Summer's Indiscretion(Divine Creek Ranch 7)(86)
Summer said, “She’s around here somewhere, sir. Your son got loose and wandered in my direction. I think she’s okay, though.”
“Patrick?”
Both the man and the little boy looked in the direction of the person who spoke.
Patrick seemed surprised, but then a flush of color stained his cheeks as he replied, “Rosemary?”
Summer turned to Rosemary and said, “That was a very foolish thing you did, Rosemary, but thank you. I think you saved our lives by sneaking up on him like that.”
Rosemary smirked and replied, “You can thank me by defending me when Evan and Wes get wind of the stunt I just pulled. You can bet my ass is grass when they find out.” Summer smiled, noting Rosemary’s apparent lack of concern. If her ass was grass that implied that Evan and Wes were the lawnmowers. Rosemary smiled at Patrick and continued, “Patrick, how are you? It’s been a long time.”
Patrick Owen replied, “I’ve seen better days, Rosemary. What happened here? And what did you do?”
As Rosemary and Summer quickly explained what happened, Ace excused himself from their little group. Patrick was obviously shocked by the news and very grateful to them both. He hugged Summer and allowed Patrick Jr. to kiss her cheek and thanked her for corralling his wayward son. Then he turned to Rosemary, and some unspoken communication seemed to pass between them. Rosemary smiled reassuringly and reached to give the tall man a hug.
She patted his back as tears finally surfaced for both of them and said, “You’re welcome, Patrick. Your son is just precious,” she added, patting the boy’s leg. He still clung to Summer’s neck.
“Get your hands off of my husband and son!”
Elizabeth Owen charged forward across the menswear department, breaking up their tearful moment, but Ace cut her off before she could reach their group. “Elizabeth Owen?”
“Yes. What do you want?” she asked with venom in her tone. Summer noted that she didn’t ask who he was because she already knew.
“I’d like a word in private with you,” Ace said quietly. So far they had not drawn anyone else’s attention in all the noisy chaos surrounding them.
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” she replied condescendingly.
“But I have plenty I’d like to say to you. Why don’t we include your husband in this conversation,” he said as he looked at the man in question.
Patrick looked at Summer in inquiry, and she said, “I’m not going anywhere, sir. If you’d like, I’d be happy to watch him for you.” She patted Patrick Jr.’s back, and his father nodded and smiled in thanks.
He turned to Rosemary, and sadness filled his features. “It was really good to see you, Rosemary. You look gorgeous as ever.” His last word seemed to break a little, and Summer looked away, not wanting to intrude on a moment that appeared to cause him pain. “I’ll be right back, ma’am.”
Summer nodded and said, “Take your time.” She had a feeling there were more painful revelations coming for this kind man. She doubted he had the slightest clue what had been going on.
Grace asked, “Rosemary, do you know him?”
Rosemary had a sad smile on her face as she replied, “Yeah. I dated him for a while, long before Wes and Evan and I finally got back together. We got along well together and I enjoyed his company, but I knew it wasn’t what I really wanted. I didn’t realize until after I’d told him I needed to break up that he was in love with me. It was awful. I felt like such a heel because he’s a real sweetheart.”
“But the heart wants what the heart wants, right?” Grace replied, softly patting Rosemary’s shoulder as she swiped tears from her cheeks.
“Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Oh God, where are you, Elizabeth!” The desperate, shouted plea drew the attention of the entire assemblage as a hulking, blond-haired man dressed in a mechanic’s uniform ran through the front doors.
Summer turned in the direction of the trio consisting of Ace, Patrick Owen, and Elizabeth Owen as they looked in the man’s direction. Summer grimaced as she watched Elizabeth Owen’s face. The woman looked like she wanted to go hide under a rock somewhere.
Kemp murmured, “Darlin’, excuse me. I need to talk with this guy.”
“Elizabeth!”
Summer said, “Sure, honey. I’ll be right here.”
Grace whispered so no one else could hear, “I think we have front row seats for the shit that’s fixing to hit the fan. I need to write this stuff down. So Mr. Owen was your boyfriend, Rosemary?”
“For about three months, yeah. The Owens are a big family, so that’s a common name around here. Elizabeth has always been snippy toward me, but I never made the connection until the last time I saw Patrick. It was that night at O’Reilley’s. Remember, Grace? That was the night you and I met.”