For The Summer Read online

  “Oh my god,” I gasp as I walk down two small steps into his living room. “Bachelor pad much?” My jaw is hanging open dramatically as I stare at the biggest television I’ve ever seen in someone’s living room. The rest of the room is fairly tasteful for a single guy in his mid-twenties. A brown linen sectional sits in the center of the room with a side table on either side and a coffee table in the center. Beneath the monster flat screen is a matching sofa table piled with video game consoles and game cases.

  “What are you talking about?” Fin asks innocently, looking around the room as if he’s confused.

  “The television, Fin. That thing is huge!”

  He turns his attention to the far wall where the beast is mounted and smiles.

  “I know, isn’t it great! It’s so big you can watch it from the kitchen.”

  His smile is contagious and he’s so proud of the thing I can’t help but smile at it too. I don’t want to, but I just do.

  “Do you spend a lot of time in the kitchen?” I ask, realizing I have no idea if he cooks or at least attempts to more than I do.

  “No, not really. Mom drops off a bag of frozen meals every week. I pretty much eat those and take out. Sometimes Kris drops off extra pastries too.”

  I smirk. “Your mom, huh? You don’t feel the need to clarify that you’re adopted anymore?” I press my lips together to avoid laughing. I know I should probably let it go, but I can’t. I understand why Fin and my grandparents kept their secret, I really do. I’m not angry and his connection to my family doesn’t change the way I feel about him, but I am unable to miss an opportunity to poke fun at him.

  He runs a hand through his hair and quirks his mouth to the side in a way that is both adorable and incredibly sexy.

  “About that…” he starts. “I was sure you would freak out and run as soon as you found out the truth, but I thought maybe if I made it crystal clear that there was no biological relation between us that it could help my case.” He shrugs.

  “I understand, Fin. I really do. Honestly, I thought it was some weird emotionally distant tick you were displaying, so it’s kind of a huge relief that you were doing it for my benefit.”

  “Have I told you that you are one of a kind?” he asks, shaking his head slowly.

  “I believe you mentioned it.” I smile. “But, actually, there’s something I want to tell you. It’s part of the reason I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to see you. I just want to get it off my chest and out in the open,” I say quickly, before I can talk myself out of it.

  He tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes.

  I take a deep breath and a step back, putting a few inches between us. I need my head to be clear and I need to look him in the eye, to gauge his reaction and know how he feels about what I’m going to say.

  “Amelia?” He says my name like it’s a question.

  “When I packed up my stuff to move down here and I watched the moving truck guys load it all up into their truck I told myself that it was just for the summer, that there was no way I was staying here any longer than I had to. I was going to be on the first plane out of here in August. I was sure of it. So completely certain. Even after Oliver cheated on me and I decided that California wasn’t in the cards I didn’t plan on staying in North Carolina. I thought about applying to other schools and figured if it was too late to start in the fall I’d travel for a few months and start over somewhere else in the spring.” I pause, swallowing, and taking a second to catch my breath. “The last thing I planned on doing was falling for someone, but here we are. This whole time I couldn’t imagine staying here, living a life here. I just couldn’t see it. But then you slid into my life like the missing piece of a puzzle, making the rest of the picture stronger and sturdier. You made me see things differently, made me appreciate what I can have here, what I do have here. Which brings me to the point. To what I came here to tell you. I love you, Fin.” I shake my head, blinking back the tears threatening to overflow. “Meeting you changed everything for me. I know it’s too soon, but I just needed to say it once, to get it off my mind, because not saying it, trying to hide the way I feel it would be a lie.”

  Fin’s eyes haven’t changed much, if anything they look more serious. His jaw is tense and I can hear his heavy breaths in time with the rapid rise and fall of his chest. I don’t know how many seconds have gone by, but he hasn’t said anything. Not a single word. My heart is racing and I can hear the pounding of my blood in my ears. I should probably leave, give him some time to process my intense, insanely fast feelings. Let him weigh out his own feelings against my specific level of crazy to see if he’s still as attached as he thought he was a few hours ago. My chest feels tight and I realize I’ve been holding my breath for who knows how long. I exhale and stare back at him for another second, then I open my mouth to speak.

  “I’ll just.”

  But I don’t get to finish. He interrupts me. Closing the distance I put between us, placing his hands on either side of my jaw and pressing his lips against mine. The kiss is hungry and deep, full of passion and desperation. I can feel the spark between us igniting something deep within me, feel the heat and the connection I didn’t even know existed until I met Fin.

  When he breaks the kiss, slowly pulling back and resting his forehead against mine, our hot and heavy breaths fill the air. I swallow and press my eyes closed for a second trying to pull myself together.

  “You’re right, it is too soon. But this thing between us has been complicated and messy from the start. Why change that now? You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. You’re relaxed and you have this calming effect on me, like when I’m with you everything else just fades away. You make me happy in a way I never knew was possible and for the last two days, having you fall asleep in my arms and waking up next to you has made me realize I never want to lose that feeling. The way my heart stutters when you smile, and forgets to beat all together when you laugh, you’re something else. I love you too, Amelia.”

  I don’t notice the tears welling in my eyes until they’re trickling down my cheeks. I’ve never been the type of girl to cry over a guy, but this guy is different. This guy is the one. I can feel it, no questions, full stop. My heart has never been as full as it is when my fingers are laced between his, or when his arm is looped around my waist, pulling me into the warmth of his body in the dark. He pulls back, looking into my wet green eyes, still overflowing with the happy tears he put there.

  “Don’t move,” he says, disappearing around the corner. He comes back a minute later, zipping a black sweatshirt halfway up his chest. Then he pulls his sleeves down and uses them to wipe away my tears. More continue to fall even as I giggle at his adorable gesture. How can he possibly be this perfect? How can I be lucky enough to call him mine?

  Six Months Later

  “Are you sure you want to do this tonight?” Fin asks as we walk toward the front door of the Walker house. We’re still trying to find the right titles for my grandparents and his parents, Fin votes for the rents, but that’s never going to stick, and talking about them still gets weird really quickly.

  “This is the first dinner since your mom got back from her trip. Mom and Dad are going to ask her a ton of questions and chances are she’ll feel like they’re overstepping. Then she’ll get annoyed and storm out.”

  I know he’s right. Mom has been trying to keep things civil and most of our meals together are really enjoyable, but she’s been traveling for the magazine a lot and it’s anyone’s guess what kind of mood she’ll be in after spending five weeks in hotels across the country.

  “We’ve talked about this for months, I’m sure, you’re sure. I don’t want to wait anymore. Tonight is the night,” I say, pointing at the doorstep with my index finger for emphasis. “Besides, I want to tell everyone together and who knows when we’ll get all of the parents in one room again.”

  We have dinner with my grandparents at least once a week, and when Mom is in town we try to do the
same with her, but there isn’t always a lot of overlap. Mom has really thrown herself into the magazine. Her friend Cheryl, the founder, was thrilled to have her on board, and even more excited when she realized Mom is just as passionate about the magazine and it’s readers as she is. Once Fin and I moved in together she started traveling pretty regularly. She would never admit it, but I know worrying about me being alone was still holding her back. So far the partnership, which they made official last month has been a match made in heaven.

  “I know, I know. I would just hate for their bickering to dampen this,” he says, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before opening the door and ushering me inside.

  The foyer is empty when we step inside. I hear voices coming from the living room and we make our way in that direction. To my surprise, Mom is sitting on the sofa, shoes kicked off on the floor in front of her, laughing while my grandparents look through printed photographs.

  “It was the best interview I’ve done to date. She felt comfortable with me so I got great candid responses, but the best part was her picture. When I asked her to sit for a few shots to print with the article she insisted her cats be in the picture too! You can’t tell me those aren’t funny!” Mom laughs and both of my grandparents laugh with her.

  “What’s going on in here, and what have you people done with my family?” I joke as Fin and I walk into the room. He walks toward his parents, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. I squash my own mother in a hug from behind the sofa.

  “I was just telling your grandparents about an interview I did with a crazy cat woman. She was lovely and very accomplished, but she wanted all twelve of her cats in the picture with her. Do you know how hard it is to get cats to participate in a photoshoot?”

  “Can’t say that I do,” I say, shaking my head.

  “Well, it’s extremely difficult. I can’t decide which picture to use beside the interview.”

  “Definitely this one,” Fin laughs, holding up a photo. “Two of the cats are hissing.”

  “They were hissing at me!” Mom says with wide eyes, breaking into laughter herself. “One of them bit me!” She turns her hand over a few times before pointing to a spot that looks completely normal. “It was here, there’s a faint scar, see?”

  Fin chuckles and mumbles under his breath. “I’m so glad I got the normal parents.”

  “Normal?” My mother nearly shouts, turning toward him with a shocked expression. “They’re only normal now because they spent my childhood driving me crazy!”

  “Lydia, you’re hardly crazy,” my grandmother says calmly.

  “It was an expression, Mom, I know I’m not crazy!”

  I drop my face into my palms.

  “Can we just have one normal, quiet dinner please?” I say through my hands. “Moving down here, being closer to family, this was supposed to be picturesque and charming, remember?” My words are obviously directed toward my mother who seems to get a little bit more dramatic by the day.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry,” she says. “The rest of the evening will be like a Thomas Kinkade painting.”

  I seriously doubt that, but I just smile and shift my eyes awkwardly.

  “Where is Kris?” I ask, turning toward my grandparents. I really wanted everyone to be here tonight.

  “Ask your grandfather,” my grandmother says, crossing her ankles and folding her hands in her lap.

  “Well, I mean, I asked the room, but ok.” I turn to face him head on. “Where is Kris?”

  He clears his throat and shoots a sidelong glance at his wife.

  “Kris may make it for dessert, but she wasn’t certain. She is getting a tattoo and wasn’t sure if she would feel up to family bonding after.”

  I tap my fingers against my knee, pressing my lips into a hard line. Kris and I are close, or at least I think we are. I asked her to be here tonight, to act as a sort of buffer in case the family got weird. She knew this was important so I thought asking once was enough, I didn’t think I needed to write it on her calendar in permanent marker.

  I feel Fin’s hands on my shoulders. He leans down and whispers in my ear.

  “I’m sure it slipped her mind.”

  “Mmhmm, I know. I’m sure that’s it,” I reply. I know she wouldn’t miss something important on purpose, but it still hurts.

  “Dinner is ready,” Aida calls, peeking her head through the kitchen door. When no one moves quick enough she adds. “It’s lasagna.”

  Fin, my grandfather and I race toward the dining room. The three of us are seated with napkins in our laps before Mom and Grandmom enter the room. The rest of dinner is calm, just as my mother promised. She tells us a few more unusual stories about strong but quirky women she interviewed for the upcoming feature Becoming a Boss, a large centerfold piece featuring eight entrepreneurial women making it big in traditionally male industries. It sounds amazing and I’m so proud of her for coming up with the idea and running with it even though it meant traveling extensively and doing everything to bring the feature to fruition.

  When Aida takes the plates back to the kitchen everyone is quiet. I take the opportunity and clear my throat.

  “I have something I want to tell everyone,” I say, taking a deep breath.

  “Oh god, you’re pregnant, aren’t you?” my mother asks, placing a hand over her mouth dramatically.

  “What? No. Why would you think that?”

  “You haven’t always been the most responsible when it came to taking those pills, Amelia. Remember the time you popped them all out of the foil at once and dumped them into your Altoids container?” Mom says, arching her eyebrow at me.

  “That was a really long time ago, and as everyone can see that lapse in judgment worked out just fine.”

  The front door slams and the familiar sound of Doc Martins on expensive tile fills the air. Kris. I smile. I knew she wouldn’t let me down. Ok, I totally doubted her for a while there. She enters the room in her usual style. Her galaxy buns are braided today, and her shiny boots and black shorts make her blue crop top the star of the show.

  “What did you get this time?” my grandmother asks, narrowing her eyes.

  “A key,” Kris answers plainly, stopping across the table from me.

  I stare at her, confused. Then my eyes scan her arms. There’s no signs of medical tape or a bandage. She only ever gets tattoos on her arms.

  “Did you tell them yet?” she asks.

  “No, I was about to.”

  “Good. But, just in case you were thinking about chickening out.” She tosses something at me. I’m awful at catching and it lands in my water glass, I peer into the cup. It’s a key. I fish it out, dry it off and stare at her with wide eyes.

  “You didn’t!”

  “Oh, I did. Bonus, I have a date with the leasing agent. He’s hot and he plays bass in a garage band.

  I glance at Fin, he pinches the space between his eyes and groans.

  “I’m completely lost. What’s the key to? And why doesn’t she have a new tattoo?” Mom asks me, pointing her thumb at Kris.

  “The key is to the shop a few doors down from The Dirty Bean. It was available and I have apparently leased it,” I explain, turning the silver key over in my hand.

  “What? Why would you lease a commercial property? What are you going to do with it?” she asks frantically.

  “I’m going to open a flower shop,” I say, answering all of her questions at once.

  “A flower shop?” my grandfather asks. He’s been so quiet I actually forgot he was sitting at the head of the table.

  “She has this whole impressive business plan and everything,” Kris interjects, sitting down and pulling the lasagna pan toward her. She picks up her fork and scoops a bite right out of the casserole dish. “I thought she was nuts when she pitched me her idea, but this girl had done her research. Annual sales projections based off of wedding counts in the area, plus funerals and formal events hosted by schools and local hotels. She’s really onto something.”


  I meet her eyes across the table and mouth thank you. Kris winks and continues shoveling cheesy pasta into her mouth.

  “But why flowers, Amelia? Do you even like flowers?” Mom asks.

  “Sure I like flowers. Who doesn’t? But honestly, this is just a smart business move, Mom. The little main street running through this town has a huge variety of small businesses. Restaurants, an ice cream shop, a bookstore, a coffee house. There’s even a stationary store. But there isn’t a flower shop. In fact, there isn’t a flower shop in this town at all. Currently all of the weddings hosted at the bed and breakfasts are driving half an hour to get to the closest florist. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but when I realized this town was missing something everything just fell into place. There is a demand and I’m going to fill it.”

  “That’s very smart,” my grandfather says, rubbing his hand along his jaw. “It’s great to be passionate about a business, but it’s even more valuable to see a gap in the current market and to create a solution. It’s a very clever approach. You must get your business instincts from me.”

  “Thank you,” I say, beaming from ear to ear.

  “I just think this is going to be a lot of work,” Mom says.

  “I know it will, Mom. I’ve thought about this for months. I’ve done tons of research, crunched the numbers.”

  “There was this one week where she sat at the cafe for hours every single day counting the people that walked by just to make sure the street had enough foot traffic,” Kris adds, never looking up from the casserole dish in front of her. “I thought she was losing her mind.”

  “Thanks, Kris.” I rake my fingers through my hair and exhale heavily. “Anyway, I just wanted to announce it to the whole family at once.”

  “How are you going to run a business, Amelia? You don’t know the first thing about running a business.” Mom’s eyes are wide and the way she’s tapping her index finger on the edge of the table tells me she’s worried.

  “That’s not entirely true. I’ve spent the last six weeks taking a small business class two nights a week at the community college. I’ve learned a lot and…”