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“How is that possible? You know his name. You could have found him easily.”
Simple. She’d stopped wanting anything from the man who didn’t want her.
At least, that’s what she’d been told. Over and over and over again.
She thought she’d lived her life in a blissful state of numbness for many years because of her mother’s idea of rearing a child while bouncing her around from home to home, school to school, and stepfather to stepfather. Summer had been wrong. She hadn’t been numb. She’d simply ignored everything around her.
This was numb.
Unable to feel anything, she was surprised she could still take in a breath and her heart still beat. She knew once the numbness wore off, the pain would come, and it would cut deeper than anything her mother had ever done to her.
She wondered if there were any pieces of her heart left that her mother hadn’t torn to shreds over the years.
Her mother had lied. Over and over and over again.
How could she lie about something so important?
How could she tell her daughter her father didn’t want her?
Summer took that in and let it fill her mind along with all her other dark thoughts.
All these years, Nate didn’t even know he had a child who desperately wanted her father.
An all-too-familiar laugh brought her out of her thoughts.
Her elegant, beautiful mother walked off the elevator in a flowing floral dress, her gaze directed at the man walking beside her. He was her sole focus. He was the most important thing in Jessica’s world.
Right now, anyway.
Because Jessica loved everything new, especially love.
But when it got old...
Jessica Sutherland liked to keep things fresh and exciting. She lived for the thrill.
Summer managed to stand, amazed her unsteady legs held herup at all. She wanted to run, because facing this meant facing a lifetime of lies.
She wanted to grab her mother’s perfect hair and shake her until her bones rattled. Perhaps then some kind of understanding would rise up to replace her mother’s selfish nature.
All were futile thoughts. Her mother didn’t have an unselfish bone in her body.
“Summer, darling, I was just coming to see you.”
Summer managed to recover her voice and maintain her cool disposition in front of everyone in the offices. “Mom, what have you done?” It wasn’t what she wanted to say, but it would have to do. Causing a scene outside the executive offices would set off her grandfather’s temper.
“Darling, really, you knew Roger and I were flying off for a long weekend away. Since we were in Vegas enjoying the nightlife, we decided to bite the bullet. We got married!” Her mother beamed, the flush of romance and new love making her euphoric.
Summer saw the stunning diamond solitaire sparkling on her mother’s left hand, taking up the entire space between knuckles as she held her hand pressed to Roger’s lapel, showing off the brilliant rock to its full advantage.
She wasn’t surprised by her mother’s sudden marriage. That was Jessica.
“You should have seen it, darling. Roger set up this little impromptu wedding service in the hotel’s garden by this gorgeous koi pond with candles floating on the water and exotic flowers scenting the air. It was over-the-top glorious.”
Just the way Jessica liked everything.
“Anything for you, my love.” Roger smiled adoringly at his new bride.
Jessica frowned at her, that familiar look of disappointment coming over her because Summer didn’t gush over her mother’sannouncement. “Please don’t start one of your lectures.” Waving her hand to dismiss anything Summer might say, Jessica went on, completely oblivious to Summer’s distress. “Wait until you see the pictures.” When that didn’t get the response Jessica wanted, she resorted to that disappointed look again. “Darling, you look pale. Obviously, you’re working too hard. And I’ve told you a hundred times dark colors don’t suit you. They wash you out. You should wear something soft and pretty. It would bring out the color in your cheeks. A little lipstick wouldn’t hurt, darling.”
