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She caught a glimpse of Cody’s shocked disbelief that her mother would say something like that in front of others.
It didn’t surprise Summer at all.
“Mom!” Summer tried to restrain the urge to smooth her hand over her charcoal sheath dress or fuss with her hair. Her mother always seemed to find something to criticize. Summer ignored it, like all the other times, and tried to focus on the bizarre situation she found herself in. “Does Grandfather know?”
“Of course, darling. Your grandfather was the one to put Roger and me together.”
Roger held tight to Jessica’s waist, watching Summer with his usual patience and indulgence. “Summer, you know how much I love your mother. If I’d known how upset you’d be by our getting married without you, I would have flown you to Vegas to join us.”
Summer had to actually shake her head to clear it.
Did they really believe she cared about them getting married?
She liked Roger. She’d liked most of the men in her mother’s life. A long time ago, she’d resigned herself to the fact that they held her mother’s attention above Summer—until they didn’t anymore.
“Roger, this has nothing to do with you marrying my mother.” She looked directly into Jessica’s merry eyes. “This is about my father.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Darling.” She placed a perfectly manicured hand on Summer’s arm. “You know how much I loved your father. He didn’t want us, darling. I’ve spent my life searching for the kind of love I found with him. I have it now with Roger.”
For now, Summer wanted to say, because she knew it wouldn’t last. Love came easy to Jessica Sutherland Peters Burke Elliot Marlow, now Scott.
Had she missed one?
No. That was all of them. At least, the ones Jessica had married.
“You said he didn’t wantme. How many times did I ask about him? How many times did you tell me he didn’t wantme?”
The pain was swift and sharp. All these years, she’d felt like she wasn’t good enough, something about her was lacking because her own father didn’t want her.
Lies. More of Jessica’s carefully constructed fabrications. And she wanted to know why.
Cody swore under his breath.
Jessica tried to placate her. “Darling, I thought you were long past this. Perhaps you need a vacation. A day at the spa and the salon will do wonders for you. We’ll go tomorrow. Roger won’t mind our having a girls’ day out, will you, darling?”
“Of course not. I hate to share you, but Summer is your daughter and she deserves to spend time with you. Besides, Charles and I have a lot of business to discuss now that you’re my wife.”
Summer knew just what that meant. Another marriage set up and executed for profit. Oh, her mother was undoubtedly in love with Roger. She was always in love with the man she was with, but the side benefits of pleasing her father and ensuring some huge business deal were a bonus. And the men of course saw the advantage in marrying Charles Sutherland’s daughter.
Cody took a step closer to Summer and dropped his voice low, though they didn’t have privacy with her mother and brand-new stepfather just a few feet away. “Miss Weston, maybe it’s best wediscuss this privately. You and I can go somewhere and talk and we can figure this out.”
“Who are you, handsome?” Jessica looked Cody up and down, sizing him up and obviously liking everything she saw. “You look exactly like what my stubborn daughter needs. That sexy drawl might even melt Summer’s cool composure.” Jessica looked at Cody as though he’d be a definite possibility for her next lover if she hadn’t just gotten married.
Summer let her hostility fly. “Where are my manners? Mom, I forgot to introduce you to Cody Larkin. He’s a lawyer.” She waited for her mother’s favorable reaction to Cody having a lucrative job. “He’s here on behalf of his friend and client.” She paused for dramatic effect, then dropped the bomb. “Nate Weston.”
Her mother’s face paled.
“Who apparently just found outtwo days agothat he has a grown daughter!” Summer hadn’t meant to shout the last part of that, but her anger got the better of her.
If she hadn’t been waiting for it, she wouldn’t have seen the slight squint of her mother’s left eye telling her that her mother had indeed lied and was worried about being caught.
She took a menacing step toward her mother and stood within a breath of her. Her mother’s exotic perfume scented the air between them. She was an inch taller than her mother and looked into Jessica’s brown eyes directly. “How could you? I’ve forgiven you more times than I can count for the terrible things you’ve done. There were many times I thought what you’d done was as close to unforgivable as you’d ever get. I was wrong. I will never forgive you for this. Ever.”
Panic filled Jessica’s eyes. “You belong to me, darling. You and me... we’re all we need.”
What her mother meant was that Summer was the one person she counted on to be there no matter what. She needed Summer’slove. She trusted Summer when all the others let her down. Summer was the only person Jessica believed would never leave her.
Maybe that came from losing her own mother so young.
