LITMIR.BIZ

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being by herself, but she enjoyed the first part of the day much more than the second. She loved working in the garden with Mimi or sharing the newspaper with Big D. Her grandparents were so different from her parents. They loved their simple life. They believed in putting down roots. They’d both lived in Abilene their entire lives. Before he retired, her grandfather had taught environmental science at the Christian university in town for over thirty years while her grandmother stayed home and raised three children. Summer’s father was the youngest and the only boy. Gavin Raines was more like a leaf in the wind rather than a tree rooted in the ground.

      “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you deflected the conversation away from the sports guy,” Mimi said later as they put the finishing touches on an apple pie.

      Summer smashed her lips together. She was not going to spill any of the feelings she was having about Travis. No matter how perceptive her grandmother thought she was being, there was nothing to tell. There was never going to be anything between Summer and the ex-football player who couldn’t read a Teleprompter to save his life. His presence at the station ruined her chances of doing more than reporting the highs and lows for the week. All Summer wanted was to share her passion for Mother Nature. Was that too much to ask?

      She opened the oven and put the pie in before setting the timer. “Did you know that in ten minutes, a hurricane can release more energy than all the world’s nuclear weapons combined?”

      “Well, well.” Mimi rubbed her hands together with a gleeful look in her eye. “There must be a really good story about this boy if I’m gettin’ weather facts.”

      “There was a hurricane near Haiti earlier this week. I find hurricanes quite fascinating,” Summer said in her defense.

      “I think you find something else more fascinating than you want to admit.”

      “He took thirty seconds of my weather report away. I find nothing the least bit fascinating about him or football. Football, football, football! Do people in Texas not know there are other things happening in the world besides football?”

      Mimi bit her tongue, trying not to infuriate her already irrational granddaughter. Summer had moved to Abilene when she was sixteen and never quite acclimated to the Texas way of life. Being raised by hard-core storm chasers probably hadn’t helped. “Oh, sweetheart, it’s not his fault that football reigns supreme around these parts. You can’t hold the general public’s preferences against him.”

      Summer sat back down at the kitchen table, flustered. She hated that it was so easy for him. He waltzed into the studio and all the viewers were going to love him no matter what. She didn’t love him. She didn’t even like him. She barely tolerated him. “He also calls me Weather Girl. Says it sounds cute.”

      Mimi had to cover her mouth to stop her laughter from sending Summer into a real fit. “He thinks you’re cute, doesn’t he?”

      Summer crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes at the old woman. “If it weren’t for the apple pie, I would so be going home right now.”

      Big D walked into the kitchen wondering if he needed to call for an ambulance. His wife was laughing so hard, her face was bright red. Mimi got up, wiping her eyes and shaking her head. She shooed them both out so she could get lunch ready.

      “She still giving you a hard time about that quarterback?” Big D asked. He’d always had a soft spot for his granddaughter, but it got bigger after her parents died. Summer knew it and never took advantage. It was nice having Big D looking out for her, even when he only had to protect her from nosy grandmothers.

      “She just wants me to get married before she dies. I figure the longer I drag it out, the longer she’ll stick around. Maybe I’ll wait until she’s a hundred.”

      He looked up at the ceiling pleadingly. “Lord, help me.”

      “Be nice,” Summer warned.

      “She wants you to be happy, darlin’. That’s all she wants.”

      She wanted them to be happy, too. When her dad died, so did a little piece of them. Summer’s presence helped, healed some of the wounds. Still, one thing she’d learned in the hard years since her parents’ deaths—people don’t get over burying a child. Mimi was having a good day today, but next week was the anniversary of her son and daughter-in-law’s deaths. As feisty as the old woman in the other room was, she still suffered from a broken heart. The dark days were coming. Summer could feel it.

      “I am happy.” Big D gave her a knowing look from his oversize recliner. “Most of the time,” she added.

      “I never thought you’d stick around here. Not that I mind, of course. I just thought you’d be more like your daddy, I guess.”

      Summer had two reasons why she stuck around, and they were both in this house. Part of her yearned to be in the thick of things, studying weather phenomena on location instead of reporting about them from the safety of a television studio. Nevertheless, she knew her grandmother wanted nothing more than for her to marry someone with roots in Texas and raise a family that would fill the dining room table every Sunday. Summer wasn’t looking for some guy to settle down with because she wasn’t sure she wanted to settle down. Sometimes she hoped there was a man out there who was going to blow into town and sweep her off her feet, take her away and show her the adventure of a lifetime. That was a secret she’d never dare tell.

      “I’m good, Big D. Don’t you waste one more minute worrying about me.”

      He sat forward and patted her knee with a weathered but gentle hand. “I could say the same thing to you, sweetheart.”

      * * *

      SUMMER SPENT ALL of Sunday night thinking about what her grandfather had said. She thought about it again while she waited for her turn to speak to a bunch of kids at one of the local libraries Monday afternoon. It also crossed her mind when she arrived at the station later and opened an email from Ryan.

      I have big news when I see you. You won’t be able to say no this time. Your career as a boring, Texas weather girl is over.

      Ryan was crazy. Wasn’t he? Being a meteorologist was the perfect job for her. Summer got paid to talk about the weather five days a week. What more could she ask for?

      Adventure.

      The truth was, the thrill of a storm chase was like nothing else she had ever known. She tried to appease the wild child inside her with rock climbing, hiking, even skydiving. Nothing came close. Summer loved the weather, but did she love being the—

      “Weather Girl.” Travis was all smiles as he sat on the corner of her desk. “Did you have a good weekend?”

      “I had a great weekend,” Summer said, taking a good look at him. His hair was shorter, a lot shorter. It made him look older, less like a boy and more like a man. “It looks like someone attacked your head with some clippers.”

      Looking sheepish, he rubbed his clean-shaven jaw with his knuckles. “I got a haircut,” he said, stating the obvious. “My aunt Kelly’s neighbor’s book club apparently thought it was too long. Kelly agreed and called my mother, who called me and said she wasn’t going to bake any red velvet cupcakes when I came to visit if I didn’t get it cut.”

      “She drives a hard bargain.”

      “You have no idea. Her cupcakes make me cry,” he whispered.

      “Interesting,” Summer said, not interested in the least.

      “I’ll ask her to bake you some. She likes you.” He cringed and closed his eyes. His cheeks turned pink. “I mean she watches you and likes you, you know, as a weather girl.”

      If anyone knew about sticking her foot in her mouth, it was Summer. “If it makes you feel any better, my grandmother thinks you’re cute,” she confessed to ease his embarrassment.

      “She does?” His eyes were bright like the clouds had lifted. “And would you say you consider

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