Forever Summer (21 page)

Gabe looked at Summer and saw how genuinely happy she was to watch father and daughter loving each other.  More and more, the sadness was leaving her eyes.  No jealousy or possessiveness there, at least not where Marisol was concerned.  He took her hand and brought them both into the living room with him where his parents and staff were waiting.

“Okay, boss, here’s the plan.”  Javier was head of Gabe’s security team.  “Everyone will walk to the garage together.  Then, everyone except you, Marisol, and Miss Alvarez will leave in a convoy together and head for the city to the airport.  Wait about half an hour in the garage, then the coast should be clear for the three of you to leave behind us, and hopefully no one will be the wiser.  I wish you’d let at least a couple of us go with you, boss.  If this doesn’t work, it’ll be hard to run interference for you.”

“You have the address where we will be staying in case of an emergency, and so do my parents.  No one else is to have that information.  No one.  The press found out about this place from someone.  It’s stayed a secret for over three years, and now all of a sudden, everyone knows about it.  We’ve got a leak somewhere.  Until we find it, I want no one to know where we are.  Give our location to not one person, family and friends included.  Understood?”

“Yes, boss.  After we see your parents onto the plane, and make it look like you’re with them, we’ll stay in a hotel close by in case you need us.”

“Thanks, Javier.  Everybody ready?”

“Just a quick question for Javier, Gabe.”  As both men looked at her, Summer put her hand on her hip and raised one eyebrow at Javier.  “Just when did I become ‘Miss Alvarez’, Javier?  You called me Summer during the whole tour.  I’m still the same person.  I’m still Summer.”

Both Gabe and Javier grinned at her.  “Sorry, Summer.  Just a show of respect, that’s all.  If you prefer I continue to call you Summer, I will.”  At her nod of approval, they were ready to proceed.

Everyone headed for the garage, saying their final farewells before the doors opened.  Gabe and his girls, as he’d come to think of Summer and Marisol, stayed out of sight while the others drove away, taking the paparazzi with them in hot pursuit.  Only a couple reporters remained, and even those left after about twenty minutes.  Gabe waited another ten minutes to be safe, then led his girls into a different SUV with windows tinted even darker than the jeep, and they headed for Andalucía, just the three of them.

****

Yolanda and Luisa were as thrilled as Summer had said they were and did everything in their power to make the next week and a half memorable, comfortable, and as close to perfect as possible, in hopes that they would come back again, and  they would fill the house with laughter and the ladies’ lives with purpose.  They especially found delight in entertaining Marisol.  They hadn’t had the pleasure of caring for a child since their precious Summer had been small, and they thoroughly enjoyed her. 

Since Gabe trusted Summer completely where his daughter was concerned, it wasn’t much of a stretch to extend that trust to the two women who had helped raise her.  By the end of the visit, Marisol had two honorary
abuelitas
to write letters to until she came again to visit.

The night before they were to leave, Gabe barbecued steaks while Summer made beans, baked potatoes, and salad for everyone.  She was looking out the kitchen window as Gabe manned the grill and Marisol played outside with Yolanda.  Could any day be more perfect?  Could any life be more perfect?  She hadn’t been this happy since her mother had been alive.  Hearing Marisol laugh outside reminded her of when she’d been little, playing in the same yard at the same house.  She hadn’t thought anything bad could happen to ruin her happiness then, and it had.  Would history repeat itself? 

 “Let me do that,
mija
.  You should be enjoying your last day of vacation.”

“I don’t mind, Luisa.  It keeps my mind busy.”

“And your mind is heavy with worry, isn’t it Summer?  We have been apart a long time, but I still recognize when you are troubled,
Chiquita
.  You used to share your worries with me when you were little.  Can you share them with me now?”

It had been ages since Summer had shared her worries with anyone, but just as when she’d been a child, she found herself able once again to share her secrets and  her fears with this woman who’d been at her side for over eight years, since the day she’d come home from  the hospital where she’d been born.  Luisa picked up another knife and started chopping vegetables for the salad.

“I’m afraid, Luisa.  I remember being so happy here with Mamá and Papá.  It was our special place, and it never occurred to me that it could all end so quickly and so completely.  But it did.  I didn’t just lose Mamá to cancer, I lost Papá, also.  He never spent time with me again after she died.  I was never happy again, and I never had a family again.  Until now.  I love Gabe and Marisol.  I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help myself, and now I wonder if that happiness will be taken from me, also.”

Luisa continued to cut carrots and cucumbers.  “Summer, I loved your Mamá.  I know I worked for her, but she never treated me like a servant, and I was honored that she trusted me to watch over you.  It was the same for Yolanda.  Your mother came to Argentina to study.  She met your Papá at a party, and they fell in love very quickly.  My mother served your father’s mother, and she told me that your parents fell in love that very night of the party.  Your father was from a wealthy family.  He was the oldest son, and his role was to take over the cattle ranch from his father, and it was expected that he would marry within his class.  In fact, you probably didn’t know this, but everyone assumed he would marry Isela.  They’d grown up together, attended the same schools, and shared the same tutors.  Their families had known each other for years.  I think he probably would have followed that plan had he not met Sunny.”

“Your mother was like no one he’d ever met.  He’d always been so serious his whole life.  She always made him laugh and insisted that he not be so serious all the time, that he stop to enjoy life and to play sometimes.  She was good for him, and she made him so happy.  When you came along, they were so thrilled, but as much as he loved you, his world continued to be centered around your mother.  She explained it once this way.  She said if the house ever caught fire, she would rush to save you, and your Papá would rush to save her.  He would also try to save you, but his first priority would always be your mamá while her first priority would always be you.”

“When Sunny found out she was sick, although I know she was scared, she never showed it.  It wasn’t that she was afraid of dying so much as she was afraid of leaving you and your father alone, especially you.  Your father was devastated when he found out about the cancer.  I thought he would go mad when the doctors could not beat it.  All of his wealth and privilege could not save the one person he loved more than anything in the world.  There were so many nights that he cried in your mamá’s arms.  Although she was the one dying, she was the strong one and felt so badly that he was hurting.  She apologized time and time again, which only made him feel worse.”

“I don’t remember any of that, Luisa.  I kind of remember my father quieter towards the end, and I remember seeing him cry a couple of times, but I don’t remember him falling apart.”

“That is because your mother made sure you never saw it or him like that.  I always thought it was a mistake to keep the severity of her illness from you, but she insisted that she would not see you sad for whatever time she had left with you, like your father was sad.  She made everyone promise not to tell you.  I would have done anything for her, so I honored her request, but I think you might have been more prepared for her leaving you had you known ahead of time.  Sunny thought your father would shift his love from her to you when she was gone, but he was unable to do that.  You were left alone to cope with a great loss.”

“I think you’re right, Luisa.  I had no idea she was dying until she was gone.  The last few days of her life, she was in the hospital, but no one would let me go see her.  I kept asking Papa, but he wouldn’t take me.  I’ve never forgiven him for it.”

“
Mija
, your mother made him promise her that he would not bring you to the hospital.  In the end, she was either in a lot of pain, or she was drugged heavily, to ease her pain.  She didn’t want you to remember her like that, and your father honored her request.”

“Oh, Luisa, all this time, all these years, I blamed him for it.  I’m glad you told me.  There is so much I blame my father for.  I wonder what else I have misunderstood.”

“When your mamá died, your father was absolutely inconsolable.  It took both your grandparents and his brother to make him leave her side after her passing.  They had to physically remove him.  He didn’t even come home to you for days.  Your grandmother called me to tell me Sunny was gone, but she asked me not to tell you, to allow your father to tell you.  We waited for several days, and finally, your grandma came over to tell you.  Your father couldn’t talk about it or even speak of your mother.”

“I remember when
Abuelita
told me, I wanted Papá.  I didn’t believe her at first.  Mamá always seemed so happy and … alive, even towards the end.  I remember us baking cookies together in this house about a month before she died.  We had a perfect day together.  I had no idea she was even sick.”

“She didn’t want you to know.  Anyway, your father eventually came home.  It was late when he arrived, and you were already asleep.  He went to your room to check on you, and I was in your room sitting with you.  The moment he saw you in your bed, he broke down all over again.  He’d promised your mother he wouldn’t let you see him sad or crying, but seeing you, as much as you looked like your mother, was too painful for him, and he left the room.  Not wishing to break his last promise to your mother, he stayed away from you, so you wouldn’t see his pain.  Fearing he would break down in front of you, he began to avoid you altogether.  After awhile, it just became easier to keep his distance I think.  There were so many times Yolanda and I wanted to tell him to take better care of you and that you needed each other, but we respected his grief and stayed silent.”

“I think he knew you were lonely and felt guilty about it.  That’s when he began, about six months later, to start socializing again.  Isela’s family invited him over many times, and after awhile, he began to see Isela again.  In truth, I think she orchestrated it and made sure to catch him in a weak moment at a terrible time in his life to convince him he should marry her.  Having lost his strength and spirit, your father finally agreed.  It was the fastest wedding I’d ever heard of, especially for families of such social standing, but Isela didn’t want to miss out on marrying him again, and they wed less than a year after your mother’s death.  I think he was hoping that it would also help you to have another woman in the house.  I have always believed she used you as a way to persuade him to remarry, that you needed a mother.”

“Ha!  Isela hated me.  She sent me away to a boarding school as soon as she could.  I tried so hard to welcome her into the family, thinking she could bring us back together again, but she never wanted me.”

“I know
mijita
.  Shortly after she moved in, if you’ll remember, Yolanda and I moved out.  We’d held our silence as long as we could, but one day, we overheard her talking to your father about sending you away to boarding school.  We were incensed and made no secret of it to her or to your father.  We were fired within the week.  To your papá’s credit, he went after us and sent us to live here, asking us to keep it a secret.  Since we were usually the only ones who came with you on your visits here with your parents, Isela never found out about this place or that your dad had rehired us.”

“Too bad he couldn’t have extended his sympathies to his daughter.”  Summer was still filled with bitterness at those painful memories of so long ago.

 “I don’t know if Isela has ever regretted talking your father into marrying her, but I believe if nothing else, she has been humbled to some extent.  By now, she must see that she will never replace Sunny in your father’s affections.  I only hope she has stopped blaming your mother.  And you.  Feelings are what they are, and they are not under a person’s control.  Actions, yes, but emotions, no.  They can change, but they never cease to exist, no matter how much we sometimes wish they would.  Your love for Gabe is a perfect example.  You didn’t want to love him, but you do.”