Just a Summer Fling by Cate Cameron

Author:Cate Cameron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

WATCHING fishermen weigh their catches for the derby was even more boring than fishing itself. Josh didn’t slow down as he walked past the docks.

It wasn’t like he had anywhere to go, really; The Splash was mostly just about wandering around and visiting. It was one of the few breaks in the busy summer season, a rare chance to catch up with people who were working just as hard as he was and who wouldn’t get another chance to socialize until the last leaves fell and the tourists finally went home.

But he was supposed to be meeting his cousins at the triathlon finish line, so he worked his way slowly in that direction, arriving just as the first kayakers were rounding the point and heading into shore.

“Is that Gil?” Josh asked Theo. He looked up to the five-year-old on Theo’s shoulders. “Is that your daddy in the kayak? Can you see?”

The little guy clapped his hands and bounced a little, but Theo just squinted and shrugged. “Might be him.”

Gil was Theo’s brother, the oldest cousin in that generation, and he’d been training hard for this event. He was a good guy and deserved to win, and Josh should have been spending all his energy on cheering, but he found himself distracted.

Ashley Carlsen was there, only a few yards away, standing with Kevin and Charlotte. She was talking to Sarah, Gil’s wife, and the sun made Ashley’s hair glow as it was tossed by the wind off the lake. When the kayakers got closer and everyone began to cheer, her voice was raised with the rest of them, and she clapped and jumped with excitement as the racers neared. When Gil crossed the finish line in first place she threw her arms up in triumph and was enveloped in the group hug as if she were . . . as if she were part of the group.

Josh made himself stop staring and let the crowd jostle him forward. Theo saw him and suddenly Josh was holding Andrew, the five-year-old, as Theo went to help his exhausted brother haul the kayak out of the lake.

“Daddy went fast,” Andrew said, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Faster than anyone else,” Josh agreed.

It was a small-town event, the competitors were all total amateurs, some of whom didn’t even train, and the grand prize was a free dinner at the barbecue that night. But the smile on Gil’s face was as wide and as real as if he’d just won the Olympics. It wasn’t a big deal, except for all the ways that it was. And when Josh looked over at Ashley, when he saw her broad smile and genuine excitement, he felt like she somehow understood every one of those ways.

Josh let himself stand close behind her as they waited for the presentations. “I’m retiring,” Gil told them all. “We need another Linden to carry the torch.” He looked at the crowd. “Theo? Ben? Hell, Josh, you might not have the right last name, but I won’t hold it against you.

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