Page 10 of The Edge of Summer

I try to focus on the report I’m meant to be working on, but it’s no use. I keep replaying the accident over and over again. I feel bad, chastising her like that. And if we report this accident, her insurance will only get more expensive. Half an hour later, I pull out my phone and send her a text.

Don’t worry about going through insurance. The truck is fine.

Delilah

Are you sure?

Just get that headlight fixed.

She doesn’t respond right away. My knee begins to bounce involuntarily as I force myself not to stare at my phone.

Delilah

Aye aye, Captain.

Sorry, *Chief.

I shake my head. She must’ve seen the lettering on my truck and put the pieces together. Despite myself, I smile. Although a fender bender isn’t the most ideal way to start the morning, I have to acknowledge that it’s the most excitement I’ve had in a while.

Stowing my phone in a drawer, I turn back to my report. But I can’t seem to get the image of a certain woman out of my head.

CHAPTER

FOUR

DELILAH

God,that was embarrassing.

I’ve been driving for almost a decade and I’ve never been in an accident before. I’ve come close, but I have never actually collided with another vehicle. It was just my luck that the person I hit is not only the fire chief of our new town, but he also happens to be the most beautiful man I think I’ve ever laid eyes on. At first I thought my tired eyes were deceiving me, but no—he really is just that pretty.

And then he opened his mouth.

There’s nothing quite like the shame of being chastised. Coming from him, it made me bristle. He unknowingly poked at an old wound, and it ached, like pressing on a bruise just to see if it still hurt. I messed up—IknowI messed up.

But he also pulled a laugh out of Parker. I’ve been waiting on that laugh for months. No matter how annoyed I am at the man, I am grateful for that.

Stubbornly, I want to ignore his directions and find the house myself, but Sophia is getting antsy and Parker is backto pretending I don’t exist. So I give in and do as he said. Much to my displeasure, it doesn’t take us long to pull onto Hawberry Lane. The street is small, tucked away on the outskirts of the downtown area. Trees line either side of the road, dressed in varying shades of summer green.

“Sissy, are we almost there?” Sophia asks from the back.

“Don’t ask her, Soph,” Parker says. “She just got us lost.”

“Hey, I also got usunlost, just like I said I would.”

Parker snorts. “I think the credit actually goes to that guy you hit.”

I look in the rear view mirror at my sister. “We’re almost there, Soph.”

I hope.

The houses here are smaller than the ones in our old neighbourhood, but the yards are larger. They aren’t stacked on top of one another like in the city, but you’re still close to your neighbours. Although the sun has risen, the island is still sleeping, savouring this Sunday in late spring. There were hardly any cars on the road in town, and the same can be said for this street. It’s an eerie kind of quiet, but one I could picture myself getting used to.

I am more than ready for a change of pace.

When I pull into the driveway, Sophia gasps from the backseat. The house—ourhouse—is tiny and coloured a light pink. It matches the neighbouring houses in architecture, though each one is painted in varying shades of pink, green, blue and white. The front porch, painted white to match the house’s trim, looks almost brand new. There’s even a porch swing, which is what drew me to the house in the first place.

“We’re gonna live in a Barbie house, Sissy!” shesqueals.