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“So? Did you call him Daddy? Were you a naughty, naughty girl?”
“Not helping, Rosie. He has a kid. This isn’t just a bit of fun. People could get hurt.” I can’t break up a family. I’ve lived through a broken home. It’s not fair on any of them. It’s not fair on me.
“Christ, you’re not in a mafia movie, Sum.” I can almost hear her eyes roll.
“What if eventually he realizes that we’re from two completely different worlds? I mean, he said it himself—he’s a Hawthorne, and that in itself is a big deal…and I’m…I’m…”
“You’re you,” she answers for me, but she’s exasperated, I can tell.
“Exactly. I wasn’t enough for my dad to stick around or for my mom to pick over some rich guy.” My old insecurities resurface, flooding out like blood from an angry wound.
“How does he make you feel, Sum? Because that’s what it boils down to. If he treats you in a way that makes you feel like the best version of you, the chances are that you do the same for him, and no one in their right mind would give that up. Besides, if you’re using your mom and dad as reference points, you’re crazy.”
“Mom’s trying to make things better between us.” I’m not sure why I’m defending her, but I feel she’s earning that much.
“Is it working?”
“I want it to, but I’m constantly wondering when she’s going to drop me again, or worse, realize who I’m dating and make things more awkward between me and her…and Parker. It’s bad enough that he’s going out of his way to help me with my career. I don’t want to add my materialistic mother to the mix, and then it becomes this big deal that will eventually implode between me and him.” I take a deep breath and try to calm myself, feeling the panic engulfing me and trying to take hold.
“Sounds to me like you’re overthinking things, and maybe you’re a little ashamed of where you came from?”
“No! It’s just the hard facts, Ro.” My body heats, almost from top to bottom. A sign that my panic is threatening to consume me.
“You’re meant to be the dreamer of the two of us.” Rosie’s voice pierces through the haze, bringing me back to the present.
“I…I like Parker. I want Parker, but the Hawthorne part scares me. I don’t want to be like my mom.”
“Fat chance. Stop overthinking and enjoy yourself. Live in the moment instead of focusing on what’s going to happen tomorrow or the day after. You get one life, right? And it can be cut short at any minute. So live the shit out of it.”
“I guess.” How did she become the reasonable one of the two of us?
“Let someone else take care of you. Let them make you the center of their universe, and God, Summer, take the career booster he’s offering. Maybe this guy is the window you’ve been waiting for after all the closed doors?”
“I really, really like him,” I admit with a smile as my mind replays the last few weeks on a loop.
“I know.”
“I wish you could meet him to understand why I’m freaking out.”
“Well…my engagement party is in a couple of weeks—maybe you can bring him along?” she singsongs, and I fight a smile. Never change, Rosie.
Can I?
* * *
My phone buzzes on the coffee table, pulling my attention away from the crime show I’m watching to take my mind off things.
A text from Parker graces the screen, and my heart beats a little faster.
Parker: Are you busy?
Me: No…
Parker: Well that’s good, because I’m outside.
Wait, what?
Making my way to the door, I gingerly pull it open to find Parker and Easton on my doorstep. Easton is in front holding a bouquet of fresh flowers and sporting a huge smile that melts my heart.
