Summer's Landing (A Loving Summer Standalone Novel Series): Loving Summer Spinoff (Loving Summer Series Book 9) Read online

  Summer’s

  LANDING

  kailin gow

  A Contemporary Adult Loving Summer Novel

  Summer’s Landing

  Published by Sparklesoup.com

  Sparklesoup Inc.

  Copyright © 2016 Kailin Gow

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  For information, please contact:

  Sparklesoup Inc.

  11700 W. Charleston Blvd. Ste. 170-95

  Las Vegas, NV 89135

  www.Sparklesoup.com

  First Edition.

  Printed in the United States of America

  Note from Author

  Although Summer’s Landing is a standalone, to get the background on Summer, Drew, Nat, Rachel, and Astor; I would recommend you read the Loving Summer Series and Free Fall, which takes place 10 years after the Loving Summer Series.

  Summer’s Landing takes place that same year, but a few days after Free Fall 3.

  Prologue

  Summer

  Not in a million years would I have imagined the predicament I was in now. The man I had been in love with and was planning on marrying as my fiancé for years was staring at me with a blank stare.

  “Do I know you?” Drew asked me. He looked around the hospital-like room he was in, sitting up in bed. Rachel, his beautiful fraternal twin sister who was my best friend sat next to him. Except for the purple tint in her jet black long hair, and edgy fashion designer jeans and black tank top, he shared her good looks, which ran in the Donovan family line. Striking blue eyes and jet black hair, flawless skin, and the epitome of human beauty. She was a bona fide movie star, while Drew was the football star turned handsome and sexy billionaire security tech firm CEO. The fact they had inherited enormous wealth from their father who started the world famous security firm Donovan Dynamics along with their genius older brother Nat Donovan, only added to the twins’ public fawning and mystique.

  “You’ve got to be kidding, right?” Rachel asked, her jaw half-dropped. “You seriously do not remember Summer?”

  Drew looked at me again and blinked. “I wished I could, but no. I don’t remember her at all. Who are you?”

  I was speechless. After growing up with the Donovans, whom my late Aunt Sookie took care of during summers at her Malibu beach house, and being lovers for years since our teen years; Drew and I had never been separated. Had never been passionately not in love with each other or never been not all over each other.

  Having him not remember me was something I was having trouble digesting. “Drew,” I said carefully, “do you remember getting shot?”

  Drew started with a little jump like a nerve reflex, and stared out into space with a dazed look. “I…I remember getting hit and then the pain. It was too much that I black out. After that, I don’t remember.” He looked around. “I don’t remember being brought here. How long was I out?”

  Rachel looked at me and then at him before pursing her lips and saying, “Enough to worry you wouldn’t be coming out of your coma. It has been days.”

  “Where’s Nat?” Drew asked. “Is he okay? I remember meeting up with him to storm The Dragon’s hideout...”

  “And to rescue Summer,” Rachel interjected. “She was being held hostage by the Dragon because of something Nat did…”

  “I don’t remember exactly who we were trying to save,” Drew said, “but I remember the woman was important to Nat.”

  “That woman is Summer,” Rachel said. “She’s right here in front of you.”

  I reached out my hand to touch Drew’s hand, but he slowly withdrew. “Summer, you’re Nat’s girl. That’s right. I remember now. You two went out together when Nat was 19 and Rachel and I were 18.”

  “That was about 10 years ago,” Rachel said. “Since then, Summer and…”

  “Are you my sister-in-law then?” Drew asked. “Surely the way you two were so in love, you would be married by now with kids even.”

  I gulped. He didn’t remember. Drew didn’t remember that Nat had left all of us. He went on an undercover business trip to save their father from cyber criminals whom the U.S. government were trying to close down when he disappeared. Everyone thought he’d died. I did at least, until I found out he was alive but had assumed a different identity due to the danger he was in from that mission. He could never go back to being Nat, and he had left, leaving me behind and Drew to pick up the pieces…Drew, the irresponsible younger playboy sex-on-legs bad boy brother who never wanted the responsibilities Nat had as the brother who had to run Donovan Dynamics on top of taking care of their mentally unstable mother.

  But Drew surprised everyone, especially me, by stepping up and becoming the man he needed to be. Not to mention, becoming the hottest lover any woman could be so lucky to get engaged to.

  I looked over at Rachel, and she looked almost as shocked as I was. “He didn’t remember what happened to Nat,” I whispered to her.

  She shook her head once. “Drew, do you remember anything about you and Summer after high school?”

  Drew shook his head. “I assume Summer went away with Nat. I don’t know what else to tell you. I’m drawing a blank. I just know I’ve been incredibly busy working like a workaholic all these years, I’ve probably just needed to take a break.”

  “Speaking of a break,” Rachel got up and pull me over. “Summer and I need to see Nat now. See how he’s doing. He’s right next door. We’ll be back soon, Drew. Promise.”

  Drew nodded. I wanted to go to him to kiss him, to hold him like I’ve always done. I wanted him to make love to me, as he’s always done when we were together. But something about the way he looked at me…the passionate love he always had burning for me…was gone. I was like a stranger to him now, and it burned me up inside.

  “Come on, Summer,” Rachel said, tugging at my elbow. “We have to see Nat.”

  Thank God Rachel was a strong girl. Before I could turn back to go to Drew, Rachel tugged at me again, and I was now outside of Drew’s room and in the corridor. Right when a wave of uncontrollable tears swept through me.

  Rachel put her arms around me and hugged me. “I’m so sorry, Summer,” she said. “So sorry.”

  “I feel as though I’ve lost Drew…again,” I said between tears. “First him getting shot. Then him falling into a coma. Now this! It’s as though we would never get to be together. It’s as though the stars would not align for it to happen.”

  “That’s not true,” Rachel said. “Drew will get better. He’s probably in shock with everything, but he’ll remember. How could he forget? You’re all he thought about since you were toddlers. He’s been in love with you for most of his life. How could it not be ingrained in him?”

  “But you heard him,” I said. “He doesn’t remember a thing after Nat left. He doesn’t remember anything about being with me.”

  “I don’t know much about psychology,” Rachel said. “But since you’re a doctor, do you think he’s subconsciously block out the most painful memories?”

  I nodded. “Could be, Rachel. He was shot, and the pain was so unbearable, he blacked out. He may have blocked out all the other painful memories…which unfortunately had a lot to do with me.
”

  “Well, Drew was always there when…that one time you were stalked and almost raped by that pervert at your Aunt’s Acting Academy theater…Drew shot and killed him before he could…”

  “I know,” I said. “He was seriously shaken up after that. We all thought he may have psychological problems afterwards, but he seemed to handle that well.”

  “Then when he was shot, you had been kidnapped and held hostage for days…weeks, even missing your own wedding date…Drew must have been so worried,” Rachel said.

  I took out a tissue from my purse and wiped my eyes. Then drew a deep breath. “That’s probably what this is all about, Rachel. I shouldn’t have to worry. Drew will bounce right back, like always.”

  Rachel smiled and hugged me again. “Just like Drew,” she said. “Now let’s check on my other Donovan brother.”

  Chapter 1

  Summer

  We walked to the door next door to Drew’s in the makeshift hospital. Although makeshift, it was quite impressive for a private onsite medical facility kept on Nat’s high-security compound in a facility near my Malibu beach house, or “The Pad” as Aunt Sookie called it. She died when I was 17, at the end of summer, the summer the Donovans and I reunited at The Pad to help Aunt Sookie with her Acting Academy, while staying at The Pad for the summer, like old times when we were growing up. That Pad was where the Donovans and I spent our time growing up, falling in love, getting our hearts broken, and finally experiencing life.

  Rachel knocked on the door, and we both heard Nat’s deeper voice said, “Come in. We’re almost done.”

  We walked in, and Nat was already out of bed, while his bandage dressings around his chest and arms were carefully being cut off by one of the top doctors at his compound. Although private, Nat had hired the best of the best from the military to work for him, especially doctors who had worked on secret projects but lost funding from the government when projects closed. Because he was able to get the best from the military, his security firm Andrew Hocking Knight Industry which dealt with cyber security, private security, missions, and even forces for hire rivaled the very company he founded with his father, Donovan Dynamics.

  The doctor snipped off the remaining bandage and Nat was now bandage-free and stretching his arms as the doctor left.

  “Why are you not in bed and resting?” I asked, my doctor’s instinct immediately taking over. “From what I saw earlier, you had wounds all over, and…”

  Nat turned his body towards me, and he gave me a wry smile. His blue-green eyes smiled happily as he bent his head down to survey his injuries. When he lifted his head up, his long dark brown bangs with natural copper fell across his face giving him a rakish rock star air, the same arrogant devil-may-care look I fell for back as a teen. Without his shirt on, his muscles rippled like shimmering sand on his bulk V-shape frame. While Drew was the sexy athlete, Nat was the brilliantly smart and sensitive rock star handsome Donovan brother, who had become as muscular as G.I. Joe. Again my jaws dropped for the second time today.

  I couldn’t help admiring his body, but it was his skin that my eyes were glued to. His skin was almost back to normal. Where there were burn marks before, were just small scabs. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  I walked up to him and without thinking, reached out to touch his chest, softly tracing with my fingers where there was a burn mark. My fingers went to every scab and gingerly felt each one. It seemed his body…his skin was healing as I stood there in front of Nat. I was fascinated. This was beyond belief.

  I moved my head closer to try to see his wound closer with just my bare eyes when suddenly I became very aware that my face was hovering over Nat’s pec. My mouth was so close to Nat’s nipples, my breath was causing his skin and nipples to harden.

  I looked up slowly to see Nat watching me, his eyes dark and even stormy. “I would like nothing more than to go back to bed with you blowing on my wounds like that,” he dropped his voice into a whisper just for my ears, “and me returning the favor,” he raised his voice to normal again and said, “but I got work to do.”

  “I don’t understand,” I shook my head, a little reeling from the sudden surge of desire that hit me when Nat glanced at my breasts and said, “and me returning the favor.” All these years we haven’t seen each other, and I’ve been with Drew, the memory of Nat licking and sucking on my breasts among other very hot images came rushing back.

  Rachel stepped forward from the doorway and said, “I agree. I don’t understand. How the hell could you look so great when you were like a burnt marshmellow just a few days ago?”

  Nat smiled. “Top secret and classified medicine…an ointment really some of my scientists here have been developing. Finally got to test it out for real on a burn victim…me! And I think it’s working better than we thought.”

  “Nat…what you have here is well…I’m impressed.” I was dumbfounded, suddenly struck shy around Nat. I never expected he would be discovering miraculous medicine like this.

  Nat pulled on a black t-shirt over his bulging muscles and perfect abs, filling the shirt out. I almost gave a sigh watching him get dressed. He had the body of the dream guy who graced every book cover, while his intellect and confidence was far sexier than anyone I’ve met.

  I was suddenly that Summer from years ago, the one as a child who had an enormous crush on Nat, the boy who always came to my rescue. The boy who fought off the bullies for me. The boy who treated me like just a little sister, like his sister Rachel, until that summer Aunt Sookie died. That was when he confessed how he loved me, but I had already started dating Aunt Sookie’s wonder student, the teen TV heartthrob Astor Fairway.

  “You and your miracle drugs, Nat,” I said. “You never cease to amaze, don’t you?”

  “It’s nothing,” Nat said. “But since you asked, all this, Summer, is for the purpose of impressing girls…especially this one girl I’ve known for a very long time. She seemed to know all about me so having one surprise or another once in a while comes in handy when I really have to impress her.”

  Rachel coughed. “Nat…Summer and I’m here because we really need you to impress right now.”

  Nat turned serious. “What is it, Rach?”

  “It’s Drew.”

  “He’s up and functioning right? Don’t tell me he’s relapsed into his coma while I was out?”

  “No, he’s up alright, and acting bright and cheerful,” I said.

  “Only…he’s lost some memory,” Rachel said.

  “Of what?”

  “I think he’s erased painful memories after you left, Nat,” I said.

  “He’s forgotten that you left because you were in some kind of witness protection program, but worse, Nat. Drew’s completely forgotten ever being with Summer. He thinks you and her are together still, as the time before you left for Afghanistan,” Rachel said.

  “Really,” Nat said almost matter-of-factly. “The drug the doctors used on Drew to help him snap out of his coma was experimental. The doctors did say there would be side effects. I guess this is one of them.”

  “So this isn’t something he is controlling subconsciously?” I asked.

  “Probably not,” Nat said. “Why would he want to forget everything about the woman he loves? Summer, don’t ever think Drew would want to throw the love you two have away. If I was him, I wouldn’t. So, it must be the medicine that has wiped away his memories. These experimental drugs are banned for a reason. They’re powerful stuff, and if something goes wrong with them, it can be drastic.”

  “Could you get your doctors to work on it, to see if there is a treatment?” Rachel asked.

  “Wish I could, but that drug wasn’t one we developed. It was one we found when we raided The Dragon’s lair. It was medicine that would have been sold on the black market.”

  “How could we have used that on Drew?” Rachel asked.

  “Remember, we all agreed…you, Summer, and I when Drew wasn’t waking up after surgery…when we thought we’d lose hi
m, and the only alternative was to try this drug,” Nat said.

  I nodded, remembering how we all frantically agreed.

  “So now, we’ll have to deal with it,” Nat said.

  “Since we don’t know much about the side effects, will Drew ever remember Summer?” Rachel asked.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Nat said. “The only one who would know would be the doctor or scientist who created it.”

  I remembered Drew’s blank stare at me and how he said he didn’t remember who I was. It hit me like a sucker punch how painful it was to lose that memory, to suddenly become a complete stranger to someone you once would give your very life for. Involuntarily, too. It wasn’t as though Drew wanted to, but it just did.

  “Nat,” I said. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ve got to find that doctor. For Drew’s sake. Please.”

  Chapter 2

  Nat Donovan

  I was still getting my bearings when Summer and Rachel walked in on me, getting my bandage changed. Only it wasn’t a bandage change. My burns had miraculously healed. In days.

  I could hardly believe it had I not seen it myself. Before Dr. Bonet could examine my wounds and place new bandages on, I whispered to him to come back later after my sister Rachel and Summer leave.

  I had a feeling they had come to give me bad news on Drew. They both had a worried look on their faces as they walked in, and frankly I didn’t want them to worry about me as well. I was a big boy, and after my disappearance act from their lives, I think I’ve given them enough worry to last them two lifetimes.

  So I put on my best game face, and acted like this miracle was just an ordinary thing in the life of Andrew Hocking Knight aka Nat Donovan. Only I couldn’t help feel triumphant. The burn ointment my medical team have been working on for years finally came through. My wounds had healed so quickly, it was what science fiction novels would eat up.