The Summer of Us (Mission Cove 1)

“Interesting turn of events,” I mused.

He looked skeptical. “Isn’t it just?”

“So, you bought the building?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“I couldn’t refuse at the price and terms it was being offered for. Luckily, people still need dry cleaning and laundry done, so we stayed busy. Not as busy as I need at times, but I get by.”

I sensed there was more. “Good. So, things are going well for you.”

“They were. Then Molly got sick.”

The way he stated it, I knew Molly hadn’t survived.

“Michael, I’m sorry to hear that.”

This time, he didn’t try to hide his emotions. “Breast cancer. She fought so hard, but in the end, it won.”

“How long ago?”

He wiped away the tears under his eyes. “Almost two years.”

“So now you’re a single dad, running a business and looking after your family.”

“Yeah. But I have great friends—” he indicated the kitchen with a jerk of his head “—including Sunny. She and Molly got closer after you were gone, and I know how much Sunny misses her as well. She’s been a great help, and my kids love her. I have other people, and they help out too.” He studied me in silence. “The town has changed, Linc. It’s a great place—better than you remember it. Thanks to the unknown benefactor, the community has become tight. We’re prospering.”

“Good.” I cleared my throat of the lump that had grown as Michael spoke. He had lost so much in his life, and I wanted to do something to help him. I would have to figure out what I could do.

“Do you have pictures of your kids?”

A genuine smile crossed his face, and he spent the next ten minutes showing me the pictures he had on his phone. Baby and toddler pictures. Family photos. Jesse and Jenny growing up. Michael and Molly, young on their wedding day and maturing over the years. One of Molly and the kids, her illness evident, but the smile on her face still bright and filled with love.

“That was about three weeks before she died,” he explained. “She spent as much time with the kids as she could.”

I handed him back the phone. “I’m sure they miss her. I’m sure you do as well.”

“Every second of every day.”

“Your kids are lucky to have you.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I try to be the dad I need to be for them. A mom too.” He smiled ruefully. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the hair thing right for Jenny, but god knows I try.” He mimicked making a ponytail in the air. “I never seem to get it in the right place, and my hair clips fall out.” He grinned. “Luckily, Sunny’s place is across the street, and she often steps in and helps.”

I felt unease drip into my chest. Did Michael have feelings for Sunny? He spoke of her with great affection.

How close, I wondered, was she to his family?

To him?

Sunny had a life. An entire life I knew nothing about. Ten years of memories I wasn’t a part of.

Had my arrival back in town, in her life, been a mistake? Was I robbing someone else of their happiness by trying to seek my own? I opened my mouth to ask when my phone beeped, and I glanced at the screen. Seeing the message, I stood.

“Sorry, Michael—” I grabbed my messenger bag “—I have to get going. I have someone I need to meet at the house.” I extended my hand. “Good to see you. We’ll catch up more later.”

“Yeah, later, for sure. We need to catch up.”

I glanced at the kitchen door. I could hear Sunny talking on the phone, her voice confident and sure as she spoke slowly and clearly, making sure her point was made. I hesitated.

“I’ll tell Sunny you had to go.”

Given our history, I didn’t want to leave without telling her. I had no reason to think Michael wouldn’t tell her, but still, I didn’t like it.

“I should tell her myself.”

The kitchen door opened and Shannon came through, carrying a stack of gleaming trays. I approached her with a smile. “Can I interrupt Sunny?”

She grimaced. “I wouldn’t. She’s on a rampage with a supplier.”

“Okay. Tell her Linc had to go to a meeting up the hill. Ask her to call me, please.”

“Sure, Linc. I’ll tell her.”

With a wave to the bemused-looking Michael, I hurried from the bakery. My thoughts were chaotic, my questions endless. Once again, I realized I knew nothing of Sunny’s life for the last ten years. Whom she had been with. Cared for—loved, even. I knew there was something still strong and powerful between us, but it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that at some point she had loved someone else. That, possibly, after Molly died, Michael had begun to look at their friendship in a new light. Perhaps they were in the early stages of discovering something. Maybe my sudden appearance had come at a bad time.