Next Summer Read Free

whoop of joy.
    Then she grinned at Kelsi, and they both rolled down their windows to let sunshine and the smell of the ocean rush inside and fill the car.
    Ella leaned out the window as Kelsi weaved through the slow pace of traffic. Ella noticed a few new shops along the main thoroughfare, but, far more important, new guys.Brand-new summer boys in all their tanned and shirtless glory. They were practically lined up and down the street for her to gawk at, she thought. Like Pebble Beach was one big eye-candy store.
    “Drool much?” Kelsi teased, apparently noticing Ella’s appreciation of the long-limbed blond guy who ambled in front of the car at a stop sign.
    “I never drool,” Ella replied, smiling. “I just…admire.”
    And admire she did. There were boys everywhere, jostling one another on the sidewalks and slouching off toward the beach. Ella wanted to eat every last one of them up.
    “Really?” Kelsi sounded amused. “Didn’t you make some sort of vow when we got into the car this morning? Something about you swearing off guys this summer?”
    Ella winced at the mere mention of that. Why did Kelsi have to be so damn attentive?
    “Oh, right,” she said. “Of course I’m sticking to that vow. But, hello, I’m not blind. ”
    As Kelsi laughed, Ella reminded herself that this summer, she was on a high self-esteem, low hook-up diet. She wasn’t going to indulge in messing around with random members of the male species, no matter how seemingly delicious. She was the new, improved Ella, who was only going to commit to one guy. One relationship. Love and trust and blah blah blah. There would be no more of Ella’s patented flirting or her treating boys like the one-use towels you get at the public pool.
    “Well, El, since you’re on sabbatical, that leaves a whole lotmore guys for the rest of us,” Kelsi said with another laugh as she turned from the main road onto the little dirt track that led to the cottages.
    Ella felt a little chill race through her as the car bumped along the dirt, but she shook it off. So what if Kelsi wanted to mix it up with some hottie? That was what summer was for. And Kelsi deserved to relax, have fun, and rake in the admirers. She’d gotten her heart broken last summer, after all.
    And so had Ella, but the difference was Ella’s heart wound was self-inflicted. She’d pretty much known Peter was a creep, and she’d still gone after him.
    Ella had discovered that when you do something hideous and no one else knows about it, you had only yourself for comfort. It was a lonely way to live. Then again, Ella had herself to blame for being in that position, and there wasn’t any use dwelling on it now, especially when an entire new summer was ahead of her.
    Kelsi pulled up in front of the cottage their family rented every summer, and they both climbed out of the car. Ella treated herself to a nice long stretch, and gazed around at the familiar sights. The tall pine trees ringed the lawn, with the cottages nestled into place at their roots. The beach was just beyond the dunes. The Maine sun was at its best up above, showering everything with light and warmth.
    Last summer was in the past, Ella kept telling herself. Over. She was a different person now—a better one, and a better sister, too.
    “This is going to be the best summer yet. I can feel it,”Kelsi said, coming around the car and grinning at Ella. She slung an arm around Ella’s shoulders and squeezed her. “Aren’t you excited?”
    “I can’t wait,” Ella said with her best smile, and in that moment, she decided to be just as excited as she sounded.

 

    3
     
    “We’re leaving without you!”
    Ella’s voice floated over from the yard on the evening air. Kelsi was in her room; she knew her sister and Beth were waiting for her to finish dressing for the first party of the summer. She had already discarded just about every top she’d brought with her, and was halfway through a repeat cycle.
    The thing was, she