Cause For Scandal (Dynasties: The Elliotts #3)(16)
Author: Anna DePalo

“How is she doing?” Summer asked quietly. Her aunt, her uncle Michael’s wife, had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a double mastectomy.

“Karen is never one to complain. I’m thankful the cancer hasn’t spread, but the chemotherapy that she’s taking as a precaution is going to take its toll.”

Summer knew her cousins were concerned about their mother, whose diagnosis remained guarded. The only bright light, Summer reflected, was that her cousin Gannon had just gotten married, and his younger brother, Tag, had recently gotten engaged to a wonderful woman. The celebrations had given her aunt something to look forward to.

Of course, Summer’s own wedding, or nonwedding, was a different story.

She nearly jumped when her grandfather entered the room.

“Well,” Patrick Elliott said in his usual booming voice, “if it isn’t the return of the vagabond grandchild.”

Unlike his wife, her grandfather showed gruff affection at best, but Summer was well used to it. She rose from her seat and kissed him on the cheek. “Granddad, you know I was here just last weekend.” Settling back into her chair, she added, “It’s just me this time, though. Scarlet decided to stay in the city.”

Patrick Elliott took his seat as Olive, humming, came in with their bowls of chicken soup. “So how’s your vagabond sister?”

Summer let out a half laugh.

“Patrick, you’re incorrigible,” Maeve said. “Stop teasing the poor girl.”

Patrick’s only response was a slight movement of his bushy eyebrows as he raised a spoonful of soup to his lips. Summer knew that if there was one person who could bring her grandfather to heel, it was Gram. He adored her.

Over lunch, they talked about current events and Maeve’s charity work, as well as happenings in and around the Hamptons.

Just when Summer was starting to relax, however, and they were finishing up lunch over fresh berries and cream, Patrick nodded at her hand and said, “What happened to your sparkler?”

Darn. Leave it to her grandfather to zero in on her ringless hand. He’d probably noticed as soon as he’d come in and sat down, but, in typical Patrick Elliott fashion, he’d let his victim relax before going in for the kill.

Gulp. “I’ve called off the engagement.”

“Have you now?” her grandfather asked pleasantly, as if they were discussing the weather.

“Oh, Summer,” Maeve said. “Why?”

The million-dollar question, she thought. She wished she had a good answer. She knew that saying she’d lost her virginity to a globe-trotting musician whom she barely knew wouldn’t play well with her Irish-Catholic grandparents.

“Um—” She cleared her throat. “I realized John and I just weren’t suited for each other.”

Maeve’s brow furrowed. “But he seemed like such a nice man, and you two were like two peas in a pod.”

“I think that was part of the problem,” she said. “We had no spark. We were too alike.” Good grief, this was an awkward conversation to be having with her grandparents.

Patrick removed his napkin from his lap and set it down next to his plate, shaking his head. “Too alike? In my day, you met a fella with a steady job, you got married. You didn’t worry that being responsible adults made you too alike.”

Summer groaned inwardly.

“Patrick, do be quiet.” Maeve patted her hand. “It’s all right, dear.”

Patrick stood. “I need to get back to work—like a responsible adult.”

Watching her grandfather’s retreating back, Summer said, “I guess I was speaking a foreign language to him.”

Maeve sighed. “He’ll get over it.”

“I know he liked John.” She looked at her grandmother. “They’re similar in many ways. Smart, ambitious, hard-working.” She hoped her grandfather didn’t think her rejection of John amounted to a rejection of his values as well.

“He just wants to see you happy,” Maeve said, “and he understands John.” She added, her eyes twinkling, “After all, your grandfather’s been a devoted husband for fifty-seven years. Naturally he’s an expert on the formula for marital bliss.”

“Naturally,” Summer concurred.

Then they shared a laugh.

Thank God for her grandmother, Summer thought. She could defuse almost any situation, which was one of the many reasons that she also made an excellent hostess.

Not that breaking the news to her grandfather had been all that bad. Within the range of Granddad’s reactions to news that he didn’t want to hear, his response had been mild. It was almost as if, notwithstanding his subsequent bluster, her news hadn’t come as a complete surprise to him. She wondered, too, whether she’d only imagined the flicker of respect in his eyes for a moment.

“I’ll never understand Granddad.”

Summer didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Maeve said, “He has his reasons.”

She looked at her grandmother. “You know the atmosphere at EPH has become downright chilly since he made it a competition among the magazines to name his successor. It’s true that I haven’t felt it much because Uncle Shane remains fairly easygoing, but I know Scarlet’s felt the pressure at work because Aunt Finny is working harder than ever to make sure Charisma is at the head of the pack.”

She didn’t have to mention the strained relationship between her aunt Finny and her grandfather. She knew Granddad had mellowed with age, but he’d always run a tight ship. While building his empire, he’d sometimes cared more for appearances than for his family, and he’d paid for his mistakes by alienating some of his children and grandchildren.

Maeve looked sad. “I’d hoped Patrick’s challenge wouldn’t put additional strain on his relationship with Finny.”

“But why?” Summer asked. “I just don’t understand why he had to set up this rivalry within the family. It’s started to pull people apart.”

Maeve looked thoughtful for an instant, then said quietly, “As I said, your grandfather has his reasons for doing what he does, and he’ll never back down on this one. I have faith that the family will pull through without falling apart.”

Summer wasn’t so sure.

She was alone again with Zeke in his hotel room and keenly aware of him. Summer tried to forget the last time she had been here.

Today he was dressed in blue jeans, a white T-shirt and an open button-down shirt. Of course, now she knew what lay beneath those clothes: hard, sculpted muscles, smooth sun-kissed skin, powerful thighs….