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Chapter 19
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Summer Child Chapter 20
A small smile played on her lips as she found herself getting lost in her grandfather’s words, the scenes playing in her head as he retold the story of the night he met Adelaide. She was almost giggling out loud by the time Mitch came back with the drinks. She looked up with a smile and the relief washed over him to see it. “What did you end up picking?” she asked with growing curiosity. “Grown up variety dirty vodka martinis,” he replied with an answering grin. “Perfection,” she said with a happy sigh and moved over so he could drag his chair to sit beside her. “Look. It’s his version of the night he met Nan,” she said, pointing at the start of the story. Mitch settled in close beside her to read, laughing every now and then at Bill’s colorful language and masterful turns of phrase - ‘rat bastard’ was one that stuck out at him, and an echo of Bill’s voice saying that exact thing sounded off in the depths of his memories. “From what I remember, he was quite the character,” he said
Summer Child Chapter 21
“Ughhh, do we have to?” Aiden asked on an exaggerated whine, an arm thrown over her eyes as she kicked the sheets away from her bare form. Mitch had pulled out and rolled off of her to check the text messages that had piled up in the last half hour or so and she let out a sigh as he nodded and returned to her side.One strong hand slid up the length of her torso to cup a breast and she shivered in delight. Only moments ago, he had all but had her screaming the house down in pure ecstasy during a sultry, hard and fast tumble in the bed while they waited for Jessie and Jacob to decide where they wanted to go that night. “‘Fraid so. We’re all booked for Cuvee tonight.”“Leave it to Jessie to pick a wine bar when she can’t even drink,” she giggled softly.“Well, in all fairness, they do have pretty good food now,” he said, joining in on the laughter. “She must be craving something in particular is my only guess.”Aiden shook her head and rubbed lazily at her eyes. “I’ll trust her judgment
Summer Child Chapter 1
It all started with a social media post:'Hey Pebble Point, I’m down for the day! HMU.' --------------------- It wasn’t often Aiden came home anymore. In the handful of years following her graduation from college, many of her friends had scattered from their tiny seaside town and onto brand-new paths. She’d certainly done the same after her Nan had passed away, only too eager to escape that heartbreak and dive into adulthood and adventure in the heart of her favorite City. Nan had raised her since toddlerhood after she lost her parents and, though her roots were and always would be there in Pebble Point, all sense of ‘home’ seemed muted, fading, the longer she spent away. Gone into the ground with those she loved best, and into the wind with everyone and everything she missed most. It was that much easier to justify being away when her life and career were taking off, leading to all the new experiences she’d craved throughout her teenage years. Still, despite getting away from her
Summer Child Chapter 2
“Aagghhh!” She immediately ran the tap again and stuck her hand under the cold flow of water, trying and failing to see if she needed anything more than a bandaid. Her uninjured hand made a grab for the lip of the sink to steady herself - barely - as she closed her eyes for a grounding moment. The sight of her own blood instantly made her wobbly and nauseated, just like always, and it was only this that distracted her from immediately looking up to see who’d unexpectedly joined her. Suddenly, that bacon-egg-n-cheese wasn’t sitting so nicely anymore.“Whoa! Sorry, Aiden!” came a familiar, deep voice, usually booming with good cheer but now strained with concern. “Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m really sorry,” he continued, reaching for a wad of paper towels, his usually mischief-filled aquamarine eyes crinkled at the edges with worry. A strong hand wrapped around her arm as she swayed, before Mitch gently guided her to the kitchen table to sit. “Whoa, whoa… easy there, I got you
Summer Child Chapter 3
"So… if you're up for it, wanna come with me?" He glanced at his watch before returning his gaze to hers. "Gotta go in a few to make it on time, either way." But his tone was anything but nonchalant, even hopeful if Aiden was honest. A slow smile crossed her lips and she shoved an errant lock of hair from her face, already feeling a little flicker of excitement at the prospect of spending some solo time with Mitch, as well as seeing Jessie again. It hadn’t been too long; Jessie had dropped in for a weekend a few months before, and Aiden had visited her in Chicago a few months before that. Jessie and her parents were only a few of those she’d stayed consistently in touch with. But it was the first time they were both back home at the same time in ages and, combined with the hours-long ride before her, it was a no-brainer. “I’d love to.” She stood up slowly, making sure her lightheadedness had passed, only to find he’d already stood and taken her arm anyway. “Easy,” he urged, making s
Summer Child Chapter 4
"Gosh, well… there are a lot of them flying around in there right now. But I guess I'm mostly thinking about how much everything's changed and how, for the first time, it's really hitting me. Them selling the house sort of… sends that feeling home."He nodded. "If it's any consolation, I don't think they're ready to do that just yet. They're just feeling out plans, you know? And besides… if they do decide to sell, I'm probably the one who's going to take it on." "You're really planning on staying here then? I have to say, I'm surprised, but I'm not mad about it."He laughed, giving a little shrug. "You know, it surprised me, too. I didn't start out thinking I'd end up back home, but somewhere in the middle of my residency, I started getting real homesick. Not just for my family, but for all of it. The town, the beach, just… even knowing it wasn't the same, I wanted to be back here. So, I did something kind of 'out there' and took some psychic advice. The girl I was sort of, well, ser
Summer Child Chapter 5
"So," he said, giving her a sidelong glance. "What about you? Anyone serious? Any strange tales of woeful breakups heralded from the Great Beyond?" She shook her head with another laugh, blowing out a bit of a sigh of her own. "Oh, no no. Just the regular sort. You know, 'You work too much. You're married to your job. You don't have any time for us.' There were a few more colorful things tossed in, too." She shook her head. "I mean, maybe it was all true, but I didn't think working hard was a bad thing. Clearly, he thought otherwise, even though he worked just as much." She smirked. "Eric ended up being a little too traditional for my tastes." "Ouch. When did all that go down?" "Oh gosh," she breathed out, stalling a bit over how recently it had happened because she felt anything but upset over it and maybe that wasn't the best look, even if it was honest. "A couple months ago. He moved out the weekend I had my latest big project going on. Full three day thing. I come home at the e
Summer Child Chapter 6
Jessie gave a laugh and shook her head. “Okay so… that’s because I wasn’t seeing him then, yet. We’ve been friends for a long time, though. And we got a little tipsy one night at a work thing, went back to mine, messed around, he stayed the night, you know,” she murmured under her breath with raised brows. “And then… he kind of never left?” She shook her head with a grin. “I know its all so fast, but it feels like our whole friendship was leading up to this. He proposed last week!” She let out another giggle. “My parents don’t know yet…no one does, actually. I’m only about 15 weeks along, and I wanted to be sure everything was all good before we told them in person. Actually, I’m kind of glad Mitch picked me up instead of Mom. She would be excited, but… you know.”Aiden nodded. She did indeed know. Cynthia was one of the sweetest women and best moms, but she was a little on the old-fashioned, traditional side. But Cynthia also knew her daughter and her ways quite well - Jessie had alw
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