What a Girl Wants. Amy Vastine

and gave her grandmother a few minutes to get ready. Maybe they both needed to get out of the house and focus on other things.

      * * *

      SUNDAY STARTED LIKE every other Sunday, with church and a leisurely walk home. The late morning sun was unforgiving today—temperatures were expected to reach into the nineties. The neighbors were all inside, enjoying their air-conditioning. Outdoor work had to be done just before sunrise or in the hour before sunset. The heat didn’t allow for much more. Big D pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. The collar of his white dress shirt was soaked.

      “You sure you haven’t been feeling any rain comin’?” he asked his granddaughter. “What I wouldn’t give for some rain.”

      “Nope. Nothing.”

      “Sure your rain feelings aren’t being distracted by some other feelings lately? Like the ones I think you have for that sports fella,” Mimi chimed in with waggling eyebrows. She was unusually spirited given the date.

      Summer nudged her with an elbow. How in the world had Travis found his way into their conversation? “There are no feelings. Rain or otherwise.”

      “You know, the more I watch him, the more I like him. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be around him in person. He’s one good-lookin’ young man. Even Big D said he thought you two would be cute together.”

      “I’m fairly certain I never used the word cute,” the old man interjected. “And leave the girl alone. Pestering her isn’t going to get you what you want. Knowing Summer, she’ll do the exact opposite of what you want just to spite you.”

      Summer laughed. He knew her all too well. Her grandmother had this way of riling up the rebellious sixteen-year-old inside her, the one she never dared to be when she really was a teenager. Travis was exactly what Mimi wanted for Summer—someone with roots in the area, with good genes and a pleasant disposition. Someone she could settle down with here in Texas until they were old and gray like Mimi and Big D. Only Summer didn’t want to settle. Someday she was going to leave this place. Someday she would live a life of adventure.

      “Travis Lockwood and I are completely incompatible. When you see it snow in July, you’ll see me and that man get together.”

      “Careful, now, you know better than all of us that it snows somewhere in July,” Mimi said with a smirk. As much as Summer hated being teased, it was worth it to see her grandmother smiling. She’d endure anything to keep Mimi in this mood, today of all days.

      A cherry-red rental car was idling in the Raineses’ driveway when they turned down their quiet street. Ryan came jogging down the sidewalk to greet them with hugs and hellos. Seeing Ryan again was like reuniting with a long-lost family member. He looked the same as he had the last time she’d seen him. Ryan had an actor’s build—short but fit. What he lacked in height, he made up for in charisma and charm. He dressed as if he were auditioning for the role of Indiana Jones, minus the bullwhip. The man loved his khaki and his fedora. Wire-rimmed glasses were a new addition to the ensemble. They were an unfortunate side effect of old age, he complained. Summer rolled her eyes at that. His hair was a little grayer, but he still looked very much like the man she knew as a child.

      His wife, Kelly, was the complete opposite of the woman Summer’s mother had been. Grace Raines was born and raised to be a Southern belle. She grew up surrounded by wealth and privilege in Savannah. She went to college for the sole purpose of meeting a husband, or so her parents thought. Grace secretly had a passion for science and nature. When she met Gavin in an environmental science class freshman year, it was love at first sight. They were each other’s missing half.

      Kelly, on the other hand, was a Yankee through and through. Business-minded and independent. Ryan had met her when he started working for the Discovery Channel. She was an executive, working out of their Maryland headquarters. It wasn’t love at first sight, but a relationship that grew over time.

      As different as she was from Grace, Summer liked Kelly. She was smart and savvy, and always knew what to say and when to say it. That was something Summer never felt she could pull off. Knowing the average rainfall in San Francisco was anything but practical when you lived in Texas.

      “When did you guys paint the house?” Kelly asked as they made their way up the walkway to the front porch. She already looked uncomfortable in the Texas heat. Her brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her cheeks were flushed. “We were looking for a white house and drove up to this green beauty.”

      “Summer and I took that on last fall. We decided just because it was built in 1920 didn’t mean it needed to look like it,” Big D answered.

      Ryan ruffled Summer’s hair as he had when she was a child. “Well, aren’t you the good little granddaughter?” She swatted his hand away. She was a good granddaughter, but she was also a twenty-six-year-old woman who had spent a long time getting her hair right this morning.

      Inside the bungalow, Mimi brought out a pitcher of lemonade and glasses filled with ice. Big D switched on the ceiling fan and sat down in his faded blue chair. Ryan had loved Gavin Raines like a brother and had nothing but respect and affection for the man’s family. Summer appreciated that he’d never lost touch after her parents died. She also loved listening to him talk. He could tell a story that made her feel as if she were there. The tales he told about storms she herself had witnessed were even more spectacular. Her memory never did them justice.