Page 79 of Let Me Love You

“Are you ready to go meet my dad?” Victor asks Summer as he sets down his briefcase.

She twirls one of her ringlets around her finger. “Your dad is alive?”

Victor’s gaze meets mine over Summer’s head, and my heart clenches. He kneels in front of her and says, “Yes, he is.”

Summer nods slowly. “My daddy has gone to heaven. I thought that’s where all dads are.”

Tears fill my eyes. No matter how much I’ve grown to resent Paul, I’ll never tell Summer everything he did. Since he died when she was a newborn and she has no memories of him, she at least deserves to think of him as a regular, good man and dad.

“Some are, while others aren’t.” Victor reaches out and grabs one of Summer’s small hands. “I know he’s watching down. He’s definitely proud of you. I am. You’re the best girl I know.”

“Let me show you my daddy’s picture.” Summer tugs Victor over to the stairs and up to her bedroom. “It’s in my room.”

I didn’t want to put a picture of Paul in the living room when this is Victor’s home, so we put one in Summer’s room. I follow behind them as they enter her room.

I stand in the doorway as Summer pulls Victor to her bed where a picture of Paul sits on her nightstand. He’s holding a day-old Summer with a big smile on his traitorous face. At that time, he was deep in debt, and I didn’t know it. He was gone so much I had already felt like a single mom. Not to mention he “forgot” to mention he was laid off from his job when he stopped showing up.

“Are you going to be my new dad?” Summer asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

Victor is kneeling beside Summer again, but she still has to crane her little neck up to look into his gaze.

My chest aches, and my eyes are suddenly wet. I open my mouth to say something, but Victor says, “Is that something you want?”

Summer nods and wraps her arms around Victor’s neck.

Tears stream down my cheeks, and I cover my mouth to hold back a sob. I back out of the room because this moment isn’t about me, and I release the torrential downpour of tears. I knew from the beginning that Summer would grow attached to Victor. But he almost seems as if he’s as attached to her as she is to him.

***

Summer’s one hand holds mine and the other holds Victor’s as we walk toward the entrance to a restaurant. Victor told me he and his father agreed it would be better if we didn’t meet inside the house so they wouldn’t bump into Mrs. Barlowe.

That works for me. I never want Summer near her again.

As a doorman opens the door for us, a short woman is about to walk by but instead takes out a camera and starts snapping pictures. I’m thrown into protective mode and scoop Summer off the ground. I turn my body, so she’s shielded from the woman.

Victor stands behind us. “Please, no pictures. This is a private family matter.”

“Is it true that you married that woman?”

As I push farther into the restaurant, her voice disappears, and I hold Summer a little closer. Whenever Victor and I are alone, the cameras are minimal. It’s as if they swarm to us whenever Summer is here.

“Mommy, who was that outside?”

I open my mouth to respond—

“Serenity?”

Turning around, I find Rob. He almost looks like a new man. His skin is still a little pale, but he has some color in his cheeks now. And last time, walking to his seat at the ceremony left him breathless, but now, he gets up and pulls two chairs out for us without breaking a sweat. The fact he’s doing this for us when he’s barely recovering makes my muscles almost feel weak..

I take a deep breath. So far, Rob seems five hundred times friendlier than Mrs. Barlowe. Hopefully, it isn’t an act.

I place Summer in one of the chairs and sit beside her.

“How is my granddaughter doing?” Rob asks.

“You aren’t my grandfather. My real one is gone, and my new one lives in a big white house with a fence.”

My chest squeezes like it’s in a vice grip. Summer hasn’t been lucky when it comes to family. It’s been Harmony and me for too long.