She’d just stepped inside and adjusted the water when the shower door was pulled open.
Naked, James joined her there. “You know I can’t resist you,” he muttered.
“Yes,” she said softly. “I can’t resist you, either.”
* * *
Summer and her mother were busy in the kitchen at the Lawton family home. James sat in the living room with his father-in-law, watching a Sunday-morning sports show.
James didn’t have the heart to tell Hank that he didn’t follow sports all that much. And he sure wasn’t going to admit he found them boring.
“Helen’s going to be talking to you later,” Hank said, relaxing during a spell of uninterrupted beer commercials. “She’s having trouble getting a decent hall for the wedding reception in April. The church is no problem, mind you, but finding a hall’s become pretty complicated.”
“Summer said something about the Moose Hall.”
“That fell through. I’ll let Helen do the explaining.”
“Does Summer know this?”
“Not yet. Couldn’t see upsetting her. The girl’s been miserable ever since she got back from Vegas. You want my opinion?” He didn’t wait for a response. “You should take her to Seattle with you now and be done with it. It’s clear to me the two of you belong together.”
James wished it was that easy.
“I know, I know,” Hank said, scooting forward to the edge of his chair as some football players ran back onto a muddy field. “She has to fulfill her contract. Never understood where the girl got her singing talent.”
“She’s fabulous.” Summer’s performance had shocked James. Her singing had moved him deeply and her acting impressed him.
Hank beamed proudly. “She’s good, isn’t she? I’ll never forget the night I first went to see her perform at Disneyland. It was all I could do not to stand up and yell out, ‘Hey, that’s my little girl up there.’”
“There’s such power in her voice.”
“Enough to crack crystal, isn’t it? You’d never suspect it hearing her speak, but the minute she opens her mouth to sing, watch out. I’ve never heard anything like it.”
James had come away awed by her talent. That she’d willingly walk away from her career to be his wife, willingly take her chances in a new city, humbled him.
“She could go all the way to the top.”
Hank nodded. “I think so, too, if she wanted, but that’s the thing. She loves singing, don’t get me wrong, but Summer will be just as happy humming lullabies to her babies as she would be performing in some hit Broadway show.”
James’s heart clutched at the thought of Summer singing to their children.
“Helen’s mother used to sing,” Hank said, but his eyes didn’t leave the television screen. He frowned when the sports highlights moved on to tennis. “Ruth didn’t sing professionally, but she was a member of the church choir for years. Talent’s a funny business. Summer was singing from the time she was two. Now, Adam, he sounds like a squeaky door.”
“Me, too.” All James could hope was that their children inherited their mother’s singing ability.
“Don’t worry about it. She loves you anyway.”
James wasn’t quite sure how to respond, but fortunately he didn’t have to, because Helen poked her head in at that moment.
“Brunch is ready,” she said. “Hank, turn off that blasted TV.”
“But, Helen—”
“Hank!”
“All right, all right.” Reluctantly Hank reached for the TV controller and muted the television. His wife didn’t seem to notice, and Hank sent James a conspiratorial wink. “Compromise,” he whispered. “She won’t even know.”
James sat next to Summer at the table. “This looks delicious,” he said to Helen. His mother-in-law had obviously gone to a lot of trouble with this brunch. She’d prepared sausages and ham slices and bacon, along with some kind of egg casserole, fresh-baked sweet rolls, coffee and juice.
Helen waited until they’d all filled their plates before she mentioned the April wedding date. “The reason I wanted to talk to the two of you has to do with the wedding date.” She paused, apparently unsure how to proceed. “I wasn’t too involved with Adam’s wedding when he married Denise. I had no idea we’d need to book the reception hall so far in advance.”
“But I thought you already had the place,” Summer wailed.
“Didn’t happen, sweetheart,” Hank said. “Trust me, your mother’s done her best. I can’t tell you how many phone calls she’s made.”
“If we’re going to have the wedding you deserve,” her mother said pointedly, “it’ll need to be later than April. My goodness, it takes time just to get the invitations printed, and we can’t order them until we have someplace nice for the reception.”
“How much later?” was James’s question.
Helen and Hank exchanged looks. “June might work, but September would be best.”
“September,” Summer cried.
“September’s out of the question.” With the primary in September, James couldn’t manage time away for a wedding. “If we’re going to wait that long, anyway, then let’s do it after the election in November.” The minute he made the suggestion, James realized he’d said the wrong thing.
“November.” Summer’s voice sagged with defeat. “So what am I supposed to do between April and November?”
“Move up to Seattle with James, of course,” Hank said without a qualm.
“Absolutely not,” Helen protested. “We can’t have our daughter living with James before they’re married.”
“Helen, for the love of heaven, they’re already married. Remember?”
“Yes, but no one knows that.”
“James?”
Everyone turned to him. “Other than my dad, no one knows I’m married, either.”
Summer seemed to wilt. “It sounds like what you’re saying is that you don’t want me with you.”
“No!” James could hear the hurt and disappointment in her voice and wished he knew some way to solve the problem, but he didn’t. “You know that isn’t true.”
“Why is everything suddenly so complicated?” Summer asked despondently. “It seemed so simple when James and I first decided to do things this way. Now I feel as if we’re trapped.”