Summer of Seventeen (35 page)

So I stare down and the memories rush back. Good, good times. Bad times. Worse times. And I remember.

“Are you ready?” Yansi asks.

My car is parked at the front of the cemetery, packed, ready for us to go, new lives, college students, on the other side of the country. It’ll be some road trip to Southern California. But I had to be near the ocean. And I owe it to Sean not to be small-town either.

I look up and smile at her. I smile.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

Because summer is over and it’s time to go.

And you’ve got to grow up some time. Right?

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

John Masefield (1878-1967)

To Kirsten Olsen, editor, Beta reader, de-Britisher, friend, partner-in-(imagined)-crime, whose patience in talking me down from the ledge knows no bounds.

To Nate Tria, my 16-year-old Beta reader. Does your mom know you read this?!

To Trina Marie for being the smile in our team, the gal who knows all the hot gossip, and hotter male models, the go-to gal for just about everything.

To Aime MetznerG for all things Panamanian and for helping me with the colloquial Spanish.

To Ena Burnette for her support and marketing expertise.

To Sheena Lumsden, for being a PA without pay, friend and staunch support through thick and thin.

To Hang Le for her stunning cover work and never-ending creativity. And she’s just so lovely.

Audrey Thunder, Dorota Wrobel, Dina Eidinger, Bella Bookaholic (Mary Rose Bergundo), Lelyana Taufik for research photos and never-failing support.

For photos of hot cowboys and for legal advice, Tonya Bass Allen.

For lovely messages that make me smile, Ana Kristina Rabacca, Marie Mason, Clare Norton, Abril Lerma and Dano, Jenny Angell, Celia Ottway, Lisa Ashmore, Lisa Matheson Sylva, Gitte Doherty and Jenny Aspinall.

To Steve and Rosie, lovely owners of the real Sandbar.

To beautiful Emma who works at the Sandbar, and really does have a rose tattoo.

A. Meredith Walters, Roger Hurn, Monica Robinson, Devon Hartford, Gillian Griffin, Sawyer Bennett, Kirsty Moseley, LH Cosworth, Kirsty-Ann Still, Bethan Cooper, Penny Reid, Karina Halle and the wonderful Ker Dukey, friends who share the writer’s lonely path!

The Stalking Angels: Sheena, Aud, Dina, Bella, Shirley Wilkinson, Cori Pitts, Dorota Wróbel, Barbara Murray, Emma Darch-Harris, Sophie Callahan, Kandace Milostan, Kelsey Burns, Lelyana Taufik, MJ Fryer, Hang (MJ), Gwen Jacobs, Kirsten Papi, Trina, Sarah Bookhooked, Sasha Cameron, Rosarita Reader, Jacqueline Showdog, Remy Grey, Ashley Snaith, Kandace Lovesbooks, Jo Webb, Ky-Bree Loves-Books, Jen Berg, Carol Sales, Meagan Burgad, Andrea Lopez, Paola Cortes, Kelly O’Connor, Gabri Canova, Whairigail Adam, Julie Redpath, Jade Donaldson, Sharon Mills.

For their support and encouragement, I’d also like to thank…

The Book Bloggers

Kelsey’s Korner Blog

Totally Booked

Natasha is a Book Junkie

Aestas Book Blog

Maryse Book Bloog

Angie, The Smut Club

Smitten’s Book Blog

Hopeless Romantics

No BS Book Review

Books, Boys, & Badass Bloggettes

The Southern Book Belles

Emily and the Girls, The Sub Club Books

Kelly’s Kindle Confessions

Perusing Princesses

Books and Beyond Fifty Shades

Lit Slave

The Red Red Red Devotees—who were there from the start.