Chapter Eighteen
Jake loved working on new construction. It was something he’d learned about himself doing the resort job last year, and now, installing his new faucets into his own vanities, he was sure of it. He tightened the lock nuts under the countertop and crawled out of the cabinet, stretching his tight back after getting out.
From his knees, he turned the shut-off valves to the “on” position and stood up. “Only one thing left to do,” he told himself and lifted the metal chrome lever. Water poured out in a smooth stream. “And we have a winner!” he exclaimed, and Aspen let out a bark. The dog had followed him to each room as he installed the faucets. It was nice that Aspen could start to get used to his future home. Jake didn’t think the dog realized that, but at least he’d be familiar with it once they started to move in.
Jake was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the crew had moved once the framework was up. The kitchen was nearly done now. All that remained were the cabinet doors. A few door slabs were leaning in the halls, ready to be installed on the bedrooms, and some rooms were waiting for baseboards. Other than that, the house was four light fixtures and three toilets away from being ready to move in.
Jake needed one more day here, and his part would be completed. He used the new sink to rinse his hands and wiped them on his dirty jeans. Grabbing his tools, he stuck them into the box and closed it up. He was done for the night and couldn’t wait to get back to Summer. She’d been upset after getting home the other day from her mom’s, but after talking about it for a while, he knew Summer was going to be happy with their wedding. He’d listened to the story about the wedding dress, and she’d blanched when he asked to see her in it.
He imagined her, a form-fitting white silhouette in their bedroom doorway. He’d only be too happy to unzip her and make it a wedding day to remember. His phone buzzed, and he shook his head from the clouds.
Are you almost done? Summer’s text said.
He replied quickly, Finished. Want to stop by?
She hadn’t been there in weeks, and he knew she’d love to see it in its current state. It would make the idea of moving into the house a reality. Seeing it this way had rejuvenated him and reminded him why he was working so hard every day. It would do the same for Summer.
Her response came. Be there in ten.
“Let’s go outside, Aspen.” He opened the sliding glass doors leading from the dining room to the back deck. He turned on the porch light before shutting the door, since it was pitch black out here. They were a ways from town, but he could see a handful of lights from the houses surrounding Maple Mountain Lake. He also spotted an orange glow through the smoke-covered evening. It was getting worse each day, as the fires continued to rage northeast of them.
Aspen ran ahead, heading for the dock over the water. Jake hadn’t seen him jump into it yet, so he let the dog race forward. He stopped at the end of the dock, sitting down waiting for his owner. When Jake arrived, Aspen’s black tail flopped back and forth, a constant drumming on the wooden slats.
“What do you think?” he asked Aspen, who tilted his head, trying to understand his master. “Imagine it without the smoke in the air.”
Aspen lay down as if answering the question. He was going to love living here. No more apartment for the big dog. He would have free rein of the yard, something he’d never experienced in his young life. Jake supposed they were all kind of entering new territory. He’d never had a house before. Since leaving his grandparents at eighteen, he’d lived in nothing but apartments and townhouses.
Summer had spent the last ten years in dorms, then a cramped New York pad. If you asked her, the few months spent in her old room at her parents’ house didn’t count. Cinnamon would have a whole big house to explore as well, and Jake knew the cat would love that too.
He saw the headlights of a car pull into the front of the house, before flipping off. The vehicle’s door closed, and he shouted from the dock, “Back here, babe!”
A moment later, Summer’s form emerged from the side of the house, and Aspen ran as fast as he could, giving her a tentative bark before he realized who it was. Then he was jumping all over her and demanding to be petted on the belly as he rolled to his back.
Jake met her in the yard, hugging his fiancée close to his body. She smelled so nice. He loved that, along with countless other things, about her.
“What are you two up to?” she asked Jake.
“Just checking out the night. It’s amazing here.” He cleared his throat, which was a little scratchy. “If you forget about the smoke.”
“Kind of hard to forget about it. I couldn’t see on a few stretches of the road. It keeps getting worse. Jake, I’m worried about it,” Summer said.
He took her hand and led her to the edge of the dock, letting the sparkling view sink in. “I know. This is one of those things we have no control over.”
“But the festival is next weekend.” He could tell she was trying not to pout, but she wasn’t doing a great job.
“One of the hardest things to fight is nature. They’re doing everything they can to get it under control. We have to count our blessings where we can.” Jake felt her grip his hand tighter.
“I can’t have this fail.”
“Why? Your studio is doing well again. The town is behind you, and nothing can keep a festival going if the state is on fire. We’ll have to play it by ear.” Jake knew that wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but he didn’t want to stand there and placate her.
“I get that. But, Jake, our wedding is in under three weeks now. What if…”
She didn’t finish. His hands slipped to her face, and they turned, staring into each other’s eyes in the dimly-lit night sky. “We will be married. One way or another, you will be my wife. Nothing will stop that. Not a hurricane, an asteroid, or a fire. I promise you that.” He knew the words sounded silly, but he meant every bit of it.
“Okay.” Summer kissed him, and he returned the affection until Aspen started barking at them.
“Fine. We’ll go back in. Aspen wants to give you the tour,” Jake told Summer, and he led her back through the freshly-sodded yard, onto the deck, and back into the house through the sliding door.
He took one last glance at the dense smoke-covered lake and tried to feel as confident as he’d sounded.
*
“What do you mean, the band isn’t coming?” Summer was on her phone, answering what felt like a stream of bad news calls. “Fine. I get it. The air quality is bad for the singer’s voice. I understand. I do expect the deposit back, since they canceled. Okay, send it to my office. Thank you.” She hit the End Call button and sat back in her office chair.
“Another cancellation?” Haley asked. They’d all gathered in Summer’s tiny office; papers and laptops covered every inch of her desk. Remnants of pad Thai takeout remained in a few containers, left for Summer to pick at when she felt the most anxious. The afternoon wasn’t going well.
Summer nodded, her blonde hair covering half of her face. She tossed her hair away, letting out a sigh of frustration. “No music.”
“Where does this leave us?” Kimber asked. She was watching Tomas as he rolled a toy car along the floor.
“Let’s see.” Summer scanned over the schedule. “We still have the market on Saturday evening. Two food trucks are coming. We have the wine event, which won’t be quite the same with no band. Maybe we should just cancel it all.”
Haley shook her head. “Summer, we’re doing this. We still have six hundred people who’ve paid for the weekend. That’s going to change a few students’ lives when they get those scholarships. We trudge forward, even when we don’t think we can.”
Summer loved the girl for it. Haley was still smiling through it all. She found herself learning lessons from the much younger woman. “I love you, Haley. You too, Kimber.”
“I love you too,” Kimber said.
“Me too.” Haley got up and hugged Summer, then Kimber. “I’m so proud of what we’ve done. We can still make this a fun and safe weekend.”
“Are you sure we’re going to do the yoga indoors now? Will we have room?” Kimber asked.
Summer went back over her spreadsheet. “Yes, we just need to have the classes scheduled. It’s not ideal, but I expect we won’t see all six hundred people this weekend. More likely it will be four hundred, and not all at the same time. We can fit fifty a class here if we squeeze tight. It’ll work.” Summer said it and finally started to believe it. Her energy returned as they talked about the upcoming weekend.
Two hours later, they had a decent plan. “Kimber, you call Carpe Diem and see if they have any musician contacts. Haley, you need to follow up on the emergency volunteers, and I’ll double check with Monique on using their facility.”
Once the girls left, Summer walked to the windows of Peaceful Pines and found she could hardly see across the street. The entire town smelled like burning wood. The fire was still hundreds of miles away, but with the wind, it felt like it was in their backyard. She’d really wanted to do the event outdoors, but that wasn’t possible any longer.
She locked the door from the sidewalk and headed over to the Coffee Bean for a drink. It was nighttime, and the café was mostly empty. Some teenagers sat at the coffee bar, sipping from tall iced drinks, trying to stay refreshed from the muggy evening. She decided to follow their lead.
“I’ll take a passionfruit sweet tea, half sugar, half ice.” Summer placed the order with a bored-looking teenager with a nose ring and checked the news on her phone. She found an article about the fires, and her heart leapt when she read the fire marshals were claiming the fires were nearly under control. If they could clear up in the next few days, the event could still go on as planned.
She took her drink and headed outside where her SUV was parked on Main.
Do you have a few minutes? The text came in from Monique, who was in town from Boston and spending time working at Maple Mountain. Summer was impressed with how far the beautiful socialite had come in the last two years. She was sure a lot of that work ethic had come from Bryan’s influence.
Be there soon, she texted back. It would be good to finalize their backup plans for the festival. Summer had never done an event like this, and she’d quickly learned just how much could go wrong on a project of this size, especially when you were relying on weather and nature to side with you.
She got into her vehicle and kept the windows rolled up. The air was thick, muggy, and warm, but the cover was keeping the intense sun above from hitting them, keeping it a few degrees cooler than it would be otherwise. Summer cranked her AC anyway and headed down the street, away from their small downtown and toward the outskirts of town. She saw very few people outdoors, since the advisories were warning everyone to stay inside.
Part of Summer wanted to give in and hide away until the fires were under control, the smoke nothing but a memory. But she couldn’t do that. She’d worked too hard over the past few years to let anything get in her way of finishing what she started. She was determined to make the yoga festival one people would remember. They would always recall that one summer when the state was on fire, and the Pines still raised over thirty thousand dollars for local scholarships. They might not remember her name, or Peaceful Pines, but they would remember the resilience needed to keep the event running.
Summer smiled as she drove. She felt her resolve firm and swore to herself that she’d stop being so worried and negatively affected by things she couldn’t control. Jake was right about that.
Summer was so lost in her own thoughts as she cruised down the road, she nearly missed the Maple Mountain Resort turn-off. She slowed just in time and entered the property. Despite the terrible smoke-filled air, every cabin and unit had vehicles beside and in front of them. She kept driving down the roadway, past every unit, until she ended at the main complex. Cars were parked at the Pinecone, and she could see dozens of silhouettes through the window, happy people eating great meals.
She thought about her and Jake’s first real dinner date there, and laughed at how comfortable Jake had acted with her. It had been so surreal, and thinking back to it now only solidified what a great couple they were, all the way from the first touch of their hands.
Summer parked near the ballroom building where Garrett and Peter had been married. It would fit two hundred people with ease, and the large barn doors at the end could be sealed shut, keeping the property smoke-free.
Monique walked out the side door and waved at Summer. It was heavy dusk, the sun a glowing red orb over the horizon, and in the smoke-filled evening air, Monique looked like a gorgeous ghost, waiting for Summer to join her as an ethereal spirit.
“Hi, Mon!” Summer called as she set foot on the gravel parking lot.
“Ma cherie,” Monique said as they walked toward each other. She lightly kissed Summer’s cheeks before hugging her. “How are you doing?”
Summer was determined to stay positive tonight. “I’m doing okay. Thank you so much for agreeing to let us use the facility. We would have been out on our butts otherwise.”
Monique shrugged. “That’s what friends do. Also, the people who had booked it already paid me a deposit, even though they’ve since canceled because of the fires.”
Summer hadn’t known that. Their loss was her gain, she reasoned. “Can we look around?”
“Of course, my darling.” Monique led her into the open room, and Summer was surprised by how large it was. When Garrett had been married inside, it had been full of chairs. Now, empty, it felt twice the size. It was going to be perfect.
Summer walked to the far corner, where a stage was already set up. “We can have the band playing here, if we find one.” She walked over to the built-in bar and ran a finger over the solid wood countertop. “This is where the wine bar will be set up.” She moved to the other corner and stood looking at the room from that vantage point. “Mon, do you have some tables we can use for the auction items?”
They had a variety of items for auction, as a way to advertise businesses and get more donations for the scholarship fund. Jake was donating a high-end kayak, Barbara was donating a few cooking classes, Peter had donated two of his amazing paintings, and Summer expected those to be the big winners of the night. Of course, Summer was donating a lifetime pass to Peaceful Pines. She was really looking forward to seeing how much something like that brought in.
“I spoke with Daddy, and he agreed to my suggestion,” Monique said with a smile.
“What’s that?” Summer asked.
“Maple Mountain Resort is going to donate a weekend in the fall at one of the premium cottages, all inclusive,” Monique said, and Summer couldn’t help but let out a little cheer.
“That’s so amazing. Thank you, Mon.”
“We also have a luxury high-rise in downtown Boston, with box seats to the Red Sox. We’re going to donate a weekend there, with two tickets to a game as well.” This time, Monique was attacked by a hug from Summer. She felt herself welling up with emotion and sniffed away the incoming tears.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Summer said truthfully.
“You don’t have to. The Pines is still hesitant on the new owners taking over the resort, and we’ve seen less visits from the locals to our facilities. This should help with some goodwill, don’t you think?” Monique asked. She had a glimmer in her eye, and Summer knew it was about more than just goodwill with the locals. She was doing it as a favor to Summer.
“I agree with that. Still… thank you for everything.” Summer finally felt like everything was going to work out.