Read Online The Summer Everything Changed by Holly Chamberlin - Free Book Online

what!?”
    Isobel was with Gwen, no doubt engaged in blog-related behavior, photographing a funky bit of clothing or trolling a Salvation Army or Goodwill store for hidden treasures. That left Louise alone in the kitchen with poor Quentin, the unfortunate witness of Louise’s end of the latest call from Flora Michaels.
    â€œPink doves? They want to release pink doves after the ceremony? I don’t think the town is going to allow the release of a flock of dyed birds . . .”
    â€œWell, that’s your concern, not mine,” Flora Michaels snapped. “You need to make it happen.”
    â€œMe?” Louise heard her voice squeak. “Why me? Wait a minute, are the birds trained? Won’t they poop on everyone’s head? Will they come back?”
    â€œHow do I know? Just clear it with whoever you need to clear it with in that sleepy little town of yours.”
    Flora Michaels ended the call in her usual abrupt manner.
    â€œPink doves,” Quentin said. It wasn’t a question.
    â€œWhat am I going to do, Quentin? I need more staff to deal with this crazy wedding, but I can’t afford to hire more staff! Or maybe I just need to take a step back and think calmly about this whole thing . . .”
    â€œIt’s a dilemma, for sure,” Quentin said in his usual, unperturbed way. If the guy ever got flustered, Louise had yet to see it. Then again, why should he be flustered about a flock of pink doves? That was her problem.
    â€œIf you don’t need me inside,” Quentin said now, “I’m going to mow the backyard.”
    Louise nodded and Quentin left. No sooner had he gone than Flynn Moore made an appearance at the kitchen door.
    â€œAfternoon, Louise. I came by to take a look at that cranky food disposal.”
    Louise smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Flynn. Can I get you a glass of lemonade first? Bella made a pitcher before she left this morning. It’s pretty amazing.”
    Flynn accepted the offer. Nobody in his right mind turned down Bella’s food or her lemonade. Louise knew better than to ask Bella for her recipe; whatever secret ingredient went into her lemonade to make it so tasty would forever remain Bella’s secret.
    Flynn was a handsome man of sixty, tall and lean, though what there was of him was solid muscle. For years he had been the owner and beloved manager of an extremely popular and successful restaurant/music venue known as The Jive Joint. A few years back he had sold the enterprise for a very nice profit, and instead of journeying south as so many northerners did as soon as they could manage it, Flynn had opted to stay put. He still lived, alone, in the house he and a few friends had built thirty years ago, a post-and-beam construction that was as practical as it was beautiful. These days, from what Louise could tell, Flynn spent a good deal of his time being a helping hand around town. Just the other day she had seen him on a top rung of a sickeningly tall ladder outside Mrs. Berkeley’s house down the road. And today, he was here to crawl under the kitchen sink, at no charge other than some chitchat and maybe one of Bella’s muffins.
    Chitchat they did, and then Flynn got to work. Louise busied herself with cleaning the fridge and thinking about the celebrity wedding that was looming. She wondered if Flora Michaels had ever been married, and if she had, Louise wondered if she had inflicted on herself a wedding planner. The thought was actually amusing, the imperious wedding planner getting a dose of her own medicine. Wedding planners. How long had they been around, anyway? Back when Louise had gotten married, a woman planned her own wedding, with the help of her best friend (if she had one; Louise had not) and her mother. Then again, she hadn’t been born and raised in a world where people hired caterers to feed their picnic guests. You did that yourself, with a bowl of homemade potato salad, a package of hot dogs, and