Page 4 of Fractured Trust

“A mistake?” Her mom’s laugh was bitter. “And how many times did you make that mistake?”

There was a pause before his voice came again. “It’s not important now.”

“It’s not important? You told me it was a one-time thing. You begged me to let you stay, so we could try to work things out. For Summer’s sake.” Hearing her name, Summer drew her knees in tight to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “You made me feel like I was being selfish if I didn’t at least try. But it wasn’t just once, was it? And you weren’t even careful while you were doing it. You didn’t care about what this would do to me—tous. Did you think about how it would hurt Summer?”

“Leave Summer out of it, she doesn’t matter right now.” Pain ripped through Summer. She didn’t matter?

“Leave her out of it? She’s your daughter. She loves you. You don’t think this will affect her? You don’t think she’ll want to know what’s going on? Why you’re not”—her mom’s voice caught—“not around anymore.”

Summer’s heart stalled. Not around?

“I don’t know. Tell her things weren’t working out. Tell her we’ve grown apart. I don’t know. Anything but the truth.”

“Yes, God forbid she sees you for the selfish prick you are. God forbid she learns the harsh lesson that someone can look you straight in the eye and tell you they love you, all the while screwing you over behind your back. Or should I say, screwing their sec—”

“Jesus, Tina. If you start spewing this shit at her—”

“Don’t worry. I won’t burst her bubble. She’s only just started noticing boys. Hopefully, she’ll have a few more years of believing in true love and happily ever afters before she learns it’s all a pile of shit.”

Summer’s heart thrashed against her rib cage as her dad’s voice rose. “God, Tina. Look, I’m sorry, I’ve told you how sorry I am. You know I love you, I just—”

“Love me?” Her mom’s voice was almost a hiss. “If you loved me, none of this would be happening.”

Summer’s lower lip trembled, and she hugged herself.

“I do love you. It’s just… Damn it. I didn’t go looking for it. She chased me. Always flirting, touching me, wearing those short skirts. I’m just a man for fuck’s sake, there’s only so much temptation I can take.”

“And you couldn’t say no? You let her keep flirting? Let her keep touching you? You let her do it and never tried to stop her. And what, then you just let her fuck you?”

Summer flinched at the bad word she’d only recently learned the meaning of, her body going hot then cold, nausea and anxiety twisting her belly into a hard knot.

Her mom’s voice continued rising in volume. “You couldn’t tell her no? That you had a wife and a daughter that you loved—that lovedyou—waiting at home?”

Summer’s breath was rasping in and out as scalding tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn’t want to listen anymore. She wished she’d never listened in the first place. After uncurling her body, she crept back to her bedroom, climbed into bed, and buried her head in her pillow, desperately hoping that when she woke up in the morning, it would all turn out to have been a terrible dream.

But with the words she’d overheard still lashing at her heart, and the now-muffled argument still taking place in the room below, it took her a long time to fall asleep. And when she did finally wake the next morning and go tentatively downstairs, still hoping that none of it had been real, her mom was sitting at the kitchen table with wet cheeks and her dad had gone.

Summer closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pushing away the painful memory. Even now, seventeen years later, it still had enough power to make her chest tighten.

And then there had been Noah.

Deacon’s voice from behind her. “I’m sorry, Summer, but I think you need to see this.”

Nope. Summer shut that memory down before it could go any further. If remembering what had happened with her parents hurt, thinking about Noah cut like a knife.

Still.

Over the years she’d managed to shove the memories of her ex-boyfriend down into a deep vault, her pain locked up tight. It had been the only way she’d been able to move on from him, to focus on making her marriage—however ill-advised it had been—work.

But God, seeing him at that concert again all those months ago had shaken her to her core. Was there anything more humiliating than being confronted by your mega-successful, rich, famous, and universally lusted after ex while your own humble life was falling apart? Having her friend ‘let it slip’ that she’d just gotten divorced had made it even worse.

And while it would have been a lie to say she’d forgotten how hot Noah had been at eighteen, seeing him as a grown man—six feet plus of broad shoulders, chiseled cheekbones, flashing blue eyes, and sexy as hell stubble—had sent her reeling. He was at once the Noah she remembered, and a complete stranger. Big and imposing, and so damn virile with his muscles tight and hard from pounding the drums, his skin gleaming with sweat, and his damp, blond hair brushing his shoulders. His eyes had burned into her, but she’d hardly been able to look at him, overcome by a combination of anger at the memory of what he’d done all those years ago and embarrassment that she hadn’t made more of her life when he so obviously had.

After he’d grilled her on why she was there—humiliatingly as if he thought she’d been stalking him or something—she hadn’t been able to get away from him fast enough. But as she’d been about to escape out the door, her heart slowly coming down from its frantic pounding, she’d fought the almost irresistible urge to meet his gaze one last time. To see if he was standing there watching her leave. She’d been so close to looking over her shoulder that her head had even started to turn. But she’d stopped herself just in time. Because if there’s anything worse than your successful, hot, cheating ex thinking you’re stalking him, it’s having him catch you giving him one last, lingering look.

Actually, scratch that. It would be turning to give him one last, lingering look and finding him already gone, leaving you in the dust like he had once before.

So she’d been strong and kept her head held high as she walked out the door.

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