Page 65 of Summer Love

“That young man can do anything with his hands,” one of the old ladies says.

She exchanges a knowing look with her neighbor and starts to giggle.

Chiara frowns and goes to sit next to the teens. I hold back a laugh.

Another old lady shows up with a big Tupperware. White hair cropped short, leather pants, studded belt, Doc Martens, tattooed arms.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says.

She sets her plastic container down next to Chiara’s cannoli.

“Hey, Ruby,” Maya says.

She leans in toward me.

“She was at the garage, with her biker.”

Right. Hank, the mechanic.

He dropped my car off at the lodge lot Tuesday, tire changed.

“I brought a brownie,” Ruby announces. “But careful... adults only. It’s a little special.”

“Special how?” I ask.

Sierra sets the brownie on a plate and starts cutting pieces.

“Let’s say it’s very relaxing.”

Miles raises his hand.

“I want some!”

“Ay Dios. So I’m driving home, then,” Maya sighs, deflated. “Not fair.”

“It’s fine,” I say. “I can drive. I’m not planning to have any.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“You’re my hero, Summer Hayes.”

She grabs a piece of the special brownie and devours it, eyes closed.

The book club starts.

Sierra settles in the center of the circle, Stroke of Desire resting on her lap. Dani Heart. Breathless series, book one. The same copy Maya lent me Tuesday, the one I tore through in two days.

“Okay. Xander and Daisy... can we talk about them?”

The next twenty minutes are a mix of laughter, half-finished sentences, and clashing opinions about the swimmer character. The teens blush at certain passages. The forty-something women don’t blush. The two grandmas in the back comment with a detachment I find admirable.

I join in. I loved this book. I didn’t expect to, but it’s a fact: I turned the pages without stopping, I stared at the ceiling at the end of chapter seven, and I thought things I won’t be saying out loud in this room.

“The locker-room scene...” a red-haired woman sighs. “The one with the towel...”

General murmurs of approval.