Summertime Nights Read online

  Summertime Nights

  A Katama Bay Series

  By

  Katie Winters

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Copyright © 2021 by Katie Winters

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Katie Winters holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ––––––––Other Books by Katie

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  Chapter One

  Thirty Years Earlier

  Eleven-year-old Carmella pressed a finger against her lips to silence Colton, her younger brother, who was ten. They stood off to the side of Elsa’s bedroom as their older sister slept on. Her hair was spread out, so angelic, across the pillows, and her sheets were a mess. Probably, she’d had one of her frequent nightmares, ones that had previously made Elsa crawl into their mother and father’s bed. For the past years, Carmella knew Elsa had fought her nightmares alone — telling herself that she wasn’t allowed to sleep in her parents’ bed. She was the eldest; she had to be stronger than that.

  It was just a few days into their summer vacation. Carmella and Colton — absolute best friends and frequent mischievous companions had decided to decorate Elsa’s bedroom. They wanted to cheer her up since Elsa’s boyfriend had dumped her for no apparent reason. He’d said he wanted to be single for summer vacation. To Carmella, a breakup seemed very adult, and it broke her heart to see her sister so despondent. She wanted to grab her and tell her they were still kids— that they didn’t have to endure all the heartache of adults yet.

  The decorating process had gone on the past thirty minutes. Colton and Carmella had hung streamers, balloons and self-made posters across Elsa’s bedroom. On the posters, they’d drawn cartoons and words like “HAPPY SUMMER VACATION!” and “SCHOOL’S OUT!” To Carmella and Colton, these posters were absolute works of art. They beamed with pride at the décor; they couldn’t imagine a world in which Elsa wouldn’t look at it all and think, “Okay. I’ll be fine.”

  That moment, Elsa stirred beneath the sheets. Her beautiful eyes popped open. Colton giggled, and Elsa swung her head around to look at him.

  “What are you doing in my room?” she demanded. She rose up from the pillows, blinked into the dim light of the morning, then gasped. “What the heck did you guys do?”

  Carmella’s heart sank. She knew this wasn’t Elsa’s “pleased” voice. In fact, she sounded enraged, like the time Carmella had eaten almost all of her Halloween candy, the pieces she’d been saving.

  Elsa leaped from bed, placed her hands on her hips, and looked at the posters, the streamers, the balloons.

  “Are you kidding me?” she demanded. “This will take forever to clean up.”

  Colton dropped his chin to his chest. He was a terribly sensitive kid and frequently cried, which was something that frustrated their father, Neal, as he’d always wanted a son, but not one who was weak. He was only ten — there was still time for him to become a strong man. But as usual, parents were impatient.

  “We just wanted to decorate for summer,” Colton said softly.

  Elsa yanked her head around and glared at them. She heaved a sigh, then said, “Just get out of my room, okay?”

  Colton and Carmella remained there, their hands at their sides. This had gone off the rails. Carmella gaped at her big sister, a girl she loved with every vibrant beat of her heart.

  “GET OUT!” Elsa cried then.

  Carmella and Colton leaped into action. They burst from Elsa’s bedroom and scampered down the hall. Their mother, Tina, stood at the end of the hallway with a stack of towels in hand. She balked at them and said, “What on earth have you gotten yourselves into?”

  Colton tore into his bedroom and fell on his bed. A sob escaped his throat as he shook against the mattress. Carmella paused in the doorway as her mother stepped alongside her.

  “Colton! Tell me what’s wrong?” Tina asked tenderly.

  Elsa stormed into the hallway after that. “Don’t let them butter you up, Mom.”

  “Elsa. Whatever it was, it’s obvious your brother is very upset about it,” Tina said.

  “They broke into my room, Mom. They destroyed everything.”

  Tina arched an eyebrow toward Carmella. “Is that true, Carm?”

  Carmella shrugged. “We just wanted to cheer her up.”

  Their father, Neal, appeared in the doorway of their parents’ bedroom. He rubbed his eye sleepily. In recent days, he’d had a cold, and his grogginess permeated through his voice. “What’s going on out here?”

  “The kids have wasted no time in getting in an argument,” Tina explained. She stepped toward Neal and dotted a kiss on his cheek as he protested.

  “Don’t! I don’t want to get you sick.”

  “I think you’re better already,” Tina said. “Come on, everyone. Whatever happened, there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with pancakes. Grab your dirty laundry from your bedrooms and leave it in the laundry room. And Elsa?”

  Elsa furrowed her brow and glared at her mother.

  “Your brother and sister love you. And we love you, too. Try to be a little nicer next time.”

  Elsa rolled her eyes into the back of her head. Again, Carmella was struck with the knowledge that soon, Elsa would be a full-flung teenager. Carmella was right up behind her in age. Childhood was somehow fleeting; she’d never imagined it would end before.

  Tina poured maple syrup over their pancakes and set out a jug of juice on the table on the back porch. Colton hadn’t yet grown into himself, and his legs didn’t reach the floor. His feet wagged around beneath him as he dove into the pancakes. Elsa placed several napkins alongside his plate and said, “You’re going to need these.”

  When Colton blinked up, his chin was already slathered in syrup. Neal grumbled to himself. Probably, their parents were more ready for them not to be kids than Carmella could really understand.

  When they’d finished, Tina suggested that they take the horses out. It was a beautiful morning, and Neal didn’t have anything going on at the Katama Lodge and Wellness Spa until later that afternoon.

  “I think it would be nice if we all did something as a family,” Tina suggested. “Something to celebrate summer vacation!”

  In recent years, Neal and Tina had built up a hefty collection of horses. Carmella always loved stepping into the stables; she loved the shadows of the horses’ noses as they poked them out into the hay-lined hall; she even loved the smell of their shiny coats and the grunts they made, which seemed to be their personal greetings.

  Carmella scampered up to the glossy white beauty she so frequently rode, the one she’d named “Ghost.” Colton took the b
rown horse alongside Ghost, which they’d named Marvin a few years back. Elsa opted for Black Beauty while their parents took out two horses from the far end of the stables. It took quite a bit of time to prepare for the ride. Neal seemed overly frustrated with the process. As he slid a saddle over the back of one of the horses, he grumbled to himself and then started to cough.

  “Maybe you aren’t well enough to ride?” Tina suggested.

  Neal cast her a strange look, then said, “Tina, you’re the one who wanted us all to ride together.”

  Carmella turned her eyes to the ground. Parents fought; she knew this. She just hated when hers did.

  “Don’t talk to me like that,” Tina whispered.

  Immediately, Neal apologized. In a few minutes, he’d adjusted the last saddle. And in another few minutes more, all of the horses were ready to go.

  Carmella lifted her chin and held the reins loosely, the way she’d learned from her father. They clopped forward in a line — Neal at the front, Elsa behind him, Tina in front of Colton, and Carmella in the very back. They had just shy of one hundred acres of land, which stretched along the southern edge of the island and met up with the Katama Lodge and Wellness Spa, which was located eastward, along Katama Bay. For Carmella, Elsa, and Colton, their acreage was essentially the entire world; they wanted for nothing more but these salty waves, the rush of the wind, and the creak of the trees in their dense forest.

  Colton hadn’t fully recovered yet from Elsa’s anger that morning. He rode with his back curved and his chin downward and frequently, Carmella heard his throat wheeze with sadness.

  They rode for nearly an hour. Carmella was very quiet, lost in her thoughts. She thought about Elsa, about whether or not Elsa would stop loving her and Colton as she grew older. She thought about her best friend Cody and his older sister; she’d taken to screaming at him for everything, even for talking to her. Would Elsa do that to her? Would Elsa make her feel like she only annoyed her all the time?

  Was it possible that in this life, you couldn’t even trust the people you loved to love you back? The thought filled Carmella with dread.

  They paused near the shoreline, where the forest filtered out toward the sands. Neal gazed out across the waters. Carmella wondered what was on her father’s mind. Throughout her childhood, he had been one of her favorite people — and yet, she’d always found him to be a mystery.

  Carmella’s horse clambered forward the slightest bit. She glanced left toward Colton’s horse. There, on the back end of the horse, sat an enormous horsefly. Its green coloring glittered in the sunlight.

  On instinct, Carmella reached over and smashed her hand against the hind of Colton’s horse. Before she could get it, the horsefly buzzed off. But her impact frightened the horse. Immediately, the horse bucked forward, leaping wildly toward the water’s edge, whinnying and out of control. Its eyes were full of fear.

  Colton panicked as he clutched the reins for dear life and cried out. “MOM!”

  “Colton! Oh my God!” Tina leaped from her horse and rushed for Colton’s horse.

  But Colton’s horse had worked itself into a tizzy. Carmella’s heart burst into her throat. She had never seen a horse so wild. After another moment, the horse bucked back again, whipped its front legs into the air, and cast Colton back onto the rocks. The horse then smashed his legs onto Colton’s chest.

  The sound was so menacing. Carmella had never heard anything like it.

  Tina’s wails swept across the waves. Neal had jumped off his horse already and grabbed the reins of Colton’s wild horse as Tina fell to her son’s side and continued to cry out. Elsa and Carmella jumped off their horses; neither remembered to hold onto their reins and their horses cantered off.

  Colton’s face was terribly pale. Carmella had never seen him like that. The back of his head had smacked against one of the stones along the beach, and the impact of the horse’s hooves had torn his shirt. His chest was bruising quickly. Blood had begun to spill out from his mouth. He sputtered and gazed up into his mother’s eyes. He looked so frightened, so lost, as though he’d was confused from a dream.

  “Colton! Colton. Can you hear me? Oh, baby. Please...” Tina cried.

  Carmella lost all the feeling in her arms and legs. A moment later, she fell to the ground and watched as her baby brother, one of her best friends on the planet, escaped the soft grip of the world and fell into death.

  Even though Neal knew he was gone, he rushed into the house to call the ambulance. Elsa stood on the rocks in shock while tears streamed down her face. Tina brought Colton’s frail body against her chest and shook back and forth. Carmella remained on the ground; she was rooted to her spot and felt unable to do anything at all.

  This was the space in the world where her brother had last been alive.

  And it was her fault.

  She’d sent the horse into a wild panic.

  And the horse had cast Colton to his death.

  And maybe Carmella already intuitively knew that her life had changed forever. Maybe she could sense it in the way the air shifted, in the way the water crept onto the sands, in the way her mother’s sharp eye turned toward her with the first sign of resentment.

  Their family would never be the same again.

  Chapter Two

  Two Years Later

  Thirteen.

  Carmella was thirteen years old and generally anxious about it. She was worried about the wild and provocative years that seemed to stretch forth, the years of having to shave her legs, getting her period and dare she say it— flirting with boys. She stood in the middle school bathroom and shifted herself the slightest bit to catch sight of the beginning curves of her body, curves that made her both nervous and proud. Elsa, her sixteen-year-old sister, seemed entirely confident and at ease in her body. Carmella hoped that someday soon, she would feel the same.

  A head poked around the corner of the bathroom. “Carm? You’re taking forever.”

  “Get out!” Carmella teased as she rushed toward the door. Her best friend, Cody, waited for her in the hallway. They’d planned to head to the diner after school for milkshakes and jukebox plays and a mountain of French fries. This was something of a ritual, as neither of them was particularly keen on heading home after school.

  It was October and as they walked to the diner, the air bit at their cheeks and reminded them of the coming winter. Tree leaves were tinged orange and red and yellow. Cody discussed his recent foray into the math academic team, which he was generally embarrassed about. “I don’t want everyone to think I’m super nerdy, you know?”

  Carmella giggled. “But Cody, you are super nerdy. The sooner we all accept this, the better off we’ll be.”

  “Gee. Thanks.” He gave her that look again — one that sent a funny shiver down Carmella’s spine. Carmella lifted her chin and shoved the thought far back into her mind. Cody was her only friend; she wouldn’t do anything to mess that up.

  At the diner, Cody put on a song by TLC and did a little dance at the front of the table. One of the diner waitresses smoked a cigarette in the corner. She looked at them as though they’d ruined her afternoon. It was three-twenty and the dinner rush wasn’t for hours. Due to the fact that they were thirteen, they had very little money for a tip.

  When their milkshakes arrived, Cody sucked his straw too hard and got an immediate brain freeze. Carmella chortled with laughter, then paid herself back with a brain freeze of her own.

  “See what happens when you make fun of people?” Cody teased.

  “Ah, it’s not fair!” Carmella cried.

  “The world is an unfair place,” Cody affirmed.

  Carmella knew this all too well. It wasn’t something she discussed often — the fact that her brother had died two years before, but it was something Cody knew inside and out. In the wake of the incident, Carmella had put so much blame on herself that the trauma had almost ripped her in half. She had struggled to eat properly since then. Her mother, father, and older sister hardly looke
d her way. It was her fault, after all, that Colton had died. She had been the one to smack the horse’s back end. It was all on her and she felt the enormity of it weigh down on her shoulders.

  Silence fell at the table. Cody placed his hands to the right of his milkshake. He seemed unwilling to look up.

  “Have you talked to your parents about what I said last week yet?” he finally asked.

  Carmella heaved a sigh. “I just don’t even want to talk to them about anything. Let alone therapy.”

  Cody shrugged. “I think it would be really good for you. You went through something really traumatic, something really awful.”

  Carmella’s cheeks burned. She placed her lips around her straw and sucked again. The jukebox changed to a David Bowie song, and she bobbed her shoulders around. In the corner, the diner waitress grumbled, apparently not a fan.

  “Just talk to them. Please,” Cody said. “Maybe they would understand more than you’re giving them credit for.”

  LATER THAT NIGHT, CARMELLA watched her mother in the large rocking chair by the window. The October sky had grown violent and purple, and large raindrops plastered themselves across the glass. Her mother had a large quilt spread over her lap. The needle flickered with the light from the lamp overhead. Nobody had said a word for over forty-five minutes. Carmella was meant to be focused on her homework, but in reality, her heart ached with sorrow. Her mother said the words, “I love you,” but it had been a long time since Carmella had fully felt she meant them.

  Elsa padded in from the kitchen. She held a gummy worm in hand and she wagged her eyebrows at Carmella. “Do you want to paint your nails?” she asked.

  Carmella nodded, placed her books to the side and rushed upstairs with Elsa. It was a rare thing that her older sister allowed Carmella any time in her bedroom. As Carmella passed by Colton’s room, a shiver rushed over her. That happened every single time. She hadn’t opened Colton’s door in many months, but the last time, she had found the room exactly the same as though they’d decided to keep it like a tomb.