Page 1 of Sweet Summer

CHAPTER 1

Freya

Ihad somehow managed to plan the worst surprise ever in the history of planning surprises.

My family has always gotten together every year around the Fourth of July—it was like our unofficial family reunion time. In years past, we’d all head back to my grandmother’s house tucked on the banks of Lake Lorelei, an idyllic piece of Americana nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. When she passed away, I was under the impression we’d continue the tradition, but it seems my family had made other plans this year.

Plans that didn’t involve coming here for the holiday.

My favorite holiday, too, I might add.

Standing in my grandmother’s home, which now belongs to my Aunt Maisey, I can hear my best friend, Wyatt, now. In one of his last text messages, he told me I shouldn’t surprise them—it’s like he knew. Of course, he was also the voice of reason who warned me not to move in with my ex, Brad, much the same way he had told me my love for Justin Timberlake would one day wane (I hate when Wyatt’s right). But he’d know my family’s day-to-day routine better than I would, Isuspect. Wyatt stayed here in Lake Lorelei while I went off to school years ago and moved to New York City, so he’s actually spent more time with my family in person than I have since then. How weird is that?

Anyway, here I am, standing in the middle of my grandmother’s empty five-bedroom farmhouse. I can’t be upset no one’s around, since it was a surprise from my end. Just miffed. When I call Mom, she apologizes profusely, promising she and dad will make it up to me.

“You don’t have to do that. When you guys asked if I was coming this year, I said no because of work. I didn’t even know I’d be able to come until a week ago. Who’d have thought I’d get a new job and have some time off in between gigs?”

“We’ll have plenty to celebrate when we do see you.” My mother’s voice is lilting with pride, sprinkled with her gorgeous Southern accent. I had forgotten how she sounded when she was happy. “I still can’t believe I’m actually having fun hopping from state to state with your father in an RV.”

She and Aunt Maisey have been through a lot. In fact we all have. My Gran, their mom, passed away a few years ago after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s. So if my parents wanted to climb into an RV (a tin can on wheels the way I see it) and drive across the country, who am I to argue? The fact my mom was loving it was a bonus.

“Oh sweetie,” she continues, “don’t forget, make sure to see Wyatt while you’re in town. He always asks about you every time we see him. In fact, the last time we saw him we were at The Red Bird having lunch.”

My parents are fans of Wyatt, with my mom always making sure to tell me how he was asking about me, like now. I can’t help but roll my eyes hard when she does, and not because I don’t like Wyatt. In fact, it’s the opposite. Well, atleast it was. But now we’re friends, and we can’t have it any other way.

You see, when we were teenagers, he tried to kiss me one summer, and I ended up with stitches in my cheek.

We were sixteen, and I had gotten my driver’s license. I picked him up from his grandmother’s house, and we drove around the lake. Wyatt was such an instigator; he kept trying to make me go faster than I wanted to, but I was firm in my choice not to go more than the speed limit. Wyatt, on the other hand, hung out the window and did dumb things that teenage boys did to make me laugh, while I yelled at him to get back inside before he lost a limb.

I was so mad at him in the end, that I did pull over. We sat in the car, arguing behind the dashboard at sunset while watching the sun go down—me telling him he was being insane, and him telling me I needed to relax and live a little. Well, one thing led to another; there was tickling and a moment where we got close…like, really close. I turned away to start the car at the very moment he leaned in for a kiss.

I wish I could say we had “that” kiss, when your lips meet and sparks fly. Sadly, the only sparks we saw were the ones that came from his braces as they scraped across my right cheek. I can still feel the metal of that bracket as it ripped into the soft skin of my cheek. Makes my stomach turn every time. We ended up calling my parents from the local hospital, where I had to get stitches. Now, you’d never even know it had happened; I was young and my skin healed quickly. Thanks to thatandthe dermatologist I found in New York who introduced me to laser treatments.

Ahhh, memories.

Bless his heart, Wyatt never brought that moment up again. Because of that, and probably because it was simply so awkward, I made the decision to go back to our version of normal. Funny enough, I didn’t think he was into me afterthat and chalked it up to being so close you get your wires crossed. A few months after that happened, he was dating someone anyway. Only thing was, for me, the line had been crossed and my teenage ache for him was real…but hey, I was a kid, it was going to go away, right?

“Speaking of the Red Bird, I’m working there today, so I need to go soon…”

“When do you need to tell your landlord if you’re moving?” Mom interrupts, and smoothly I might add. If I could smell expectation, it would be quite pungent right about now.

This is part of the reason why I’m actually okay with the fact it’s turned out there’s no big get-together this year. Life has been hectic for me lately. I’m about to start this new job as a community manager for a new online social media site, and the best part? I can work anywhere I want to. I don’t need to stay in New York City and pay insane rent if I don’t need to because I’ll be working remotely. The job doesn’t start for another six weeks which gives me time to figure out where I want to live—and it’s the reason why I was able to sneak in this mini-vacation and come home.

“I’m month-to-month with my apartment now, so as long as I give him a month’s notice I’ll get my deposit back, don’t worry.” I knew what she was really asking. She was asking if I was going to come home, but without asking. Very parent-like of her. “And I need to go now, Mom. Maisey is expecting me soon.”

“Fine, fine, I won’t ask you if you’re moving home since I can tell you don’t want to talk about it. Just know we’d be thrilled to have you living so close to us again.” She sighs playfully on the other end. “We love you, Freya. Give Maisey our love, too.”

I disconnect the call and grab my suitcase. I love thatwoman to pieces, but I really can’t talk to her any longer. Maisey has me scheduled to work this week, and I can’t let her down and be late for my first shift back. The Red Bird is Aunt Maisey’s cafe now, but it used to be Gran’s. I worked there every summer until I moved away, and Wyatt did, too. Our grandmothers were good friends, so we’ve had the privilege of knowing each other since before we were in school. Lucky guy.

Climbing the staircase to the second floor, I can’t stop thinking about Wyatt now after talking to my mom. Back when he made his move on me, I was forced to admit to myself that I liked Wyatt, but I kept waiting for those feelings to go away.

You know the feelings—the flutter you get in your stomach when you hear their name or think of the person you’re crushing on? The feelings you think will perish and go far, far away as you move on, and even move out of the same town where you both reside?Thosefeelings. They did fade away for me, somewhat. Well, that’s not true. I stuffed them down. So far down I’ll need one of those super-extendable ladders, like they have on fire trucks, to get those feelings out again. My reasoning is that good friends are hard to find, and I’d rather deal with things my way than to not have him in my life.

All in all, I’m lucky we stayed so close. Well, except for this last year when my job as marketing assistant got a bit more hectic. We’ve barely connected. Wyatt’s landed a new job that’s keeping him busy. I’m still not sure what it is; he keeps saying it’s a surprise.

I make my way to one of the guest bedrooms upstairs—the one I’m picking has its own balcony and the best view of the lake. It’s also always been my favorite room.

When I walk into the room, I find a note from Maisey on the bed. Of course she knew which room I’d pick. She’s known me for twenty-eight years and is one person who can read me like a book.

---