A Summer to Remember

living together?” Cheryl asked after the waitress took our orders and collected our menus.
    “I thought they would, but when we told them, they were a lot more understanding than I thought they would be.” Adrian grabbed my hand and I smiled at him. Craig wasn’t paying much attention to our conversation. He was busy drinking his beer and watching the baseball game on the big screen behind us.
    “Are you close with your family?” she asked.
    “Yes.” I nodded and took a drink of my soda. “Very close, actually.”
    “How do they feel about you moving to Florida?” I looked at Adrian, trying to figure out the best way to answer this question.
    “Actually, she’s not going to Florida. She’s staying here since she’s already enrolled at Brant.” I was relieved Adrian answered for me.
    “Really?” Cheryl sounded surprised.
    “Just for the semester!” I blurted out. Adrian looked over at me with a confused look on his face. “I mean, I’m just enrolled at Brant for the semester, and we’ll see where things go from there.” I couldn’t believe I just said that out loud. I wasn’t really thinking of going to Florida, or I didn’t think I was. It crossed my mind, but I didn’t want to say anything or make any decisions until the semester was over.
    “Good for you guys. Long distance relationships can be hard, but if you really want to, you’ll find a way to make it work.” The waitress brought our salads and sat them down in front of us.
    The rest of dinner went pretty smoothly, and by the end of the night we were all cracking jokes and having a good time. On the way home, we listened to Cheryl tell us about the latest news on Adrian’s siblings. I found it interesting that Adrian didn’t spend much time with his family. His parents seemed great, and the way his mom talked about his family, it made it seem like they were all really close. They seemed like the type of family that would get together for family vacations and holidays. I felt like I must be missing something. When we pulled into the driveway, we said our goodnights and headed our separate ways.
    “Well, that seemed like it went well,” I told Adrian when we walked in the door.
    “Yes, it did. I’m pretty sure they loved you, just like I said they would.” He picked me up and sat me on the kitchen counter. I slipped off my heels and tossed them on the floor.
    “Why don’t you guys spend more time together?” I asked.
    “Well,” he sighed, “it’s kind of a long story. So to make a long story short, we don’t all get along. For as long as I can remember, we’ve never been able to get together for a dinner, holiday, or cookout, without a blowout argument. Someone is always fighting with someone, so then so and so wouldn’t come because so and so was going to be there. Over the years, family gatherings turned into nothing because no one wanted to pick sides or get involved in more arguments. So it’s just better we do our own things.” I could tell it made him a little irritated that they couldn’t put their drama aside even for one day.
    “I’m sorry to hear that.”
    “Yeah, me too. Maybe someday everyone will learn to grow up, but until then, I’m fine spending dinners, holidays, and cookouts with you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips.
    “Me too.” Before I knew it, he had me off the counter, wrapped around his waist, and heading for the bedroom.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER 25

    T he workweek may have come too soon, but luckily it passed quickly. I was really excited when Friday night finally rolled around because the local fair was in town. It wasn’t anything special, but it was always nice to have something new to do.
    Adrian showered up after work and we made our way down to the fairgrounds. The smell of the fried food and the lights from the rides always made me happy because it brought back so many good memories from high school. When we were freshmen and sophomores, Lily and I used to come down here every night. Back then it was the place to be.
    Now that we were older, we didn’t go for the rides anymore, but for the beer tent and the concerts. The social scene was still pretty much the same though; you were guaranteed to run into a hundred people you knew, especially on the weekends. The concert tonight wasn’t anyone we wanted to see, so we decided to head for the beer tent. It was a short walk from the entrance to the tent, but we still had to walk through a