Fallen Crest University
Page 53
Malinda pressed her lips together, still eyeing the other woman with hawk-like focus, but only reached for her wine. Nate’s father asked David how the Fallen Crest Academy football team was going to do for the rest of the season.
Things progressed a little more smoothly after that. Nate’s father and David conversed about football, asking Mason about his season so far, while Malinda informed Logan and Nate how Mark was doing at his college.
I remained quiet.
The whole dinner was unsettling. Nate’s parents never said or did anything wrong to me, but they reminded me too much of Helen’s disdain for me, which reminded me of Garrett and what my professor said. She knew my biological father, who I hadn’t heard from since leaving Boston last Christmas.
The time with him had been…okay. I was there. He was there. We’d shared a few dinners. I’d explored the coffee shop down the same block and the bookstore it was attached to while he’d worked at his office during the day. My nights had been spent on the phone with Mason and Logan. When Garrett dropped me off at the airport, the good-byes had been respectful. That was the best word to describe them. I wasn’t angry with him. I didn’t feel close to him, but he wasn’t really a stranger anymore.
I hadn’t thought about him until that night again, so when Summer dropped her bomb, it floored me.
Really floored me.
I gaped at her, my mouth hanging open. “Wha—huh? Say that again.”
“My father and stepmother have a house here, but my dad has a bunch of houses. He does business in Boston.” Her head was down. Her eyes were averted.
I watched how she tucked her hands under her legs, and her shoulders slumped down.
A bad feeling, a very bad feeling, started in my stomach.
I shook my head. “What? I mean, I’m still lost.”
“You talked about that professor who knew your biological father. Remember?”
“Uh, yeah.” Why was she remembering? That was the real question. “What does this have to do with your dad and stepmother?”
She looked up, biting her lip. The fear that crossed her face took me back. I quieted. My mind was reeling. I knew that Mason would’ve figured this out in one second. He would jump five steps ahead to the real reason Summer was suddenly so nervous. I wasn’t there. I was still back where she’d said her dad did business in Boston.
“Wait.” I held up a hand. She’d been about to say more, but I needed to go slow. “Your dad does business in Boston?”
She nodded.
I asked the second question, “But he has a house here, too?” What did that have to do with my professor? As she started to nod again, in mid nod, I asked my third one, “Does your dad live here? Or is it like a vacation home or something?”
“He lives here. My mom does, too, but he travels to Boston for business.”
Things were starting to connect, but I didn’t like the feeling I was getting. This was becoming too fucked up to be a coincidence. “Your dad knows Garrett, doesn’t he?”
She sucked in a breath but forced her head to slowly move up and down. The trepidation spreading over her face was a little too much for me. I had a sense I wasn’t going to like what else she would say. I had a sense I was going to hate it.
She said, “My father and stepmother invited us for dinner tomorrow at their house. Your father and his wife are going to be there. They’d like for us to come.”
She wasn’t telling me the truth. She wasn’t telling me what I really needed to hear.
I could forget about Garrett and why he hadn’t said a word to me about this, forget that he knew her parents or that they’d been in the same city this whole time, forget the fact that Summer never conversed with her parents—that I knew of. There was something nagging at me. I couldn’t get it out of my head.
I said, “Summer.”
She froze, hearing the sudden seriousness from me. She turned her head away.
“Summer.”
She didn’t look at me.
“Look at me.” It was an order, one that I needed her to obey.
And she did. Tears along with raw agony filled her eyes.
I didn’t let it faze me. I couldn’t. “What else are you keeping from me?” There was a link somewhere that connected everything. It would all make sense. I just needed to find it.
Her tears fell, as if my question had given them the final push to fall free. “Come to dinner tomorrow night. You’ll understand all of it then.”
That was the answer I got. Well then…
Mason had a game the next afternoon. I told David and Malinda there that Garrett was in town as well, and I was going to have dinner with him and his wife. They were quiet. I didn’t get the barrage of questions I’d assumed Malinda would have.
Instead, she murmured, “Well, that’s nice of him to come.”
David gazed at me. I felt the questions from him, but he didn’t ask them. During halftime, I went back to the dorm to get ready. Summer wasn’t in the room, but she texted with the time to be ready and when she would pick me up.
I sat on the bed and waited.
Nothing. No text message. No phone call.
After waiting another hour, I had enough. I changed back to jeans and a Cain University sweatshirt with Mason’s football number on the back. I was heading through the lobby to go to the game when my phone buzzed in my hand. I was tempted to ignore it. Fuck whatever shadiness my roommate was doing. I’d get to the bottom of it, but my parents were in town. I wanted to see them, not deal with people who were lying to me—including Garrett.
He should’ve called. Hell, he should’ve called a long time ago, like after I had flown back to Fallen Crest, or after I found out he wasn’t moving anymore and was going to stay in Boston. I got that golden nugget of information from Malinda who heard it via her friends at the Fallen Crest Country Club.
There’d been no word from Garrett at all, so I moved on.
David was my real dad. I didn’t need Garrett. Just like Analise, he wasn’t important enough to be a part of my life. The fact that both my biological parents were absent wasn’t lost on me. It was funny, in a sick and sad way. The parents that mattered to me weren’t blood, but they were my real family now.
A black vehicle pulled up to the dorm as I was coming out. I was passing by when the back door opened.
“Sam.” Summer was there, half coming out of the door. She paused there and waved for me. “I’m sorry I’m late. My car broke down, so I had to call for a ride. My mom sent the car, and it took longer to get here because of traffic on game day.”
Things progressed a little more smoothly after that. Nate’s father and David conversed about football, asking Mason about his season so far, while Malinda informed Logan and Nate how Mark was doing at his college.
I remained quiet.
The whole dinner was unsettling. Nate’s parents never said or did anything wrong to me, but they reminded me too much of Helen’s disdain for me, which reminded me of Garrett and what my professor said. She knew my biological father, who I hadn’t heard from since leaving Boston last Christmas.
The time with him had been…okay. I was there. He was there. We’d shared a few dinners. I’d explored the coffee shop down the same block and the bookstore it was attached to while he’d worked at his office during the day. My nights had been spent on the phone with Mason and Logan. When Garrett dropped me off at the airport, the good-byes had been respectful. That was the best word to describe them. I wasn’t angry with him. I didn’t feel close to him, but he wasn’t really a stranger anymore.
I hadn’t thought about him until that night again, so when Summer dropped her bomb, it floored me.
Really floored me.
I gaped at her, my mouth hanging open. “Wha—huh? Say that again.”
“My father and stepmother have a house here, but my dad has a bunch of houses. He does business in Boston.” Her head was down. Her eyes were averted.
I watched how she tucked her hands under her legs, and her shoulders slumped down.
A bad feeling, a very bad feeling, started in my stomach.
I shook my head. “What? I mean, I’m still lost.”
“You talked about that professor who knew your biological father. Remember?”
“Uh, yeah.” Why was she remembering? That was the real question. “What does this have to do with your dad and stepmother?”
She looked up, biting her lip. The fear that crossed her face took me back. I quieted. My mind was reeling. I knew that Mason would’ve figured this out in one second. He would jump five steps ahead to the real reason Summer was suddenly so nervous. I wasn’t there. I was still back where she’d said her dad did business in Boston.
“Wait.” I held up a hand. She’d been about to say more, but I needed to go slow. “Your dad does business in Boston?”
She nodded.
I asked the second question, “But he has a house here, too?” What did that have to do with my professor? As she started to nod again, in mid nod, I asked my third one, “Does your dad live here? Or is it like a vacation home or something?”
“He lives here. My mom does, too, but he travels to Boston for business.”
Things were starting to connect, but I didn’t like the feeling I was getting. This was becoming too fucked up to be a coincidence. “Your dad knows Garrett, doesn’t he?”
She sucked in a breath but forced her head to slowly move up and down. The trepidation spreading over her face was a little too much for me. I had a sense I wasn’t going to like what else she would say. I had a sense I was going to hate it.
She said, “My father and stepmother invited us for dinner tomorrow at their house. Your father and his wife are going to be there. They’d like for us to come.”
She wasn’t telling me the truth. She wasn’t telling me what I really needed to hear.
I could forget about Garrett and why he hadn’t said a word to me about this, forget that he knew her parents or that they’d been in the same city this whole time, forget the fact that Summer never conversed with her parents—that I knew of. There was something nagging at me. I couldn’t get it out of my head.
I said, “Summer.”
She froze, hearing the sudden seriousness from me. She turned her head away.
“Summer.”
She didn’t look at me.
“Look at me.” It was an order, one that I needed her to obey.
And she did. Tears along with raw agony filled her eyes.
I didn’t let it faze me. I couldn’t. “What else are you keeping from me?” There was a link somewhere that connected everything. It would all make sense. I just needed to find it.
Her tears fell, as if my question had given them the final push to fall free. “Come to dinner tomorrow night. You’ll understand all of it then.”
That was the answer I got. Well then…
Mason had a game the next afternoon. I told David and Malinda there that Garrett was in town as well, and I was going to have dinner with him and his wife. They were quiet. I didn’t get the barrage of questions I’d assumed Malinda would have.
Instead, she murmured, “Well, that’s nice of him to come.”
David gazed at me. I felt the questions from him, but he didn’t ask them. During halftime, I went back to the dorm to get ready. Summer wasn’t in the room, but she texted with the time to be ready and when she would pick me up.
I sat on the bed and waited.
Nothing. No text message. No phone call.
After waiting another hour, I had enough. I changed back to jeans and a Cain University sweatshirt with Mason’s football number on the back. I was heading through the lobby to go to the game when my phone buzzed in my hand. I was tempted to ignore it. Fuck whatever shadiness my roommate was doing. I’d get to the bottom of it, but my parents were in town. I wanted to see them, not deal with people who were lying to me—including Garrett.
He should’ve called. Hell, he should’ve called a long time ago, like after I had flown back to Fallen Crest, or after I found out he wasn’t moving anymore and was going to stay in Boston. I got that golden nugget of information from Malinda who heard it via her friends at the Fallen Crest Country Club.
There’d been no word from Garrett at all, so I moved on.
David was my real dad. I didn’t need Garrett. Just like Analise, he wasn’t important enough to be a part of my life. The fact that both my biological parents were absent wasn’t lost on me. It was funny, in a sick and sad way. The parents that mattered to me weren’t blood, but they were my real family now.
A black vehicle pulled up to the dorm as I was coming out. I was passing by when the back door opened.
“Sam.” Summer was there, half coming out of the door. She paused there and waved for me. “I’m sorry I’m late. My car broke down, so I had to call for a ride. My mom sent the car, and it took longer to get here because of traffic on game day.”
