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“You’re right.”
“I always am.” Lucy’s confidence knew no bounds. “I know this sucks. You’re worried about everyone else, including Natalie, I’m sure. But you need to remember she hurt you. Don’t just let her off the hook. If you don’t nip this in the bud now, who knows what she’ll do next.”
“I’m hoping this is the wake-up call she needed to see reality.”
“I hope so, too. Otherwise the holidays together are going to suck.”
Summer knew Lucy was teasing with an ounce of truth thrown in. Because if they didn’t fix this situation, things could get a lot worse. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”
“I fired the interior decorator and hired a new one. She’s amazing. And the contractor who works with her... Oh. My. God.”
“Did you get a date?”
“Tonight. A concert at the Garden.” Lucy loved music and dancing.
“Have fun. Text me that you’re safe and home later. Then call me tomorrow with all the details.”
“You know I will.”
Summer heard a knock on the doors leading to the foyer. “Hey, I’ve got to go.”
“Love you, babe.”
“Love you back, Luc.”
Chapter Forty-Five
In Natalie’s whole life, she’d never seen the doors to Cody’s side of the house closed. Ever.
Her gut tightened with dread as she approached them and tried the knob. Locked.
Her heart sank. Panic shot through her.
She knocked. And waited.
Finally, the snick of the lock sounded and the doors opened slowly. Only it wasn’t Cody who appeared, but Brooke, looking just as disappointed in her as her mother had been. “In all the years we’ve lived here, there’s been an unspoken rule of privacy. We don’t go upstairs to your rooms without being invited or asked to do so. The same applied to all of you coming over here. You broke that trust and hurt Cody and Summer.” Brooke’s frown deepened. “I have never seen him as happy as he is with her, and you tried to take that from him.”
“I wanted to be the one to make him happy.”
“I know. He knows that, too. He tried to spare your feelings. He knew there was a line and he never crossed it, because he didn’t want to give you hope where there was none, because he was your friend and that’s all.”
The sinking feeling and sadness grew as reality thumped Natalie right in the heart. “I realize that now.”
“I hope you also understand what your thoughtlessness cost you.”
She couldn’t lose Cody. “I can fix it. I just need to talk to him.”
Brooke’s eyes filled with pity. “He’s already left for work.”
“Did Summer go with him?”
“She’s on a call in the office here. Would you like me to see if she’ll see you?”
That stung. “I’d like to talk to Cody first.”
“Then you’re going to have to wait.”
Natalie didn’t like the dismissive tone or that she’d inadvertently made Brooke mad at her, too. “I’m sorry.”
