Page 100 of Summer Love

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I had no idea this would happen."

Dad stopped pacing. "I trusted you to handle this.”

"You did, and I'm sorry. I had no idea she would change the article." I wasn't sure what else to say.

"We're going to lose customers. Elena made it look like you boys were more interested in picking up women at a bar then working."

"We don't know that Elena is the one who wrote that—" Brady attempted to say.

"Her name is listed as the writer." Dad opened the magazine to the article and pointed at the byline.

I took it from him so I could see it. There were five photos, one of each of us with a little bio underneath. I skimmed it quickly, my heart sinking with each awful word. "Where's the stuff about our volunteer work and how seriously we take the business?"

"This was a mistake. I never should have given you this responsibility," Dad said.

"Now, Jonathan. I'm not sure that's fair," Mom interjected.

"I'll figure out a way to fix this." I felt defeated. This was entirely out of my control. I didn't know much about social media or what made something go viral. I didn't know how to stop what was already in motion.

"It's not your fault, sweetie," Mom began, but I turned and walked away, not listening to Brady's pleas to stay. I didn't have my truck, so I walked in the direction of my house. I needed time to think. How could I have trusted Elena? I barely registered the falling rain or that my clothes were soaked within minutes.

Was our relationship a lie? Was she planning this all along? The longer I walked, the less certain I was. I couldn't see any cracks in our relationship, any reason to believe that she wasn't trustworthy or that she was planning this behind our backs.

I walked on the path next to the road. A few minutes later, a truck pulled off to the side. It had the Kingston Construction lettering on the door. The window rolled down, and Shep leaned over. "Get in."

"I want to walk," I said stubbornly.

"And I want you to get in. You weren't the only one affected by that article."

"Fine." I stalked over to his truck and opened the door. I climbed inside, feeling irrationally irritated that Shep had interrupted my time alone.

Thankfully, we rode in silence to my house. He parked and turned off the engine.

"We're sitting in the dark now?" Ever since I met Elena, I had a new appreciation for storms but not tonight.

"What's going on in your head?" Shep asked, ignoring my question.

"Why do you care about any of this? You want people to believe those things about you." I knew it was rude, but I couldn't stop myself from lashing out.

Shep leaned back in his seat. "I'll let you have that for now. How I act is one thing, but putting that in writing was not cool. Especially when she tried to say that we're all like that. Like we don't care about the business or our reputation."

I turned slightly to face him. "You're upset with Elena too?"

Shep blew out a breath. "I'm not sure if Elena is the bad guy here."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "She's the one who wrote the article."

"She wrote the article that she sent Mom and Dad, which was nothing like the one that was published. She said she didn't have final editorial say on the finished product."

I shook my head, trying to clear it. "So what are you saying? Elena didn't do this?"

"It's a possibility. What did she tell you?"

"She said it was Valerie, and she felt terrible for not knowing that she'd do something like this." It was the first time I allowed myself to process her words.

"What if she's telling the truth?" He shifted on his seat so that he was facing me. "Did she give any indication that she could do something like this?"

"No." My jaw hurt from clenching it so hard.

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