Free A Girl Named Summer by Julie Garwood Page B

“That’s my girl. I knew you had your grandmother’s spunk in you. It was just hidden under a few layers.”
    “Guess I better get started. Only problem is, I don’t know where to begin. I need new running shoes.”
    “You need a training program and a trainer. And you’re in luck, little girl. You’ve got the best. Me!”
    Humility was never one of Grandpa’s strong points. Summer didn’t quite hide her smile. “Then you really will help me?”
    “Don’t need to ask that. Of course I’ll help you. We start tomorrow.” Her grandfather rubbed his hands together and continued. “This afternoon we’ll get youthose shoes. I’ll need a few things myself. We’ll stop at the sporting goods store at the mall. Go and get your brother ready. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
    Summer had to admit that she hadn’t seen her grandfather so excited about a project in a long time. He grinned in gleeful anticipation. He was already getting into the role of a trainer, she thought.
    They had just walked into the house after their shopping jaunt when the phone rang. It was David.
    “Just wondered what you were up to,” he said in that husky voice that made Summer’s stomach flip over.
    “Helping with dinner,” Summer answered. “What are you doing?”
    “Nothing,” David said. “I just got home and no one’s here. They left a note about some cold chicken.”
    “We’re having meatloaf. Not mine. Mom made it.” Summer giggled. “My last meatloaf broke the garbage disposal.”
    “Sure sounds better than cold chicken. I hate cold chicken.” She took the hint and asked David to hold on for a minute. She ran to find her mother in the kitchen and asked her if David could join them for dinner.
    “David, would you like to have dinner with us?” Summer asked breathlessly when she returned to the phone.
    “Is it okay?”
    “Of course. We would love to have you.”
    “Great,” David answered.
    “See you in about an hour.”
    She didn’t wait for his answer. Time was crucial. She had less than sixty minutes to get ready.
    Grandpa’s leprechauns were on Summer’s side. Dinner was calm and orderly. In short, everyone behaved. David helped clear the table and then took Grandpa up on his offer to tour the basement.
    Summer was amazed that she wasn’t the least bit nervous about leaving David with her grandfather—and hadn’t been, not since he had witnessed the runaway vacuum cleaner. Instinct told her that David understood and really cared about the elderly gentleman. It was a nice feeling, not being worried all the time.
    After she finished the dishes, she joined Michael on the bottom basement step and watched while her grandfather showed David a few of his inventions. David seemed mesmerized by the vacuum cleaner, and before long the two were busy taking the unit apart. David had entered Grandpa’s world, and it wasn’t long before Summer realized he had forgotten she was even there. Jealousy reared its nasty head for a moment, but then she reminded herself that he was in
her
basement and that he was apparently having a good time.
    She dragged a sleepy Michael off to bed, getting through his bath in record time with the promise that she would read some of
The Jogging Manual
, which her grandfather had purchased today. It would be his bedtime story.
    Michael was asleep within five minutes. The first chapter of the book could have put anyone to sleep, she decided. She went back to the basement steps, book in hand, and started reading again. Chapter five captured her attention, and she began reading in earnest. It was devoted to the marathon runner and kept mentioning the wall that each and every runner encountered at some point. It was an invisible wall, and the description of the body’s reaction was vivid and depressing. Yet, every runner that was quoted promised that once you got past the wall, a fresh spurt of energy mysteriously manufactured itself inside the body. It was all totally foreign to Summer,