lody Donovan had been sticking close to Dominic Thorne. She was originally waiting for him outside, but then saw him run out in a panic.
"What’s wrong?" lody Donovan asked anxiously.
"The boss went to find Sumr Lancaster, but she’s with Caleb Bell!" Dominic Thorne explained as he pulled lody Donovan into the car.
"So what? They’re classmates. Caleb Bell is the ideal type every college girl dreams of," lody Donovan said matter-of-factly as she calmly fastened her seatbelt.
"What about you?" Dominic Thorne stopped what he was doing, turning his head to stare at her.
"Of course I..." Her confidence slowly faded. She had spent all her college years focused on Dominic Thorne and hadn’t paid any attention to the other guys around her.
"You what?" Dominic Thorne moved closer, giving her no chance to escape and backing her into a corner.
"Shouldn’t we get going? Aren’t you in a hurry?" lody Donovan tried her best to change the subject and hide her embarrassnt.
Instead of getting angry, Dominic Thorne smiled. He reached out and touched lody Donovan’s hair.
As if startled, lody Donovan shrank further into the corner, watching him warily.
"You’ve got sothing in your hair!" Dominic Thorne showed her a small green leaf he had plucked from her hair, then told her with a perfectly straight face.
lody Donovan was mortified. Not knowing what to say, she could only lower her head, not speaking or looking at him.
"Hold on tight! I’ll show you what real speed is!"
Before lody Donovan could even react, the car shot forward in an instant. Terrified, she grabbed the handle, staring at Dominic Thorne in horror while trying to soothe her own fragile little heart.
Dominic Thorne gave her a mocking smile. "Fun, huh?"
"Not fun at all!" lody Donovan’s face was a mask of indifference, refusing to let him toy with her.
When Kenneth Yates arrived, he only saw one car at Floria, but Sumr Lancaster was nowhere in sight. Cars couldn’t go any further up the mountain, so if she had arrived in this vehicle, she must still be up there.
Kenneth Yates left his car and headed up the mountain on foot.
Autumn nights had grown cold, and it was even colder on the mountain. Sumr Lancaster was only wearing a dress. The temperature had been fine during the day, but it was a different story now that night had fallen. Sumr Lancaster curled into a ball on a large, cold stone and gazed up at the sky. She had never truly appreciated the vast, starry sky before; perhaps because you couldn’t really see it in the city. Only here, deep in the mountains, could one experience such pure, natural beauty.
Caleb Bell took off his jacket and draped it over Sumr Lancaster’s shoulders.
"Thank you!"
"There’s no need for ’thank you’s between us," Caleb Bell said, sitting down beside her to watch the stars with her.
"Caleb, did you know? Everyone who leaves us becos a star in the sky, watching over you. They watch you cry, watch you laugh, watch you grieve, and watch you be happy." Sumr Lancaster’s eyes filled with tears. ’I wonder which star is Mom. I really wish I could go up there and chat with her.’
"Sumr, I know." Seeing her tears, Caleb Bell’s heart ached. He pulled her into his arms. "If you want to cry, just cry." Caleb Bell knew she had endured too much pain on her own. Back in college, he often saw her watching Kenneth Yates laughing and joking around with another girl. Sumr was always alone, unable to fit in with them, and unwilling to try. She always put on a cheerful facade in front of everyone. She was an expert at hiding the sorrow in her heart. She would watch the man she liked from afar, careful never to bother him. That was just who she was.
Sumr Lancaster began to cry silently in his arms.
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