Page 60 of The Romantic Agenda
The golf cart lurches forward as Miguel begins the second tour. It doesn’t take long to reach the first patch of incline. The golf cart struggles at first, their pace noticeably slowing down. The entirety of the “tour” is once again looking at an incredible amount of vineyard rows, this time curved against a landscape of endless rolling hills. The next turn is sharp, but Miguel takes it slow, and the road that follows travels along a steep drop-off.
Summer glances over the side. “Oh yikes.” She grabs hold of the safety bar.
“So,” Joy says, “tell me your life story.”
“The whole thing?”
“The CliffsNotes version is fine.”
Summer gasps, eyes going wide. “Oh my god, Joy! You used a pun on me!”
“And you seem very excited about it.”
“Because you only joke around with Fox and Malcolm.” Summer starts crying—actual tears streaming down her face. “I felt so left out.”
“If I knew I had such an eager audience for my bad jokes, I would have told them to you too.” Joy gapes at her, unsure what to do. She really went from zero to waterworks in .02 seconds flat. “Summer, that wasn’t personal at all. I promise.”
“I know. I knew that.” She sniffles, wiping her eyes on her sleeves. “I’m just a really emotional person, you know? And I crysometimes. It just happens. I can’t help it. It’s not you. I’m also kind of drunk.”
“Kind of.” Joy waits patiently for Summer to calm down by avoiding looking at her, figuring she wants some privacy. Malcolm and Fox are in front of them, which is a true shame. Joy would have paid good money to see Malcolm’s face now. She wonders if he’s thinking what she’s thinking—that Summer might be too chaotic for him to handle. So many deviations from his agenda must have him reeling since he willingly admitted to being “stressed.” It’s possible he hasn’t told her how important order and control are to him yet. Maybe she doesn’t know how much each disruption to his agenda upsets him.
“It’s so beautiful here.” Summer’s wistful sigh makes her smile lose some of its wattage. “I’d love to get married somewhere like this.”
Joy’s hackles immediately rise, putting her on high alert. Is that supposed to be a hint?
“There’s something I want you to know about me. I think it will help things.” Summer sniffles a few times before she continues. “Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to get married.” She gives her a tight smile. “I used to line my stuffed animals up in a straight line to bear witness as I walked down the aisle wearing one of my mom’s white nightgowns. I was obsessed with the idea of being the center of attention and at the end of the line, there would be someone who would love me forever. We would eat cake, dance with all our friends, and drink what I thought at the time was grape juice. Happily ever after.”
“That’s really adorable,” Joy says carefully.
“Except I kept believing it, you know? I just knew someday I would reach the end and get my happily ever after. So much sothat I maybe wasn’t as, um, discerning? Is that a good word? As discerning as I should’ve been.” She takes a deep breath. “I’ve been engaged six times.”
“Six?” Joy almost chokes on air. “Six? Five plus one, six?”
“Yep. It’s pretty bad, huh?”
“No.No, not bad. I wouldn’t saybad.” Joy searches for the right thing to say but unfortunately her brain has abandoned her in favor of screamingsix!repeatedly. “Everyone moves at their own pace, even if that’s the speed of light.”
Summer giggles, face brightening. “I really loved them all. At one point, I thought they were all the one. I was positive I was making the right decision, you know? They said they loved me too and I believed them. I felt loved. Turns out, I was wrong every time except the last one. When he left me anyway, I was done. No more love. No more marriage. It just wasn’t in the cards for me.”
Joy suddenly has an idea where this speech is heading and she’s not sure she wants to hear it.
Summer continues, “I was looking for a husband. I’m not ashamed to say that. I want to be married. I want to have a family. I want to be a housewife, throw parties, and take care of our kids and teach them, you know, homeschool them. That’s the job I want. I want motherhood to be myactualjob. Taking care of my husband, our house, and our family.
“I’m not willing to settle for just anyone anymore, you know? Malcolm knows that about me, and I fit what he’s looking for. But you don’t have to worry.” Summer nods as she speaks. “I know how much he means to you. I’m not trying to steal him away or anything like that. I think our bubbles could be good together. We’re all really compatible.”
Andboomgoes the drunken dynamite. “Is that why you invited Fox? To test your little compatibility theory.”
“Um. Well.” Summer looks away toward the vineyard. “Malcolm and Fox avoid each other, interacting as little as possible. I thought that maybe if we were staying in the same place, they wouldn’t be able to anymore. But Fox is spending all his time with you and they’re still not talking.”
Wait... didn’t Fox say Summeraskedhim to spend time with Joy?
“I really think they’d be good friends. Just like we could be.”
Joy sighs. Honestly, she still doesn’t know why Malcolm claims to not like Fox. And Fox doesn’t have a problem with Malcolm, per se, just the complicated circumstances, and if Joy told Summer about any of that, she’d have to tell her everything and... no.
“I don’t dislike you, Summer. Things are... complicated.”
“But they don’t have to be, do they?”
