Love Walked Into

  The Lantern

  NICOLE PYLAND

  Chicago Series Book #3

  Summer Taft is a twenty-seven-year-old billionaire, who founded a tech startup with her brother while she was still in college. As that company’s CEO, she feels stuck and underappreciated. She also has to take care of the company while her brother goes off exploring the world, leaving her holding the bag. The company recently opened an office in Chicago, where Summer has met some new friends. As Summer decides to uproot her life and make the move to Chicago, she meets Lena.

  Lena Tanner has had no luck in her love life after divorcing her husband of several years before, after finally admitting to herself that she was gay. Lena had been exploring and having fun in the new life she’d made for herself. But now she’s ready to find the one and settle down. After a blind date gone wrong, she ends up at The Lantern where she spots her group of expanding friends and a newcomer.

  Lena had never been brave in her personal life. And Summer has difficulty making decisions, small and large. The two women settle into a quick friendship that turns more flirtatious, but is either ready to dive right into something new that could be lasting?

  To contact the author or for any additional information visit: https://nicolepyland.com

  You can also subscribe to the reader’s newsletter to be the first to receive updates about upcoming books and more: https://nicolepyland.com/newsletter

  This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

  By the Author

  All the Love Songs

  Chicago Series:

  Introduction – Fresh Start

  Book #1 – The Best Lines

  Book #2 – Just Tell Her

  Book #3 – Love Walked into The Lantern

  Coming Soon:

  Available for pre-order – The Fire

  Copyright © 2018 Nicole Pyland

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-9996221-9-3

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  EPILOGUE

  COMING NEXT

  CHAPTER 1

  “Hey, how’d the meeting go?” Hailey asked as she approached to walk alongside Summer Taft.

  “Normal stuff,” Summer replied, and they proceeded down the short hallway in the direction of the offices on the floor. “A few of them still want to replace me as the CEO, but that’s nothing new.”

  “I don’t get that. You clearly know what you’re doing. I mean, look at how much the company has grown in just a few years.”

  “I’m twenty-seven, I don’t have a degree, and I’m a woman. One of them even suggested my brother take on the role and I become the COO or something else.” She pushed open the glass door to her office and held it open for Hailey to follow. “You know, something more befitting my station,” she added sarcastically.

  “Well, they’re stupid then,” Hailey said. “You’re great at this, and that’s considering the fact that you have to put up with people like them and the fact that Seth is off on another trip to find himself.”

  “He’s been looking all over the world. You’d think he would have found himself by now. He went to India to visit with the engineering team and then decided to stay, and he is somehow now in Thailand. Explain that one to me.”

  “He’s a man-child with wanderlust,” Hailey said with a shrug.

  Hailey sat on the small sofa inside Summer’s office. Summer grabbed her now cold cup of coffee off her desk and then joined her.

  “I talked to the board about moving here permanently.”

  “Leaving the valley?” Hailey asked.

  “I’ve been spending so much time here anyway,” Summer said.

  She took a sip of her coffee, regretting it instantly and setting the cup on the round glass table in front of her. She hadn’t yet decorated the office, but the furniture was all in place. The desk was modern and white and matched the white walls with accents in different colors throughout the building. There were a round black and white table with matching chairs off to the side for small meetings and then the black sofa and white coffee table in front of it. The walls were white and bare, and Summer had resisted putting anything on them until she could make a definitive decision.

  If Summer Taft had a major flaw as the CEO, it was that she often took time making decisions. The decision could be related to something small, like the artwork for the wall in one of her offices, or it could be big and determine if and when they’d even build the office. Summer liked to be sure of things. She trusted her gut even over the numbers sometimes. Her brother trusted her gut too. It was with his encouragement and confidence that she often proceeded; but in the world of technology, things were competitive and moved quickly. Sometimes they didn’t have time for her indecisiveness.

  “That’s true,” Hailey agreed.

  “I don’t really have anyone at home, other than my dad, and he barely leaves the house. He’s better on his own anyway. Seth is there but he hasn’t been home for more than a month in the past couple of years, and all my friends are out here.”

  “Can you do that? As the CEO, can you move but leave the company’s main office there?”

  “I don’t know the protocols for this kind of thing, but I doubt it will be a problem. I’ll fly back there maybe once a month at first and then as needed from then on.”

  “They said they were okay with it?” Hailey questioned of the board.

  “I doubt they were thrilled, but once I explained to some of the older and more out of touch members of our illustrious board that technology means I can work from anywhere and I have a private jet that can fly me there in a few hours, they seemed to back off.”

  “This is a done deal then? You’re here permanently now?” Hailey asked with a smile.

  “I think so, yeah.” Summer smiled back.

  “That’s awesome, Summer. We should celebrate. Charlie’s going to be happy that you’re here officially now.”

  “I think I’ll be happier too.”

  “We’re going to The Lantern tonight. It’s Friday night. Ember and Eva just got back from a conference. Emma will be there too. Oh, and Lena said she might come.”

  “Lena?”

  “That’s right. You haven’t met her yet. She’s been out of town a lot for work this past year. She’s a VP now and has been opening up grocery stores around the Midwest. She’s basically been a nomad while she’s been on that massive project, but things are slowing down now. She’s back in town for a while.”

  “Well, I have a few meetings this afternoon. I was planning on spending the night trying to find a place to live online, since I’m over staying in that tiny apartment.”

  Summer had rented a small one-bedroom when she first realized she’d been spending a significant amount of time in Chicago, but if she was relocating there, she’d want a house or at least a much nicer condo.

  “You can do that tomorrow,” Hailey said and stood. “I’ll have the team draft something about you relocating here and send it to you to take a look at by the end of the day. We’ll have it ready for whenever you want to release it.”

  “Thanks,” Summer replied. “And I’ll meet you guys there tonight?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Hailey nodded and headed out the door.

  ◆◆◆

  Summer finally wrapped for the day and headed to the town car that drove her around the city. It was one of the perks she actually took advantage of. She wasn’t a big spender or someone that had a mansion or a lot of expensive material things. She did, however, hate driving herself places and wasn’t a fan of public transportation. The first was because she’d spent her life dealing with Bay Area traffic and hated having to drive in it. The second was because she was often recognized in public, and on a train, bus, or the subway there was no way out. She had a driver. He took her where she needed to go. She pretended it wasn’t an indulgence.

  She had little time to ready herself for the night out, but she did the best she could and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail to try to fix it without actually fixing the mess it had turned into throughout the day. She changed into skinny jeans with black boots and a white cable knit sweater and headed back down to where her car was waiting. She arrived fifteen minutes late but found Charlie and Hailey at one of the back booths.

  “Hey
guys,” Summer greeted as she stood in front of the booth.

  She could now see that Charlie and Hailey were sitting together because Eva and Ember were on the other side. The booths at The Lantern were hard to come by, since there were only four of them in the place, but they had room for six and these high backs to them that afforded a modicum of privacy. The group always tried to get one when they could.

  “Hey.” Hailey looked up at her.

  “Heard you’re staying for good.” Charlie slid over to accommodate Summer who slid in next to her.

  “Yeah, I’m going to start looking for a more permanent place. We’re going to tell the world about my relocation on Monday because, apparently, where I live is something people care about.” She looked over at Ember and Eva, who were staring at something on the phone and giggling. “Hey, you two.”

  “Hey, Summer.” Eva looked up and smiled at her with Ember following. “Sorry. Al sent us a video of the kids playing in the water. They’re so cute.”

  “Lizzy looks just like Alyssa,” Ember said. “Do you guys think they’ll have more?” she posed to the group.

  “Why? To have a couple that look like Hannah?” Charlie asked her.

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” Ember replied.

  “When are you two planning to start?” Hailey asked and Summer watched her smirk.

  “What’s so funny?” Summer questioned Hailey’s expression.

  “They hate when people ask them that,” she told her.

  “It’s like the moment you meet someone and say you’re serious, people start asking when you’ll get married and then when you’ll have kids. It’s annoying,” Ember said.

  “Em is still working on her Ph. D. We’ll wait to see how that shakes out before we even begin talking about it seriously,” Eva revealed. “Right now, I’m just happy to be Aunt Eva to those two little ones.”

  She held out her phone and showed the paused video image to Summer, who smiled at it.

  “They are adorable.”

  “So, now that you’re staying here, what are your plans?” Charlie asked and sipped on her wine.

  “Plans for what?” Summer turned.

  “Your life outside of work,” Hailey added for her girlfriend.

  “Oh, that.” Summer laughed lightly.

  “Ladies.” Emma Colton stood in front of the booth and glanced down awkwardly at Summer, who caught her eye only for a moment before turning her head back to Charlie.

  “Hey, Em,” Hailey greeted her ex-girlfriend and now a close friend.

  “Can I get you two something? Refills for anyone?” Their female server asked as she carried an empty but wet and dirty tray, noticing Emma’s arrival.

  “Scotch and soda,” Summer requested.

  “Martini. Dry. Two olives,” Emma ordered politely and took a seat next to Eva on the opposite side of the booth.

  Summer and Emma locked awkward eyes again before Charlie finally broke the tension with conversation.

  “So, Sum. You still haven’t answered the question.”

  “What question?” Emma wondered.

  “I asked her what she was planning on doing with her personal life now that she’s moving to Chicago permanently,” Charlie said.

  “You’re moving here?” Emma asked Summer.

  “Yeah.”

  Summer and Emma shared a secret. When Summer first met Emma, Emma was dating Elizabeth. The relationship soured when Eli confessed to cheating on Emma numerous times. The two finally ended things, and a few weeks after that, Summer got a text from Emma, saying she was going to be in San Francisco for a work convention. Summer was in town, and they decided to meet for drinks. The drinks led to going back to Summer’s house in Palo Alto. They talked and watched a movie while they snacked on popcorn and drank wine.

  The following night, Summer and Emma went to dinner. Even though neither of them overtly stated that it was a date, it felt very much like one. They’d had a few drinks, but Summer knew neither of them were drunk or intoxicated enough to cloud their judgment as they wound up on Emma’s bed, and later, naked, under the thin hotel blankets. When Summer woke up the following morning, she had no regrets, but she was also cautious, because Emma had only just gotten out of a serious relationship, where she’d been betrayed by the woman she loved. Summer left while Emma was still asleep. They hadn’t spoken about their night together since. And Summer suspected that if Emma wanted to bring it up, she would have by now.

  “What made you want to move here?” Emma asked.

  “I spend more time here than at home anyway. And other than the weather, this place is pretty great. Plus, it’s close to our Detroit office and closer to New York, where I have to go for meetings at least once a quarter.”

  “What about school?” Charlie asked her. “Don’t you have a few classes left?”

  “I have six classes left,” Summer said. “And I don’t know. I’ll have to reach out to the university and find out what they’re willing to do.”

  “I’m sure they’ll make allowances, given who you are. We’ve had a few high-profile students at the college since I started. The administration makes arrangements,” Eva said.

  “Northwestern did that for me, and I’m not high-profile,” Ember added.

  “Yeah, but you’re special, Em.” Eva turned to her wife. “You’re high-profile in certain circles, and they’re counting on you being even more high-profile when you graduate.”

  “No pressure,” Ember joked.

  “Well, we should be celebrating Summer’s relocation with drinks,” Hailey suggested just as the server arrived and placed the martini in front of Emma and Summer’s drink in front of her.

  “Perfect timing.” Summer placed both hands around her glass.

  “To Summer’s move!” Hailey raised her wine glass.

  “To Summer in Chicago,” Charlie echoed.

  “To Summer,” Emma said from across the table and raised her martini glass while offering Summer a shy grin.

  CHAPTER 2

  Lena sat across from her blind date, Marsha, who was chewing her steak loudly and causing Lena to grate her teeth in response. Her friend from work thought Marsha, the forty-two-year-old woman, who worked down the street from their O’Shea’s Grocery Mart corporate offices in a bakery that she owned, would be a good fit for Lena. Lena had spent the better part of an hour listening to Marsha talk about her three children from her previous relationship. They’d been together for twenty years, before separating two years prior to this date. Lena was already regretting agreeing to it, and it was only half over. She glanced down at her watch and noticed the time. She’d told Charlie and Hailey she’d be at drinks tonight, but that she also might not if this date went well.

  After her own marriage ended and Lena had officially come out, she’d wanted to explore a little. She’d done that for a while now though. She had hoped that the more dates she went on, the likelier it would be that she’d find someone. Now, she wanted to settle down, and at thirty-six, she was ready for it.

  “I just got a text from my sister.” Lena stared down at her blank phone. “She hasn’t been feeling well and needs me to check on her. I’m sorry. She has two kids, and her husband is out of town this week.”

  “Oh.” Marsha paused the fork that was about to place another piece of steak into her mouth. “Should I get the check and drive you-”

  “No, that’s okay. You finish.” Lena grabbed her wallet and pulled out some cash to cover their meal. “I’ll grab a car and head over there. Thank you though.”

  “Should I call you?”

  Lena had gotten this question a few times at the end of first dates. She’d also asked it of her dates, thinking that the dates they’d just been on were good ones, but finding by their lack of immediate response or their facial expressions that they did not want her to call nor would they call her. Since the first experience with this, she’d promised herself she’d always be honest with her dates.

  “Probably not,” she said. “This has been nice, but I don’t see it going anywhere. Sorry, I feel like I should be honest.”

  “Honest about that?” Marsha placed her fork on her plate. “But is your sister really sick?”

  Lena sighed at the realization that her honesty shouldn’t come in parts but in a whole.