Page 12 of Fractured Trust

Summer grimaced at the mild burst of disappointment that hit her at his terse reply. Annoyed with herself, she was about to get back into unpacking when her phone beeped again.

Noah: Good luck with the job on Monday, Sunshine.

It was harder than it should have been to suppress the smile that tried to spread across her face. She’d always loved it when he used to call her Sunshine. Deacon had called her Summie, which was fine, but the nickname had never warmed her the way Noah calling her Sunshine used to. Especially when he’d whisper it in her ear while his hands did wicked things to other parts of her.

A flush suffused her body at the thought, and she tossed her phone down on the bed and sat up. Okay, that was enough of that. No need to go wandering down memory lane; that road only ever led to a dead end. Time to get herself organized. She had a job to get ready for.

* * *

Summer rubbed her damp palms on her thighs as she stood outside the address Eden had emailed to her. It was a small ground-floor office block not far from Manhattan Beach, and she wondered how Eden was affording the rent. Then she rolled her eyes at herself. Eden was Noah’s sister. And it wasn’t as if Summer hadn’t heard the news she was dating Tex now. When you were the sister and girlfriend of two world-famous rock stars, you weren’t likely to be renting a run-down office in a bad part of town. Remembering how protective Noah and Tex had been, even as teenagers, she couldn’t imagine either of them would let Eden rent somewhere that wasn’t safe.

Summer glanced up at the wall above where she was standing and smiled at the sight of the state-of-the-art-looking security camera aimed down in the direction of the front door. But her smile soon faded. She was procrastinating. Probably because now that she was finally here—about to see Noah’s little sister again for the first time in years—her nerves were pinging all over the place.

Eden had been cordial to her over email, but she hadn’t exactly been chatty, and Summer couldn’t stop herself worrying that Eden might be holding a grudge against her for breaking up with her brother. Not that it had affected Noah much. But she’d always gotten on well with his sister when Eden had been a little girl, and Summer wondered if her sudden disappearance from Eden’s life after she and Noah had broken up might have hurt her.

After taking a deep, steadying breath, Summer braced herself and knocked on the frosted glass door. She waited, but there was no answer, and her shoulders drooped. Then, annoyed at herself, she stiffened her spine again. How the hell had she ended up feeling so defeated all the time? When had she lost her backbone? Eden had always been a sweet girl, and Summer had done nothing wrong. How many high school couples lasted the distance anyway, even when one of them didn’t end up becoming a rock star? There was no reason for Eden to be angry at her, and surely she wouldn’t have offered Summer the job if she were? Summer lifted her chin and knocked harder.

This time, footsteps sounded on the other side of the door. “Coming!” a female voice rang out.

The door opened, and Summer’s eyes widened. “Eden?”

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Eden had grown up to be so gorgeous, after all, good genes ran in her family. But still, it was a shock to see that the gangly little girl she remembered had turned into such a knockout. A knockout who was eyeing Summer with thinly veiled curiosity.

“Hi Summer, long time, no see.” Eden’s tone was carefully neutral, and Summer’s recently stiffened spine started to wilt again. Gritting her teeth, she squared her shoulders and looked Eden in the eye. She could understand why Eden might take the side of her brother, but Summer hadn’t been the one in the wrong, and she refused to act as if she had something to feel guilty about.

She pasted a smile on her face. “It’s really good to see you again.” Since she was going to be working for Eden, she wanted to start off on the right foot.

Eden paused for a second before her innate niceness seemed to kick in, and she smiled back. “It’s good to see you, too. Come in, please.” She stepped back from the door to let Summer pass, then closed it behind her.

Summer looked around at the small, neat office. There were two desks facing each other, both with computers and phones set up on them. Beautifully shot photos covered the exposed-brick walls, many of them of Fractured performing live. They included several amazing action shots of Noah playing his drums, a too-sexy-for-his-own-good smile on his face as he looked out at the crowd.

She turned her eyes away, perusing the rest of the bright, welcoming space, then looked over at Eden, who was standing watching her, an unreadable expression on her face. Summer swallowed. “Thank you so much for giving me this job, Eden. I really appreciate it. Did, uh, Noah tell you my situation?” They’d never really delved into the why of Summer needing employment during their email exchange, just the details of the position.

Eden’s expression softened. “He said that you had to move out of your house after your divorce and you didn’t have a job. He thought you’d be a good fit for what I need.”

“Well, I hope so. I mean, as I said in my email, I might not have any formal qualifications, but I have been working as an admin assistant for the last eleven years. I quit because my ex worked at the same company, and it was just really awkward. And to be honest, I wanted to try something different. But it does mean I’m good at organizing and liaising. And I’m a hard worker.”God, she was babbling. Summer paused, took a deep breath, then finished more calmly. “If I didn’t say it enough in my emails, I love the idea of what you want to do here, and I’m really excited to be a part of it. So, whatever you need, just let me know.”

Eden had been studying her as she spoke, her expression thawing even more. She blew out her cheeks and gave Summer a warm smile. “That’s exactly what I need. Trying to get everything up and running while finishing up my music therapy internship has been a bit of an administrative nightmare. And although I have an in with the industry because of my relationship with Fractured, it’s still proving to be hard work to get people—agents and managers, even the musicians themselves—to notice us. We need to get some momentum going, to get people talking about what we can do for them. With the charities I have the opposite problem, they’re lining up to receive endorsements. So, I need help there to make sure they’re vetted appropriately, then prioritize them and figure out which artist might click with them.”

“And having them click is important?” Summer asked.

Eden’s blue eyes lit up. “Yes, it’s critical. I don’t want this to be a soulless transaction—just celebrities looking to get themselves some good publicity. I want them to really care about the charities they’re promoting. To want to invest their very valuable time—and often money—into showing the world how important music can be to those in need. To see this as a chance to make a real difference outside of the direct impact of their songs.”

Eden’s enthusiasm was unmistakable, her expression animated as she talked. “I want them to feel passionate about what they’re doing. Because if they don’t feel a connection to the cause they’re supporting, it will show. And obviously it’s important that the charities feel like the artists are a good fit for them too. You don’t really want a Christian-based charity to be represented by a death metal band, for example.” She paused and tapped her bottom lip. “I mean, unless it’s a Christian death metal band, I suppose.”

Summer laughed. “I get your point.”

Eden seemed to realize then that Summer was still standing in the middle of the office clutching her purse. She gestured to the desk closest to Summer.

“That will be yours. We’re going to need to work closely together while we get everything up and running, so being in a small space will be good to start off with. But who knows, if things go well, we might be able to increase our office space at some stage. Maybe get some more people involved.”

“Well, I’m here to help. So, tell me what you need, boss.”

Eden gave Summer her first really bright smile since she’d opened the door. “All right, how about you get your computer and email up and running, and we’ll make sure all the IT stuff is working? Then we’ll go from there.”

Summer returned her smile. “Sounds good.” She put her purse down under her desk and was about to sit down when Eden called her name. Summer met her gaze, nerves flaring back to life at the blonde woman’s serious expression.

“I’m only going to say this once, and then I’m going to let it go, and we’re going to start this relationship fresh. You hurt my brother. Badly.” Summer opened her mouth to protest, but Eden put up her hand to stop her. “I’m sure you had your reasons for what you did. At least, I hope you did. I don’t want to hear what they are, it’s not for me to get involved in what happened between you two. But the fact that he suggested you for this job makes me think that a part of him still cares about you. So, whatever may or may not happen between you two, don’t hurt him again. Please.”

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