Meant for You (24 page)

“We'll try again in a little while,” Ryder said. “Hell, we'll keep calling them from all of our phones. They're bound to get annoyed eventually and answer just so we'll leave them alone. Are we sure their phones are on?”

“They didn't go directly to voice mail.” James paused and thought for a moment. “Maybe I'll call Selena and ask her to call.”

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Robert huffed. “Sometimes you still think too much like a cop. They're pissed off right now. You know how women get. Just let them have their time to pout. If they don't join us for dinner, then don't worry about it. By tomorrow, everything will be fine and back to normal. They'll join us for breakfast, Gabriella will do her daily check-in with the office and get us an update, and—”

“Gabriella needs to be back at the office,” Zach snapped. “I don't want her here. Don't bring her to breakfast, don't have her making calls. Send her back to Portland where she belongs. At her desk.” Four pairs of stunned eyes looked back at him. Zach was looking at the IV in his hand and wasn't aware of all of the glances being exchanged around him.

Ethan cleared his throat. “I'll…um…I'll talk to her in the morning.” Zach nodded slowly at his words. “Listen, buddy, why don't you get some sleep? This has been a long day for you, I'm sure. We're gonna go, and we'll plan on seeing you in the morning, okay?”

“Without Gabriella, right?” Zach asked, his eyes beginning to droop, his voice slurring.

Why
argue?
Ethan thought. “Without Gabriella. Sure.” He reached out and patted Zach's good shoulder and wished him a good night before stepping away from the bed. He walked to the door and watched as the others did the same, and then they all walked out of the room single file.

Out in the hall, they all sort of stopped and looked at one another. “What the hell was that about?” Ryder asked. “Gabriella has been his assistant for years. Since when has he been so hostile toward her?”

Ethan shook his head. “I have no idea. I only noticed something was off a couple of days before he left for the climb. He snapped at her and she snapped back. It wasn't anything dramatic enough for him to still be in a snit over.”

“What was it about?” William asked.

“Zach wanted to know where Summer was, and Gabriella refused to tell him.” He stopped and thought about it. “Actually, it was more like Zach wanted her to get Summer on the phone, and she refused. She said that it was a family problem, not a work one, and she wasn't going to get involved.”

“Makes sense,” William said.

“Not to Zach,” Ethan said as they all began to walk toward the elevator. “In his mind, when he asks—or tells—her to do something, she should do it. He's got a little bit of tyrant in him, and he really didn't like her telling him no.”

No one commented and when they stepped into the elevator, Ethan figured the subject was over.

“Do you think she'll leave?” William asked.

“Alaska or Montgomerys?”

William chuckled. “Take your pick.”

“She doesn't scare easily. I've watched her handle Zach for years, and his foul moods never had her walking toward the door.” He leaned against the elevator wall. “I think she'll probably head back to Portland. There's no point in her being here anymore anyway. We know Zach is safe and he's getting medical attention. If he is openly hostile toward her, she won't want to stick around and risk hindering his recovery. As for leaving Montgomerys? I don't see it happening. She's a company girl, and I think she likes the challenge of working with someone like Zach—no matter how much he ticks her off.”

“Maybe now that he's going to be incapacitated for a while he'll learn to appreciate her a little more,” William said slyly.

“Oh no,” Ryder mumbled.

“What? What's the matter?” James asked.

“I can just see the wheels in his head turning now.” He nodded toward his uncle. “Don't even go there. Zach isn't going to fall in line with your matchmaking schemes, so just forget about it.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” William said, feigning innocence.

“Oh, please. We all know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking Zach and Gabriella will work out as a couple—especially in the right circumstances.” Ryder snorted with laughter. “If you think that's going to happen, then you really don't know Zach. If he were interested in Gabriella, he would have acted on it by now. And if you're itching to play matchmaker so badly, work on Ethan here. He's been sullen and pouty and damn-near sighing with loneliness.”

“Hey!” Ethan interrupted, and James made a choked sound in the corner.

“He may not be blood related, but he's practically family. Find someone for
him
!” Ryder said.

William shook his head and chuckled at how cute and clever his nephews all thought they were. If only they knew. “First of all, I would not even dream of setting Gabriella up with Zach. All I'm saying is maybe a little time apart will repair their working relationship.” He shrugged. “I think Zach is going to need somebody who is outdoorsy and adventurous just like he is. And from what I can tell, that is not Gabriella.” He made a face as if even the thought of the two of them together was offensive. “Besides, Zach is going to be busy getting better and getting rehabilitated for a good six months or so. He's safe from anything I might have planned.”

“Well, good,” Ryder said, seemingly relieved. “The last thing he needs right now is you springing potential wives on him.”

“You make it sound like it's a bad thing, and yet you and James and my boys are all happily married now. Thanks to me.”

They all laughed. “You keep saying that, old man,” Ryder said with a laugh, “but I keep telling you Casey and I were already on the right path. You had nothing to do with it. Same with James and Selena.”

“And as for our boy Ethan here,” William said with a twinkle in his eye, “I'll have to think on that one. I have a feeling all of the pouting and sighing you've noticed means he's already found someone. And doesn't quite know it yet.”

Robert and Ryder laughed. Ethan broke out in a sweat while James glared at him. “I think you'll just have to deal with the fact that this branch of the Montgomerys isn't as easy to manipulate as yours, Uncle William,” Ryder said.

William smiled serenely as the elevator doors opened on the main floor. “Whatever you say,” he said pleasantly and stepped out into the lobby.

* * *

It was after eleven and Ethan was getting worried. He knew Summer had been upset earlier when she'd left Zach's room. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Maybe he shouldn't have laughed; maybe he should have just kept his damn mouth shut and let her hash it out with her brother rather than saying anything at all. But who could really blame him? The idea of Summer going to fix a multimillion-dollar deal with someone like Morrison was almost too comical even to consider.

He looked at the clock again. She was normally here by now. He went to sit down on the bed. Okay, so maybe she was more than a little upset and she was punishing him with the cold shoulder. Not that he didn't deserve it. The thought of spending the night alone, however, was completely unappealing.

Should he go and apologize? Should he take the chance of being discovered and walk across the hall and try to make things right? Ethan thought about how long he'd been back in the room and realized he'd been listening for any signs of life from across the hall and hadn't heard a sound. Not that he could normally hear anything, but if the girls had gone out as Robert had suggested, maybe he would have heard their return.

With a sigh, he reached for the TV remote and turned it on. Maybe he should just let it be for tonight. With any luck, things would look clearer in the morning, and he could figure out a way to talk to Gabriella and convince her it was for the best for her to go back to Portland and then convince Summer he didn't mean to act like such a jerk earlier.

He wasn't sure which one was going to be the harder sell.

He was tired. Tired of trying to make everyone happy except himself. Ethan tossed the remote aside, stacked his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. Life had gotten too damn complicated and he wasn't sure what he had to do to get it back on track. He thought he was going in the right direction when he stood his ground with Zach and backed out of going on the climb.

And then he found Summer in Alaska.

So the Montgomerys were going to be upset about him and Summer? So what! He'd known them long enough to know it didn't take much to get them worked up, but also that they didn't hold grudges for long. So what was he worrying so much about? Why was he taking the coward's way out and making excuses?

And as for trying to protect Summer, hadn't he witnessed her bravery when she stood up to her father just a few days ago? At first he had been shocked that she was being so vocal and defiant, and then he could do nothing but stand there in awe of her.

Time and time again, Summer had proven to be strong, confident…brave. Ethan thought he had those qualities too, but the last few weeks had shown him how wrong he was. What good was it to think you were all of those things if, when it came time to actually prove it, you clammed up and took the easy way out? Self-loathing filled him. This was not the man he wanted to be—not the man he had been raised to be.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Ethan knew what he had to do. He would let matters settle for tonight but come tomorrow, things were going to be different. Tomorrow he would get up and be the man he always thought he was—the man he should be—and not worry about what everyone else was thinking or what they wanted.

He wanted to be with Summer.

He was in love with Summer, and he was tired of hiding that fact and lying to everyone—including himself.

When morning came and it was time to walk down to breakfast, he was going to walk into that dining room hand in hand with her and deal with whatever the consequences were—no matter what anyone had to say. Ethan Reed was many things. And he refused to list “being a coward” as one of them.

And he was tired of not claiming the woman he loved.

He was almost too excited to sleep. Right now he wanted to go to Summer's room and bang on the door until she answered and tell her that he was in love with her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He wasn't foolish enough to believe it would be that easy to win her over—he had been a colossal jackass earlier—but Ethan was confident in what they felt for one another.

If he had to beg and grovel, then he would. Hell, he'd even do it in front of Gabriella just to prove that he wasn't afraid, and then he'd do it all again tomorrow in front of her family just to reinforce his sincerity. She'd have to believe him then.

As he relaxed back on the bed, a smile crossed his face as excitement coursed through him. He'd been on many adventures in his life and he was used to the anticipation that went along with them. But this? Getting ready to finally tell Summer how he felt? He had a feeling this was the greatest adventure he had ever embarked on, and he couldn't wait to get started.

The next morning, Ethan sprang out of bed with a sense of purpose. All night he had dreamed of this moment, and he quickly went about getting ready so he could finally look at Summer, touch Summer, and tell her he loved her.

Now, standing in the hallway, Ethan looked at the strange man standing in a bathrobe and profusely apologized.
What
the
hell?
Before he could ask who he was and what he was doing in Summer and Gabriella's room, the other occupant in the room—also not Summer or Gabriella—appeared and begged the man to come back to bed. The man shut the door and Ethan immediately jumped into action.

Running down the hall, he punched the down button for the elevator but immediately decided it was taking too long. Turning, he quickly sprinted to the stairwell. He was breathless by the time he reached the lobby, but he was frantic. Slamming his hands down on the concierge counter, he demanded to speak to someone in charge.

“Is there something I can help you with, Mr. Reed?” the impeccably dressed gentleman behind the counter asked with a serene smile.

“Miss Montgomery and Miss Martine? Do you know where they are?”

The man stepped over to his computer and typed for several seconds. “It appears they checked out yesterday afternoon, sir. If you'd like, I can inquire if anyone knows where they were heading to.”

Dread lay heavy in Ethan's gut. This was not good. “That won't be necessary,” he said as he tried to catch his breath. How the hell was he supposed to tell Summer how he felt if she wasn't here? He needed to say it to her face, for her to see in his eyes that he was serious. He wanted a life with her.

Over his shoulder he heard voices and immediately recognized them as the Montgomerys. They were obviously heading to the dining room for breakfast. Ryder spotted him first. “Ethan? Is everything okay? You look a little out of sorts.”

“Summer and Gabriella are gone,” he blurted out. “They checked out yesterday afternoon. I have no idea where they are.” His head dropped, and he felt defeated. Before he could say anything else, James had him by the throat up against the wall.

“You son of a bitch!” he sneered. “What did you do to her? What did you do to make her leave?”

Ryder jumped in and pulled James away. “What the hell are you talking about? What's going on?” By now Robert and William had joined them and watched as James struggled in his brother's grip. “James! Tell me what's going on!”

“Him!” he shouted and pointed at Ethan. “Summer's gone and it's his fault!”

Ryder looked over at Ethan. “Ethan? What is he talking about? Why would my sister leave because of you?”

James wouldn't let him answer. “He's been sleeping with her! Dammit, I knew I should have put a stop to it. I knew I should have kicked your ass the other day! I knew you were going to hurt her!” He pulled out of Ryder's grasp. “I never should have trusted you!”

“Wait a minute,” Robert said as he came to stand in the middle of the melee. He turned to Ethan. “Is this true? Are you sleeping with my daughter?” His eyes narrowed at Ethan, and he used his most intimidating glare in hopes of scaring the truth out of him.

“I'm in love with her,” Ethan said evenly. “I'm in love with your daughter, sir. I have been for a long time. We didn't want to say anything right away because of everything that was going on with Zach. We didn't want to upset anyone.”

“You,” James spat. “
You
didn't want to tell anyone because you knew we'd all tell you to back the hell off.”

Robert ignored his son's rantings and kept his attention on Ethan. “What did you do to make her leave? Did you break things off with her?”

Ethan shook his head. “No. I would never do that.” He paused. “Zach and I were discussing an issue back at the office in front of Summer, and she volunteered to go back to Portland to meet with the client.” His shoulders slouched. “We, um…we kind of laughed at her. We accused her of not knowing what she was talking about and joked about her job within the company.”

“I see.” Robert turned to James. “And you knew about this? About this relationship between Ethan and your sister?”

James nodded. “I should have stopped it. I confronted Ethan, but I should have gone to Summer and made her see reason. Now she's off somewhere, hurting most likely, and it's all his fault.”

Robert then turned to Ryder. “How about you? Did you know about this?”

Ryder shook his head and held up his hands. “This is all brand-new information to me.”

Lastly, he turned to his brother and noticed the smirk on his face. “Do I even need to ask?”

William shrugged. “I plead the fifth.”

“Oh, come on now. You're honestly going to stand there and not take credit for any of this? Are you telling me that you haven't been orchestrating this since we first thought to send Summer to Portland?”

“Well…maybe.”

“That's what I thought.” With more annoyance than anything else, Robert turned to Ethan, his glare no less intimidating than it was a minute ago. “When was the last time you spoke to Summer?”

“When she was in Zach's room yesterday. She left, saying she was going to check on Gabriella. I didn't think anything of it. She was smiling and even laughed along with us. I had no idea she was upset. Then, when she didn't answer any of our calls last night…”

“Or show up at your room,” James said snidely.

Ethan sighed. “Or show up at my room, I thought maybe she was still pouting about what had happened. I didn't even consider the possibility that she had left.”

“Then you have no idea where she might be?”

Ethan shook his head.

“Wait a minute, didn't Zach tell Gabriella to go back to Portland?” Ryder asked. “Maybe Summer decided to go with her. That would be my first guess.”

For a long moment, Robert considered it and then closed his eyes wearily and reached up to rub his temples. “If she's as hardheaded as the rest of us, I'd say she not only went back to Portland, but she's moving ahead with meeting this client you laughed at her about.” Reaching for his phone, he called his pilot to confirm his suspicions. He walked away while he talked.

Ryder stepped up to Ethan and stared him in the eye. “You've got a lot of nerve, you know that, right?”

Ethan nodded.

“If Summer is hurt, if she's upset because of you, there won't be anyplace you'll be able to hide where we won't find you.”

Ethan nodded again. “If she is hurt and upset over me, then I won't hide. I'll take whatever you think I deserve because I'll deserve it all and more.” His heart ached at the thought of Summer leaving because of him. “I never wanted to hurt her. I never intended things to go this far.”

“Yeah, well…they did,” Ryder said before turning and walking over to where his father was still speaking on the phone.

Though he was certain James was going to come back over and threaten him some more, Ethan was surprised to see him walk over to his father and brother. Ethan followed his progress across the lobby and when he turned back, William was standing right in front of him. He braced himself for the lecture.

“I hope you're not going to let them intimidate and badger you like that all the time,” William remarked.

Confusion crossed Ethan's face.

“I mean, you know they're going to try to throw their weight around and make you feel inferior. Don't let them. Summer deserves more from the man she loves.”

Ethan shook his head. “How can you be so sure she loves me?”

William placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Because I know my niece, and I've known for a long time she has feelings for you. I also knew that you were the perfect man for her. Don't let me down.” Then he removed his hand and walked away.

What
the…?

It took a minute for Ethan to snap out of it and walk over to the rest of the group. Robert was putting his phone away. “Well, just as we suspected, Mark flew Summer and Gabriella back to Portland yesterday and then was given instructions to get a good night's sleep before heading back here to us.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “I'm not sure if that was Summer or Gabriella's doing. Either way, he's getting ready to leave Portland within the hour. Let's go grab some breakfast before heading over to see Zach.” He paused and asked his sons and brother to get them a table in the restaurant and then looked directly at Ethan when they were alone. “You and I will be flying back to Portland this afternoon and hopefully keeping Summer from making a bigger mess of this Morrison deal than it already is.”

And just like that, they were fine.

“Yes, sir,” he said and watched as Robert walked away to join the others at their table.

Ethan had agonized and worried for weeks, and in the end there was nothing more to it. Disappointment filled him—not because there weren't more fights or arguments, but because he had let himself believe differently. Because he'd expected the worst, he'd wasted precious time with her and ultimately had pushed Summer away. There was no way he could ever forgive himself for his cowardly behavior. But if Summer were willing to listen to him and give him another chance, Ethan vowed to make sure he never gave her reason to doubt him ever again.

* * *

Zach took the news of Ethan and Summer's relationship the worst. Even more so than James. He tried to jump out of the bed to throttle Ethan, and if it hadn't clearly been so painful for him, it would have been comical.

“You son of a bitch!” he shouted. “All this time you've been playing go-between for me and Summer and you were sleeping with her! I trusted you! I trusted you with her! What the hell's the matter with you? I should kill you!”

“Zach,” Robert warned.

“No!” he shouted. “This is what you do to a friend? You take advantage of his sister? You use her? And you do it all behind my back?” He fell back against the pillows on his bed and grimaced with pain. “She's why you didn't go on the climb, isn't she? All those bullshit reasons you gave me were lies. You stayed behind so you could screw my sister!”

“That's not true!” Ethan yelled back. “My reasons for not going on the climb were true. Everything I said to you that day was the truth. But if you're asking me if Summer and I were already involved, then yes. We were. I tried, man, I really tried not to let anything happen between us. And I put you first, Zach. I hurt Summer because I was putting my friendship with you first.”

“Don't you dare try to put any of this mess on me,” Zach spat, seething. “You know you're not good enough for her. Hell, no one is! You just proved it by sneaking around behind all of our backs.”

“If I came to you and told you that I wanted to date your sister, you're telling me you would have said yes?”

“Hell no! And I would have kicked your ass for even asking! You should have stayed away from her!”

“I couldn't! Don't you get it?”

Zach growled with frustration. “You just…you shouldn't have snuck around. We should have known.”

“It was nobody's damn business! Do you tell everyone in your family who you're sleeping with? Do you have to get everyone's approval before getting involved with someone?”

“It's not the same thing!”

“The hell it's not!” Looking around the room, Ethan decided the only way to get his point across was to show that he wasn't the only one to make a stupid decision in his life. “Did you ever tell Ryder you slept with Cheryl Mackie the summer we all took up surfing?”

“Dude!” Ryder interrupted. “What the hell?”

Zach ignored him.

“Or did you ever tell your father it was you who took Mindy O'Brien skinny-dipping and that's why her father backed out of those contract negotiations?”

“Zach?” Robert asked. “Is that true?”

Zach glared at Ethan before turning to his father. “That was ten years ago. Seriously? You're going to give me crap for it now?”

“It was a big contract! How could you have been so irresponsible?”

“I can't believe we're even talking about this,” Zach mumbled.

“But you see my point?” Ethan asked. “We've all been there. We've all gotten involved with people when we knew we shouldn't and yet we couldn't help ourselves. The only difference here is that I
love
Summer. I want a life with her, a future.” He looked around the room, at all of the Montgomerys he had been so scared to have to deal with. “I'm going to have a future with her. As soon as we get back to Portland, if I have to beg her to forgive me, then I'll do it. For far too long I let my fear of this exact moment keep me from telling her how I felt. Well, I'm not afraid anymore. There isn't anything any one of you can say to stop me.”

For a long moment he stood there and silently dared anyone to try.

“What if I tell you if you pursue this relationship with my sister, you're fired?” Zach asked with a low and deadly tone.

Ethan stepped close to the bed and stared his friend down. “Then I'd say good luck finding another vice president. There's nothing you can threaten me with. There's nothing you can do or say to change the way I feel for her. I'm just hoping I'm not too late and Summer still feels the same way about me.”

“And if she doesn't?” Zach asked.

That was definitely not something Ethan wanted to have to contend with. “Then I'll change her mind.”

“What if I forbid it?” Robert asked from the other side of Zach's bed.

“Then I'd have to respectfully tell you to mind your own business,” he said confidently. “Summer's a grown woman, not a child, and she is free to make her own decisions. If she turns me down, if she's decided she can't forgive me and I can't change her mind, then I will gracefully bow out and walk away. Away from her, and away from Montgomerys. But not forever. I'll never give up on her, sir. You can forbid it all you want, but I love your daughter more than anyone else possibly can, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving it.”