Say You Will(61)
“I’m sorry,” Rosalind murmured.
“I don’t deserve your compassion.”
“You really don’t.” She gestured to the floor. “Can we sit?”
“Please.” He settled cross-legged across from her, wishing he could take her hand but knowing better. “Anyway, I had Tabitha. My father’s family had no interest in taking me, so Tabitha did. She always told me I was the best gift my father had ever given her.
“A year after my father died, Tabitha met Reginald Summerhill and fell in love again.”
Rosalind stiffened.
He told himself to ignore the sudden wall she’d thrown up and continue. “Tabitha was a romantic, and when she loved someone, she loved him wholly and completely, giving her heart completely away.
“From the time I was a young boy, I remember not liking Summerhill much. It was more than the fact that he paid no attention to me. Why would he? Even my father’s family wasn’t interested in knowing me, so it made sense. But he treated Tabitha like a possession he remembered he had from time to time, and I didn’t like that.”
“He treated everyone that way,” Rosalind said, sounding like she said it despite herself.
“Tabitha didn’t see it though. She was happy for the little bits and pieces he gave her, and she was absolutely beside herself when she found out she was pregnant.
“The next nine months Reginald coddled her, making sure she had everything she needed, until he saw the baby was a girl.
“Tabitha didn’t care. She was thrilled to have a baby. She named her Summer so that she’d have a part of the Summerhills with her, and she told me I was a big brother now and that Summer was mine forever to protect. She made me promise to take care of her as long as I was alive.
“Not that it was a hardship. I loved her the moment she was born. She looked scrunched and splotchy, but the first time I looked down at her she grabbed my finger in her tiny fist, and I knew she was mine even though there was no blood between us.
“When I was old enough, I left Tabitha and set out to discover myself. I didn’t want to go to university, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I was backpacking through Italy when I met a race car driver and joined his crew.
“Just like with Summer, the first time I drove a race car, it was instant love. I learned from Pietro and his crew and eventually began racing myself.
“Tabitha hated it. She used to ask me to stop, saying how dangerous it was. Ironic that she was the one to die in a car crash, isn’t it?”
Rosalind sighed. “Nick.”
“I’m telling you so you understand.”
“You’re clearing up the lies, but none of that explains why it happened.”
“Summer always felt the odd man out. She’s always longed to be one of the Summerhill sisters. Somehow, in her mind, having a piece of the estate meant she belonged.” He took her hand. “I was definitely wrong in going along with Summer’s scheme. I kept urging her to come out and tell you who she was.”
She pulled her hand away. “But apparently you weren’t convincing enough.”
“She’s bloody stubborn.” He stared at her steadily. “It’s a Summerhill trait that runs true.”
He could see she wanted to deny that Summer was related, but she couldn’t. He smiled sadly. “Family and love are complicated.”
“Summer isn’t family,” she declared, her mouth set firm.
That was what it came down to, wasn’t it? He nodded though he didn’t agree. “Okay.”
She frowned. “You don’t believe that’s true.”
He brushed a finger against her cheek. “No, but you don’t either.”
Rosalind stood up abruptly. “I need to go.”
“Will you think about what I said?”
“How can I think about anything else?” She speared him with a look that broke his heart. “You hurt me by deceiving me with this. How can I ever trust you?”
“I’ll help you find the will,” he said, standing up.
She held her hands out. “And then what?”
“And then you can do with it whatever you want,” he said without hesitation.
She shook her head, confused. “You’d betray Summer?”
“No, I’d trust you.”
“If only you’d trusted me before.” She turned and let herself out of his house.
As much as he wanted to go after her, he knew he had to let her go—for now. He’d come up with a way to make it up to her.
He had to.
He walked out of the elevator to the reception for Summer’s office.
The pretty woman he’d met before sat at the desk, taking a call. She looked less bright and peppy than she had the last time.