Alexander, Kortny - Surrendering to Summer [Whispering Mountain 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (18 page)

Walking into her closet, Summer grabbed a pair of black slacks and an orange, long-sleeved silk blouse. She picked up a pair of low black heels and laid it all on her bed. She quickly showered and dressed. She combed her long black hair into a ponytail. Once she was satisfied with her overall appearance, she grabbed her purse and left the home.

The drive into town wasn’t far. She made it in record time. Maci was behind the receptionist desk when Summer walked into the building.

“Good morning, Summer.” Maci’s smile was warm and welcoming as usual.

“Hey, Maci. Where are your brothers?”

“First conference room on the left.”

“Thanks.” Summer began walking towards the conference rooms but stopped. “I need to fix me a cup of tea. Do you have any Chai Rooibos?”

Maci smiled, feigning hurt. “Please. The question is what
don’t
I have. Go on in and I will bring it to you in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Maci.” Summer smiled, showing her gratitude. When she turned, Agnes was standing outside the conference room waiting for her. Agnes’ appearance wasn’t meant to rush Summer but to go into the conference with her. Remy and Kane’s assistants were attending the meeting as well. This was going to be one hell of an experience.

* * * *

“Looks like I’m going to Atlanta, Agnes,” Summer said as she and Agnes looked over the faxed contracts inside of the conference room. Remy and Kane where flying out in a few days after they had their drawings completed, but Summer needed to get a firsthand look at the site. That’s how her creativity worked.

Their newly acquired clients were happy to pay her extra for flying down earlier than everyone else. They wanted her to have whatever she needed to get the job done. Summer had learned that Remy and Kane had been working with the clients for a few weeks, but once they found out Summer had been added to their roster, they wanted to renegotiate their contract. The new deal would give the Durden Real Estate Development more money, and that motivated everyone to move on the project quickly.

“I’ve already notified the pilot to ready the family jet. You need to gather your things and meet him at the small airport strip in two hours. Here’s the pilot’s cell phone number just in case you need to contact him.” Agnes slid a business card over to Summer as she began gathering the items Summer would need for her trip. “The clients have arranged for you to be picked up at the
Hartsfield
-
Jackson
Atlanta International
Airport.”

Agnes stood up and left the conference room only to return with a fax in hand. “They faxed over your hotel reservations. I’ve prepared the necessary paperwork. And your camera case is over in the corner.”

Summer definitely admired Agnes. She’d thought of everything, staying one step ahead of the game plan. Summer could not have asked for a better assistant. Now, she had to run back to the house and grab a bag…

Her thoughts were interrupted when Maci walked into the conference room. “Hey, Maci, what’s up?”

“Your contractor is here to see you.”

“Show him in. We’re just wrapping things up. I’m sure he won’t take long.”

Summer watched as Bagley Ames strolled into the conference room. He had a single key on a key chain dangling from his fingers and a pleasant smile on his face. “Hey, Bagley.” Summer stood and shook his hand.

“Good morning, ladies. Summer, your home is complete and ready for you to move into. I was going to leave you a voicemail at the ranch, but I knew you would be happy to have the key in your hands. I was on my way over there when I passed your car outside.” He placed the key in her hand. “I thought you would appreciate the job being completed a little earlier than projected.” Bagley smiled proudly at a job he knew he’d done well.

Summer was stunned into silence. Had she truly forgotten about her own home? The one she had specifically bought to live in, alone? She couldn’t ponder those thoughts, she didn’t have the time. She had a bag to pack and a flight to catch. She would worry about her personal life later. Her clients were waiting for her in Atlanta.

She thanked Bagley for the wonderful work she knew he was capable of, accepted her key with a silly smile, and watched him leave. Summer turned back to Agnes and continued gathering everything she would need to take with her from the office. In no time, she was back on the road and headed to the ranch to pack a bag. Summer had gathered most of her clothing and packed all of her toiletries from her bathroom. She didn’t know how long she would be gone and wanted to have everything she needed without doing any unnecessary shopping. Within forty-five minutes, she was packed and leaving the house.

Since she still had time to kill before she had to be at the airport, Summer decided to make a quick trip to her house. She had to see the finished product before she left on her business trip.

Chapter 23

“Have either of you seen Summer?” Dalton asked as he stumbled into the kitchen. She’d been on his mind all damned day and now he needed to have her underneath him all damned night. But the dumbfounded look he received from both of his brothers stopped him in his tracks. “What?”

Denver plopped down on one of the barstools. “She left us, man.” He didn’t know how else to say it. He thought things were going great, just getting started. And now this.

Dalton remained calm. Maybe he had misunderstood. “What do you mean she’s left us?”

“Just what he said, Dalton,” Dillon answered instead with a twinge of anger in his voice. “We came in a little before you did and Denver went into Summer’s room to surprise her, and she wasn’t there. He looked in the bathroom and that’s when he saw that all her things were gone.”

“I began to panic because I knew I was not going crazy, so I checked her closet. Only a couple of pieces of clothing are still hanging in the closet. Her suitcase is gone and so is all of her underwear. She took everything she’d had here.”

Dalton stumbled a bit as he headed for the dinner table. He sat down slowly as he kept his eyes glued to where his brothers sat. This was not a game. He could see the obvious anger and sadness on his brothers faces. What could they have done to make her leave without a word? They were just getting started.

“When we couldn’t find her here in the house, I called down to mom’s house, and she told me that she had eaten breakfast with Summer and things seemed fine,” Dillon added.

Dalton stood and suddenly slammed the chair to the floor. Anger had quickly formed, flooded to a boiling point, and now there was no turning back. “What the
fuck
happened?” He began pacing the kitchen floor from one end to the other. There were no logical answers to why she would have left like a thief in the night.

He knew the relationship between all four of them had progressed pretty fast, but sometimes love had a habit of sneaking up on you and biting you in the ass. There was no controlling it. And now she was what? Running scared? Sure they had not sat down and worked out the dynamics of their new relationship but damn, she couldn’t wait a few fucking hours until they returned to sort things out?

“Did we move this along too fast? Misread her? What?” Dalton knew he was ranting, but there was no other way to figure this situation out. Summer was gone. She didn’t leave a note. She didn’t say good-bye. What the hell were they supposed to do? That was all they had talked about when they were out in the field checking the perimeters. They had talked about asking Summer to stay with them and maybe rent her house out. They wanted a future with her and now that entire idea was down the damn drain.

* * * *

Denver remained seated, but he had worked on controlling the anger and disappointment he was feeling. He was crazy in love with Summer and there was nothing he would not do to keep her happy. How would he function without her here to enjoy the love all three of them would provide for her? He’d just gotten the one thing he didn’t think the three of them together would ever accomplish. They had finally found their woman and no sooner had they professed their love to her, she went running. This was utter bullshit!

“I don’t understand why she just couldn’t talk to us before taking off. I’m at a loss for words here.” Denver wanted to scream, throw chairs like his brother, but he just didn’t have it in him.

“I don’t think we misunderstood, misread, or misinterpreted anything. She didn’t want us.”

Denver knew just how his little brother felt. His brain was scattered and could not handle the revelation he had come up with. There was no other explanation. They were tasting happiness for the first time and now it had been snatched from them. How were they going to handle this? That room at the end of the hallway was hers. All hers. No one had ever stayed in there.

They had never shared another woman in that room. It was designed for the woman they would marry and have a family with. And now the woman they had fallen for did not want any of them. Denver held his head in his hands. He was getting a migraine. He needed a shower and some damn sleep. Sitting here in the kitchen watching the pain eat at his brothers was not helping matters at all.

Chapter 24

Summer opened her eyes and squinted the moment she blinked. Her vision was blurry and her head was pounding. It felt as if she’d been struck in the head with a two-by-four.

“Dammit,” she mumbled. Her mouth was dry. “What the hell is going on?” She tried to look around, but the room was almost black. She couldn’t see anything clearly as her eyes began to focus, just dark outlines of what she assumed was furniture. She tried to move but nothing happened.

“What the hell?” She wiggled some more, ignoring the pain in her head. “Why am I tied….to a chair?” Panic struck instantly. Her heart raced, she began to cry because she was frightened, and she continued to struggle with the ropes that were snugly wrapped around her body. The ropes were tied too tight.

She tried rocking side to side hoping this would loosen the bindings. That idea was quickly smashed. The ropes were not budging. Someone had tied them extremely tight. She tried to focus on her surroundings. Summer had no clue as to why her head was pounding, why she was tied to a chair, or where she was. The last thing she remembered was walking into her home, excited to see the finished job. She took a few steps into her kitchen and then everything went black.

A door on the opposite side of the room opened and a shadowy figure entered quietly. “I see you’re finally awake.”

Summer looked in the direction of the voice. She knew that voice. “K–Karen?”

With a sickening giggle, she answered, “Yep, it’s me.” Karen turned on the lights and stood staring down at Summer.

It took a moment for Summer’s eyes to adjust to the light. When her eyes finally focused, Summer realized she was in her own bedroom in her new house. Thoughts were overwhelming Summer. Karen looked almost the same as when Summer had last seen her. Psychotic.

Karen’s long, red, wiry hair had been jaggedly cut just below her earlobes. Her green eyes were rimmed with red, clearly bloodshot. She had dark circles around her eyes and she looked as if she hadn’t eaten in a few weeks. What the hell was Karen doing in Whispering Mountain? Why had she tied her up? How the
hell
had Karen found her and gotten access to her house?

“How did you find me? Karen, why are we inside my house? How did you get in here?”

Karen tsked. “So many questions. I can’t believe you moved and didn’t tell me good-bye. We are best friends, Summer.” Karen walked up close to Summer and knelt in front of her. Tears were flowing down her cheeks.

Oh God!
Summer knew Karen was crazy, but this crossed over into darker territory. She’d met Karen Sepanski when she had worked at Darvittson Architectural Firm. Summer and Karen had become fast friends. It took months before Summer realized that Karen had been sabotaging her dates. Anytime Summer mentioned plans with anyone other than her sisters, Karen would flip out. She would show up wherever Summer was. Summer feared Karen was stalking her but she refused to report it in hopes Karen would come to her senses.

It didn’t take long for Summer to figure out Karen had become obsessed with her. The firm they had both worked for had fired Karen. Her erratic behavior had begun to make everyone uncomfortable, and her excellent work habits had fallen into nonexistence. Her sole focus had become Summer. This caused the president of the firm to ban her from the premises. It was around that same time that Remy and Kane had offered Summer the job in Whispering Mountain.

When Karen placed a shaky hand on Summer’s lap, Summer twitched, trying to move away.