Page 43 of The Summer House
“I’m glad I could show you this. I can’t believe you’ve never been out here to see the horses.” He popped a shrimp in his mouth and sat down across from her, the wind blowing his hair off his forehead.
“We always just visited Gladys at her cottage.”
“And Gladys is Olivia’s grandmother, right?”
“Yeah. I’m glad I spent so much time with Olivia’s family growing up.”
The sun was on Luke’s face, making him squint just a little as he looked at her, but those blue eyes were focused. She told him about her father leaving, about her mother, and how she wished things could be different between them. “My grandmother was the one who could sort of mediate between us. She knew my mother so well that whenever I struggled with the way she was, my grandmother could always help me understand her. It was rocky to begin with but when my grandma passed, my mother and I both just sort of fell apart and our relationship never really recovered.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“I think about calling my mom sometimes. I just don’t know what to say.”
He nodded.
She liked how he listened. Olivia and Gladys were wonderful at supporting her, they were great with her, but Luke didn’t try to help her. He just quietly let her talk, and his face told her everything she needed. He was right there, taking it all in, learning about her, and hearing her with no motive other than to just be. There were a lot of things she found attractive about Luke Sullivan, but this was deeper than anything she’d experienced with him, more than she’d experienced with anyone. She was falling fast and hard for this man.
