Bad Boys of Summer by Lori Foster & Erin McCarthy & Amy Garvey

Author:Lori Foster & Erin McCarthy & Amy Garvey [Foster, Lori & McCarthy, Erin & Garvey, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Anthology
ISBN: 9780758209658
Google: _3wRKIuGyXoC
Amazon: 0758209657
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2006-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

WISHYOUWEREHERE

Amy Garvey

One

“It’s lopsided.”

Mackenzie Pruitt ignored her friend’s observation and folded her arms over her chest, squinting thoughtfully at the structure in question. Crouched at the edge of the tiny backyard, the shed’s paint was peeling and its roof seemed flimsy, but while it wasn’t a thing of beauty, it wasn’t as dilapidated as Susannah seemed to believe.

“It’s really lopsided,” Susannah insisted, nudging Mackenzie with her elbow. “Like, about to fall down lopsided.”

Mackenzie sighed and shook her head before turning to narrow her eyes at her friend, who shrugged innocently, her blue eyes wide. “What?

“You really are a glass-half-empty person, aren’t you?” Mackenzie said, shading her eyes against the bright June sunshine as she looked at the shed’s side window. The glass was ancient, and the window itself was too small for what she needed, but if she was going to have the whole structure renovated as a photography studio, she could add upgrading the window to the list.

A photography studio. She smiled and turned her face up to the sky, which was clear as glass today, a sharp, blue flag over the ocean. It was a perfect day, and the beginning of a perfect summer. Inheriting her Aunt Letitia’s house on Wrightsville Beach was a boon she’d never expected, and the opportunity to have a separate studio space was even more unbelievable. She’d been working out of the cramped second bedroom in her apartment in Wilmington for so long, the idea of living in this cozy little cottage with a studio out back was still like something out of a daydream.

Maybe Susannah couldn’t imagine it, but Mackenzie could see the renovated studio in her mind’s eye: the white paint fresh; new windows sparkling; the large room inside fitted out with a refinished floor and new storage for her files and equipment; a built-in darkroom; and a soft, warm color on the walls behind framed examples of some of her favorite photos.

It was going to be beautiful.

Even if itwasa little lopsided, she thought, frowning as she realized Susannah wasn’t wrong. The north side of the shed listed drunkenly to one side, and the rotted shingles along the bottom had buckled in the overgrown grass.

Susannah, bored with the view, had wandered back to the cottage and sat on the back steps, her long legs stretched out to catch the sun. She was examining them thoughtfully when Mackenzie joined her.

“Just think, Kenz,” Susannah said with an affectionate smile, winding an arm around her shoulders. “A place at the beach. This summer is looking better and better.”

“This summer is going to be about getting that studio renovated, and painting and cleaning the inside of the cottage,” Mackenzie told her firmly. “I loved Aunt Tish, but there’s a definite old-lady smell going on.” She got up and dusted off the seat of her shorts—the back steps were no less dusty than anything else, and she’d only been given the keys two days ago. Aside from a cursory airing and a quick swipe with the broom, she hadn’t done any serious cleaning.

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