5. Memories of Summer
5
MEMORIES OF SUMMER
S ummer didn’t leave the house for a week, much to her mother’s sorrow, but she wasn’t ready to face the town, its citizens, or how they would look at her. Especially the Sugar Mamas. She had avoided their interference over the years because she never stayed long enough for them to put any plan into place. It had also helped that she never let anyone know when she’d show up or leave. She smiled, thinking about it now. It wasn’t often the Sugar Mamas didn’t get their way.
It had been almost a decade since she had lived in her parents' house for more than a few days during leave, so her room had changed. The posters of teen heartthrobs had been removed from the once pale pink walls and replaced with a single large print of Lake Champlain on a soft dove gray wall. Even her twin white canopy bed that she was so proud of at eight and embarrassed of by sixteen had been swapped out for a simple wood-framed queen bed.
Although the decor had changed to reflect a more sophisticated and grown-up woman, Summer’s closet was full of everything she’d left behind. Her mom had boxed up the diaries, yearbooks, and souvenirs Summer had collected over the years. Instead of hiding from everything, she took the time to sift through memories from her childhood. Sorting through it all was hard, but it was therapeutic too. She had written in her diary almost daily until she returned from that fateful youth service trip after graduation.
Griff left her alone the first few days while she reread the entries from a simpler time in her life. She’d been so happy then and full of hope. Every page was filled with excitement over some little thing—a day at the lake with friends, camping with her family, making a new friend at school, the ski camp with Brandon. She read those entries multiple times.
Brandon Fletcher had caught her eye long before ski camp. They had been good friends when they were younger but grew apart during middle school. That didn’t mean she hadn’t liked him from afar. He was athletic with striking blue eyes and an easy-going manner that made everyone around him feel special. When she overheard him talking about signing up for ski camp, she begged her parents to let her go, too. The plan had been to admire him from a distance, but he had immediately buddied up with her. By the end of the month, they’d become best friends again.
Summer thought about the two years that followed. She spent more time with Brandon at school and outside of it. Their individual friend groups joined up to form one group that did everything together. They skied in the winter, hiked and hung out at the lake in the summer, and ate lunch together every day at school. Most of the group took the same classes, and she might have swapped her schedule around to be in Brandon’s class more than once. It was wonderful and a form of torture for her. They were friends, but she liked him more than that.
It seemed their relationship would remain the same until the end of the summer before they turned sixteen. Brandon planned a camping trip with his brother Austin and invited everyone from their group. Summer’s mom refused to let her go because she didn’t think boys and girls should camp together without an adult. Then, her dad and Brandon’s dad agreed to play chaperone .
Summer had never been so excited. They packed all their equipment and supplies into two boats and made their way to a little island two miles from the shore. It was a small bit of land covered in trees and perfect for a night away from everything. Five guys, three girls, and two adults were on that first trip. They arrived early and worked hard to clear trees so they could set up their tents. Then they swam, fished for dinner, and laughed around the campfire until late in the evening.
When Summer couldn’t sleep, she slipped down to the shore to watch the stars. She’d only been there five minutes before Brandon sat beside her on the sand. She would never forget that night.
“ I’m glad you could come. This wouldn’t have been the same without you,” Brandon said as he scooted closer to Summer. “Are you cold?”
“A little,” she whispered, even though she wasn’t.
Brandon placed an arm around her shoulders and tucked her into his side. “Is this okay?”
She nodded. Her heart raced, and all she could think was OMGosh!! Did Brandon like her as much as she did him?
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, and then Summer got brave enough to turn and look at him. He was watching her instead of the moon on the lake. She hadn’t realized they were so close until she was looking into his eyes.
“Summer?” He spoke her name softer than she’d ever heard him say it.
“Yes?”
“Would you hate me if I kissed you?”
“No.”
Summer sighed. Their first kiss had been shared a mere hundred feet from where two chaperones snored inside their tent. After that, they became inseparable, and Brandon Fletcher became her whole world.
“What do these tears mean?” Griff appeared in the chair next to her window. Today, he was somewhere in between whole and the charred mess of his death.
Summer jumped and looked away. “Can’t you control that? ”
“Sorry, it takes a lot of concentration.” He looked down. His blackened skin lightened and smoothed, and even his fatigues became clean and pressed. “Is that better?”
“Yes, thank you.” Summer felt horrible for complaining. It wasn’t his fault he died.
“Now,” he flicked a finger toward her face, “the tears?”
“Too many memories,” she mumbled.
“Then let’s get out of this room. We’ll go outside and enjoy the flowers your man planted for you.”
Summer chuckled. “Why are you trying so hard?”
“Because I loved you, Summer. I knew you’d never be mine, and I was okay with that. But I’m not okay with you quitting. You’re still young and alive. Now get busy living.”
“What if I don’t remember how?”
“That’s why I’m here. The first step is to put some shoes on and follow me.”
A smile worked its way onto her face. The fact a dead man was going to teach her how to live struck her as funny. She held onto that feeling since she hadn’t felt it in months.
“Okay, Griff. Let’s get this mission started.”
The backyard had been transformed as much as the front yard. The concrete patio and cheap plastic furniture had been pressure washed, and new yellow and blue pillows had been added to the white deck set. The grass was green and well cared for, with no weeds in sight, but most importantly, a riot of blooms flowed around the small lawn.
The early June heat warmed Summer’s skin and filled the air with the scent of flowers. It was strange to smell perfumed air instead of sand, burning rubber, and human waste. She shifted a pillow off one of the Adirondack chairs and sat down.
“Told you this was better,” Griff said.
Summer closed her eyes and tried not to think. She concentrated on the warmth of the sun, the light breeze that touched her hair occasionally, and the sounds around her. There were birds in the trees, a lawn mower at the edge of her hearing, and a dog yapped next door. No one screamed, yelled, or cried.
“This is good, Griff,” she whispered. “What’s step two?”
“Call Dewitt. Then you’ll know I’m really here.”
She sucked in a breath. “I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to him.”
“Call him.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, Brandon,” Ellie Fletcher walked through the door of Cabins By the Bay, her long dark hair swinging halfway down her back.
“Aren’t you supposed to be helping Austin with the kayak tour?” Brandon asked.
“Yes, but something came up. Can you cover for me?” She batted her eyes at him. As the youngest Fletcher child, she used that tactic often to get her way.
“No can do. Clarissa has the week off, so there’s no one to cover the store.” He studied his sister a moment before continuing. “What’s come up that you can’t spare a few hours on the lake? You love the lake.”
Ellie’s smile doubled in size. “You know that summer program I didn’t get into? Well, someone dropped out. I’m in—if I can get there by tomorrow. I’ll have to work extra hard since I missed the first two weeks, but this will look great on my resume. Plus, I heard the Boston Symphony Orchestra directors drop in at times. If they notice me, it’ll help later on.”
Brandon loved his sister’s enthusiasm for her music. She had finished her first year at the Boston Conservatory and was home for the summer. He had never been close to her because of the eleven-year age difference, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be happy for her.
“That’s great, but what about Austin? We can’t leave him hanging.”
Ellie’s face fell. “You’re right.” She sighed dramatically, leaned her elbows on the front counter, and held her face. “I wish Carly had come home or that Darcy was here. I feel bad, but I need to pack and get to Boston. Even if I called Darcy, she wouldn’t get here in time. I’m supposed to be at the beach in an hour.”
“You’d have Darcy come home from the honeymoon she had to wait to go on?”
“No, of course not! I was just thinking out loud. I wouldn’t ask her to do that.” She slapped the counter and turned toward the door. “Ug, what should I do? Austin is going to need help all summer. He didn’t hire anyone because I said I’d be here. I’m a horrible sister.”
“He’ll hire someone when you tell him you’re leaving. Don’t worry about that. Today is the bigger concern. I can see if Dad will take over the store.”
“He and mom are shopping in Burlington.” Ellie’s shoulders slumped. “Who else could do it on such short notice?”
“I don’t—” Brandon stopped mid-sentence as an idea took root. “Summer.”
“I know it’s summer, and everyone is busy, but there must be someone.”
“No. Ask Summer. She could do it. It might be good for her to get out of the house and on the lake. She used to love it out there.”
“Summer Blakely?” Ellie furrowed her brow and then broke into a huge smile. “I’ll go now. Thanks, Brandon!”
Like the whirlwind of youth she was, Ellie ran out the door before he could say anything else.
Brandon said a silent prayer of thanks because he knew it wasn’t a coincidence that he thought of Summer’s name. He had been praying for her daily, and when Ellie asked for help, memories flooded his mind.
Summer always loved being outside. He could see her laughing, her hair in a ponytail and sticking out of a ball cap as she spun her seadoo in circles on the lake. She had always been the wild one, while he was more cautious. It meant she won every race they started, but he had never minded. Not when her joy was so contagious. It was one of the things he missed most about Summer .
It felt like a lifetime since they were teens, full of energy and hope for the future. What he wouldn’t give to go back in time and stay with Summer instead of heading to college early.
If he got lucky, Summer would help his brother and find some of that again. Then Brandon would get to see her smile.