Sweet Summer

by Reina M. Williams

  Sweet Summer

  A Montana Matchmakers Short Story

  Reina M. Williams

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to places, establishments, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental and the work of the author’s imagination.

  Copyright © 2020 Reina M. Williams

  rickrackbooks.com

  Cover design via Canva

  All rights reserved.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  First Digital Edition/May 2020

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Epilogue | Six Weeks Later

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Minnie took in a breath of the fresh summer air. It had been a harsh winter, even for her home state of Montana, and gratitude for the change in weather to this balmy summer, especially with July fourth tomorrow, infused her with a lightness she hadn’t felt in months. Maybe even years.

  The warm evening breeze tickled the back of her neck, newly exposed from the haircut her aunt had given her. Aunt Irene, a former stylist turned event planner-caterer-shop owner, still cut Minnie’s hair. It had been time for something new, though going short after a lifetime of long hair made her stomach jitter.

  Strolling to Main Street from Aunt Irene’s gift shop, Molloy’s Miscellany, where she worked, Minnie wondered if she’d be in Loving, Montana forever. Ten years ago, at twenty, she hadn’t thought so. She’d believed herself on her way to marriage with Adam Manning. But then Dad got diagnosed with cancer, and Adam’s dad passed, and their lives had shifted. Minnie had decided to break off hers and Adam’s engagement, and not see him anymore. Being Adam, he’d listened, maybe a bit too well, so they hadn’t seen each other in the ten years since. Yet, almost every day, she thought about him.

  The familiar streetscape passed by as she walked. Shop fronts now lined with flowering planters in bold colors and the Lutheran church’s garden in full bloom at the end of the street added to the summer feel. The river, similarly vibrant, sounded from a couple of blocks down, its now-flowing waters splashing over rocks and winter debris.

  Minnie had gone on autopilot to Gallagher’s Café, where she had a wedding planning meeting with Mrs. Gallagher; Ana Delgado, the maid of honor; and Brandon Manning, the best man, about Cutler Manning’s and Nora Delgado’s wedding next month. Aunt Irene’s catering and event planning business was a small sideline to Molloy’s Miscellany that Minnie also helped out with. Her life wasn’t what she’d dreamed of when she was younger, but she was happy all the same. Mostly.

  All these Mannings moving to town had made her face feelings she’d spent years keeping away with her busy life: that she missed Adam Manning, and she’d never stopped caring about him. But she didn’t need to think about that now. She had business to focus on.

  Pulling open the door of the café, chatter greeted her, as did savory smells. Her stomach growled. She’d forgotten to eat lunch, having been busy volunteering at the local clinic.

  “Minnie, my ducks!” Mrs. Gallagher, her silvery hair catching the light, hurried over and grabbed her in a tight hug. The petite woman had power that people often overlooked until they knew her. And Minnie had known her all her life, as she did most of the townspeople. “I have a surprise for you.”

  Minnie smiled. “You know I like surprises.”

  Mrs. G linked her arm in Minnie’s and led her to a back table. “Sit, ducks.” Minnie did, and slid off her light sweater. “What are you having?”

  “Surprise me,” Minnie said with a wink.

  “Good to know some things haven’t changed,” a man’s deep voice cut in.

  Minnie glanced over, and up. Adam Manning stood, all six-foot-two of him, his light brown hair mussed, his uniform of a plaid shirt, jeans, and work boots completing the picture she’d imprinted and kept all these years in her mind’s scrapbook. Words escaped her, though her mouth opened as if she had something to say. She pressed her lips together.

  Mrs. G placed a hand on Adam’s back and gave him a gentle shove toward the seat across from Minnie.

  No, no, no.

  This was not the kind of surprise Minnie liked. She’d thought to have another month at least before she’d be confronted with meeting Adam again. She tried to telegraph her Don’t do this to me to Mrs. G, but that lady just smiled as Adam eyed Minnie from where he still stood, not taking Mrs. G’s not-so-subtle hint to sit.

  “I should go, Mrs. G,” he said, probably reading the trepidation on Minnie’s face. He was right, some things didn’t change, though she couldn’t call it good just now that he could still understand her emotions without her saying a word.

  And not much had changed about how his manly good looks and deep voice affected her, making her go all wobbly like a bowl of gelatin.

  “Nonsense,” Mrs. G said. “Sit. What’re you having, Adam? I’m seeing to dinner myself.”

  He glanced at Minnie again, who forced a smile. She didn’t want him to feel unwelcome, or uncomfortable. After all, he must be here for some wedding business, and it was Minnie who’d ended their relationship, not him. He’d been blameless in the whole affair, not that there was any blame to place. She’d been young and needed to be there for her dad, and take over running their small ranch. And Adam had needed to be there for his younger brothers, and his family ranch. So they’d gone their separate ways.

  “Cherry coke, fries, and a cheeseburger, hold the tomato, extra pickles” he and Minnie said at once.

  She let out a shaky giggle which stopped on seeing the bright smile that took over Adam’s face. It was transformative, that smile of his, taking him from serious-silent type to boyish charmer in two seconds flat. Adam Manning was both, and more, probably more so now that he’d matured further.

  A long-ago familiar sensation began in her belly and washed through her chest and thighs, leaving her pleasantly heavy and warm. Her smile wobbled and fell. She shouldn’t feel this way about a man she hadn’t seen in ten years who was just here for his brother’s wedding meeting.

  “Good to know some things haven’t changed,” Minnie said, echoing his words. The many possible meanings of the phrase cycled through her mind, and her heart. Neither of them had ever married. Neither of them was seeing anyone. Neither of them had forgotten the other. Or so she’d heard.

  But had they forgiven each other for the way they parted? Did it matter, now that they both had independent lives? Forgiveness always mattered, but forgiving didn’t mean accepting or forgetting problems. Not that they’d had many. It seemed more like they just hadn’t been ready, or she hadn’t.

  “All right, you two,” Mrs. G said, breaking Minnie’s reverie, “I’ll be back.”

  “Aren’t we going to wait for Brandon and Ana?” Minnie asked.

  “They can’t make it. Too busy at the reception venue. We’ll reschedule the full team meeting for another day. There are some last-minute changes to the prep for tomorrow, so we’ll focus on that tonight.” Mrs. G waved her fingers and bustled off into the kitchen.

  Adam finally slid into the seat across from Minnie and glanced out the window.

  “Do you think the town has
changed?” she asked. Minnie wasn’t much for silences.

  “A bit. Aunt Manning’s B & B is gone, of course, and there are some new shops. And I passed the clinic on the way in to town. That’s a good change.”

  “Thanks to the Georges and you and your brothers,” she said.

  He shrugged, as if it were no big deal that they’d donated most of the funds to keep open and improve the only medical facility for miles and miles. The Manning brothers had done well in their business and Minnie admired that they contributed to the community instead of keeping their success among themselves.

  “Everyone there is grateful. We serve so many.” His company’s generosity in saving that clinic, and his humbleness about it, made her know he was still the good, caring man he’d been.

  His brow crinkled in that adorable way it did when he didn’t know something. “Are you on staff? I thought you and your aunt ran a party-catering business and gift shop?”

  “We do, among other things. I volunteer at the clinic every week.”

  His gaze found hers and warm turned to hot at his approving, tender look. She shifted in her seat and tried to will her ears not to burn. They’d turn an awful pink shade that stood out against her light blonde hair, especially now that it was short, and tucked behind said betraying appendages.

  “You changed your hair,” he said, glancing away again.

  She touched the tips of the strands. “Just this morning. I’ve been feeling the need for a change, or two.”

  “Oh yeah?” The bitter tinge of those two words made her feel that what he left unsaid was that she hadn’t wanted those changes ten years ago, even though she’d said she loved him.

  Then again, she might just be projecting the slight guilt, the what-if-I-made-the-wrong-choice feelings onto his tone.

  “Lots of changes in your family coming up.” When he looked blank, she continued, “I mean, Cutler’s wedding next month, and Cutler, Dean, and Brandon moving here to Loving.”

  He leaned back in his seat and met her gaze. His eyes, some kind of blue-green, flooded the warmth throughout her core again. “Doesn’t really change much.”

  “Oh?” she asked, genuinely curious.

  Shrugging, his gaze shifted over her shoulder. “Brandon’s been away most of the last twenty years, Cutler and Dean also went to college, and then travelled a lot once we got the business going, so it’s just been me and the three boys at the ranch.” Adam, as the oldest of seven brothers, had the weight of his family on him, especially after his dad died.

  “But...wasn’t that just you, then? Your youngest brothers are just in their early twenties now?” Adam, at forty, was nearly old enough to be their father, and he’d taken on that role when their dad had died. Minnie couldn’t have been a mother figure. Another reason she’d broken their engagement.

  He nodded. “But they’ve stayed, just taken online college course and workshops to round out their knowledge. And, since we hit it big, we’ve had a lot of help, from business to house staff.”

  “I’m glad you have help.” She was, too, though many times she wished she could’ve been there to help Adam, and have him as her helpmate, too.

  Silence lengthened until she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Nickel for your thoughts,” she asked.

  His gaze snapped to her. Seemed like he didn’t think her usual question was cute anymore.

  He rubbed his hands on his thighs. “I was thinking that I wanted to help you.”

  Her breath caught and she blinked. Her question wasn’t cute. It was trouble. She wasn’t ready for Adam to be feeling what she felt, or to say aloud the innermost wishes in her heart.

  Chapter Two

  Adam almost chuckled at Minnie’s deer-caught-in-the-headlights look. His response had taken her off guard.

  “Wh-What do you mean?” she stammered. “Help me how?”

  Leave it to Minnie to be direct, and kind of clueless. He’d known her pretty much her whole life, and she’d retained some of her innocence, a childlike wonder and joy. When she was a girl, he’d thought it was cute. And then, after not seeing her for a while and meeting her again eleven years ago, his view of her shifted, and he’d fallen, hard.

  He ran his hand through his hair. He needed a cut. Leaning back, he looked at the woman he’d never stopped loving. He and his brothers were sure a bunch for remaining constant to one woman, even when it seemed all hope for the relationship was lost. So, maybe seeing Dean and Cutler reunite with their first loves had Adam thinking that might be possible for him and Minnie. Even if it was a stretch to imagine that she still loved him, or would want to be with him, given that she’d had valid reasons for not wanting to marry him ten years ago.

  “Don’t have an answer?” she asked in the face of his silence.

  “It’s probably male pride on my part, but I wanted to be the one to be there for you, your champion. But you made it clear that you didn’t want that.”

  She tucked her hair behind her ears, which were reddening. She was as sweet as ever. He was a goner.

  “Did I?” she asked.

  “I thought so.”

  “Things were...different then. We were different.” She leaned back, mirroring his posture.

  “I thought we’d just established that not much had changed.”

  “We’re ten years older.” Her brows scrunched.

  “Hungry?” he asked, knowing she probably was, but that she was probably also uncomfortable with their discussion.

  “Yes.”

  “I bet something else that hasn’t changed is how you get so busy you forget to eat.” He’d always enjoyed watching her savor her meals, and found it slightly amusing that she could eat as much as he could even though she was four inches shorter and probably forty pounds smaller than he was. Then again, she worked as hard as he did, or at least she had back then.

  She inclined her head. “That hasn’t changed either.

  But a lot else had for her these last years, as it had for him. “I’m sorry about your dad.” Minnie’s mom had died when she was little, but her dad had passed away three years ago, and Minnie had sold their small family ranch. That had been when she moved into town with her aunt Irene. Mrs. Gallagher, who visited him and his youngest brothers occasionally at Manning Ranch, kept them generally informed of the goings on in town, as did emails from his friends here. This was his first time back since he and Minnie had broken up.

  Minnie nodded, her usual talkativeness stopped. He didn’t like it, not one bit.

  “Minnie...” he began, but didn’t know where to go, how to help her feel better, comforted. Used to be he’d just wrap her in his arms, and she’d melt into him, her body relaxing and seeming to release her troubles. But he couldn’t do that now. They weren’t in a relationship anymore.

  “Why weren’t you there? At the funeral?” Her voice pitched lower, as if she didn’t want to say the words.

  He swallowed, hard. She’d told him she didn’t want to see him again. That having no contact with him would make it easier for her to move on. He hadn’t wanted to move on, but he’d wanted what was best for Minnie. “Thought you didn’t want me.”

  “You could’ve asked me.”

  He rubbed his eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  She still leaned back, an absent look on her face, her pale skin gone whiter. But a new hope surged in him. She’d wanted him there at a hard moment. Maybe wanted his comfort and caring.

  “I wish I’d been there.”

  She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. But it mattered. She mattered. More than anything.

  But she was pushing him away, like she had before. His chest caved, as if one of his brothers had thrown a heavy feed sack to him, catching him off-kilter.

  “I wish the food would come out,” she said, rubbing a hand on her stomach.

  Mrs. G appeared, followed by a waitress he recalled from years ago.

  “Wish granted,” he said, but no one heard, as Mrs. G exclaimed that she hoped they liked the
food, and Minnie thanked her and the waitress.

  He opened his burger, squeezed on some mustard, and smashed it down. Then he popped a fry into his mouth, chewing while Mrs. G sat next to him and pulled over her chef’s salad. Minnie dug into her burger, a twin of his meal. How was that a surprise? But he didn’t ask. Nor was he surprised when Minnie doused her burger and fries with ketchup.

  “Still put ketchup on almost everything?” he asked.

  “Like you said, some things haven’t changed.”

  She even put the condiment on eggs and stew. But he loved her anyway, or because she was herself, no apologies.

  “Well, you two,” Mrs. G said, “the big day is coming in just over six weeks.”

  “You’re here early, Adam,” Minnie said. “Aren’t you needed at the ranch?” She swirled a fry in ketchup and bit into it.

  “The three young ones have it covered. Thought I’d take some time off. First in...” He cleared his throat. “Haven’t had any time off in over ten years.”

  Minnie’s ears pinked up again, the color washing into her cheeks. “That July fourth?” she whispered.

  He nodded and met her brief gaze. That July fourth they’d gone up the hill, alone that time, to watch the fireworks, and to declare their love and commitment to each other. It’d been one of the happiest moments of his life.

  Mrs. G nodded. “Speaking of July fourth, there’s the parade and fireworks tomorrow, Adam, and we hope you’ll help. You’re here just in time.”

  He cleared his throat and kept his gaze on Minnie another moment. But she wasn’t looking at him, and he couldn’t tell how she felt.

  “If I can help, sure.” He was here, and maybe Minnie would be there helping too. Knowing her, she would be.

  “Good,” Mrs. G said. “We’ll meet up tomorrow. You’ve both helped before, so it should be easy. Just follow Minnie’s lead, Adam.”

  He nodded, but said nothing, as neither did Minnie. But he’d follow Minnie wherever she wanted, if that were what she wanted. It was becoming clear Mrs. G had an agenda.