Free Forever Summer by Elaine Dyer Page B

have an after party.  Gabe had Pablo call Summer and the nanny to invite them both to the party.  The nanny accepted, and Summer declined.  No surprises there.  Summer did, however, agree to stay with Marisol, so the nanny could attend.  Perfect.
     
    For the first time ever, Gabe made only a brief appearance at the party and slipped out rather than stay and hang out with his people.  When Celia asked Araceli where Gabe was, she responded that she’d just seen him, and that she was sure he’d be right back.  Araceli knew exactly what, or more aptly who, Celia was after.  The woman had wanted to sink her claws into Gabe for years.  Gabe should have set her straight long ago, but being an oblivious male, he continued to let her ride his coattails.  She didn’t like the woman.  Summer on the other hand …
     
    Gabe grabbed a bottle of champagne on his way out and went upstairs to his room.  Using his key to let himself in, he found Summer on the couch reading.  She looked up as he entered the room and immediately tensed, closing her book.
     
    “Gabe!  I thought you’d be at the party.  Is everything alright?”
     
    “Sure, everything is fine.  I thought I’d check on Marisol and bring you some champagne.  It was so thoughtful of you to agree to babysit, I thought it was the least I could do.”
     
    “Oh, no problem.  Marisol is asleep, of course, but by all means, go right in.  Not that you need my permission of course.  Of course you don’t.”
     
    “Summer, you seem a little nervous.  Is everything alright with you?”
     
    “Of course, everything’s fine.  Great, in fact...  I mean I’m a little tired, but I’ve had a busy couple of days.”
     
    “Yes, you have.  I was surprised you weren’t meeting your cousin again tonight.”
     
    “How did you know Carlos was my cousin?  He’s working, so I won’t be able to see him again this trip.”
     
    “Family is very important to you, is it not?”  Gabe continued to advance toward the couch, and stopped across from Summer with only the coffee table between them.  “Shall I open this?”
     
    “Ah, sure.  Didn’t you want to check on Marisol?”
     
    “Yes, I will shortly.  We were talking about family?”
     
    “No, you were talking about family.”
     
    “Actually, I was asking about the importance of family and how you felt about it.  You seem very close to your grandmother and cousin.  I was wondering if the rest of your family was close, also.”  He popped the top off the champagne and went to the mini fridge and took out some strawberries he’d ordered earlier, carrying them over to the couch with two champagne flutes and taking the seat next to her.
     
    “I don’t usually like to talk about my family.  I suppose I’m like you that way.  In all the interviews I’ve ever read, there’s very little information given about your family.”
     
    “No, there’s not.  However, if you’ll recall, I shared the sad but true story of my brief marriage with you.  The least you could do is share a little of your story with me, ¿ que no ?”
     
    “Not much to tell, really.  My mother died when I was eight.  My father remarried less than a year later, and I went away to Switzerland to attend a very exclusive boarding school for girls from affluent families.  From there, I went to college, and afterwards I started working.”
     
    “When you tell it like that, there isn’t much to tell, you’re right.  What are you leaving out?  How did a little girl raised by a mother aptly named Sunny become such a serious woman?  Have you ever tried strawberries and champagne mixed together?  Here, have some.”  He held a dripping strawberry to her mouth, and she took a bite.  He watched a drop of champagne drip down her chin and caught it with his fingertip, bringing it to his own mouth.  “What do you think?”
     
    “Think?”  Summer couldn’t take her eyes off of his mouth, even after he extracted his