Another Summer Read Online Free PDF

deprived to work it out.
    The sloping ceiling in the bedroom was suddenly claustrophobic.  Faded cabbage roses had felt safe and familiar when she’d first arrived but now she needed to get out into the fresh morning air.  She dragged herself downstairs and made coffee, drinking it on the sunny back step, the stone flags still cool and damp under her feet.
    It was sad to see the garden so neglected.  The grass was almost knee-high and the borders were overrun with weeds.  But the quiet was soothing.  No traffic, just chirping birds and the inviting swish of the sea at the bottom of the cliff.
    She’d always loved swimming in the sea and she found she couldn’t resist it.  The water was cold and she was a bit wary at first.  But after a few moments when there was barely a twinge from her scar, she set off across the bay, long strokes starting to clear the muddle in her head.
    When she’d tired herself out, she floated for a while on her back, gazing up at the scudding white clouds and let the ripple of memories wash over her.

***
    As soon as she met him, that first summer when she’d been barely sixteen, Evie had known he was trouble but didn’t know enough to keep out of his way.
    It had felt odd, being at Granny Barbara’s on her own.  She felt restless and irritable, as if she didn’t quite fit in her skin.  She’d watched her father drive off, knowing she couldn’t go home for six whole weeks, and she’d felt trapped.
    Even the traditional first swim of the summer hadn’t been right, a bit pointless somehow without Vanessa to race against.  When she finally gave up and got out of the water, a boy was watching her, tossing sticks for an ancient collie as he sat cross-legged on a rock.
    She hesitated, heart thudding.  She was clueless around boys, even the spotty crowd she knew from school.  But she was freezing and he was sitting on her towel.  She knew she had to say something.
    “Isn’t that Bonnie, the Drydens’ dog?”
    He nodded.  “I’m crashing with Steve for a bit, we’re flatmates at uni.  I’m Joe Marsh.  Which sister might you be?  Steve said the oldest one was a babe.”
    Her whole life, she’d been known as the pretty one’s little sister.  Nobody ever noticed how much it upset her.
    “Vanessa’s working in Edinburgh now.  I’m here on my own this summer.  I’m Evie.”
    “Well, Evie, if it gets any better than you, your sister must be really something.”
    Not sure what he meant, she stood there feeling flustered, crossing her arms as his eyes raked over her old navy swimsuit.  Too small now, it rode up between the cheeks of her bum but she knew if she tried to tug it down, her boobs would spill over the top.  
    “Could I have my towel please?”
    He leaned back on his hands, one knee raised on the rock, his bare foot sprinkling her towel with sand.  His jeans were washed-out, a bit frayed.  His black hair curled on the collar of his sweatshirt and his dark eyes were twinkling at her, challenging her to grab the towel if she wanted it.
    She didn’t know what to do.  It was only an old hand towel and it wouldn’t take long to run back up to the cottage and get dried there.  But she didn’t want to be a wimp and rush away.
    Eventually, half smiling, he shook it out and tossed it to her.  She snatched at it, desperate to hide her blushing face, wishing he’d turn round so she could get dried properly but it wasn’t even big enough to wrap around.
    “So, what’s with swimming at the crack of dawn?”
    “Hardly!” she scoffed.  “This is much later than usual because I just got here last night.”
    “Lucky for me I didn’t miss you.  You’re from Newcastle, I think Steve said?  You come for a few weeks  every year?”
    She nodded.  “My parents have gone on a cruise, so I’ll be here a bit longer this summer.”
    She wondered what else Steve had told him.  Probably not much about her.  Last summer Steve had got off with Vanessa and when