Sun-Kissed Christmas

She wondered if she should run home and take a shower before pursuing this plan any further.

  The screen door swung open before she could come to a decision. It was Esme, looking chic and sexy and definitely not sweaty.

  “Summer! I thought I heard someone out here. Aus said I was hallucinating. Come on in. What are you doing lurking in the bushes? Casing the joint?”

  Summer hesitated. “I’m not … interrupting anything?”

  “Oh, no. We were in the bedroom.”

  “Maybe I should—”

  “No, not like that. We’re hanging in the bedroom because it’s the only room with an air conditioner.”

  Summer followed Esme into the little bedroom. The curtains were drawn. A fan whirred near the air conditioner.

  Austin was sprawled on the bed, arms behind his head. He had on a pair of cutoffs, no shirt. “Summer?” he said doubtfully.

  She couldn’t tell whether he was please to see her or not. Actually, he looked a little annoyed.

  Esme closed the door and plopped onto the bed next to Austin. “See? It’s a chilly eighty-five degrees in here. Practically arctic.”

  “Yeah, the weather’s really been bad,” Summer said lamely. She felt incredibly uncomfortable, and it wasn’t just the heat.

  “So what brings you to our little version of the North Pole?” Esme asked, reaching for a can of Pepsi on the nightstand.

  “Maybe I should come back another time,” Summer suggested.

  “No, stay,” Austin said. “Have a seat.”

  “Um, there isn’t one.”

  “On the bed.”

  “Oh.” Summer sat on the edge of the mattress. “Well, the thing is, I tracked down Vera. Harris’s Vera.”

  “Already? You work fast.”

  “It was pretty simple. I found her sister Rose in Atlanta, the one Harris mentioned. She hadn’t married, so she still had the same last name. I told her the truth, basically, about how I was doing this research paper about World War Two, and how Vera’s name had come up. So she told me Vera was running a little inn, a bed-and-breakfast, on Milagro Key. That’s like, I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes from here, tops. Can you believe it? Anyway, she gave me Vera’s number.”

  Austin grinned. “So what did you do with this information?”

  “I called Vera, of course.”

  “This Pepsi’s lukewarm.” Esme made a point of yawning. “I’m going to get something from the kitchen. Anybody want anything? Summer?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “No, thanks, Es,” Austin said.

  Esme glanced from Summer to Austin, then back again. “I think maybe I’ll check in with my soap. Not that this one isn’t riveting.” She left, closing the door behind her a little more loudly than was strictly necessary.

  “She watches soap operas?” Summer whispered. “I mean, I do, but Esme seems too—I don’t know—sophisticated.”

  “Yes, Esme’s a strange woman.”

  “Are you sure it’s okay I’m here? I mean, will Esme think—”

  Austin waved away her concern. “Esme’s not that type. Anyway, it’s my bedroom,” Austin said. “So did you get ahold of Vera?”

  Summer barely heard his question. She was too busy trying to figure out what Austin meant. Esme wasn’t what type? The jealous type? The paranoid type? Was Austin somehow saying that Summer, on the other hand, was that type? And anyway, what type?

  “Umm … Summer?”

  Summer shook her head, trying to reel her mind back to the present.

  “Vera? Did you talk to her?”

  “I did,” Summer said, feeling a faint blush cover her cheeks. “She was really cool. I didn’t mention Harris. I just said I was doing this report on army nurses and I went to Carlson. And it turned out she had a cousin on the English faculty, and that sort of broke the ice.”

  “Didn’t she wonder how you got her name?”

  “I told her I was going through the history archives at the Carlson library. Fortunately, she didn’t ask which archives. She went on and on, told me all kinds of stuff. She bought this cool little lighthouse inn with all her savings, and she loves it, but she’s always short of help, and she makes these dynamite blueberry pancakes for all her guests … oops, I’m babbling.”

  “That’s okay. You’re cute when you babble.”

  Summer smiled. She felt better without Esme in the room. And Austin seemed to have relaxed a little. Still, it wasn’t exactly as though she could give the Big Speech, under the circumstances.

  “Here’s the best part, Austin. I asked, very casually, you know, just weaving it into the conversation, if she’d had any opportunity for wartime romance. And Vera got all wistful and said yeah, there was this one handsome fellow—that’s what she called him, a ‘handsome fellow’—named Harris. But nothing came of it.”

  “Interesting.”

  “So very gently I asked why, and she told me she couldn’t have children, and that’s why it didn’t work out.”

  Summer smiled triumphantly, pleased at her detective work. She waited for Austin to applaud her efforts, but he just stared at the ceiling pensively.

  “Austin? Don’t you see? That’s why Vera ran out that night. She knew she couldn’t have children, and she was afraid Harris would care. I’m sure of it. And the irony is, it probably wouldn’t have mattered at all. I mean, he and Louise never had children, right? Aren’t you amazed I found all this out? I couldn’t believe she was so open with me, especially on the phone like that. But you know how older people are. They like to talk about the past. Or maybe it’s just me. Some people tell me I have that effect on them. You know, making them want to open up.”

  Austin just lay there, silent, frowning at the ceiling.

  “Of course,” Summer added, “on some people, I have precisely the opposite effect.”

  Austin rolled onto his side, facing her. “I’m sorry,” he said, his face clouded. “I was just lost in space for a minute there. So what is it you plan to do with this data, anyway?”

  “Well, get them together, naturally. I thought I’d come up with some fake reason for them to show up at the same place—that’s the hard part. And then maybe even reenact the whole proposal dinner. Wouldn’t that be so incredibly romantic?”

  Austin just stared at her. “Summer, I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “But … why?”

  “Because Vera obviously had her reasons for running away from Harris. Maybe it was the children thing, maybe not. The point is, it’s private. Not something for you to meddle in.”

  “But what harm could it do?” Summer asked, a little deflated. “At the very least they’ll have a little reunion, talk over old times. You saw how lonely Harris was, Austin. And you could tell how much he loved her.”

  Austin sat up. “I don’t think it’s fair to Vera,” he said tensely. “If she had something she didn’t want to share with Harris, it’s not your business to unearth it. God, that was over five decades ago! Can’t you just let it rest?”

  “Yesterday you weren’t this upset about the idea.”

  “Yesterday I didn’t know that Vera had a secret she didn’t want revealed.”

  “I see.”

  “Besides, I thought about it last night some more, after the boat parade.” Austin shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Me either,” Summer said, a little hopefully.

  “Man, it’s been hot. I always have a hard time sleeping when it’s this muggy.”

  “Oh.” She looked down at her hands, willing away the look of disappointment from her features.

  “Why couldn’t you sleep?” he asked.

  “Um, I … I ate some Beefaroni before I went to bed,” Summer lied. “Big mistake.”

  “Beefaroni at any time of the day or night is a mistake.”

  Summer got off the bed. She felt suddenly weary. “So you’re saying no to the whole reunion plan?”

  “I’m saying I think it’s a lousy idea,” Austin said flatly
. “I’m saying sometimes people have good reasons for keeping things private. Maybe Vera was trying to protect Harris.”

  “Maybe. But they’re in their seventies, Austin. I mean, get real. It’s not like the patter of little feet is in their future.” She shook her head. “I don’t get why you’re being such a jerk about this.”

  “Well, I don’t get why you’re pushing the whole idea so hard. He’s my relative. Write your little paper and get on with your life.”

  “Fine,” Summer said, holding up her hands. “Whatever. Sorry to bother you. I’ll see myself out.”

  She stalked out of the room, slamming the door even harder than Esme had.

  Esme was on the couch, mesmerized by a couple making out on the TV. “Leaving?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah. Definitely leaving.”

  Summer flung open the screen door and tromped across the lawn. To think she’d planned to come here and deliver her Big Speech! Little had she known Austin was going to behave like such a jerk.

  She was almost to the corner when she heard someone running behind her. She stopped and spun around, just in time for Austin to crash right into her at a full sprint.

  Austin tackled her. They went rolling onto a nicely manicured lawn.

  When they landed, Summer blinked. They were lying together, a tangle of limbs on a cushion of grass.

  “You okay?” Austin panted.

  “Yeah. You?”

  A carload of teenage boys drove by. “Go for it, dude!” one of them yelled.

  “I’m fine,” Austin said. “Although I’m feeling pretty depressed.”

  Summer yanked a piece of grass out of her hair. “Why?”

  “Well, it’s always kind of depressing to realize what a complete jerk you’re capable of being.” He gave a lopsided grin. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Or maybe I do … I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Austin?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  “Austin?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re crushing my ribs.”

  “Okay, then,” Austin said. “I should stop crushing you, shouldn’t I? Only I was …”

  “You were what?”

  His eyes held hers. His lips were so close. His chest was pressed so hard against hers that Summer was finding it hard to breathe. She couldn’t tell whether it was because she’d punctured a lung or because she felt exhilarated at being close to him again.

  Austin tipped his face toward her, and suddenly their lips were touching. He was kissing her the way he had that very first time, and it didn’t really matter whether she could breathe or not.

  “What are you kids doing on my lawn?”

  The shrieking voice forced its way into Summer’s consciousness. She blinked twice before she could focus on a large, angry-looking woman wielding a broom from the porch above them.

  Austin pulled away from Summer, looking confused. He jumped up, helped her to her feet, and brushed off her grass-stained knees.

  “Get off my lawn, you animals!” the broom woman screeched.

  Austin grabbed Summer’s hand, and they hightailed it to the safety of the sidewalk. “I’m really sorry,” he said, avoiding Summer’s gaze. “That was stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  Summer was breathless, dizzy. “No, it’s all right, really—”

  “It isn’t all right,” Austin said with sudden force. “Forget it happened. It was just a kiss.”

  Down the block, Esme appeared on Austin’s front porch. “Aus?” she called. “Everything okay?”

  Austin forced himself to look at Summer. “Forget it. I already have.”

  She watched him run back to the house. Her lips were still wet, still buzzing, as if Austin had never left.

  All in all, it was going to be a very tough kiss to forget.

  11

  Jingle Bells, Santa Smells …

  “You guys get in line for Santa,” Summer said that afternoon at the mini-mall. “I’m going to the mailing center to send this package to Adam.”

  “Want some company?” Seth asked.

  Summer looked up at him in surprise. So did Marquez and Diana. “Um, sure,” Summer said. “It should take only a minute.”

  Seth fell into step beside her. The little shopping center was filled with holiday gift buyers. “Not exactly the Mall of America, huh?” Summer said.

  Seth glanced over his shoulder at Diana. “Hmm? Oh, no. Not quite.”

  “Why do I feel like Diana’s sending laser-guided hate looks into my back?” Summer asked.

  Seth laughed. “Because she is. But don’t worry. She’s reserving most of them for me.”

  A long line snaked out of the mailing center. Summer grabbed a mailing label, and they took their places at the end of the line.

  “I just wanted to be alone with you for a second,” Seth said while Summer filled out the label. “To tell you … I’m not sure, exactly. I guess to tell you that I’ve missed you. But I’m okay now. About us, I mean.”

  Summer looked up. “I’m glad, Seth. I’ve missed you too.”

  “I was thinking … well, it’d be nice if we could still talk from time to time.” He gave a self-deprecating smile. “You know, as soon as Diana relaxes a little.”

  “So I’m thinking that would be maybe another decade or so?” Summer joked.

  “She’ll get used to everything. I hope. Let’s face it, this is all pretty strange. You and me and her … and Austin.”

  He added the last name as a question. Flashing back on her strange visit to Austin’s earlier that day, Summer realized she didn’t really have an answer.

  “Austin and I aren’t … you know.” She shrugged. “To tell you the truth, all I’ve had time for this semester is school. It’s been great, though. Incredibly hard, but I’ve loved every minute of it. How about you?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m taking to it as well as you are. Wisconsin’s a big pond, and I feel like an awfully small fish, especially after high school.”

  “A lot of people feel that way their first year. I think it was easier for me because I was so totally afraid about going to Carlson.” She laughed. “Every hour I survived was sort of a triumph. Now I really like being on my own. It’s scary, but it’s wonderful at the same time.”

  Seth smiled, that sweet smile she’d loved for so long. How strange it was that she could be here with him, talking naturally, after all that had happened between them. When they’d broken up at the end of the summer, Summer had never imagined they might actually be friends again.

  “So I guess there’s no room for the male species in your busy academic life?” Seth teased.

  “Oh, I’m keeping an open mind,” Summer said. “But I want to keep my eye on the ball too—being independent, getting my degree.”

  “That doesn’t mean you have to join a nunnery and swear off guys.”

  “And how about you?”

  “I don’t think a nunnery would take me.”

  “You know what I mean,” Summer said as the line slowly inched forward. “You think the long-distance romance with Diana will work?”

  “It’s not a romance yet,” Seth said, shaking his head. “More like a really cautious flirtation. Being with Diana is sort of like dating a porcupine—you have to be real careful about the moves you make.”

  “An analogy I’m sure she’d appreciate.”

  At last they made their way to the front of the line. Summer handed her package to the clerk. “Could you send this priority? I need it to get to New England by Christmas.”

  “So how is ol’ Adam? Or should I say Jared?” Seth asked. “You stay in touch?”

  “Yeah, we write each other. Or I write and he tape-records, I should say. He still doesn’t have much use of his right hand. But I think he’s doing better since he moved back up to New England with his family.”

  “That whole thing must have been
a shock for you,” Seth said. “Finding out the accident victim you’ve been hired to take care of is really an old boyfriend.”

  “It wasn’t so bad, really. If you watched more soap operas, Seth, you’d realize that kind of thing happens all the time.”

  “But that’s fiction, Summer. This is real life.”

  She grinned. “How can you tell the difference?”

  “Twelve-fifty,” the clerk said as she labeled the package. Summer handed her a twenty.

  “What do you buy a guy covered from head to toe in bandages, anyway?” Seth asked. “I’m guessing he doesn’t need any sunscreen.”

  Summer rolled her eyes. “I got him a new computer chess game. Nearly wiped out my meager savings, but I knew he’d like it. He used to slaughter me whenever we played.”

  The clerk handed Summer her change, and they headed back into the mall. As she tucked the bills in her purse Summer looked up to see Seth staring at her oddly.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

  Seth rolled his eyes. “Actually, I was just thinking what a great person you are. And that I’m really glad we can still be friends.”

  “Great how?”

  “The way you got over Adam lying to you, the way you’re okay with Diana and me … I don’t know. You don’t hold grudges. You let things go. That’s why you’re great.”

  Summer took Seth’s arm. “You’re pretty great yourself, Seth Warner.”

  He looked dubious. “Think Diana will figure that out?”

  “I do, actually. But just to be on the safe side, when we get near Santa, I’ll let go of your arm, okay?”

  Seth laughed. “Good thinking.”

  “Where do you think they went?” Diana asked again.

  “I’m going out on a limb here and guessing the mailing center,” Marquez replied.

  Diana chewed on a thumbnail. “You think?”

  “No, Diana. The package to Adam was just an elaborate ruse so that Summer could seduce Seth in the romantic candlelit atmosphere of Mailboxes Etcetera. Will you get a grip already?”

  Diana scanned the Santa display. “Where’s Sarah?”

  “Right over there.” Marquez pointed. “Checking out the fake elves. You know, all things considered, we were much better fake reindeer.”