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Charles didn’t miss the anger in Cody’s eyes.
He needed to stop this before Summer dove deeper into Jessica’s misdeeds and faults. “That’s water under the bridge.” Charles hated that Jessica had interfered in Summer’s private life. The young man had wanted a leg up in the company and had used his granddaughter as a means to get it. He’d been smooth, doing and saying all the right things. Summer fell hard for him, but ultimately saw the ruse when it became clear he hadn’t felt for her what she felt for him. He’d been cruel in the end, telling her the position at the company appealed to him more than she did anyway.
It still made Charles seethe. His granddaughter certainly deserved better. But it seemed the people closest to her always hurt her. Himself included.
He wanted to change that, which was why he’d done this.
He hoped the short-term strife would lead to them all being closer without this secret between them.
He hoped Summer and her father forged a bond that made Summer happy and gave her someone else she could count on. Because Charles wasn’t going to be around forever. And the thought of leaving her just with her mother... Well, Summer needed someone who put her first and thought about her feelings and wanted her happiness.
Summer turned to Jessica. “You and I will settle up when I get back.”
Jessica leaned forward. “No matter my many mistakes, I always loved you.”
Summer took a step toward her mother. “You loved me with lies. You loved me by making me think my own father didn’t want me. You loved me with criticism and the pressure to love you no matter how many times you put me last or neglected to think of me first.”
Cody took her hand. “I’ve known Nate a long time. He took me in when I didn’t have anyone. He’s a good man. Kind, caring. That’s why I can tell you, more than anything, you matter to him.” Cody met Charles’s gaze, then looked at Summer again. “Since you’ve been kept completely in the dark about Nate, I’ll fill you in about him, his family, and the business he built from the ground up.”
“Without my family’s money, you mean.”
Cody nodded, seemed to realize he was still holding Summer’s hand, and released it.
Summer clasped her hands together in front of her, like she didn’t know what to do with them anymore.
Charles hid a grin and wondered if what was simmering between them would turn into something good in Summer’s life.
But Charles let that go and spoke to Summer about her father and the amazing success he’d had over the years. “What your mother never knew about Nate was that he’s brilliant. When she met him at twenty, Nate had already finished his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He had an idea but not the money to build it. I made sure he met someone who knew business and finance.”
Cody gasped at his intervention. “You set him up with my dad?”
Charles nodded. “I didn’t know him well personally, but I knew he was damn good at his job. And I admired Nate for his ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. Nate built a prototype while your dad found them investors. Together, they built W. L. Robotics.”
Summer glanced at Cody. “Weston and Larkin?”
Cody nodded. “My father ran the business side of things until he passed away and left his share to me and my sister.”
Sympathy filled Summer’s eyes. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Cody accepted the condolences with a nod.
Summer pinned Charles in her gaze. “And let me guess, you secretly invested.”
Charles wanted to play it off but couldn’t lie to her again. “Yes. You can thank your father for your trust fund. All the money in it came from him.”
Cody swore under his breath. “You sneaky...”
Charles grinned. “Tell Nate he provided very well for her.”
Jessica huffed. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“You wanted Summer all to yourself and left Nate in the past,”Charles snapped. “It’s not an excuse for what I did, Summer, but I thought about telling Nate about you all the time. But then what would happen? You’d go visit him. You’d want to stay, because he was a good family man, a hands-on father to his other two girls. Your mother would have been jealous and demanded you come back. She’d have played an ugly game of tug-of-war with you caught in the middle.”
“It wouldn’t have been like that.” Jessica pouted.
He looked at Summer.
She gave him a nod that she understood all too well he was right.
