Summer Breeze Read Online Free PDF Page A

ever employed at her salon. He  kept the place spic-and-span, and he was polite to the patrons too.
    “Caught anything?” Steve Hansen asked.
    “Nothing but this pretty gal here,” Pete answered, sticking a thumb in Patsy’s direction. “We’re just warming up our rods. You going out in your boat?”
    “Yeah, we thought we’d look for a quieter cove. Brenda wants to try to teach Cody how to swim.”
    “I don’t want to swim,” Cody said. “My daddy always told me that swimming is for fish, and I am not a fish.”
    “You’ll be fine,” Brenda assured him. “I taught my three kids, and they love it. Once you learn how, you’ll enjoy swimming. It’s fun.”
    “Okay.” Cody gave the word a backwoods Missouri twang— oh-kye . “Patsy and Pete have minnows in their bucket. You can eat them if you’re real hungry, Patsy, but I wouldn’t if I was you. They don’t taste too good.”
    “Thanks for the warning, Cody.” Patsy smiled at him. “You sure are looking dandy today. I believe we’ve finally got your hair just the right length.”
    The young man blushed and clapped his hand on his head. “You  always cut my hair good, Patsy Pringle. Especially the first time.”
    “We’ll never forget that big event; will we, Brenda?” Patsy murmured, grinning at Steve’s lovely wife. After a difficult adjustment to the empty nest, Brenda and Steve Hansen seemed to be back on track. In fact, today they looked as chipper as a pair of lovebirds perched side by side in the summer sunlight.
    “Cody came out from under all that hair and surprised every one of us ladies,” Brenda said.
    “And you came out from that rocking chair you were always sitting in too.” Cody nodded at Brenda. “You did, huh? You were sad all the time, and you didn’t want to talk to me. But now you’re happy.”
    “That’s right, Cody. I’m feeling lots better.” Brenda smiled at Pete and Patsy. “I wanted to tell you we found a roofer whose bid was reasonable. He’ll be starting work in a couple of weeks.”
    “That reminds me,” Pete said. “Thanks for patching the leak over my cash register, Steve. I’ll be glad when they put a new roof on the whole shebang. I mailed my rent check on Friday, by the way. You ought to have it by Tuesday.”
    “Mine, too,” Patsy echoed.
    Steve and Brenda had recently purchased the strip of attached shops in the nearby town of Tranquility. Now they were busy tending to the many repairs neglected by the former owner.
    “And did you hear our good news?” Brenda asked, leaning one shoulder against the dock’s iron post. “We found a renter for the empty store.”
    “Who?” Pete and Patsy asked at the same time.
    “Her name is Bitty Sondheim,” Steve said. “She’s new to the area, and she’ll be opening a little restaurant called the Pop-In. Just breakfast and lunch.”
    “There goes my hot dog business,” Pete lamented.
    “Uh-oh.” Cody shook his head.
    Everyone knew that Pete’s hot dogs were among Cody’s favorite foods. Patsy could see that the young man was crestfallen, and to tell the truth, she didn’t feel so good about the information herself.
    “I doubt you’re going to lose much traffic to the new place,” Brenda told Pete. “It’ll have a different kind of food than yours. The owner wants to serve mostly omelets and sandwiches.”
    “Sounds too much like my tearoom,” Patsy said. “I’m happy you didn’t rent the space to that man who wanted to open an adult video store, but I don’t know what I’ll do if people stop coming by for tea. It’s helped so much financially, and I’ve got those local ladies baking for me. They count on that extra income. I really can’t afford the competition.”
    “Don’t worry,” Steve said. “This new place is missing the one thing you’ve got, Patsy: chairs. Tables, too, in fact. There’s just a kitchen, a front counter for ordering, and a little bit of standing room. People won’t be able to sit around and