The Sweetest Summer: A Bayberry Island Novel Read Free

of gender confusion he’d ever seen. The dude’s left side was all mermaid, with a shell bikini top, smooth skin, fake eyelashes and flowing hair, while his right side was all mer
man
, complete with a hairy chest, tattoos, and one hell of a five-o’clock shadow. Clancy had to give him extra points for self-expression.
    “Hello. Welcome to Bayberry Island.” Clancy tipped his chin, smiled, and shook hands with the mer
person
and a string of tourists who followed behind. “Hello. Have fun. Welcome.”
    He chatted with a few people, took pictures with a few more, and recognized many that had been coming to the festival for decades. Among them were Willa and Chet Chester, an older couple who had been regular guests at his family’s bed-and-breakfast for decades. They happened to be lifelong nudists as well, founders of a parallel version of festival week for those who preferred to party in the buff. The nudist colony on the far side of the island did it up right. They had an opening ceremony, a parade, reenactments of the mermaid legend, plays, food, music, a craft fair, and a clambake—all of it done sans clothing.
    “Chief Flynn!” Willa hugged him tight and delivered a damp kiss near his left ear.
    Chet shook his hand firmly. “Nice to see you, son,” he said.
    “Mr. Chester, always a pleasure.”
    Willa slapped both her hands on Clancy’s upper arms and squeezed tight, smiling up at him. “Now, my dear, when are we going to get you to come out and celebrate with us? Hmm?”
    This was Willa’s usual routine. Starting the summer Clancy turned eighteen, she began attempting to recruit him into the “lifestyle.” It had never much appealed to him. He was the kind of guy who preferred to carefullychoose who he wanted to see naked and then do so in a one-on-one kind of format. Hanging out with a hundred or so sunburned nudists draped in mermaid and sea captain accessories wasn’t his thing. Never would be.
    “Oh, Willa.” He grinned at her. “You know I get out to Colony Beach at least a few times every festival week.”
    She waved her hand to dismiss his teasing reply. “Only when there’s a problem. I’m talking about taking some time to come out and see how we do things, just relax and let everything go.”
    Like his boxers, no doubt.
    “Festival week is crazy busy for me, Willa. You know that. But I appreciate the invite, as always.”
    She wagged her finger. “You don’t know what you’re missing, Clancy. Well, we should be off. Checking in right away. We can’t wait to see all the renovations at the Safe Haven. How excited you all must be with all the changes on the island this year.”
    “Absolutely. Be safe, now.”
    Clancy resumed his glad-handing, hearing himself repeat his mantra: “Welcome to Bayberry Island . . . have fun and be safe . . . let me know if there’s anything I can assist you with . . . two blocks that way . . . you can’t miss it. . . .” All while he mulled over Willa’s last comment. She was right. Everything had changed on Bayberry since this time last year. It began when Clancy’s sister, Rowan, fell in love with a Boston blue blood with plans to inject loads of cash into the local economy. As good as all that was, seeing how Rowan and Ashton Louis Wallace III made each other happy was even better. In fact, he’d never seen two people more in love.
    “Welcome . . . two blocks down . . . great costume . . . have fun. . . .”
    Love.
    The irony didn’t escape Clancy. Day-to-day life on Bayberry Island revolved around the “mystical power of love,” as his mother called it. Yet here he was, a naysayer, a nonbeliever. He didn’t make a big deal about it, buteveryone who knew him knew that he and “love” weren’t exactly on speaking terms.
    “Hello . . . enjoy yourselves . . . just two blocks that way . . . really? . . . all the way from Minnesota?”
    It was simply a fact: the mermaid stuck it to him. It happened on the