Chapter 16

Tyler

“How is the new nanny working out?” Rob asked when we went back to our regular work schedules a few weeks after our huge success.

“She’s good. I really like having her just after school. Me and the kids have a good morning routine going on, and I think it’s helping them learn some responsibility since they know I need a little help from them in the morning.”

“Have you talked to Summer?”

This was a hot question for me. Summer and I had hardly talked at all during her last week in the house, and the day she left we just said an awkward goodbye. I was pissed. There was no denying it, and I just couldn’t pretend like there was another emotion to describe what I was feeling.

After everything the two of us had been through, I honestly thought we had a chance. A chance at something; I wasn’t sure what it was, but I was open to exploring it and figuring things out. But I also understood that Summer wanted a life of her own, and I didn’t want to say something stupid to her in the process of her leaving. Being silent was the best possible choice for me.

“I didn’t talk to her.”

“Not at all?” Rob asked as he smiled back at me, and I noticed he finally got his yellow tooth fixed.

“Not really. I was trying to let her do her thing and not ruin our goodbye. Nice new tooth, though.” I laughed as he kept smiling with his cheesy grin.

“Looks good, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’ll be picking up the ladies again, no problem.”

“I’m sorry things didn’t work out with you and Summer. She was a beautiful woman and really good with kids. I think you two would have been nice together.”

Summer was the first woman I’d even considered a future with since Claire had passed away. It stung pretty deep that she moved on without me. Of course, I didn’t want to admit that things would be alright, and I would move on because deep down, I really thought Summer was the one.

I’d had dreams where Claire gave me permission to be with Summer. I even imagined that Summer and Claire would have been good friends if they had ever known each other. So for me to admit that Summer was gone and nothing would happen between us was hard.

“It was hard to let her go, but I guess I’ll move on,” I muttered.

***

Six months later, Rob and I found ourselves in the midst of a very similar situation. We had been out to lunch, and a bus drove by with Summer’s picture on it. Obviously, her new modeling career was taking off, and it was really exciting to see.

“So why did you let her go?” Rob asked between bites of his sandwich.

“What?”

“Summer, why did you let her go?”

“It was time for her to move on. She wanted her own career and to explore the whole modeling thing. I didn’t let her do anything – she was a grown woman who made up her own mind.”

“Oh, so models go on dates?” he asked with a cheeky grin while he continued eating his sandwich.

“I’m sure they do, but she left. She didn’t want to go on a date.”

“Did she say that? Did she say, ‘Tyler I don’t want to date you,’ or did you imply it because you were angry she was leaving?”

“You know what?” I said as I stared Rob down. “Since you got this girlfriend, you’ve been a real ass.”

“What? I was just telling her about you and Summer, and she brought up that you were a big baby for not going after the woman you clearly cared about.”

“Oh, your new girlfriend Bambi said this?”

“Her name is Barbie,” Rob corrected me. “But she’s really smart, and I didn’t have a good answer when she asked me why you didn’t go after this girl. If you care about her, why would it matter if she was off doing her modeling thing? Wouldn’t you still want to at least ask her out and see how things went?”

“I don’t like this new girlfriend of yours,” I said grumpily as I ignored his questions and finished eating.

I did want to ask Summer out still. I’d been thinking about her for months, and every time I saw an advertisement that she was on, all I could think about was calling her and telling her how amazing it was that she followed her dream and it was coming true.

A couple of times I even picked up the phone to call her but then chickened out and ended up hanging up. I even called and talked to Patrick once a few months ago to see how Summer was doing and if he thought she would be receptive to me visiting her some time. Since he had helped arrange my surprise visit to the club when she first quit working for me, Patrick had become an ally for me.

“Fine, you do whatever makes you happy,” Rob said halfway under his breath. “But I’m just saying that you don’t seem all that happy.”

“Fine, I’ll text her right now and see what she’s doing?” I said as I pulled out my phone.

“No. It has to be a call,” Rob replied as if he knew women so well and knew exactly what I should be doing in this situation.

“Fine, I’ll text Patrick and see what’s going on and when would be a good time to call. Is that any better? You know I’m not sure I like this new you all that much. You’ve got some extreme attitude with this new confidence level.”

I sent a text to Patrick to see how things were going and if he thought I could get in contact with Summer. I expected to put my phone away and then get a message sometime later in the day from Patrick, but instead, he called me right away.

“Hey Patrick, how are things going?”

“Good, work is good. I’m good, as for Summer – you should come to this kickoff party tonight. She just got a gig with a perfume company, and they are having a party downtown. I can get you on the list if you’d like to come.”

“On the list?” I laughed as if we were part of the Hollywood elite but in the midst of downtown Chicago.

“Sure, I’ll come. It will be good to catch up with you guys.”

“Okay, I’ll have you added. It’s down at the pier. There will be a giant tent. You should be able to give your name, and then they will let you in.”

“Perfect, thanks, Patrick.”

As I hung up, I felt a little nervous about the whole thing. It had been six months since I’d even talked to Summer. She clearly wasn’t interested in what I had to say since she hadn’t reached out to me either. But I was still going to go and see her. I could congratulate her on how well she was doing and make sure things between us weren’t ending on a bad note. Even if it ended up being a disaster, it was some closure for me, and I was okay with that.

I took an Uber to the venue to make sure I didn’t have to worry about driving home if I ended up drinking a little too much. I’d been to events like this before, and the alcohol was usually flowing freely. Depending on how well my conversation went with Summer, it was entirely possible I was going to drown my sorrows away in a few glasses of alcohol throughout the evening.

As my car pulled up, I wasn’t sure I was even at the right place. This tent wasn’t anything like I had expected. Instead of being a small tent that might hold fifty to one hundred people, this tent looked more like a convention center. It spanned the distance of at least a football field and was large enough to be a circus tent, although it was plain white and not multi colored like a circus tent would be.

“Name?” the scary looking man that was managing the entrance said.

“Tyler English.”

“Okay,” he checked me off the list and then stepped out of the way so I could go into the tent.

Inside, the place was decorated in aqua blue lighting with the sound of waves crashing against the shore played in the background. The new perfume was pictured throughout the event, and I felt like I was inside a real building and not a tent at all.

There were hundreds of people there, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever find Summer at all. I grabbed a drink and started mingling as I kept my eye out for Summer or Patrick. It was a madhouse, though, and at some point, the music started playing loudly and the lights dimmed as the dance floor filled with people. I waited near the bar for a while and hoped I would see Summer walking by, but when that didn’t work, I decided to work my way around the edges of the party and see if I could get a good glimpse of her from that vantage point.

Finally, when I had made it all the way to the opposite side of the tent, I saw a crowd of people talking to a beautiful blonde haired woman. From the back, I couldn’t be sure it was Summer, but when I got close enough to hear her laugh, I knew it was really her.

She looked much more sophisticated than when she had worked for me. Her hair was elegantly designed in a sweeping updo, and she had on a silky blue dress with a low cut back. I couldn’t help noticing she wasn’t wearing four-inch hi-heels like many of the other women were. Instead, she had on comfortable sandals that matched the ocean theme of the party.

I joined the group of people around Summer as they were all chatting and laughing while trying to impress her. It was an odd feeling to be so close to her while she had no idea I was there.

She looked stunning and like someone who wouldn’t have bothered to notice I was alive. Yet in a moment, she turned and looked right at me. Our eyes locked together, and for a second, I hoped that she would at least acknowledge I was there. I would have taken a simple nod and nothing else – I was willing to accept just about anything.

To my surprise, she seemed genuinely excited to see me there as she pushed through the crowd of people and gave me a huge hug.

“Tyler, I didn’t know you were coming,” she said so sweetly that I suddenly got extremely nervous to be there talking to her. “This is a pretty cool party, isn’t it?”

“Um, yeah. You’re kind of a big deal now.”

“No, it’s the company. They do this for every new launch. But wow, I’m so glad you came. How are the kids doing? How is the new nanny?”

“Good, we are all good,” I said as I stared at her in total awe. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks,” she said as she playfully spun around. “I cleaned up nicely.”

“Yeah, you sure did.”

“So are you just here with some friends?” she asked a little confused at why I was at the launch of a new perfume line.

“I got in contact with Patrick and asked about you. He hooked me up.”

“That damn guy. He’s always meddling,” she joked. “Come with me, let’s go in the back and talk for a minute.”

Summer grabbed my hand and guided me through the party to a separate back room area that looked like it was just for VIP people. There were several couches all around, and it was much quieter than the main party was. I still felt like I was inside and not in a tent, though.

“It’s so good to see you,” I said as we sat down. “I’m sorry I didn’t reach out earlier, but …” I trailed off. “I’m just sorry I didn’t do it.”

“I know how it is. Life is busy. I’m actually getting ready to go overseas soon, so it’s a good thing you found me. I’ll be traveling a lot over the next year or so.”

“Oh, that’s exciting,” I said as my hopes of asking her out on a real date were crushed.

“Yeah, it’s pretty exciting. So what are you up to? How is Robert, and what’s happening with the company? Did you start working on that new deal? Is it going well? Geez, sorry I’m asking so many questions. It’s just so good to see you.”

Her hand reached over and rested on my leg as we sat facing each other on the couch. From her body language, I could have sworn she was excited to see me, even if she was going to be traveling out of the country and unable to go on any dates.

Then I thought about what Rob and his new crazy girlfriend had said. I had let six months pass me by when I could have been talking to Summer and taking her out on dates. There was no way I was letting this moment pass me by. Maybe she was going to say no to me, and maybe she’d turn me down, but I had to at least ask.

“Well, I really came here for a reason,” I started to say as I felt my mouth getting dry and the nerves getting the best of me. “It sounds like you’re going to be really busy with traveling and all, but I’d love to take you out sometime.”

There, I said it. I’d officially asked her out. Now she could deny me, and I would be done with all of this. I’d have the closure I needed to move on, and I wouldn’t have to dwell on the thoughts of what could have been between the two of us.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Summer said unexpectedly.

“I totally understand, you’re really busy, and I just wanted to give it the official college try,” I said as I started to get up to leave, but she grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

“I said yes,” she expressed with a laugh.

“What? You did? I thought you were traveling.”

“I’m pretty sure I can find time for a date with you,” she said with a playful wink.

“Really? You’re saying yes?” I practically screamed as the realization hit me.

“Shhh, people are going to think you proposed to me or something.” She laughed as she pulled me back to the couch to sit with her. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot, and I’d love to see if the feelings are still there. Actually, I know they are still there. I was just afraid to reach out to you.”

“Tomorrow, let’s go out tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at eight, and we can spend the day together.”

“Tomorrow?” she asked a little shocked that I wanted to go out so quickly.

“Yes, I wasted a lot of time with you, and I don’t want to waste another minute. You and I are going out tomorrow. I’m done wasting time. I want to see you as much as possible before you start traveling, and even after you leave, I think I can squeeze a trip in to see you. I’m done making excuses. I want to see you.”

“I like that,” she said as she tilted her head toward me and moved in a little closer. “I’d really like to go out with you Mister English,” she said playfully.

“I’d really like to go out with you too, Miss Edwards,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her softly.