Page 3 of The Summer We Mended
“They’ve regressed,” Claudia added with a chuckle.“Completely and utterly.”
“And we’re the ones who’ll be stuck washing all the towels,” Anna said, but the joy in her voice made it clear she didn’t mind one bit.
The backyard was alive with energy.The twins darted across the grass, their laughter high and bright.The adults weren’t much different.Cody tackled Luke with a soaked towel, shouting something about “revenge for last summer.”Blaze ran through the sprinkler like it was a finish line.Henry, soaked and laughing, grabbed another water balloon from a cooler and threw it across the yard at David, missing him by inches.
“You throw like a grandmother,” David taunted.
“Youarea grandfather,” Henry shot back.
David only laughed, chasing after him again with Nora right at his heels.
It was the kind of afternoon that burned itself into memory, not because of any grand occasion, but because of the love.Because of the laughter.Because it felt like home.
And in that moment, with the sun beginning to dip low and shadows stretching across the lawn, David turned toward Henry, breathless and grinning.“I haven’t had this much fun in years.”
Henry, his shirt clinging to him and a water gun dangling from his hand, simply clapped his older brother on the back.“Me neither.”
Anna watched them from the porch, her father and Uncle Henry, two men who had seen so much life and still managed to find joy in a backyard war of water guns.For both being in their early sixties, they were still in amazing shape.She turned to Lily and her aunt Claudia, her heart full.
“They’re like little kids,” she said softly, with awe in her voice.
Lily leaned her head against Claudia’s shoulder.“That’s the best part of all this, isn’t it?”
David finally joined her at the long table they’d set up beneath the string lights.Henry and Claudia joined them.He slid into the seat next to her, his arm instinctively resting along the back of her chair.
“You okay?”
She nodded, leaning into him.“This is perfect.”
He smiled, kissing the top of her head.“You’re perfect.”
Luke raised his beer.“To family.And new beginnings.”
Everyone echoed him, and Lily took a long sip of her iced tea, her heart too full for words.Across from her, Anna was laughing at something Margot said, her hand resting over Luke’s.They looked like they belonged in a painting, her in a summer dress, barefoot, her face glowing with pride and joy.Luke watched her like there was no one else in the world.The way he smiled at Anna made Lily’s throat tighten.
She reached under the table and linked her fingers with David’s.Luke and Anna reminded her a lot of her and David when they were younger and raising Anna and Cody.They were just as in love then as they were now.
Cody and Nessa sat off to the side on a picnic blanket, the twins curled up next to them.Jess was braiding Nora’s hair while Blaze held a flashlight under his chin, telling ghost stories that made Nessa laugh so hard she wiped tears from her cheeks.
“You know,” David said quietly, “I remember when Henry and I used to do this exact thing.Scare our cousins half to death with stories about swamp monsters and ghost pilots.”
“Your mom used to tell me about how you and your brother would terrorize everyone with those stories,” Lily said softly.“Natural born storyteller.”
David turned to her.“Those stories were my favorite.”
“You’re my favorite,” she said.
She kissed him, slow and sweet, as the lanterns above them swayed in the breeze.
Later, after dinner, they lit a fire in the small pit near the trees.The kids roasted marshmallows, sticky-faced and barefoot.Music played softly from the speaker David set up, old Fleetwood Mac and James Taylor.Anna swayed with Luke, her head on his chest, while David pulled Lily into his arms.
“One dance?”he murmured.
“Always.”
They moved slowly, not caring about rhythm or anyone watching.They danced like the night would never end, like no one would ever be gone.
Margot sat by the fire, smiling at them all.Lily caught her eye and saw it.Margot knew how rare and precious this was.She also saw a hint of sadness there.It had only been six months ago that Margot had laid her husband of thirty years to rest.Lily knew that the months hadn’t been easy for Margot, but Lily had done her best to keep her friend’s head above water.
