The Summer I Found You

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Zane

“Why are you standing there eating my brisket like a feral animal?”

I glance up from the piece of meat pinched between my fingers and find my older brother glaring at me from behind the table.

“I’m quality testing,” I say around a bite.

Ryland points a carving knife in my direction. “You’ve quality tested half the pan. And two plates full before that. Back off and save some for the rest of us.”

“You’re being dramatic. I had other things on my plate besides the brisket.”

“It’s not dramatic when I sat there and watched you eat it all.”

A laugh slips out of me as I take a step away from the table. “Fine, I’ll let you take the leftovers home but only because you were the one who brought the brisket in the first place.”

Ryland shakes his head at me before returning to his task.

I inhale a deep breath, admiring the life buzzing around my cabin and the stretch of lakeside property.

The sun has started sinking behind the trees, turning the lake gold beneath the evening light.

A breeze rolls through, carrying the scent of hickory smoke, freshly cut grass, and wild honeysuckle.

There’s debris from the cookout scattered around the tables – empty paper plates, mason jars, and crumpled napkins.

This place is messy, full of familiar chaos, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s one of the reasons why I never plan on leaving my hometown. I was eleven when my family moved to Covewood, and instantly, this town became a safe haven for me. So why would I ever want to go anywhere else?

Annabelle, my eight-year-old niece, darts past us, barefoot and shrieking with laughter, while my golden retriever barrels after her, a hot dog bun hanging triumphantly from his mouth.

“Uncle Z!” she yells. “Sven stole my bun.”

Sven plops down next to my feet, his tail thumping lazily against the grass while he looks up at me, his golden face entirely unapologetic, before he swallows the bun whole in one dramatic gulp.

Ryland sighs heavily. “That dog eats exactly like you.”

“Like father, like son.” I chuckle.

Across the yard, laughter rises loud enough to carry over the soft country music that’s playing.

Wren and Olivia are stuffing empty cups into a trash bag.

It’s no question they’re sisters with the matching red tint of their hair, especially when they’re standing side by side.

Luke folds up the chairs and packs them into the back of his patrol truck, and once they’re tucked away, he strides over to Olivia and gives her a kiss.

The whole evening has been loud in the best kind of way.

Ryland’s been manning the grill like he’s on some sort of a mission.

Raine, my sister-in-law, is trying—and failing— to stop Annabelle from cannonballing into the lake fully clothed.

Edna has started an argument with Luke because he put sugar in his cornbread, as if it’s some sort of crime.

I inhale a deep breath, smiling to myself as laughter drifts across the yard, overlapping conversations blending together in a way that’s comfortable. This is what home sounds like. I take a second to simply soak it in.

Covewood might be a small town, but when the community gets together like this, it’s as if half the county shows up. That’s the thing about growing up here. Everyone knows your name, your family, and probably the dumb stuff you did in high school. But when it matters, they show up for each other.

Like how after my grandfather passed away several years ago, our closest neighbors took turns cooking us meals for an entire month.

Or how the whole town threw a celebration for Luke after he got promoted to sheriff.

And how the community came together to provide a new car for Faye Grady when her vehicle broke down and she couldn’t afford a new one.

Thank You, God, for this community. For these people who feel like family. And thank You for blessing my brother with incredible cooking skills, because that brisket is downright heavenly.

When I’m sure Ryland is distracted, I reach for another slice of brisket, but without even looking at me, he smacks my hand away.

“Bro, if you touch this pan again, we’re fighting,” he warns.

Raine appears behind him carrying a stack of paper plates. “What’s going on over here?”

“Ryland is threatening me.”

“Snitch,” he mutters, jerking his head toward the giant Ziploc bag of leftover meat. “He keeps eating my lunch for tomorrow.”

“You have enough brisket to feed a football team,” Raine says, kissing his cheek. “Share with your brother.”

He watches her walk away, the corners of his mouth pulling into a grin, like he still can’t believe she’s his after all these years.

I look away before the familiar ache in my chest has a chance to grow.

But then I’m greeted by the sight of Luke kissing Olivia by his truck.

It’s funny how something as simple as being around two couples who are in love can stir up emotions I’ve spent years trying to bury.

People talk about heartbreak being like a storm, but what I went through six years ago was quiet and hollow.

It was the kind of silence that echoes, even years later.

Being cautious with my heart is easier than risking that kind of loss again.

Old memories are threatening to pull me somewhere I don’t want to go, so when a burst of laughter carries across the yard and pulls me back to the present, I’m grateful.

I busy myself by grabbing a trash bag off a picnic table and start clearing paper plates.

Around me, the cookout slowly begins to unravel into goodbye hugs, slamming truck doors, and people hollering promises to ’do this again soon’ across the yard.

Luke shuts the tailgate of his patrol truck with a loud bang while Olivia balances a foil pan against her hip on her way toward the cooler, Wren trailing behind her with an armful of leftovers.

I watch them for a moment, struck by how easily everyone seems to move from one chapter to the next. The evening folds itself away, piece by piece, everyone slipping back into their lives as naturally as they arrived.

Life keeps moving, whether my heart is ready for it or not.

Edna catches sight of me and narrows her glassy blue eyes with purpose. That look is never good. Before I can escape, she makes her way toward me with surprising speed for a seventy-year-old woman carrying a purse the size of a suitcase.

“There you are,” she announces, “I’ve been trying to corner you all evening.”

I know she has, which is exactly why I’ve spent the last two hours strategically avoiding her. I brace myself because I already know where this conversation will go, and there’s no safe way out once Edna gets an idea lodged in her head.

“That sentence alone concerns me.”

“Oh, nonsense. I have something exciting to share with you.” She beams, and the wrinkles by her red-painted lips deepen.

I inhale slowly through my nose, preparing myself for impact.

“I reached out to my great-niece, Vicky, and asked her if she’d be interested in going out on a date with you, and she said yes. Isn’t that wonderful?”

And there it is: Edna’s matchmaking era has officially returned.

Ever since Luke and Olivia started dating, she’s been entirely too confident in her abilities to pair people off.

Never mind the fact that Olivia survived three disastrous blind dates beforehand, including one man who brought his pet ferret to dinner.

I have no intention of becoming her next success story.

How do I get out of this?

Olivia chokes on her drink somewhere behind us. I eye her, my frown deepening because this is sort of her fault. Wren immediately abandons cleanup duty and drifts closer, sensing entertainment the way sharks smell blood in the water.

I sigh. “Edna—”

“No, you listen to me.” She points a bony finger in my face. “You’re nearing your thirties, living alone in that cabin over there, in the middle of these woods, wearing that awful raccoon shirt, and frankly, I’m starting to get concerned.”

Wren points at me triumphantly. “Thank you.”

I glance down at my shirt. “What? This is my favorite shirt."

“It says Stay Trashy,” Wren deadpans.

“It’s vintage.”

Wren snorts. “It’s embarrassing.”

Edna nods toward me in agreement while Wren crosses her arms smugly beside her. I thought she would have my back, being my best friend and all. I guess I thought wrong.

“Edna,” I begin carefully, “I appreciate the thought, but I really don’t think—”

“Vicky is really pretty,” she adds, ignoring me.

“That’s not the issue.”

“She owns her own hair salon.”

“That’s also not the issue.”

“She has excellent childbearing hips.”

“Edna!” Olivia wheezes so hard she nearly drops another foil pan.

Edna shrugs unapologetically. “What? It’s true.”

Wren doubles over laughing, clutching Olivia’s arm to steady herself while I pinch the bridge of my nose and reconsider every life decision that led me to this exact moment.

“I’m not looking to date anybody right now.”

Edna scoffs. “That’s because you’re stubborn.”

Thankfully, Wren swoops in before the conversation can turn into an intervention.

“Honestly, Edna”—she places an arm onto Edna’s shoulder—“the bigger issue is convincing a woman to overlook the raccoon obsession.”

“It’s one shirt,” I say through my teeth.

Olivia chuckles. “That you wear at least twice a week.”

Before I can defend myself, Luke hollers from beside his truck, “Are you ladies ready, or am I spending the night here?”

“Lord, help us, the officer is getting impatient,” Edna mutters before adding, “Think about it. I really think you’d like Vicky.”

Olivia hooks her arm through Edna’s while Wren grabs her purse beside the porch steps. As they pass me, Wren pauses long enough to tug lightly on the sleeve of my shirt.

“One day,” she says solemnly, “I’m burning this thing.”