Summer Burns Read online

  He glanced back at the video games, where Emma shoved her quarters in one of those crane machines, and tried for some stuffed animal in it.

  Failed miserably.

  He smirked.

  "She's been trying for a month for that blue teddy bear. Never gets close."

  The waitress came by and put the check on the table. Before Summer could grab it, he checked the amount and got out his wallet.

  "What are you doing? You don't have to pay for my dinner." She tried to get the check back. "We invited you to join us. I was paying anyway."

  "All the more reason for me to pay." He put his cash with the check and tucked it under the edge of the pizza.

  "Really, Hennessey--"

  He met her gaze. "Matthew." He'd always been Hennessey, no matter where he was. Yet in his gut, he didn't want her calling him that too. She was different.

  She nodded. "Matthew."

  He kept his eyes on hers, studying the dark blue edges, and how it faded to a lighter silvery-blue in the center, different from his blue eyes, which had always just been "crayon blue" as he called it.

  Yet he didn't want to break the gaze. He'd never been this close to her before. She didn't look away, either. He leaned in just a bit, memories of the past washing over the moment--and not the war-filled one. The one where he watched her at all the wrestling meets, wishing for that chance to...

  "Thank you sir."

  Summer broke the stare first, and turned toward the waitress. The waitress walked off with the bill, and his money from the table. "What the hell?"

  He grinned. "I win."

  Her cheeks flamed red and she crossed her arms. "You... That was sneaky."

  "Maybe. But you weren't paying for my dinner."

  "That wasn't fair."

  He shrugged. "All's fair in love and war."

  "So are we in love or in war?"

  "Well, this sure as hell isn't war."

  She raised an eyebrow, and he realized what he'd just alluded to.

  "I mean... Uh..."

  She laughed, and it was this beautiful, peal of laughter that hit him right in the groin. In the good way. The kind of sound that made him want to make her laugh again and again, just so he could hear it.

  "Don't worry about it, Sergeant. I sure don't want to make war with you."

  "So what do you want to make?" he asked.

  She bit her lip and her cheeks turned pink. "You are bad, sir," she said as she stood.

  Hennessey stood as well.

  She gestured to her daughter. "She's getting frustrated with the machine. I'd better go check on her."

  Matthew turned and saw, that yes, little Emma was about to--scratch that, she did kick the crane machine. And still didn't get her precious prize.

  He couldn't help wondering if Summer just used her daughter as an excuse to get away from him.

  Was he mad about the prospect?

  Not exactly.

  More amused than anything. The waitress came back with a to-go box, and boxed up the pizza for them, and she smiled quite a bit at him while she did it.

  He looked over his shoulder to see who the waitress grinned at like that.

  No one was back there.

  He turned back to her, thinking maybe she was a loony. She kept smiling at him.

  "Um," He said, unsure how to respond because he wasn't used to that sort of attention.

  "Thank you for your service," the waitress said, batting her eyes at him.

  "Just doing my job." He turned back to Emma and Summer.

  "Is that your family?" the waitress asked. "That little girl is cute."

  "Yeah she is." He stood, and decided to try Summer's trick of using Emma as an excuse to get away. "I should go check on them."

  "Sure, right. Have a good night sir." The waitress didn't sound quite as chipper as she had.

  In his head, he knew, logically, that she must have been flirting with him, still, it felt so foreign to him, he wasn't sure how to handle it.

  He'd been home for a while, but certain things still boggled him.

  He reached Emma, and discovered that the little girl had roped her mom into her quest for a prize from the crane machine.

  "Oh, man!" Emma said. "So close Mommy. If you would have moved it this way just a little bit!"

  "I know," Summer said, with a big sigh. She glanced at Matthew and winked. "Better luck next time. Are you ready to go home?"

  "What are you trying to get out of there?" he asked.

  "That blue teddy bear. He's so cute and fluffy. I need to have him so much!" Emma ran her hand over the glass.

  He patted his pocket and felt change. "Well, I can give it a try for you, if you'd like."

  "Are you any good?" Emma asked, hand on her hip.

  "I used to be."

  "Well, okay." She didn't seem too impressed with him. "I guess you can try."

  Even when he put the coins in, the little girl seemed to be watching, waiting for him to screw it up.

  Maybe that last part was his imagination.

  Summer held the pizza box. "I think I got it loosened up in there."

  He smirked. "We shall see." With a careful touch, he managed to guide the clamp right over to the teddy bear in question.

  "Just a smidge this way," Emma said, with her face plastered to the side of the box. "Just a smidge, Mister Maffew."

  He tapped the control. The claw barely moved, just swinging in the box.

  "Perfect."

  "Do you want to do the honors?" he said, pointing to the button.

  Emma darted back to the front and slammed her hand on the button to release the claw. The claw went down, opened up, and grabbed the blue teddy bear.

  It pulled the bear out of the pile of other stuffies shoved inside the box, and rose in the air.

  "It's almost there!" Emma cheered.

  And then it fell out of the claw, just hanging on the edge next to the opening.

  "Oh no!" shrieked Emma.

  "Wait, I have more quarters," Summer said. She glanced at Matthew. "We've been trying forever for that bear."

  "Here, I have it," he said, and shoved one into the machine.

  They needed another one.

  "I can't find one," Summer said, shaking her purse.

  "There's gotta be another one, Mommy!"

  Matthew started digging in his wallet, looking for a bit of change. Because that bear was just hanging there, waiting to be snagged.

  "Wait, I have some in my car. Stay here." Summer darted toward the door.

  Matthew glanced at Emma. "Uh, okay," he said, but Summer was gone.

  "She'll be back," Emma said, not seeming the slightest bit worried about her mother leaving her alone in the restaurant.

  Matthew, however, wasn't nearly as relaxed. His gaze darted around the pizzeria again, suddenly looking for threats against little Emma, like someone would try to take her away while on his watch.

  Not going to happen.

  Emma plastered herself in front of the machine, blocking anyone from seeing the almost freed teddy bear. A couple of kids walked up, obviously wanting to try the machine, but Emma held them at bay.

  Summer came back, quarter in hand. "Got one!" She shoved the coin in, and glanced at Matthew, grinning.

  Emma squealed.

  "Emma, do you want to do the honors?" Summer asked.

  The little girl grinned and with a couple of quick moves, the teddy bear fell into the prize hole and she pulled it out, shrieking with delight.

  "She's happy now," Matthew said.

  "She's been after that bear forever." Summer grinned, and he wondered if she was just as excited as the little girl was.

  Emma babbled over what she was going to name the blue stuffed bear--Elsa, he thought she'd said--as they walked out of the pizzeria. Summer got her in the backseat, and Emma started fastening the bear into a seat belt then got herself situated in her car seat.

  Summer climbed into the driver's seat, and he handed her the leftover pizza.<
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  "You can keep it if you want," she said.

  "It's all right," he said. "Take it to work tomorrow. Lunch at the salon."

  She grinned. "Well, thank you again."

  "Mister Maffew! Mister Maffew!" Emma called from the backseat.

  He leaned in the window a bit to see her. "Yes?"

  "You have to come watch Frozen with us! Elsa wants you to come!"

  "Oh, honey, that's nice of you to invite him, but I'm sure Mister Matthew has things he has to do this evening."

  The sad thing was, he really didn't. Just watching something mind numbing on Netflix.

  He glanced at Summer. "Is it any good?"

  She smirked. "It was the first time I saw it. Now, I can quote it to you. And I'm not proud of that."

  He smirked.

  "Please Mister Maffew? Please?" Emma's words hit him right in the gut.

  "Emma, don't beg." Summer fastened her seat belt.

  "Maybe for a little bit," Matthew heard himself say.

  Summer arched her eyebrow. "You don't have to. It's fine."

  He shrugged. "Probably better than watching Neflix all night anyway." But if he did, well, at least he would be able to check in how she was living. He'd promised Jake, after all, that he'd make sure they were okay.

  It was only doing what he promised, right?

  Chapter Five

  I stood behind the couch where Emma had planted Hennessey--Matthew, I have to remember that--and her new teddy bear to watch the Disney movie. He'd finally relaxed. At first he'd been very nervous watching with her. He kept glancing at me, then he'd get sucked into the story for a second, then he'd start looking around again.

  I wondered if he'd ever been around kids much.

  Regardless, he was doing better now. Emma either didn't notice or didn't care that he was uncomfortable, because she kept a running monolog going about every little thing in the movie, explaining the plot as only a six-year-old could do.

  And surprisingly, Matthew would jump in with questions that kept her talking. Maybe he did that on purpose so he didn't have to talk?

  Regardless, Emma was having a blast.

  I smirked as they discussed the finer points of the talking snow man's song. Feeling like she was in good hands, I decided to refill my drink.

  Glancing at them as I tossed some ice in my glass, I couldn't help thinking about how Jake would have loved sitting there, watching the movie with her. She was his world--everything was for Emma. Nothing else mattered.

  And she lived for him. So I shouldn't have been surprised at how much she seemed to enjoy having a father-ish figure around.

  I hadn't really considered what Emma was missing out on when I decided to not bother with dating. Not that I was terribly interested in it, but I wanted what was best for my little girl.

  I didn't want to be one of those single mothers who paraded a string of men in front of my kid. I saw enough of that in the beauty shop with my clients.

  Every time I hear the story, I'd be glad I decided to stay away from dating, if only for Emma's sake.

  Yet seeing her talking to Matthew, I could tell she missed that. There weren't a lot of men in the family anymore. Mom hadn't been with anyone in years. My husband was gone. Winter got divorced and her ex moved to nicer climates, and my other sister Autumn, well, who knows what's going on in her life. If there's a man, she hasn't said anything.

  Of course, if I wanted to know, I could always check Instagram. She was forever posting pictures of, well, everything, on her account there.

  I picked up my phone and scrolled through the photo sharing app. Sure enough, my feed was flooded with odd pictures from my sister.

  Looked like she was in Chicago. At least, there was a selfie of her outside Wrigley Field. Whether she was living there, or just visiting, I had no idea.

  Mom came into the kitchen. Yes. I live with my mother. I'm not exactly proud of this, but when Jake died, it was the best arrangement. I saved as much as I could each month so I could buy my own house for me and Emma--we were almost there.

  "Autumn's in Chicago." I held up my phone to show Mom.

  "Her job sure is sending her everywhere."

  I blinked. "She has a job?" My sister has always been a leaf on the wind, tumbling wherever she could, and never staying in any particular place for very long. "I thought she applied for that cruise line."

  "I don't think she got it," Mom said.

  "Too bad, that would have been great for her."

  "Autumn, stuck on a ship for months at a time? That would not end well." We both smirked, because Autumn was, well, Autumn. She seemed to have our flighty father's bohemian tendencies.

  "Well, at least she'd be able to say she's been all over if she did that," I said.

  Mom grinned. "When you're young with no obligations, you can do that."

  For the briefest second, I wondered what that would be like, just tumbling from place to place with no plan, no money, and no worry how I would get there, or what I would do. Such a foreign concept, I couldn't imagine what it must be like.

  Laughter from the living room jarred my attention and jerked me out of the wandering train of thought, and I smirked at my daughter's excitement over the movie.

  And, I daresay, the company as well.

  I had to do what was best for Emma. A new worry had been creeping in the back of my mind -- how quick Emma was connecting with Matthew.

  Mom watched Emma and Matthew laughing at the movie.

  "He seems nice," Mom said as she started the water to make herself a cup of tea.

  I got down the powdered drink mix and started making a fresh pitcher. "He is."

  "Emma seems to enjoy him being here."

  "Emma likes anyone she can watch Frozen with." Though I figured I'd probably better get back in there before he loses his mind over the singing. Don't most guys hate movies with singing in them?

  Though surprisingly, Matthew hadn't tried to break away yet. Maybe he actually was enjoying the story?

  I wondered as I stirred the mix. Was he enjoying himself? Or just humoring the little girl of his fallen comrade?

  "What about you?"

  "What about me what?" I asked as I put the finished pitcher back in the fridge.

  "Do you like him being here?"

  I shrugged, because I really didn't have an answer. It was nice talking to a man at dinner, a grown-up that wasn't my mother, or a client.

  But I knew where Mom was going, and it wasn't just simple adult interaction. "I don't think I'm ready to date, Mom."

  "Then why's he here?"

  I glanced back at them. They laughed over something with the trolls, though Emma was carrying it a bit too far, as little girls tended to do. At least, as mine tended to do, anyway.

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Matthew shushed her, and surprisingly, Emma listened to him.

  Imagine that.

  "Summer," my mother said.

  I met her gaze. "I don't know why I let him come, Mom. Emma wanted it, and frankly, I wanted to make her happy. She misses her dad."

  "She does. But with all the love around her, I don't think she'll suffer without him." She dug through the variety of tea bags stored in the cabinet to select whatever herbal brew that would heighten or tighten or straighten whatever chakra was out of alignment today.

  The wash of scents hit me, and I couldn't help smiling. Mom and her herbs. Most people had flower gardens or vegetable gardens. Mom had her herb gardens. The house always smelled like herbs of some form or another--whatever ones Mom was drying in the back office that week.

  "Maybe, maybe not," I said, and in the back of my mind, remembered growing up without a dad.

  My parents separated after Autumn was born. Mom's reasons were vague, only that regardless of having children, Dad still wanted to live freely, and Mom wanted something more suburban. So Dad left, occasionally remembering to send a birthday card or letters, but he never came around.

  I'd always guessed there was
more to it than that, but Mom never said what it was.

  And I didn't ask. Some things were best left alone.

  All those years though, I didn't remember Mom spending time with any man. No constant boyfriends, no going out and partying, nothing.

  Mom just sort of delved deeper into her metaphysical ways--like an academic hippy. Even now, piles of books about herbs and green living everywhere.

  When Jake died, I figured I could be just like Mom, and live alone, focusing on Emma, yet just spending some social time with Matthew made me wonder if I was kidding myself.

  I liked having a guy to talk to.

  Because my mom can mind read--or so she had us thinking while we grew up--she invaded my internal thoughts, as if answering them.

  "There's a big difference between a father figure and a husband, Summer."

  "Is that why you didn't marry again?"

  She shrugged. "No one was worthy."

  "What were you looking for, Mom? A prince?"

  The tea pot started to whistle. "No one was worthy enough for you girls," she said as she poured the boiling water.

  "Oh. So you did date?" I watched Mom dunk her tea bag in the hot water, trying to let her words sink in. I'd always figured Mom had just not wanted to date. She'd evidently put a lot of effort in not dating in front of us.

  "Of course I did. I just didn't do it in front of you girls." She took a sip of her steaming tea. "Which is the only advice I can give you about men and your child--do not bring anyone in who will not be there for a very long time."

  I nodded, because I knew this. We'd discussed this after Jake died--part of the reason I'd not dated right away. Well, that and the whole grieving thing.

  "I wouldn't."

  "I know you wouldn't intentionally. But remember, Emma's been through a lot. You should not let her get attached to someone, if he isn't going to be around for very long." Her gaze darted to Emma and Matthew.

  And guilt roiled in my gut, because that's exactly what I was doing--I was letting her get to know someone who likely wouldn't be in her life more than a few weeks.

  But he was like her daddy.

  The smell of her daddy.

  Emma was already very attached to Matthew.