Page 23 of The Summer House
“He’s nice,” Olivia said, leaning over Callie’s shoulder. “And you need someone nice in your life.”
The comment surprised Callie. What was she talking about? “I can make my own choices, thank you very much,” she said, her words coming out playful despite the message she was conveying. She knew Olivia was just trying to help, but Callie didn’t need it. She’d done just fine on her own.
“He showed up to help, brought you breakfast, painted all day, finished the sanding in the living room… I think he likes you.”
Callie spun around. “I think he’s just bored. And why would it matter anyway? I’m too busy to bother with all that nonsense. We have a business to run.”
Olivia smiled knowingly at Callie, which only frustrated her because shedidn’tknow. “Don’t be afraid to take another chance,” she said. “Even if it’s unexpected. And don’t be scared to open up. I know that’s hard for you to do, but you really should let people in, Callie. I think he’d like it if you did.”
Callie chewed on her lip, unsure how to respond.
“You’re loads of fun, Callie. You should let people see that.” Olivia looked over her shoulder out the window and laughed so loudly she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle it.
Wyatt was swimming now and Luke was standing on the beach keeping an eye on him. Written in giant letters in the sand were the words,Callie! Come outside!
Callie pulled back to focus on Olivia’s face. “He’s a distraction,” she said unconvincingly.
Olivia’s face was kind. “From what?” Taking Callie by the arm playfully, she said, “Come on, let’s go outside.” She grabbed three bottles of beer from the cooler and the opener and headed toward the door.
With a deep breath, Callie went out behind her. No matter what Olivia thought was right for her, she’d never put her trust in someone she’d just met who had no real reason to be in her life at all. According to those articles she’d read, Luke had a short attention span, and she wasn’t going to get hurt because she wasn’t going to let herself.
When they got to the beach, Luke took the bottles from Olivia and opened them for her, sticking the caps in his pocket and handing a bottle to each of them.
“Hi,” he said to Callie with a warm smile. “Did you see my message?” He nodded toward the sand.
“Subtle,” she said, although he looked so adorable, his smile peeking out from behind his bottle as he took a sip of his beer, that she had to work to hide her own grin. He certainly was charming. She had to take a sip of beer herself to be able to take her eyes off him.
“Nice shirt,” he said with a smirk.
“I need to do laundry.” She looked down at herI survived the Beach Bum Burger BashT-shirt. It was too long, nearly covering her shorts.
Wyatt came up to them dripping wet. “Mom, did you see my handstand? I did one before the wave got me.”
“I did!” Olivia said with excitement. She grabbed a towel from the beach bag Luke must have brought down with them and wrapped it around Wyatt, but he took it off. “Come down to the water and watch me.”
“Okay,” Olivia said with a grin toward Callie and Luke. She took the towel to the shore and laid it on the sand, sitting down, her back to them.
“Thank you for letting me stay for dinner,” Luke said, the bottle of beer swaying between his fingers by his side. “I’ve had a lot of fun today.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t have work to do with that big company of yours,” Callie said, wondering how he’d had the time to spend all day with them, given what she’d read about the size of the Sullivan empire and his father’s work ethic. She remembered what she’d read: …speculation regarding the motivations of his son Luke. Does he have the drive to take on a company of this magnitude?
“I’m on vacation at the moment. Well, I was supposed to be, but I got a call that the lawyer wanted to meet with me about a few properties so I cancelled my trip and I’ve just been popping in to put out the biggest fires.” But before she could respond, he added, “But my dad works every single day of the week, no matter what.” His face had dropped to a frown. “He thinks that’s how you make a million, working all hours. I suppose I should believe him because he’s definitely proven that fact. I work differently from how he does, but I work hard too.”
“I wasn’t implying you didn’t,” she said, feeling guilty. She’d thought he’d just say something cute and be his usual flirty self, but then she remembered his reaction on the boat the other day.
He took a swig of his beer and then looked over at hers, that smile returning, to her relief. “Your beer’s going to get hot,” he said.
She tipped it up and took a long drink.
Then he said more calmly, “Work’s good though. I don’t want to make it sound like it isn’t. I love what I do.”
“What’s an average day like for you?” Callie asked. Wyatt and Olivia came back up, Wyatt out of breath from all his swimming. He was busy drying himself off while Olivia joined in the conversation, her beer half finished.
“I usually go for an early run or something and then I start work at around eight in the morning. I take a long lunch, and then come back to it at around three o’clock, working into the night when I need to. I finish up the day’s business, and after that, if there’s time, I do whatever—surfing, parties…”
“I like parties!” Wyatt said with a smile as he walked over.
“Yeah, they’re fun,” Luke said, visibly glad to talk to him. He was great with Wyatt. “If it’s okay with your mom, I’d like to have you come to my nephew’s birthday party tomorrow evening. Would you like to do that?”
