Summer's Kiss (The Boys of Ocean Beach 1)

“We used to swap.” Sugar says. “The white one was mine and the green one your mother’s. She had a bigger chest than I did, so I would have to knot it in the back to keep it from falling off.”

Both women laugh at the memory and my mother looks happier than I’ve seen her in a while. They both look happy and it’s impossible to tell they spent the last thirty years not speaking.

“Sugar just invited me to a Fourth of July party over at the beach,” my mom says.

I raise an eyebrow and smile. “I got the same invite from Anita.”

Sugar checks her watch and stands. “I guess I better get going, or Anita will wonder where I got off to.”

My mother stands too and gives her cousin an enthusiastic hug. “Thanks for coming by,” she says.

Sugar smiles back and squeezes back. “I’ve missed you.”

Once Sugar leaves, I follow my mom into the trailer. “Repairing the family tree?” I ask.

“It’s time.”

“Why now?” I sit on my bed and she slides behind the table where her computer sits, open.

“Because you can only let wounds fester for so long, honey. I learned that the hard way.”

“So you think I’m doing the wrong thing by leaving?” I guess.

She shrugs. “Your life isn’t the same as mine. What went on between me, Richard, and Sugar has nothing to do with you. I just realized I needed to come home and put some bad memories to rest. I’m happy they were still willing to take me back.”

“So you and Richard…”

“Are testing the waters.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we only have one life, Summer, and he and I wasted too many years being afraid. We aren’t going to let that happen again. Will we make a go? I have no idea. We aren’t the same people as we were thirty years ago—but that doesn’t mean we aren’t better matched now than then.”

I flop back on my bed and stare at the ceiling. I try not to focus on the fact her life has come together when mine continues to fall apart. I’m happy for her. I just need to get my act together. I listen to her fingers click against the keyboard. I roll over and say, “Does it ever get easier? Love and relationships?”

She looks at me over the laptop screen. “I wish it did, honey. But at some point, you have to push aside your fears and follow your heart.”

Chapter 21

The next day, my mother and I make one last trip inland for her book. I’m thankful that for once, this meeting is not with a victim or in someone’s home. My mother has managed to convince a former detective from Donald Gaskins’ case to meet us for lunch. Seafood and murder. At this point, the combination sounds completely normal to me.

I expect an old man, but the guy waiting for us at Captain Jack’s appears only a bit older than my mother. He’s already at the table buttering hush-puppies and reading a paper.

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“Mr. Marrs, I’m Julia. This is my daughter and assistant, Summer.”

“Sit, please, and call me Judson.” He gestures to the empty seats at the table. “Try these hushpuppies. Best in the area.”

I stare at the fried ball of dough questionably, but I’m starving. I slather butter all over the bread and take a bite. “Holy crap, that’s good.”

“Summer!” my mother admonishes.

“Sorry,” I apologize. “Try one, they’re awesome.”

My mother ignores me. “So Judson, you worked on the Gaskins case in 1973?”

“Through ’76,” he confirms. “I was a rookie and found myself in the middle of the biggest serial killer case the state had ever seen. When I got on the case, though, he was already in jail, waiting for trial. Right before he was arrested, Gaskins had started taking on a lot of paid jobs.”