Page 60 of Paging Dr. Summers

“Well, Florida is a logical location. They have a huge classic rock presence because of all the people who retire there.”

“That makes sense. But . . .”

“What?” Claire asked.

“It’s just Logan has some concerns. He thinks I need to be careful around Maxwell Harrington. Remember I told you about Mr. Harrington?”

“Yeah, rich dude, likes your mom’s band, has the fun daughter, who, by the way, better not be taking my place in your life.”

“That’s him, and it’s not possible for anyone to take your place,” I assured her. Even though I adored Lola, she wasn’t my Claire. I didn’t think Lola would bring bleach to a crime scene if I needed it.

“What are Logan’s concerns, and didn’t you get some weird vibe from him?” she reminded me.

“I did,” I admitted. “An introduction to Sidney Harper kind of made me forget about my misgivings. I guess I figured I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth just because Mr. Harrington thought I wasn’t good enough to be friends with his daughter.”

“I get that, but what are Logan’s concerns?”

“Well, he wouldn’t exactly say, but I get the feeling he thinks Mr. Harrington isn’t exactly being benevolent.”

“What does that mean?” Claire asked.

“I don’t know. He just said rich and powerful men like Maxwell Harrington usually want something in return.”

“What could he want from you?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible he really does just want to make sure his daughter isn’t friends with a loser.”

“If he thinks you’re a loser, I’ll come there right now and kick his rich butt.”

I pulled my knees up to my chest and giggled. “I wish you could come here.” It would have been amazing if she could meet Logan, Eden, and Sophie, and even the Harringtons. I would have loved to know what vibes she got from Maxwell and to show her around Aspen Lake. It really was magical. Expensive, but magical.

“Me too, but Adam has decided for our summer vacation we need to visit America’s largest water park in Wisconsin. Isn’t that romantic?” Claire deadpanned.

Adam was Claire’s husband of two years. He was a great guy, butnot exactly Mr. Romance. Not like Logan, who had brought chocolate-covered strawberries on our hike the day before and fed them to me and kissed the chocolate off my lips. I was still swooning over it.

“That could be fun. Just don’t forget to get someone to babysit Nancy.”

“Speaking of Nancy—Adam is pretty sure she’s a guy. He’s renamed him Nathaniel.”

“What? How can he even tell?”

“He says there are breeding tubercles on his pectoral fin.”

“What are tubercles and how does he know that?”

“I don’t even want to know,” Claire quipped. “Anyway, back to you moving away from me and the evil Mr. Harrington.”

“First, we don’t know Mr. Harrington is evil. Second, I don’t know if I’m moving. Honestly, I haven’t heard a thing from Sidney Harper or his people. And I’ve never even been to Florida.” The thought had me feeling like I couldn’t breathe. Sure, I knew that if Sidney Harper ever offered me a job, I would have to move, but it had felt so much like a dream, I hadn’t let the realities of it all hit me until now.

“Brooke,” Claire said seriously. “You have to think of your future. As much as I would miss you, we both know there aren’t huge opportunities for you here. Florida has some of the top twenty markets. And honestly, you’re too talented to come back here. The only reason your mom even moved you back to her hometown was to be near family. Your grandparents passed away years ago, and most of your aunts and uncles have moved away.”

“But you’re my family.” My voice cracked.

“And that’s never going to change. Besides, if you moved somewhere like Florida, I’d have a better place to take a vacation.”

“I don’t know, biggest water park in America? That’s pretty swell.” I giggled.

“You know what I mean.”

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