The Summer of Us (Mission Cove 1)

Her answer was to pull my head down and kiss me. A kiss of love, promises, and the future. A kiss of yes.

That was all I needed.I walked through the house with the foreman. The house had been gutted down to the studs. He explained in great depth about the wires and charges attached to all the exposed beams. How the charge would be relayed and the structure would crumble. I stood in the vast space, knowing it was the last time I would be inside this building. The last time anyone would be. It would be locked down tonight and be gone tomorrow. Ned was beside me, frowning. “How do you know no one sneaks in before you, ah, hit the switch?”

Ed, the foreman, chuckled. “We do a final sweep today, and we have heat signals we check before the last call. The house is guarded all night.”

“Makes sense.”

I tried not to laugh. Ned still felt this was over the top, but I didn’t care. I clapped him on the shoulder. “Thinking of stashing a troublesome client in before the big bang, Ned?”

He eyed me with a frown. “I think your absence would not go unnoticed.”

That made me chuckle. Ed did too before turning serious. “We take every precaution. The perimeter, the building, who is allowed on site. Our measurements for the explosives are precise. Our safety record is perfect.”

“Good to know,” Ned mumbled.

“You should be here for the show.” I winked.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Ed turned to answer his radio, and I faced Ned. “Really? I didn’t think you supported this.”

“When you first told me, no. But I’ve changed my mind.”

“May I ask why?”

“I know better than anyone what your father did to you. What he took from you. I was worried this would feed your hate—make it stronger. But I sense, I see, a change in you, Linc. I see the boy I met so long ago with your mother. I think you need to do this to close this chapter. This book. Start a new one.” He paused, lifting one eyebrow. “With a pretty girl who makes the best biscuits I’ve ever tasted. And who has given you back the one thing your father took from you that I feared you would never get back.”

“What is that?” I asked quietly.

He put his hand on my shoulder. “The ability to love, Linc. I feared in your quest, you would forget your heart. You would become him. But you didn’t. Instead, you found yourself.”

“Sunny did that for me.”

He met my gaze. He knew my plans, all of them, and he was on board with me.

“Then let’s do this.”It was a gloomy day. The skies overhead dark with rain, the air cooler than it had been. Sunny shivered beside me, and I tucked her closer. “This all feels very ominous,” she mumbled.

I chuckled. I personally thought my father was writhing in hell, screaming in rage and shaking his fist at me as he saw what was about to happen.

I hoped the devil gave him a front row seat.

We were far from the house, the hill blocked off and no one allowed to be close. I knew the town was gathered below, watching in anticipation. To the younger generation, it was simply something cool happening—something they would probably never see again in Mission Cove. For others, today had a far more significant meaning.

None more than me.

Anticipation built within me, making my body shake. I hadn’t slept all night, up pacing—wanting, needing, this done. I had planned it for so long, and now that the day was here, I wanted it over. I wanted to move on with my life, my plans, and Sunny.

Beside me, Ned and Abby spoke together. Sunny clung to me, her fingers digging into my waist. I knew she was concerned about my emotional reaction when it happened, but I wasn’t worried.

I had waited too long for this moment.

Sunny had been in the house with Ed earlier, and I knew the drives were somewhere inside. She came out looking resolved and smiling, so I had slipped my hand around hers and squeezed, silently thanking her. She squeezed back, then I tucked her into my side, needing her close.

Ed approached, his entire crew with him. “All the checks are done, Linc. Cameras set up as you asked. Crew accounted for. No heat sources have suddenly appeared. We’re ready.”

“Excellent.”

“Ear protectors,” he yelled, and we all slipped them on our heads.

“Come with me.”

I held Sunny closer, needing her with me for this moment. We stood behind the huge electronic control unit, and Ed nodded. Horns blew, loudspeakers began the countdown. He flipped open the switch. He lifted one side of my ear covering. “When we hit one, you press this. Hard. Got it?”

I swallowed thickly. “Yes.”

Sunny’s breath stuttered, and I stepped forward but reached for her hand. “It’s fine,” I murmured knowing she probably couldn’t hear me, but having to say it anyway. I couldn’t hear the countdown due to the cans over my ears to protect against the sound of the implosion. I held my finger over the button, the digit hovering in midair, watching as Ed counted down the numbers on his fingers.