Summer Burns (12 page)

"
Uh huh.
"

Silence spread between them. It felt awkward to him, but he wasn
'
t sure what he should do to fix it.

"
Well good luck,
"
he finally made himself say.

"
Thanks.
"
She smiled, this time, almost a little shyly.
"
See you later, okay, Matthew?
"

"
Yeah.
"

He walked away from her chair, waiting off to the side for his two friends to get done with their haircuts.

Miller came over first, his hair much neater than it was when they came in.
"
So who
'
s the blonde?
"
he asked, nodding toward Summer.

"
That
'
s above your pay grade,
"
he said.

Miller smirked.
"
Well, she
'
s pretty.
"

"
She
'
s not available.
"

"
Because she
'
s yours?
"
Miller asked.

He glared at Miller.
"
Because she
'
s a widow.
"

Miller nodded very slowly, understanding creeping over his expression.
"
Who
'
s her husband?
"

"
Bettes.
"

"
Don
'
t know him.
"

"
Good man,
"
Hennessey said as Ortiz came over, with a piece of paper in his hand.

"
You got a phone number?
"
Miller asked.

Ortiz grinned.
"
From the redhead at the table.
"

Hennessey rolled his eyes.
"
Let
'
s go.
"

Chapter Nine

Friday night

"
Okay, so I
'
m a little nuts,
"
I muttered to myself as I sprayed dry-shampoo on my hair, trying not to cough. The asthma was strong today--lots of hairspray flying at the salon.

Still, I had to do something to my hair, even if my lungs were not liking the fumes. Audra managed to squeeze me in for some highlights, and while they
'
re gorgeous, she put so much product in my hair, it was as stiff as a board.

If this didn
'
t break down some of the product, I
'
d have to wash it out and start over.

I glanced at my watch.
"
Maybe.
"

"
Hurry up in there, Summer! I gotta pee!
"
Autumn hammered on the door.

Mom
'
s house was great, aside from the single bathroom. Okay, not so great, because my sister was still here, but hey, what can I do about it?

Well, aside from the obvious, anyway.

I jerked open the door.
"
Fine,
"
I said.
"
Be quick, because I gotta get ready.
"

Autumn pushed past me as she came inside. I barely made it out before she started attending to her business.

Mom came down the hall, her dress clattered with the tiny little beads sewn into the flowing fabric. Today she could have walked out of a photo shoot about hippies being the new green.

She looked me up and down.
"
Where are you going, Summer?
"

Emma was at my mother-in-law
'
s house tonight, and while she still wasn
'
t my favorite person right now--I got another little comment made about my possible existence of a social life--I didn
'
t want to mess up Emma
'
s routine.

"
I told you, Mom, I have a date.
"

She blinked.
"
I thought we
'
d have a girl
'
s night tonight. Winter
'
s even coming over.
"

I paused.
"
Uh, you didn
'
t tell me about this.
"
Great. Guilt.

"
Yes I did.
"

"
No, you didn
'
t.
"

"
Yes she did, I was right there,
"
Autumn called through the door.
"
She told you when you were taking care of that old woman at the shop today, the one with the walker?
"

"
Thank you, Autumn,
"
Mom replied.

I was starting to think my mother and sister were ganging up on me.
"
Well, I made my date on Wednesday. So it came first.
"
And frankly, I was kind of excited to go.

Maybe.

Sort of. Okay, so more than sort of. But it wasn
'
t a date was it? We were just going to have some fun.

Yeah.

That
'
s what I
'
m telling myself.

The toilet flushed from inside the bathroom and then the door popped open.
"
I didn
'
t think you were dating, your Facebook status still lists you as married.
"
Autumn waved her phone at me.

"
It
'
s one date. And I
'
m not committing to more than that--wait. Did you take your phone to the bathroom with you?
"

"
Well yeah,
"
Autumn said.

I blinked.
"
That
'
s just a bit too plugged in for me.
"
Come to think of it, I wasn
'
t sure I knew where my phone was.

Mom stepped between us.
"
Well, I
'
m happy that you
'
re getting out, Summer. You need to do something that
'
s not just hanging around the house.
"

"
You were just upset that she wasn
'
t going to be here for the family thing. Now you want her to go?
"
Autumn whined.

I glanced at my sister.
"
How old are you?
"

She blinked and stared at me.
"
What do you mean?
"

"
Well, you
'
re whining like Emma, so I was just checking.
"

"
Summer, really, that wasn
'
t necessary,
"
Mom said.

I shrugged.
"
She was. Just like she did when she was a kid.
"
I grabbed my makeup bag from the bathroom and went into my room. At least in there, I had a lock.

"
I love my family. I love my family. I love my family,
"
I whispered to myself as I started putting on my makeup. They drove me nuts--Autumn especially--but they were my family and I did love them.

My chest started getting tight, and I picked up my inhaler and took a hit. Instantly the medicine started opening things up, and I began to relax.

Everything was going to be great. It was.

I heard the familiar chime of my cell phone--it must be in here somewhere. After five minutes of stumbling around my room looking for it, I finally read the response.

On my way -- Hennessey

I smiled.
"
So how am I going to remember to call you by your first name, if you sign your texts with your last?
"
I muttered more to myself.

It amused me.

What can I say, I
'
m a dork.

I just sent a reply when I heard tires in the driveway. I finished powdering my nose, ran my hands over my hair, because I didn
'
t have time to start over now, even though resembling that psychic from Long Island was not on the top of my list of style-looks.

I ran to the door, because I didn
'
t really want my sister or my mother to answer.

As I reached it, I wondered why I was so panicked about my family answering the door. It
'
s not like he doesn
'
t know I live with my mother.

So when I flung the door open, and realized it wasn
'
t even my date, I felt extra stupid.

"
Hi Winter,
"
I said to my eldest sister.

My sister, the one who always looks put together and organized, stood at the door in yoga pants, a tank top, and a sheen of sweat was on her brow.

"
Just get done at the gym?
"

"
I had to get my Pilates in.
"

I nodded.
"
Because you
'
re so damn fat,
"
I said as I stepped to the side. She was by far the thinnest of all three of us. And the tallest.

"
I am. I can pinch a whole inch on my hip.
"

I rolled my eyes.
"
Stop it. I hate you.
"

She put her hands on her hips.
"
You know, you
'
d feel so much better if you
'
d go with me. Three months, Summer. You
'
d feel like a new woman.
"

"
If I tried Pilates, my body would crumple under the pressure.
"

"
Only the first week,
"
Winter said with a wink, and walked into the house.
"
Mom, did you get any wine?
"

"
No, was I supposed to?
"

"
Doesn
'
t matter. I brought some,
"
Winter replied. I noticed that her gym bag looked awfully heavy. She started pulling out bottles and setting them on the kitchen table.

"
Good grief,
"
I muttered when I realized she
'
d pulled out four bottles.
"
You do know we all have to work tomorrow.
"

"
Two are for tonight. Two for tomorrow,
"
Winter said with a shrug.
"
Besides, they
'
re moscotto. It doesn
'
t get you drunk like a burgundy does.
"

"
Oh that
'
s not true. I
'
m always hung over after I drink moscotto,
"
Autumn said as she came into the kitchen.

And so the wine debate began.

Headlights flashed over the front window, and I darted back to the door. Sure enough, Hennessey climbed out of his car and started walking toward the front door.

Since everyone was occupied, I decided to get going while I had the chance. Hennessey was about halfway up the walk when I came out. Not dressed in fatigues--it was the first time I
'
d seen him in civilian clothing.

And man, did he cut a good silhouette. Broad chest, tapered waist. Not too thin, not too thick. All in all, he looked pretty darn good.

"
Hey,
"
I said, pulling the door shut.

"
Sneaking out so I don
'
t have to talk to your mom?
"
he asked, grinning.