Page 102 of The Summer of Us

“Until then, you can come back anytime.” I winked at her. “You can drive your new SUV.”

“I love my little truck.”

I gave up. She could call it anything she wanted.

Silence fell, her eyelids drooped, and I stood. “Let me take you home, baby.”

She let me pull her from the chair. “My trees,” she insisted. “You said you’d show me my trees.”

I didn’t argue. Using the light on my phone, we walked across the dirt and ducked under the long branches.

I aimed the light toward the bottom. Dirty and worn, it was still there. I pointed out her name and the year I had carved it in. Then I showed her the same on the other tree, my name and date still embedded in the trunk.

“When we get married, I’ll add our last name on both and a new date.” I stood and brushed off my pants.

She slipped her arm around my waist. “Who knew that summer, that summer of us, would become—this.”

I traced her mouth with my finger. “What is this, Sunny?”

“A lifetime of love.”

I had to kiss her.

She was right.

Epilogue

Linc

Pearson Airport, as usual, was crowded. I waited by the glass doors, cart at the ready for Emily and Hayley’s plane to land. I’d volunteered to pick them up. It would give us some time to catch up with one another, and I knew Sunny already had a lot on her plate. She was in Mission Cove, preparing for their arrival, working at the bakery, and overseeing the details of our wedding.

I grinned to myself thinking the words.

Our wedding.

In less than seventy-two hours, Sunny would be my wife. My body hummed in anticipation. Sunny Webber. Lincoln and Sunny Webber.

I chuckled out loud. My mind was channeling a teenage girl it seemed, writing our names with a flourish on a small notepad.

Shouts of my name drew my attention, and I glanced to the left just as two bodies collided with mine. I hugged the two women close, smiling at their enthusiasm. When Sunny had told them I was back, they had been skeptical and cautious. We had spoken several times since that first call, and I enjoyed their funny texts, feeling as if they were including me in their lives now. When I called to tell them I wanted to marry their sister, they had been enthusiastic. When Sunny informed them we were moving ahead with our plans, the squeals had been loud coming through the speaker of my phone.

I stepped back, looking at Sunny’s sisters. The last time I had seen them in person, they were still kids, and now they were all grown up. FaceTime wasn’t the same as seeing them in front of me. Emily was twenty-two, and Hayley was twenty. They were both small like Sunny, had the same dark eyes, but Hayley’s hair was more auburn and curlier, while Emily’s long, straight hair was brown. They were pretty, excited, and as happy to see me as I was to see them.

We got their luggage, both of them chatting away as we headed to the car.

“We’ve never flown first-class before,” Hayley gushed. “What fun!”

Emily was more subdued, but her eyes danced as she nudged me with her elbow. “It was. Thanks, Linc.”

“Stick with me, kid.”

We got to the car, and I loaded in the luggage and we headed to Mission Cove.

“Is Sunny okay?” Emily asked.

“She’s good. We’re keeping things pretty simple. Vows, dinner, some nice music. Only very close friends and family.”

“Why a Tuesday evening? Why not the weekend?”