Page 15 of Summer With You

“I love you, Momma.” She threw her arms around me and squeezed me with all her might.

“I love you, too, baby. Now, let’s go to sleep so we can have a fun day tomorrow,” I told her, brushing my hand over her blonde hair.

“Goodnight, baby girl.” Ace kissed the top of her head and extends a hand to me to help me up off the bed. Together, we exit the room to see Ryan and Amber closing the door of their kids’ room with matching worn-out expressions on their faces.

“Who knew kids were so exhausting?” Ryan jokes, resting a hand on Amber’s back as she headed down the stairs. “Shit, I need a drink after the day I’ve had.”

“Welcome to my life,” Amber muttered with an eye roll as she headed into the kitchen away from her oblivious husband. I frowned as I glanced between the two of them. Looking up at Ace, he just silently shook his head at me.

So, he’d noticed it, too.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate pregnancy hormones?” Ryan grumbled. “Nothing I do is ever enough for her.” Ryan turned and went into their bedroom, closing the door behind him.

“I’ll go talk to him, but first, I need two beers.” Ace slid a hand down his face with a yawn, grabbed two beers from the kitchen, and trudged to Ryan’s bedroom.

In the kitchen, Amber was sitting at the kitchen table which looked out over the lake that was illuminated by string lights that Ace and my father had put up one summer. She wasn’t appreciating the view. Instead, her head was in her hands.

I sat beside her, letting my hand gently rest on her back to let her know that I was there, but I didn’t interrupt the silence. I let her have the quiet moment.

“He’s driving me absolutely, bat shit crazy,” she groaned after a few minutes, looking up and sighing. “I forgot how much I loved the view here and how serene it makes me feel.” She turned to me, her green eyes dilated with exhaustion. “I wish he helped me more with the kids.”

“That’s why you guys are here now, to relax and rekindle that fire between you two,” I said softly, not wanting the guys to overhear us.

“Babe, the fire is still there, trust me. I literally think about him all day long. I’ve never been more attracted and frustrated with him at the same time.”

“Maybe it’s sexual frustration?” She threw her head back and laughed loudly.

“Is this your way of beating around the bush and asking if we are still having sex?” I saw a familiar spark light up her eyes and knew this little chat was working.

“I definitely don’t want to know about your sex life with my brother, Ames!” We both laughed, but she sobered up quickly.

“In all seriousness, we haven’t had sex in a few months. He’s been so distant. It seems like all he cares about is work. The kids and I come last all the time, and I’m just fucking sick and tired of it. We’re supposed to come first. I often wonder if he’s found someone else who’s younger, prettier . . . someone who’s not me.”

And the root of her frustration finally shines through as she looks at me, all teasing and humor gone. All that’s left behind is a broken woman who has been trying to put up a brave front for the world to see, most importantly, her kids.

“Oh, honey, I’m sure that’s not the case. You know how much he loves you.” I don’t want to believe that my brother would ever hurt his family, especially after everything they went through the last couple of years.

“I know he loves me, Celine, but I don’t know if he’s in love with me anymore, and I can’t stay with a man who isn’t in love with me and keep up this perfect family façade.” She dropped her head to the table with a deep sigh.

“Don’t make any big decisions right now. You know that the pregnancy hormones heighten everything.” She loudly snorted. “Just take it a day at a time, make him fall in love with you again, and let the magic of the lake house work on you two.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t keep living like this. Do you have any idea what it feels like to share a bed with the man who owns your heart, and he doesn’t hold you anymore, doesn’t kiss you, doesn’t touch you?”

I shook my head. Ace and I had our difficulties over the years, but we never went to bed unhappy, never went weeks without a stolen touch or kiss. He was my soulmate, and I was his. I couldn’t imagine how Amber felt, but I knew that my brother loved her.

“Have you spoken to him about this?”

“He would just blame the pregnancy and make it out like I’m the crazy one, but Celine, I swear to you, I’m not crazy or making this up. He isn’t in fucking love with me anymore.”

It still came as a shock to hear Amber swear when we weren’t in front of the kids. The girl in her youth swore worse than a drunk sailor, but since becoming a mother, she curbed her tongue as had I. The little ones repeated everything we said, and trust me, there wasn’t anything more embarrassing than your baby saying the f-word in public.

The fact that was cursing now meant that this was really bothering her.

“Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. Let your walls down and show him how vulnerable he’s making you. Take these few weeks to relax, to bring intimacy back into your relationship.” She nodded, gazing out at the lake again.

“And if he doesn’t want to be with me anymore, if there is someone else?” she asked me with a tremor in her voice.

“I will be right by your side, and we will get through it together,” I promised her. “He may be my brother, Ames, but you’re also my sister, marriage or no marriage.”

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