The Girl From Summer Hill (Summer Hill 1)

“That’s not possible, since he’s Emmie’s dad.”

“Why couldn’t my sister have played around? It would be great if a DNA test would show that Emmie’s real father was some nice accountant. Or a clown who did children’s birthday parties. Or—”

“She didn’t, so stop fantasizing. He’s probably in the guesthouse with Casey right now, telling her what an egomaniac you are. And I know you mentioned it, but what exactly were you doing in her bedroom?”

Tate gave a little snort of laughter. “This morning the caretaker released a peacock and his ladies on the property, and the big guy tore through her screen door and went upstairs. It turned her bedroom upside down. I had to throw my shirt over the beast to get it out the window, and even then it nearly bit me in the face. I’m looking forward to a peacock barbecue.”

“When I was just there, there was no hole in the screen door. Maybe the caretaker fixed it. You should tell Casey that story.”

“Before or after I give her a list of the women I’ve slept with? It’s something she asked me for while we were onstage. In front of everybody.”

“I am definitely sorry that I missed this afternoon’s performance. What was your reply?”

“I, uh…I gave her my best look of…of, you know, and she said no.”

“What does that mean?” Jack asked, then his eyes widened. “You—the great romance hero—came on to her and she turned you down?”

Tate sighed. “Yeah, that’s just what happened. I used the full-blown, come-to-me look of the hero. The one I get paid so much to do. But she curled her very pretty upper lip at me and told me to drop dead. More or less.” He paused. “You know, the irony of all this is that when I walked out onto that stage I was really glad to see her. At least she was familiar-looking.” He sat down on the couch so hard, Jack’s coffee sloshed.

“Okay, so you’ve made a fool of yourself from the moment you met her and she’s slapped you down at every step. But you still like her. A lot.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Tate snapped, and got back up.

“Is it? She laughs at the same things you do. She gives it back to you when you take potshots at her. Didn’t you drop your last terrifically beautiful girlfriend because she had…let me see if I remember exactly what you said…‘the IQ of a doorknob’? Is that right? And your complaint about the one before her was that she adored you.”

“Yeah, well, she kept saying how fabulous it was to be Tate Landers’s girlfriend. I told her I was Tate Landers, but she had no idea what I meant.”

“So now you’re mad because Casey is smart and she sure as hell doesn’t ‘adore’ you. Sounds perfect to me. The question is, What are you going to do about your ex-brother-in-law?”

“Nothing. What can I do? She hates me so much she wouldn’t believe anything I said.”

“So you’re going to fly back to L.A. tomorrow and leave Casey to date Haines? How long will it take her to find out what he’s really like? Before she’s crying as hard as you told me Nina was? Think Casey will be put under a doctor’s care as Nina was? Given little blue pills? Or were they green?”

“Both!” Tate said loudly. “Okay, I get it. You don’t have to—”

“And then there’s Emmie. If Haines is in the play, that means he plans to be here all summer. You told me how much Nina and Emmie love it here. I know! You could buy your niece a pony. But you’ll have to do it from L.A., because that’s where you’ll be. Maybe her daddy can teach her to ride since he’ll be here with Casey day after day. That’s his MO, isn’t it? Court them, make them fall for him, then dump them? After he cleans out their bank accounts, that is. But don’t you worry about anything. When Haines leaves and Casey is crying her heart out, I’ll be here for her. Hey! Maybe while you’re in L.A. you could send me some—”

“Shut up!” Tate said. “Just damned well shut your mouth.” He took his phone off a side table and began punching buttons.

“Calling anyone I know?”

“Texting my assistant to cancel my flight tomorrow. I’m staying here and I’m going to play Darcy in a two-bit small-town play. Damn! The things I do for my family!”

Jack couldn’t hide his smile. He hadn’t looked forward to living alone in the huge old house for an entire summer. But now things were looking up. Tate, Nina, Emmie, and his new friends Gizzy and Casey would be here. Life was looking good!

He watched Tate scowling at the empty fireplace. Jack hadn’t said so, but he had a suspicion that if Tate had been watching Casey, Haines had seen it. Jack meant no offense to pretty Casey, but if that man was going after her, it was probably to get back at Tate.

As Jack sipped his coffee, he thought that Tate sure had canceled his flight quickly. And that was good, because if anyone was going to persuade Casey that Tate was a good guy, it had to be Tate himself. Jack had an idea that that’s exactly what his friend was going to try to do.

Jack put his empty cup

down on the coffee table and stood up. “This has been a long day and I’m meeting Gizzy for breakfast tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Long day—that’s it!” Tate said. “If there’s one thing Haines can’t resist, it’s anything he thinks is luxurious—paid for by someone else, of course. Didn’t I see some bottles of wine somewhere?”

“Yeah. In the pantry off the kitchen.”

“Great!” Tate said. “Before you go to bed, could you do me a favor and take two bottles over to the guesthouse? I’ll stick a card on one saying ‘Congratulations.’?”