When Summer had gone to school for her MBA, Lena had been supportive. They’d also just started their business though. They were both busy. Lena still worked at O’Shea’s as well. The difference, though, was that Lena was better at managing her time than Summer. Summer needed more time to study. Lena gave it to her. But it also caused some friction when Summer had to choose studying for a test or working on a paper over spending time with her wife. Before she considered going to law school, she’d been clear that Lena came first. Lena would focus her time on the investment firm and quit O’Shea’s, which was long overdue. Summer would go to school and only work part-time. That would give them more time together. Since she’d gone back to school though, that time had been hard to come by. Summer knew that Seth needed her to accept this job. She also knew that she couldn’t have everything. And she would not risk losing her wife over any company or law school.

  “We will need an answer if we’re going to announce it to the media,” Al said.

  “Summer, it’s okay. We’ll figure something else out,” Seth added.

  “I’ll do it, but only for three months.”

  “Three months?” Al asked.

  “I’ll give you ninety days. Announce me as the interim CEO, start looking for the permanent one, and I’ll help you find them. I’ll do the network interviews and, likely, the congressional session where we’ll have to defend our practices, considering what Facebook just went through. I’ll do that, but only for ninety days.”

  “And then?” Seth asked with a small smile.

  “Then, I go home.” Summer sat down. “I will be pushing back law school and leaving my own company temporarily to do this. I’m not doing this forever, and I don’t stay beyond ninety days,” she added.

  “Very well,” Al agreed.

  ◆◆◆

  “You told me you were going to tell them no, Summer,” Lena said as they sat at their dining room table and ate dinner. “You told me this morning before you left.”

  “Babe, I know. I’m sorry. I saw Seth sitting there, and he just looked so defeated. He doesn’t have you, like I do. He only has me.”

  “Summer, you literally took a job without talking to me about it first,” Lena said as she stood with her only half-finished plate. “What the hell am I supposed to think about that?”

  “It was wrong not to talk to you first, but they were all sitting there expecting an answer at the meeting. It’s only for ninety days.”

  “That’s three months,” Lena argued and made her way into the open kitchen where she placed her plate in the sink. “Three months of what? Do we live here now? Should I ask Charlie to go to our house in Chicago and pack more of our stuff to send it?”

  “You don’t have to stay,” Summer said. “I do, but you can go back home. I’ll fly home on the weekends or something. I’ll go to the Chicago office at some point.”

  “So, we’re in a long-distance marriage now, Summer? I live in Chicago; you live in San Francisco?” Lena placed her palms on the counter, and her teal eyes glared at Summer. “I’m pissed, Summer. Can you tell?”

  “Yes,” Summer said softly and moved into the kitchen space. “I am sorry. Do you want me to take it back? I haven’t signed anything yet. I’ll call Seth now.”

  “What does that make me? I don’t want to be the person that ruins this company because you’re needed there. I don’t want Seth to hate me because I said no.”

  “Seth won’t hate you. Come on, babe. You know that.” Summer approached from behind Lena and wrapped her arms around her waist.

  “Don’t, Sum.” Lena pushed away. “I’m going to bed. I think I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight,” she added.

  “The guest room? Lena, really? Let’s just talk.”

  “Why? What’s the point? You seem to be making all the decisions for us these days. You decided to go back to law school and only asked me how I felt about it after your letter of acceptance came in. I made changes to my career in order to make sure our business is taken care of, and I quit O’Shea’s. Then, you decide we need to be here to help Seth. You skipped out on one of your classes yesterday, two of them today, and your study group. You told me this morning that you were only going to the meeting to turn them down officially. Then, you come home and tell me you’ve accepted the job. You’re going to be here for at least ninety days, and I’m just supposed to go back to Chicago and be without you for three months.” She let out a deep breath. “I am angry with you, Summer. I don’t like being angry with you. I need the night in the guest room.”

  Lena moved past her without even saying goodnight. When Summer slid under the blanket of their bed hours later, it was without her wife for the first time in a long time. It had never happened when they were both in the same city. She knew she’d messed up big time and hated the fact that she’d chosen to help her brother over what she’d discussed with Lena, but she was between a rock and a hard place. She knew her dad would hate her leaving her brother without help. She couldn’t stand to think of him being disappointed in her. She rolled onto her side, facing Lena’s pillow, and pulled it to her to breathe in Lena’s scent as she tried to fall asleep.

  ◆◆◆

  “You left her there?” Charlie asked.

  “I didn’t leave her there. She stayed. I had to get back to work. I have meetings,” Lena replied. “And she made her choice.”

  “Lena, Summer loves you,” Hailey said as she sat next to her wife. She carried one of their twin girls with her. “Alyssa and Hannah had it easy. They had a boy and a girl. Our girls look so similar, we’ve decided Scarlet will always wear blue, and Sabrina is wearing green, at least until we can easily know which one is which.”

  “They’re so cute,” Lena replied.

  “And loud,” Charlie added. “Their lungs have to be over half their body, because they can scream when they’re unhappy,” she said.

  Charlie held little Scarlet closer to her as the baby slept. Jonah was playing with his big sister, Eden, on the floor of their living room, and Hailey was holding Sabrina while giving occasional glances in their direction to make sure they were behaving.

  “You guys look happy,” Lena said.

  “We are. We’re exhausted, but we’re happy. We also miss our favorite babysitters.” Charlie passed Scarlet to Hailey, who then passed Sabrina to Charlie.

  “I’m right here. I’m happy to donate my time to the baby holding cause. I could do without the screaming though,” Lena said.

  “Where’s Summer?” Hailey asked, knowing the answer.

  “At the office, probably,” Lena replied.

  “Probably?” Hailey asked.

  “Like I said, she chose to stay.”

  “What’s going on with you two?” Charlie asked.

  “She keeps making decisions for us. She never used to do that. She needed to get her MBA. I thought that was a great idea. I saw her less, but we worked it out. Then, she needed to go to law school. I did what I could to support her in that. Now, she needs to help her brother, and she’s putting off law school for a semester. I love her. I support her helping her brother and the company they started. What I don’t like is when she makes the decision without me. It impacts me more than anyone. I don’t get to spend time with my wife. She’s the most important thing in the world to me. I choose her time and time again. It just doesn’t seem like she’s choosing me these days.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Hi,” Summer greeted. “Can we FaceTime so I can look at you?”

  “I don’t really feel like being on video, Sum. It’s late. I’m in bed. I’m about to fall asleep. I have an early meeting tomorrow.”

  Lena was in bed. She was exhausted. She’d worked a fourteen-hour day before coming home and making dinner for one in her kitchen. She hadn’t done that in a while. She hadn’t been this upset with her wife in a while either; maybe ever. She’d worked a little more in the living room, lying on the sofa that she and Summer typically shared. She missed her wife. It was Thursday. Summer would be flying back to Chicago Friday afternoon. Then, things would be even more awkward. Lena wasn’t ready to forgive Summer for making the decision to return to the company. She also wasn’t ready to see Summer on the screen. She missed her though. She missed Summer like crazy.

  “I know I messed up, Lena. I know.” Summer sighed into the phone. “Please talk to me.”

  “I’m tired, Summer. I’ll see you tomorrow. Can we just talk then?”

  “No, babe. You’ve hardly spoken to me since you left. I get a goodnight, and that’s it. I know I didn’t talk to you about this, and that was wrong of me, but Seth needed me. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “You could have told the board you needed to discuss this with your wife,” Lena said. “Summer, I’m tired. I really don’t want to talk about this right now. Can we please say goodnight?”

  “I love you, Lena Taft.” Summer sighed again. “I love you so much.”

  “Maybe choose me next time then, Summer.”

  ◆◆◆

  “Seth, where are you?” Summer asked when she entered Seth’s house, closing the door behind her.

  “In here,” Seth replied from the living room.

  Summer walked in and found her brother sitting on the sofa, with three empty beer bottles in front of him and another half-finished one in his hand. She sat next to him and nodded toward the beer.

  “Drowning your sorrows?” she asked.

  “I’m unemployed. Do you realize I have never been unemployed? Ever since I was old enough, I worked. When we were kids, we needed the money. Then, in college, we started the company. I’ve never been without a job.”

  “Seth, you have like ten ideas for new companies. You’ll be back on your feet soon,” she said. “Or you can travel. You used to love traveling. I had to reel you back in every time you went off somewhere. Now, you can do whatever you want. You don’t need money. You don’t have a girlfriend or anything really tying you here. You can go whenever you want, Seth.”

  “I don’t want to just run off,” Seth replied. He took a drink of his beer and added, “I want to stay here, Sum. I’m too old to just run away from my problems for once. I’m ready for what comes next.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I have a few ideas. I could launch a new company overnight without a problem, but I don’t know that that’s what I want to do either.”

  “What do you want to do, Seth? Keep in mind, you just resigned. You don’t have to answer right now.”

  “I don’t know,” he replied. “I think I have an idea, but I need some time to think about it.”

  “Then, take the time. There’s nothing wrong with that. The company will handle what’s happened. Max will go to jail for violating about fifteen laws. I’m working on finding a new, permanent CEO. You’ll find your new company. It’ll be fine, Seth.”

  She knew she didn’t exactly sound convincing as she laid her head back against the sofa. He turned to her and looked her up and down.

  “What’s really going on, Sum?”

  “Nothing. Why?” She met his eyes that looked so much like her own.

  “You’re not you. You seem different.”

  “Different how?”

  “Not happy.” He pointed at her. “You’re not happy.”

  “Not very happy, no.” She shrugged. “I’m back at the company and the job I left, Seth. My wife is across the country and thinks I chose you over her. She barely talks to me when I call her, and she hasn’t actually initiated a phone call since she left. I guess I’m lucky she even answers.”

  “Wait. What?” He placed his beer on the table next to the empty bottles. “You and Lena are having problems over this?”

  “Did you think she’d just be happy with me staying here for three months, postponing law school and not running the company she and I created like I promised?”

  “Why did you stay then?”

  “Because you needed me, Seth. You’re my brother. You needed me here.” She leaned forward. “I haven’t seen my wife in days, I’m not a law student anymore, and I am shirking my other business responsibilities to be here for you.”

  “Sum, I’m sorry.” He leaned forward matching her posting. “I didn’t think.”

  “You don’t usually think, Seth. You freak out. You even overreact sometimes. Every time though, I come running.”

  “And now I’ve caused you to have a fight with Lena?”

  “A fight would mean she’s actually talking to me,” Summer said. “I’ll see her tomorrow, I guess.”

  “What do you think she’s going to do when you get home?”

  “I don’t know.” She paused and lifted Seth’s beer to her lips to take a drink. “I don’t think she’ll leave me, but I don’t know how many more times she’s going to forgive me either.”

  “Summer, go home,” Seth replied as he stood.

  “What? You’re the one that asked me to come here.”

  “I won’t be the reason you’re fighting with your wife. I won’t cause Lena to leave you because of my mistake,” Seth exclaimed. “Go home, Summer.”

  “I’m the CEO, Seth.” Summer stood too.

  “I’m sorry I called you. I shouldn’t have. I should’ve manned up years ago. I’ve been a bad brother to you. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re not a bad brother, Seth.”

  “Summer, I love you. You don’t owe me anything, and I need to stop treating you like you do.”

  “Dad would–”

  “Dad loved Lena. I think dad loved Lena more than he loved me there at the end. He would kill you if he found out you’d done anything to jeopardize your marriage, Summer. You know that. You know what losing mom did to him.”

  “I know. I remember,” she replied and lowered her eyes to the floor with the memory of her father.

  “Al has been on the board for six years. He’s the most senior. He can be the interim until we find a permanent one.”

  “Seth, I said I’d–”

  “Summer, go home.” Seth moved toward her and wrapped her up in a hug. “I’ll take care of this. I can do this without you. I’ll be okay. You don’t have to take care of me anymore.”

  “You–”

  “Will stick around,” he interrupted, pulling back out of the hug but holding onto her shoulders. “I won’t run off. I won’t avoid this. I’ll call Al tomorrow. I think he’s secretly been angling for this all along anyway. I’ll tell him you had to go for family reasons. I’ll take care of this.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Summer, you deserve to be happy. I don’t want you to feel like you have to take care of me. I’m the big brother. It’s my job to look out for you. You need me right now.”

  “I do?” she asked with a lifted eyebrow.

  “Yes, you need me to tell you to stop being stupid. Your wife is amazing. She loves you. Go home to her. I’ll be fine.”

  “Can I borrow the jet?”

  ◆◆◆

  Lena left the office later than she’d planned. She hated that she was avoiding going home. She knew Summer would be arriving no later than eight. It was already seven. She took the car service she and Summer still used and arrived home close to eight, with a few minutes to spare. She went inside the house and figured she’d hop in the shower to try to relax while she waited for Summer and the fight they’d undoubtedly have over her recent choices.

  When she walked in the direction of the kitchen though, she heard noises. Summer was already home. No shower to help her prepare for their inevitable fight after all. She dropped her bag on the floor in the hallway and headed into the kitchen. Summer was standing in front of the island, having heard Lena come in through the front door.

  “Hi, babe.” She smiled hesitantly.

  “I didn’t expect you home so early,” Lena said.

  “I would have been home sooner, but I had to take care of some stuff with Seth first,” she replied.

  “I bet,” Lena said. “I’m going to take a shower. I’m tired. Can we have this fight tomorrow instead?” She hooked her thumb toward the hall that led to the stairs. “Actually, I only get to see you for two days until you leave again. Maybe I’ll just pretend like everything’s okay so that I can enjoy my wife being home. We can fight later.”

  “Lena, I made grilled cheese sandwiches.” Summer took Lena’s hand and pulled her forward a little. “And I bought ice cream for sundaes after.”

  “We haven’t done that in a while,” Lena said. “But I’m–”

  “Tired. I know you’re tired, babe. That’s my fault.” Summer pulled on Lena’s other hand until she had their bodies nearly touching. “I love you, Lena Taft.”

  “I know you love me, Summer.” She let out a deep breath. “I don’t question that you love me.”

  “You question that I don’t choose you,” Summer said.

  “Only recently. I guess maybe for the past few years. It’s not all the time but, yes, sometimes you choose school or work or your brother, and I’m just left sitting there wondering when you’ll choose just me again. You used to always choose me, Sum. When will–”

  “Now,” Summer interrupted and pressed her head to Lena’s. “I choose you now. I choose you every day, Lena. When I wake up next to you, I choose you. When I fall asleep beside you, I choose you.”

  “That’s nice, Summer, but–”

  “I keep worrying about my dad,” Summer interrupted again.

  “What?” Lena pulled her body back and stared into Summer’s eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “I don’t want to disappoint him, Lena.”

  “How would you be disappointing him?”

  “I keep looking for that thing that will make me feel like he’d be proud of me.”

 

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