Kiss Me in the Summer - Barbara Dunlop Page 0,71

incredulity.

“Yes.” I didn’t want to dwell on that awful conversation, but I was so used to talking things out with Cecily that I’d blurted out the whole story.

“Go back to the part about the dog,” Elizabeth said.

“I can’t believe you have a dog,” Cecily said.

“I don’t have a dog. Josh has a dog. His name is Butch.” I paused to gather myself. Still, my voice cracked as I spoke. “He’s a good dog.”

I knew I should have said goodbye to Butch. I should have hugged his shaggy neck tight and close, and even let him lick my face.

He was going to wonder why I’d disappeared, and Josh wouldn’t be able to explain it to him.

“You hate dogs,” Cecily said in the kindest, most understanding voice possible.

“I’m afraid of dogs. Or at least I was afraid of dogs.”

“So, Josh adopted Butch,” Elizabeth persisted. “Because you liked Butch?”

“Josh likes Butch too.”

“But he could have adopted him way before now.”

I thought about that. It was true.

“He said you were his dream,” Cecily repeated.

“Will you stop saying that?”

“Why?” Cecily asked.

“Does it make you want to cry?” Elizabeth asked.

“It makes me want to . . .” Cry was one thing. Curl up in a ball was another. Run as fast as I could back to Josh and throw myself in his arms was a third.

“Are you in love with Josh?” Elizabeth asked.

“She’s not—” Cecily gasped. “Wait. You’re in love with Josh? How did that happen? When did that happen? You’re in love with a dog guy?”

“You two have lost your minds.” I wasn’t in love with Josh. I was in love with the idea of opening my own law firm. What lawyer in their right mind wouldn’t love that idea?

“Oh, this isn’t good,” Cecily said.

“She can’t leave him,” Elizabeth said.

I stopped packing and stared at them.

They blinked at me, waiting . . . waiting some more.

Then it hit me. It hit me hard.

I was in love with Josh.

My knees lost their strength, and I dropped down on the bed. I was head over heels in love with Josh, and I was probably in love with Rutter’s Point too. How could that have happened?

“Now she’s getting it,” Elizabeth said.

“About time,” Cecily said, sitting down beside me and taking my hand. “You can’t pick a city over the man you love.”

“I don’t want New York,” I said, knowing it was true.

“And you can’t pick your career over the man you love,” Elizabeth said.

“I don’t want my career,” I said. “At least, I don’t want the career I thought I wanted. How did that happen? How did life turn on a dime?”

“A man will do that to you,” Cecily said. “At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“And a town will do that to you,” I said mostly to myself.

Josh and the town were a complete package. And I loved the package. I was suddenly terrified that I’d blown my chance at the whole package.

“What are we waiting for?” Cecily asked and stood.

“I’m scared,” I told them honestly. “I left him for you guys.”

Elizabeth waved a hand. “For an hour.”

“How do I explain? What do I say? Years ago, his fiancée left him for the big city.”

He’d taken a big chance on me, and I let him down.

“You haven’t gone anywhere,” Cecily pointed out. She reached for my arm.

“He won’t see it that way,” I said as Cecily urged me to my feet.

“He’ll see you,” Elizabeth said. “I’m betting that’s all that matters.”

I suddenly heard Josh’s chicken noise inside my head. He was right. I couldn’t let fear hold me back. I forced my feet to move.

*

The festival was lit with a thousand lights and the wind-up dance was in full swing by the time we got back to the park.

The stalls were all dark, and the gardens were mostly deserted. But the bandstand was up ahead, lively with music, while a crowd of people danced on the temporary floor. Moms, dads, kids, and grandparents were all laughing and smiling as they moved.

“There,” Cecily said, pointing.

I saw Josh in the distance, off to one side, alone with Butch beside him, and my heart contracted with equal parts regret and hope.

“Go,” Cecily said, giving me a light shove.

“Go,” Elizabeth repeated.

I went.

My trepidation grew with every step. What if he refused to give me another chance? What if he’d never trust me again?

Then I was there, right in front of him, trying desperately to figure out what to say.

Josh looked at me with a carefully blank expression, but Butch, on the other