Page 35 of The Summer House

Had he found it impossible to fall for anyone else because he’d still been in love with Mandy all this time?

No, he told himself. That wasn’t right. He hadn’t been waiting for her. He couldn’t have been.

As he drove toward the house, he couldn’t help wondering how this all was going to end. The chain of events his mother had put in motion with an innocent or not-so-innocent suggestion was turning out to be a hell of a ride.

* * *

“I can’t believe it, either,” Cassie said, sounding frustrated. “I want to get out of here, but it looks like I’m stuck for another five or six days. I’m really sorry.”

Mandy clutched the receiver and tried to ignore her rising panic. She’d been desperate for her friend to arrive. Not only did she want to see Cassie, but she’d been hoping for a lot of good advice and a distraction. As it was, she spent all her time thinking about Rick and wondering what she was supposed to do now.

“It must be nice to know they’re going to be lost without you,” Mandy said.

“Yeah. I’m good at my job. If only my personal life wasn’t in the toilet.” She gave a sigh. “Oh, well. I suppose I can try to convince myself that things will soon be on an upswing, right?”

“Absolutely. In the meantime, I’ll work on my tan and make you jealous.”

Cassie laughed. “You use sunscreen with an SPF of about a hundred. How much tan do you think you’re going to get?”

Mandy grinned. “It’s the thought that counts.” Her smile faded. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. With a little luck, I’ll be there in a week.” There was a muffled noise in the background. “I have to run. I’ll call you later.”

“Sure. Okay. Bye.”

After hanging up, Mandy paced the length of the living room, then moved outside. But no matter how far she walked, her problems didn’t seem to get left behind. They dutifully followed her from place to place, which meant she was going to have to deal with them. Sooner rather than later.

Like maybe now.

She sank into a chair on the patio and closed her eyes. She loved Rick. Her assessment of the problem hadn’t changed. She loved him, she might have always loved him. So now what? Did she tell him the truth, like a mature adult, or did she run for the hills?

Her preference was to lace up her athletic shoes, but she knew that wasn’t the right thing to do. Running would only make it worse in the long run.

The problem was, she doubted he cared about her the same way. Oh, sure, the sex had been fabulous and they’d had a lot of fun together, but that didn’t mean anything. Not to a guy who believed that people were little more than elements of an experiment.

Still,hisbelief system didn’t changeherreality.

She rose and walked back into the house. After sucking in a breath for courage, she picked up the phone and dialed his number from memory. She half expected him to have gone into the office, but he picked up on the first ring.

“Hello?”

“It’s me,” she said softly, her insides quaking. Great. If it was this bad from several miles away, what was going to happen when they were actually in the same room together? She found she didn’t want to think about it.

“What’s up?”

“I thought…” She cleared her throat. “I need to talk to you.”

“I need to talk to you, too.”

“Okay. I thought I’d come over. Is that all right?”

“I’ll be waiting.”

* * *

Hewaswaiting, Mandy thought thirty minutes later when she pulled into his driveway. Standing in front of his beautiful house, he watched her park. She didn’t allow herself the brief fantasy of what it would be like to live here. Geography was the least of her problems.

She climbed out of the car and crossed to the brick path. Even from here she could see that Rick looked as tense as she felt. Not a good thing, she told herself.

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