Page 101 of The Summers of Us

I drop the whole thing in upside down, then let Everett do the rest.

Jimmy Buffett and Bruce Springsteensing of summers past. Liezel finishes cutting the paint around the eave of the house, which makes the spraying easy. Hair spills from my bun but my hands are too busy with the sprayer to care. I blow it out of my face but it comes right back. I didn’t think painting would be such a full body workout, but my muscles light up in protest. I don’t object. I just let myself get mesmerized by the steady progress.

This is for Blair, this is for Hadley, this is for me.

After a water hose battle in the backyard,we settle down with fluffernutters. This time, the sticky sandwich takes me back to fishing with Haven and Holden. Old memories died with the flowers. New memories sit across from me on the shady front porch.

I stick my peanut butter and marshmallow tongue out at them. They do it back. Everything about it is perfect.

Twelve hours of dirt,dried paint, and sweat have passed until there’s only one blue strip left.

Hank stops his spraying to grant me the honors. My arms shake, both from the finality of the moment and because they aren’t used to this. I finish the job in the spotlight of my friends’ gaze.

Behind me, the yard erupts in applause. If my cheeks weren’t already blazing hot, this moment would do the trick. I wipe sweat off my forehead with the only clean patch of my arm, crack a smile at all of them, and give them a bow fitting of a karaoke stage.

I step back and admire our hard work.

What once was a choked-out, lifeless blue is now alive with the snap of bubblegum pink. Pink cotton candy crystals dissolving on a warm tongue. A strawberry ice cream cone melted in the August heat.

Coral Daydreams—Hadley’s favorite color put into words by a paint company.

“It looks amazing.” I can’t contain myself. I wrap my arms around Hank, who made this all possible. “Thank you.”

“Thankyou.” He squeezes his hand on my shoulder, gives me a shake.

I haven’t the slightest clue what he could be thankingmefor, but I don’t object.

The jagged edges of the drivewaypress into my warm skin. The six of us are tattered from the day, covered in an explosion of pink paint, but we can’t go celebrate at Sunset Scoop just yet—the best part is yet to come.

My legs fall asleep from Everett’s head on my thigh, but I don’t care. I brush my hands through his hair, pulling dried paint from individual strands. “Thank you guys. You have no idea how much this means.”

“It really was no problem,” Holden says.

Haven nudges me. “And you don’t know how much you mean to us.”

“Yeah, you’re the only tourist I can stand,” Mason says.

I stick my middle finger up with a smile that means anything but.

Blair’s car pulls up to the driveway. Through the windshield, I see her mouth gape open. She looks between us and the house like she can’t believe the world she left blue this morning became coral by evening.

I wake up my sleepy legs, running to the driver’s side of the car now parked in front of six teenagers and a fresh start.

“Welcome home,” I say.

A coral house. Railing as white as a full moon. A house wiped clean from a tragedy and given a second chance.

“This is our house?” Her voice runs rampant. Her hand cups over her mouth. Her eyebrows crease in pleasant disbelief.

“This is our house!” I take her hands and pull her into me, my arms wrapped so tightly around her like I’m trying to squeeze out every last bit of pain. We stand behind an open car door, putting each other back together like we found the last puzzle piece fallen between two cushions.

She pulls back after what feels as long as the tide coming in and going back out.

“I can’t believe this.” She wipes tears from her cheeks, the first happy tears to grace her face in over a year. “How did this happen?”

“Everett’s parents. And us.” I point to everyone sitting cross-legged on the concrete. “We’ve been working since you left this morning.”

They all smile and wave back at Blair. Haven jumps up first and hugs her. The rest follow, giving the last bit of their love to a woman who lost her own.

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