Mom and Dad are waiting, love birds.” Wrapping her arms around her middle, she walked back to the house.

“She’s all grown up now,” Summer remarked, and he gave her a look.

“Bella’s only three years younger than you.”

“Your sister is a lifetime younger than me.”

Rather than agree or argue, because his family was in fact waiting for them, he got out, and strode around the truck to open her door.

Sometimes she waited for him to do it, while other times, she rolled her eyes and opened it herself. Tonight, she waited for him. For some reason he felt like taking her in his arms, but he didn’t want to wrinkle her outfit or mess up her hairdo, since she and Jemma Leigh had spent so much time on them.

She wore a pale yellow dress with small beads on the hem. Her hair was braided in a crown around her head, with a sprig of flowers nestled in the back. Jemma Leigh should have become a stylist instead of real estate agent. The woman had major talent in his opinion.

“Will you keep letting Jemma Leigh dress you after we get married?” he asked as they walked hand and hand to the front porch.

“You want Jemma Leigh to come on our honeymoon?” she asked, and he had to fight to keep from doing a little victory dance when he heard the teasing tone of her voice.

“I’m thinking neither of us will need much clothes for that,” he said, not surprised his voice got all husky. Hell, he was arousing himself with thoughts of her nude and in bed with him.

She paused on the last step and stood on her tiptoes, putting her mouth against his ear. The sensations of her breasts rubbing his arm made him hard. “I always thought you’d like to see me wearing nothing but a tiny pair of thongs and some silk stockings.”

His hands shot out, and he dug his fingers into the posts that flanked either side of the steps. “Are you trying to kill me before the honeymoon?”

She tugged his ear between her teeth and then said, “Just giving you something to look forward to.”

“If I looked anymore forward to it, we’d already be on it.”

He didn’t miss the little smile of satisfaction on her face, and he couldn’t stop his mouth from kicking up at the corners in response. Breathing in and out a few time to get control of his body, he finally moved to the front door.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced at Summer. “Ready?”

“Don’t leave me… my side, I mean.” But he caught her slip.

“I’m never leaving you again, and you can’t make me go away,” he promised and then he opened the door and stepped inside.

The first thing Summer noticed about the Edwards house was the noise.

It was loud, full of laughter, of music, and conversations. Lots and lots of conversations. Overwhelmed, she shrank back a little and gripped Gabriel’s hand.

The second thing she noticed was all the kids.

They were everywhere, and so were their toys as they played. As a child, Summer had never been allowed to have store-bought toys. She and her sisters had played with century-old dolls, which had been made over every few years, and smelled of dried flowers. Painted-on faces were smudged from kisses and sticky fingers. They had tea sets and old dress-up clothes. They had each other.

She smiled a little at the bittersweet memory.

“Sorry, I didn’t know the twins would have friends over this evening,” Gabriel said. “I would have waited until Sunday if I had.”

“It’s okay. I knew you had a lot of brothers and sisters, but this… wow. I don’t know how your mother does it,” she said, genuinely offering up a compliment.

A little girl toddled over to Summer, Isabella holding her hand the entire time. The child had light brown skin and big hazel eyes, her hair in little puffs on each side of her head. When she smiled, Summer couldn’t help but think of Ivy, and her heart stuttered.

“This is Irene,” Isabella said. “She’s staying here for a little while, until her momma can get back on her feet.”

“Hi Irene,” Gabriel said, kneeling beside her.

Summer remained standing, unable to do more than stare at the not-so-subtle reminder of what she’d given up.

“Remember me?” he asked.

The little girl nodded, biting her lip.

“Remember the pretty lady I told you about?” he asked, and again Irene nodded. “This is Summer, and she wanted to come meet you and everyone else tonight.”

Irene let go of Isabella long enough to wrap her little arms around Summer’s waist. Summer awkwardly patted her back, tears pricking at her eyes so hard that she was sure blood would flow.

“I have to… please excuse me.” Blindly, she stepped out of the little girl’s reach and headed in the opposite direction of Gabriel, Isabella, and Irene. Especially Irene.

The first door she came to, she barreled inside and closed behind her, bursting into tears. Eventually, those tears turned to sobs, great heaving sobs that racked her body.

A soft click made her look up, but it was too late. She had been found. Tipping up her chin, she dared the intruder to say anything to her, but all Isabella did was take her in her arms and hug her.

At first, Summer didn’t know what to do, so she simply let her arm dangle limply by her sides, but then she felt Isabella’s body tremble, and her arms automatically went around the younger woman.

Summer had been hugged more in the past few weeks than she had in her entire life. Pretty sad, if she thought about it. So she pushed it out of her mind. She had enough sadness for a dozen people, without adding to it.

“I know I should be comforting you, but I’ve been a mess lately, and seeing your reaction to Irene…it just broke my heart,” Isabella said with a sniff.

Summer swallowed. “So you only hugged me to get a hug back?” That made absolutely no sense to Summer. Gabriel was one of the most affectionate men she knew.

“No. I wanted to talk to you,” she said. “I had no idea you were crying, until I heard you.”

Summer felt her body go rigid. Who else had heard her? And if Gabriel had heard her, then why hadn’t he come to comfort her? Not that she needed his comfort.

Stop lying to yourself.

“Don’t worry. No one else heard. Dad came in with a couple of lizards, and all the kids rushed him, making one lizard go up his sleeve and another down his pants. It’s a regular madhouse as Gabriel and Momma try to contain the excitement.”

“There goes the other one,” a child squealed.

“It’s in Gabe’s pants now!”

“Get it out!”

A giggle burst from Summer’s mouth. She couldn’t help it.

“See what I mean?” Isabella sighed.

Finally, she let go of her, and Summer stepped back. She glanced around the room, taking note of the frilly bedcovers on the twin beds, the pink walls, and multiple posters of One Direction that plastered the closet doors. “Was this your room?”

“Gosh, no.” Isabella made a face. “I wouldn’t have been caught dead with a pink room.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” Summer muttered, and Isabella laughed.

“Sorry, I was really, really obsessed with all things turquoise when I was this age.” Isabella’s expression turned serious. “Can I ask you a question?”

Dread clawed at her. “Yes.” Isabella knew. Somehow, she knew of Summer’s plan to marry Gabriel, sue for custody of Ivy, and then divorce him for his own good, so he could be with a woman who deserved him.

“How hard was it to give up Ivy?”

Her insides were twisted once more, harder this time. “I don’t think that’s very nice,” Summer managed to choke out.

A fresh round of tears welled in Isabella’s eyes. “I’m not asking you to be nice. I’m asking you, because, in about six months, I’ll be doing the same thing.”

Chapter Sixteen

Isabella’s confession was so unexpected that Summer had to sit down on one of the beds in the room.

“I didn’t mean to shock you.”

“I’m not shocked,” Summer said slowly. “I’m stunned, because… because…” How could she say that she thought Isabella was exactly like Gabriel and had planned to wait for marriage, without making things worse?

“Because I’m the perfect preacher’s daughter who’s always done everything everyone’s always told her?” Isabella finished for her.

Summer smiled faintly. “I was going to say a really nice girl, from a really nice family, who had her future planned a little differently.”

Isabella snorted. “Are you sure you’re Summer Holland, because the one I heard about and last saw at the Collins’ Halloween Party wouldn’t be this nice.”