Mad Summer Love

The Story

Summer was sitting in a taxi, looking out the window at the city going by. A tear slid down her cheek as she remembered what she had with Maddox. She didn't ask for the assignment, but here she was, on her way to see the one man she never thought she'd see again.

As the car slowed down and pulled up to his house, she stepped out, taking a deep breath. She straightened out her black skirt and made her ascent up the stairs, a feat so great for her that it caused her to feel as if she were climbing Mount Everest. She wanted answers, but that was not what she was there for. This was an assignment and she needed to remember that.

As the door opened, she saw a man standing there who seemed to be the butler.

“Could you tell…,” she swallowed hard, trying to force out the name she hadn't said in years. “Maddox Altera that Summer Rayne is here from The Daily Reporter?”

Maddox was pouring over documents at his desk when one of his staff announced the journalist had arrived. Without looking up, he waved a hand indicating that she could be let through. He still wasn't sure this was a good idea, but the business had changed since he took over. He was tired of the scrutiny from every federal agency in the country and the public perception was no longer good for profits.

Still immersed in his work, he heard her entrance, but continued to read. “Please, Miss Ray…” The word caught in his throat when he glanced up to point her toward a chair on the other side of the desk. “Summer?” he asked, immediately standing.

Summer strolled in and walked over to the seat he had indicated and sat down, crossing her long, bare legs and pulling out her notebook. “Hello, Mr. Altera. I'm Summer Rayne and I'm here to interview you for a piece we're doing.”

She looked up at him and smiled, but it was a cold smile, a forced smile. She was here on business, she kept reminding herself. “Now, where shall we begin?”

Maddox couldn't help but stare. It had been years since he had seen her and she was as beautiful as he remembered. He had tried to keep track of her for a while, but she seemed to drop off the planet, now he knew why. She dropped her last name. It wasn't all that was different though, the way she looked at him, that was also new. Summer was smiling at him, but it was an expression that didn’t reach her eyes. He saw only coldness there and it hit Maddox in the chest like a knife. He wanted to apologize to her, to tell her everything, but those weren't the words that came out.

“Of course, Miss Rayne.” Maddox spoke with a cool confidence, betraying no emotion, a practiced gift from a time when doing so might have cost him everything. “Where would you like to begin?” he asked as he sat back down. “As I told your editor, I envision this as a way to tell the city that I am not my father. My businesses are all very legal and no one gets hurt. When he died, I changed things, albeit slower than some would have liked, but these things take time.”

Summer listened to him speak as if nothing had happened between them and it hit her hard.

So, his father finally died. He was a bastard, but he was his father.

“I'm sorry about your father,” she said softly, memories of her mother's funeral flashing across her mind.

He had taken over the family business after all. All of those days he said he didn't want to take part in it and yet, here he was running the whole damn operation.

Summer cleared her throat, in turn, clearing her thoughts. “So, tell me about the improvements you have made,” she requested as she began taking notes.

“Yes. He died 10 years ago, near the end of May. The family managed to keep it out of the papers. I took over then, I didn't plan for it, but my sister, Sophia, and my brother, Francis, were still children and my mother couldn't do it alone…,” Maddox trailed off, it wasn't the question she had asked.

Stick to the questions, he reminded himself.

He cleared his throat. “To answer your original question, we have made a lot of improvements in the business model. All of our finances come from legitimate sources, taxes are paid and our more questionable side deals have been terminated.”

Summer's head snapped up as she heard him say the words May. Was he trying to tell her what happened that day after Prom? She shifted nervously in her seat. Did she confront him about it? Did she stick to her professional questions? She bit her lip as she wrote down his response, but in the end, she couldn't take it.

“I'm sorry. I thought I could do this,” she said, standing up. “I need to go,” she said as she gathered up her things and headed for the door, practically running.

Maddox sat back in his chair, unsure of what he expected. Seeing her had thrown him off guard, he hadn't intended to give her that little glimpse into the events ten years ago. As collected as he pretended to be, he was awash with emotions and he desperately wanted her to understand, to know the truth. He was frozen with indecision, but he couldn't let her go, not again.

“Summer?!” exclaimed a squealing voice from the foyer. “Oh my God. Is that you?”

Maddox recognized Sophia's voice. Perfect timing, little sister.