Meant for You (14 page)

She sagged with relief. “Thank you.” She turned and reached out a hand to Ryder and pulled him in close. “Both of you. You have no idea how much I've been agonizing over this whole thing. Zach and I argued for weeks before he left. I knew he wasn't strong enough for a trip like this, but no one expected it to reach this level of severity. Ethan and I—”

“Did the best you could,” Ryder said curtly as he glanced across the room to where Ethan was standing. “Any idea why he didn't go with Zach? I thought that was the plan all along.”

Summer blushed and looked down at the ground. “He said he just changed his mind and realized it wasn't something he wanted to do.”

Ryder looked first at Summer, then to James, who shrugged, and then over to Ethan, who was now watching them with apparent discomfort. “It seems odd,” Ryder said. “They do everything together. Did he and Zach argue about this before Zach left? Do you think maybe Zach was distracted?”

Summer's head snapped up. “Why are you looking to blame this on Ethan?” she demanded. “And, for that matter, who says that this whole thing happened because of Zach? For all we know he had his head exactly where it should have been and it was somebody else's screwup! Ethan wasn't even there!” She pulled away from her brothers with a huff and missed the concerned glances they shared.

“Excuse me for a minute,” Ryder said carefully as he walked away.

James took Summer by the hand and motioned for her to sit down. Something was going on, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he did the only thing he could think of: he distracted his sister. “Did I mention that Selena and I are going to do some work on the house?”

Confusion covered Summer's face. “Why? The house is beautiful! And you just moved in not that long ago. What could you possible find to do to it?”

He chuckled. “Well, with the baby coming soon, and knowing that family will be descending on us for quite some time, we decided to do a massive renovation in the yard.”

Now she was really confused. “The yard? What does the yard have to do with extra people in the house? And you're the big-shot landscape architect guy. Something yard related should be a cinch for you, not a massive renovation.”

James leaned back in his chair and relaxed. “Oh, I am, but we're doing something a little more elaborate. We decided we wanted to put in a pool.”

“The yard is certainly big enough.”

He nodded. “And in the far corner of the yard, we're going to build a pool house that can be used as a guest bungalow. Just a one-bedroom thing. But this way, it's a little extra space where guests can stay and still have their privacy.”

“Sounds amazing,” she said with a smile. “Selena must be thrilled. How is she feeling?”

The thought of his wife made James smile. “Good, real good. I know you haven't been away long, but in the last seven or eight weeks she's really started to show. It's such an amazing thing to see.” A goofy grin covered his face as he pictured Selena in his mind. “We felt the first kick not too long ago and at night, I just like to lie in bed beside her with my hand over her belly and wait to feel it again.”

Summer wanted to cry. She was so happy for her brother—he was happily married to the only woman he had ever loved and they were getting ready to have their first baby—but she was jealous too. Her brothers were supposed to want to be bachelors; they were supposed to enjoy their freedom. She was the one who was supposed to get married and have a baby first. As it was, all her brothers—including Zach—would be married and have a ton of kids, and she'd be the lonely spinster aunt.

She'd probably have to get rid of Maylene and get a cat. Why? Because that's what lonely spinster aunts do. Things were certainly progressing with Ethan, but she had no idea what was going to happen now that her family was here. This was going to be a huge test to their new relationship. She knew he didn't like to rock the boat and that her family could be intimidating. Most of the men she'd been involved with had backed off after one Montgomery or another had glared at him or asked him what his intentions were. Summer shuddered remembering those fiascoes. Would Ethan cave under their scrutiny? She frowned at the thought.

“What?” James asked when he turned back to her, out of his reverie of marital bliss. “What's the matter?”

Shaking her head and pushing away her negative thoughts, Summer went back to asking about the house. “So are you doing the work yourself?”

“Are you kidding me?” he asked with a laugh. “I'm going to do the landscaping myself, for sure, but the construction?” He shook his head. “That is totally not my thing.”

“So have you hired someone already?”

He nodded. “I lucked out. I was asking around town if anyone could recommend a contractor and the name that kept coming up was Aidan Shaughnessy.”

Summer's brow furrowed for a minute. “Why do I know that name?” She wracked her brain, trying to remember why it sounded so familiar.

“We used to hang out with them when we would spend the summers on the coast, remember? Big family…a lot like us: five brothers and one sister. You were a couple of years older than the sister but we used to go to the beach with them every once in a while.”

“Oh, yeah! So Aidan's a contractor now? That's awesome. Have you talked to him already?”

James nodded again and smiled. “I'm telling you, it was good to see him. I'm starting to get back into the swing of things and reconnecting with people from home, so working with a friend has been good. He's an amazing contractor and his business is huge in the area. I think he's kind of doing me a favor by squeezing this job in. It seems to me he's got signs up all over town on projects his company is doing.”

“Well, good for him!” Summer said, and she genuinely meant it. “I think it's going to be an exciting time for all of you. You'll get to reconnect with an old friend, Selena's getting a beautiful yard makeover and some extra space… I mean, you guys are totally living the dream.”

Everything she said sounded sincere, and yet James noticed a hint of sadness in his sister's eyes. It could stem from stress over Zach, or have something to do with the reason she left New York, but all of James's years of being a cop told him it was something else. He looked around the room and wondered what to do. James spotted his uncle and discreetly motioned for him to come over.

“Well, there's my favorite princess,” William Montgomery said with a grin as he approached. “How's my girl doing?”

Summer stood and wrapped her arms around Uncle William. James quietly walked away to give them some time alone.

William sat with Summer, looked down at his niece's face, and was instantly concerned, even though his own expression gave nothing away.

“I'm worried about Zach, of course,” she said and rested her head on his shoulder just as she had when she was a little girl.

In return, William rested his head on top of hers. “We all are. But I have great confidence that today the rescue team is going to be successful.”

“From your lips to God's ears,” she said wistfully.

William smiled. “I want you to know I'm proud of you, Summer.” She lifted her head and looked at her uncle as if he were insane. “It's true. You came up here and represented the family, and you're making sure things are happening as fast as they should.”

“But—”

“While you were over here with your brothers, I was with your father talking to Mike, and he told us how much input you've given and how wonderful you've been. I know this hasn't been easy, but you stepped up and you took care of it.”

She averted her gaze. “It really wasn't all me; if anything, Ethan and Gabriella have done most of it. I feel like I've been more of a burden. Ethan has dealt mostly with Mike, and Gabriella handled all the arrangements to get us here. I'm just sort of along for the ride.”

Interesting,
William thought. He cleared his throat. “Still, it was convenient the three of you were able to get together so quickly and get here. We were all a little shocked to find out Ethan wasn't on the climb with Zach. We thought they were doing this together, just like all of their previous trips.”

Summer shook her head. “Ethan really didn't want to do it this time. He said his heart wasn't in it.” The image of the two of them in the tepee by the springs sprang to her mind. She couldn't stop the blush from creeping up her cheeks. “Anyway, I'm thankful he's not up there with Zach; I don't think I could have handled it if it was both of them.”

“I would have thought Ethan would take some time for himself after backing out of the trip. After all, he had already cleared his schedule,” William said. “Still, it must have been a shock for you to have him back at the office so soon after he'd left.”

“Oh, he wasn't back at the office,” Summer responded without really thinking. “We ran into him at Glacier Bay, where Gabriella and I were having a bit of a girls' trip.” As soon as she finished the statement, she realized her mistake. “I mean…it wasn't planned or anything. Seeing Ethan. Obviously Gabriella and I had planned our time there and it was just a…coincidence that we ran into him.” Heat rushed up her cheeks and she felt herself beginning to sweat. Was her uncle going to figure out that she had spent an entire weekend alone with Ethan?

He looked down at her flushed face, and William smiled.
Bingo!
“So that certainly worked out well, didn't it?” he asked cheerily. When Summer looked at him in confusion, he said, “It was almost as if it were meant to be—all of you being together so you could get here to help Zach.” He leaned back and smiled even wider. “Sometimes it's amazing how well things work out.”

Okay, that was odd
, Summer thought to herself. If this conversation had been with her father, first he would have demanded to know what she was doing in Alaska, and then he would have given her the third degree on why Ethan was there. Her father didn't believe in coincidences, and she had no doubt that no matter what she said or how hard she protested, he would have freaked out over the whole thing.

“The weather here is certainly not as cold as I thought it would be,” William said, interrupting her thoughts.

She nodded. “It was a pleasant surprise. Although it's a bit colder up here than it was down in Glacier Bay. Not by much but…still.”

William nodded thoughtfully. “Let's just hope that the weather cooperates now and we can get that rescue team in action and get your brother down safely.” He relaxed and looked across the room and noticed Ethan watching them while trying hard not to look like he was watching. William wanted to laugh out loud again. It was almost getting too easy. Summer's nervous chatter and the way Ethan had been watching her since the rest of the Montgomerys arrived told William all he needed to know. It was just a matter of figuring out how to help these two during this whole mess with Zach.

Placing his hand on Summer's knee, he said, “No matter how you and Ethan happened to get together, I'm glad for it.”

Summer looked up with wide eyes. “Together?” she squeaked. “We're not together. Not me and Ethan. I mean, we're friends…and we work together but that's it. He's Zach's best friend and…and…like I said, it was just a weird coincidence that we were together while whale watching. I mean…not together-together, but there at the same time. And…and…”

“He's a good friend,” he said with happy conviction. “I always thought the world of Ethan. He's a good man, a good employee, and we're all proud of the things he's accomplished with his life. No, sir, no one can find fault with Ethan Reed.” William looked directly at Ethan and saw him swallow hard. “I'm glad he was here with you to help you out, Summer.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I'll go and have a word with him, to thank him.”

Summer watched her uncle walk over to Ethan and sagged in her seat. They had been so careful—except around Gabriella—and the thought of anyone finding out about them, especially now, was not something she wanted to entertain. Thankful for the reprieve, however, she sat back in her seat and silently prayed that her father would keep his distance for a little while longer.

* * *

For a moment—a brief one—William Montgomery pitied poor Ethan Reed. As he made his way across the room, he noticed Ethan looking for a possible diversion, distraction, or an out-and-out escape. William chuckled to himself. Didn't the boy realize that out of the two elder Montgomerys here,
he
was the one Ethan should be looking forward to talking to?

“Ethan!” he said as he reached him and held out his hand. “It's good to see you. Although I wish it were under different circumstances.”

“You too, sir,” Ethan said carefully.

Placing his hands in his pockets, William took just a minute to smile. “I know this has been a rough couple of days for you.” Ethan nodded. “And I'm sure part of you feels guilty about not being up there with Zach.” When Ethan made to defend himself, William cut him off gently. “No one's blaming you, son. A series of rather unfortunate events took place, and they would have happened whether you were there or not.”

“We can't be sure—”

“Trust me,” William said, “if nothing else, your presence up there could have meant one more injured. As it is they're having a tough time with this whole thing.” Ethan didn't look convinced. “We're all thankful you're here and you're safe.”

Ethan gave a mirthless laugh. “Are you sure about that?”

“You mean my brother?”

Ethan nodded.

“Pay no attention to him. He was always the hothead of the family. He knows that you're not to blame for this.”

“Well, neither is Summer,” Ethan said defensively. “She cried for a long time after he called her the other night. He told her she was the reason if Zach is hurt, and let me tell you, it just about destroyed her. I had no idea Robert could be so cruel. I always knew he was strict with Zach, Ryder, and James, but I never thought he'd do something like this to his own daughter.” It was impossible to hide his disgust. “There wasn't a thing I could do or say that could make her feel better. And you know what the worst of it is?” He didn't wait for William to respond. “She took the brunt of her father's anger without even defending herself. Why? Because she already feels responsible when she shouldn't.” He raked a hand through his hair in frustration and looked over to where Summer was sitting. His expression softened at the sight of her. She was the most amazing woman he had ever known, and it pained him to think that her own family didn't see how special she was.