Chapter 13

Summer

Dee sat with me at a small table outside Mel's Café and watched me play with my salad. I pretended not to notice. Eventually, she drew her brows together, dropped her fork, and glared at me.

"Out with it. What's wrong?"

I sighed. Where to start? "Nothing. I'm sorry. I'm fine." Dee didn't look convinced. "Okay, but don't tell anyone. Got it?"

She leaned forward, her eyes round in panic. "Summer, what's going on?"

As if expecting someone to approach us, I glanced at the other diners sitting at their tables. No one looked familiar. "My mother showed up at my house the other day."

Dee flew back in her chair as if she'd been slapped. "No way. What did she want?"

"To take my house." I rubbed my forehead, relieved to have it out in the open, and told her everything. A tremendous weight lifted from my chest, my shoulders. I was still sinking rather than swimming, though. Ian's weird behavior, Matt moving here, and my mother's damn visit had been bothering me to no end. I was bar