AN: I keep trying to decide whether or not to publish this. I told myself that after I write the 2nd chapter I'll publish the 1st. Well, the 2nd isn't done yet but I thought I'd just do it. This fic is based on the book Summer People by Elin Hilderbrand. I got the plot idea from her book, though there are some serious differences overall. I hope you like it. Thanks go to BritishObsessed for her help and encouragement!

Chapter 1: Summer Days

Present Day, Late June, Early Afternoon

As she stepped out of her car onto the sandy driveway, Olivia inhaled the salty aired sea-breeze smell that always sent her back to a summer long ago. A ball of anxious pain settled in her rib cage, below her heart but above her stomach, the place inside where she had always kept the pain of losing her mother. Now, the pain of that loss was joined by the more recent sadness caused by the loss of her husband. Coming back to the beach was quite possibly a mistake. Too many memories.

Olivia popped the trunk to her car and began unloading suitcases. After a moment, she felt the presence of someone by her side and she turned to look into the face that defined her life. The tanned skin only a shade lighter than Olivia's own, the long wavy hair, the dark, wide brown eyes that mirrored hers, now reddened from mourning her father. Emily looked at Olivia with those large eyes and Olivia handed her a duffle bag. Emily's hands were already full as she clutched the urn which held her father's ashes, so she didn't reach for the bag her mother was offering. Olivia sighed and shouldered the bag herself, grabbed the handle of one of the suitcases, and started up the driveway to the house, glancing back to be sure Emily was following.

Olivia fumbled a bit and pulled out the keys to the rental home that she and Emily would be staying in for the summer. Emily was sixteen and Olivia had been fourteen the first summer she and her father had rented a similar house at the same beach. Her father had claimed that they would spend the summer together and learn to cope with her mother's death together, but instead he had secluded himself in the master bedroom with his work and she had learned to care for herself. Olivia promised herself that she wouldn't do to Emily what her father had done, no matter how inviting the master bedroom's emptiness appeared.

"It's kind of stuffy in here, isn't it?" Olivia said to Emily as she dropped the bags in the hallway. "Here, this one is your room," she added, gesturing at the smaller bedroom and then walking inside to open the window.

The room was small but comfortable, furnished in a manner that reminded Olivia of summers past, nostalgia, and home. She hoped Emily would be happy here this summer.

Emily followed her mother into the room, setting the urn down on the dresser. "I'm gonna go check out the beach," she said, her voice slightly hoarse from lack of use.

Olivia watched her daughter for a moment before nodding. "Sure," she said. "I want to unpack a bit and then I'll probably go to grocery shopping. Do you want me to wait for you to go?"

"No," Emily answered, moving past Olivia to the hallway to pick up her duffle bag.

Emily hadn't been eating much since her father died and Olivia realized a trip to the grocery store with her mother wouldn't be a teenager's idea of fun anyway. "Do you want me to come down to the beach with you?" she asked.

"I'd really rather be alone," Emily said. "I'll just see you later, okay Mom?" She held onto the door as if she wanted it closed, so Olivia stepped back into the hallway.

Emily offered a small wave before she closed the door and Olivia closed her eyes briefly before heading back outside for the rest of the bags. By the time she re-entered the house, Emily was at the back door, on her way out to the beach. Watching her go forced Olivia to remember her own escape to the beach and how what she found there led her to the love her own father couldn't provide. How she had gone from resenting her father for bringing her there in the first place to begging him to take her back the summers following. How over those four summers she had grown into herself, fallen in love, let him go, and ruined everything. It had been thirty years since that first summer when Olivia was fourteen, and yet she could still remember it as if it was yesterday.

1984, Late June, Late Morning

All the adults said that Olivia had lost her mother, but Olivia knew that she was the one who was lost. She sat on the beach with the book she was supposed to be reading for her high school English class at the school she didn't want to go to and watched the other kids. She envied them, the ones swimming or surfing in the ocean, the ones playing Frisbee or football, the ones picnicking, and the ones tanning in groups. As far as she could tell, she was the only one that was alone.

She saw him before he approached her although later he said that he noticed her long before she noticed him. He was with a group of boys but he didn't seem to be a part of the group. He was all curly hair and hard muscle and Olivia realized she wasn't looking at a boy, but rather at a man. Aside from his good looks, what made him stand out to Olivia was that he was reading a book. And suddenly, although he was far from where she sat, because she was no longer the only one reading on the beach, she was no longer alone.

Olivia began stealing glances at him while actually finding the will to focus on her book – he was reading, so she was too. She wondered what book he was reading but she couldn't see and she was too shy to move closer to him. As she looked towards him for what might have been the hundredth time, his eyes met hers and he smiled. Olivia pretended she had confidence and shot a smile back in his direction before quickly returning her attention to her book.

When she looked up again he was still looking at her, but he was no longer sitting with his group of friends. He was walking towards her. Olivia's heart jumped in surprise and she reached for her sunglasses, placing them quickly onto her face. Once her face was hidden, she allowed herself to run her eyes over his body, from his large feet, up his strong, muscular legs to his red swim trunks, over his abs and slightly hairy chest, finally settling on his face. He had a square jaw line accented by a crooked grin and his eyes were gorgeously blue. Olivia felt herself blushing as she realized he must have been able to tell that she had been checking him out. He merely continued smirking though, and sat down on her blanket beside her.

Olivia shot him an incredulous look for invading her personal space, but he ignored it and spoke. "What are you reading?" he asked her.

"Required reading," she told him, showing him the title of her book.

"Of Mice and Men," he said, nodding. "That's a good one."

"Freshman English," she said. "How about you?"

He in turn showed her the cover of his book, which he had carried over with him. "Mine's required reading also," he said.

"The Shining by Stephen King?" Olivia asked. "What sort of teacher requires that?"

"Intro to Horror Fiction Writing," he said with a smile. At her confused glance, he explained, "I'm starting Columbia in the fall. It's my elective class for an English major. I'm Fitz," he added.

"You're…starting college?" she said slowly. So he actually was a man, as she had suspected by his looks. "I'm starting high school," she offered, wanting to get that part out of the way in case he wanted to get up and go back to his friends at finding out her age. He didn't move.

"What's your name?" he prompted her.

"Olivia," she answered.

"You live around here?" he asked.

"I'm here for the summer," she said.

"Ah, family vacation?" he said with a smile.

"It's just me and my dad," she answered, looking away for a moment.

"Me too," Fitz said, and Olivia looked back at him questioningly. He gazed out at the ocean, then focused back on her again. "My mom died two years ago," he said. Then he let out a chuckle. "I'm not sure why I'm telling you this. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," Olivia said, suddenly feeling the need to look at him eye to eye. She raised her sunglasses onto the top of her head. "I'm sorry about your mom, and actually, my mom just died two months ago."

Their eyes met and neither felt any need to say anything further. Olivia felt a warmth that began in her lower stomach and spread to release some of the ice that surrounded her heart. That feeling of connection with Fitz was what started their friendship so long ago. It was a feeling that grew over time and eventually became too big for Olivia to handle. At the time though, Fitz broke the eye contact and said, "Do you swim?"

Olivia laughed at this. "Of course," she said, watching as he stood and offered her his hand. She followed his lead, letting him pull her up and brushing sand off of her legs.

"C'mon then!" Fitz said, dropping her hand and starting a jog towards the waves. Olivia followed, smiling to herself and thinking she might just follow this man anywhere.

Olivia's first step into the ocean surprised her. Fitz dove right in and started swimming, while she hopped from one foot to the other trying to get herself used to the water.

"Hurry up, Olivia!" Fitz yelled to her.

Olivia waded deeper, up to her navy blue bikini bottoms, up to her stomach, and finally up to her chest. Fitz was still farther out in the water and she started to swim towards him.

"Race you to the end of the pier!" he shouted, pointing to the nearby rocks that extended out into the ocean. Olivia had always been a strong swimmer and she planned to join the swim team as soon as possible once she got to her new school. She jumped forwards into the waves and swam after Fitz.

When she reached the end of the pier, Olivia turned in a circle looking for Fitz, who seemed to have disappeared. Suddenly, a tug on her leg made her shriek and swallow some salt water as Fitz emerged beside her. Coughing, Olivia suddenly felt like she was the butt of a joke and somewhere back on the beach Fitz's friends were watching and laughing.

Fitz wasn't laughing though, as he reached an arm around Olivia's waist to hold her up as she coughed. "Are you okay?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you!"

Suddenly finding she was having difficulty breathing for an entirely different reason than having swallowed water, Olivia moved away from him. "I'm fine, really," she said. "You know what, I have to go." She started paddling back towards the shore and Fitz followed her this time.

"Wait, I'm sorry!" he said again.

Olivia strode onto the sand and Fitz grabbed her hand, forcing her to turn towards him. "Olivia!" he said. "What happened? Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm okay," Olivia said, his concern for her well-being easing her embarrassment slightly. "Look, I'm just going to go home now," she gestured towards the houses which backed up to the beach.

"Okay," Fitz said. "Can we hang out again?"

Olivia was slightly surprised that he would want to, but she knew she would love to see him again, so she said, "Sure." Then she turned and began walking towards where she had left her things.

"Wait," Fitz called. "I don't know where you live or anything!"

"I'm sure we'll find each other," Olivia said, shooting a grin over her shoulder.

As it turned out, she was right.

Present Day, Late June, Afternoon

Olivia stood still in the produce aisle at the local supermarket, trying to remember if Emily preferred kale or bok choy in her salads. She had already stocked her cart with cheeses and deli meats, breads, cereal, milk, eggs, and a variety of snacks she thought Emily might eat. Now she held the kale in her left hand and the bok choy in her right and was considering trying to reach Emily on her cell phone when a movement on her kale side caught her attention. Olivia jumped a little and then inwardly reprimanded herself for being surprised. Of course Fitz would be here, she had known she would run into him and she had known it would be awkward. She just hadn't realized it would happen on her first day in town.

Fitz, looking even more handsome than Olivia recalled, only looked slightly surprised to see her. "Hi, Liv," he greeted her with his signature crooked smirk.

Olivia just looked at him for a moment, feeling the familiar warmth that his presence usually caused, and immediately afterwards feeling the guilt that came with the memories of their shared past. "Hi," she responded finally, turning back to the produce shelves and replacing the kale where it belonged.

"How are you?" he asked, his hand reaching towards hers and then withdrawing before he made contact. "I heard about your husband, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks," Olivia answered, avoiding eye contact, not wanting his pity. She raised her free hand to cover her eyes. "I can't really talk about it," she murmured.

"I understand," Fitz said. He reached towards her again, and this time his hand closed around her wrist where it remained covering her eyes. He gently moved her hand away from her face and suddenly Olivia realized that she likely looked like crap. She hadn't even looked in a mirror after she had spent the whole morning in her car. Her clothes were probably wrinkled and her hair was definitely a mess.

She forced herself to smile even though she thought she might start to cry.

"You here all summer?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, allowing herself to look at him. "How about you?"

"I am," he answered. "We are."

Olivia nodded at this, her mind involuntarily flickering to the image of Fitz's wife, Mellie. Olivia had met her briefly a few summers back and had found her to be beautiful but pretentious – not the type of woman she would have imagined Fitz would marry. The night they had met had turned disastrous, though that had not been Mellie's fault. Before she could stop herself, Olivia said, "Why don't you all come over for dinner on Friday?" She felt herself blushing slightly and added, "I'd love for Emily to meet your kids."

"I don't know, Liv," Fitz said slowly.

"Are you busy?" she asked, suddenly worried that he didn't find the idea of eating dinner with her appealing.

"No, I just…" he paused, then smiled. "That sounds nice," he said. "Are you making bok choy?" He gestured at the greens that Olivia still held in her hand.

She smiled and shook her head, finally adding the bok choy to her cart. "How about steak?" she said, and when he agreed she gave him the address of her rental house. When they said goodbye, Olivia actually felt slightly less anxious than she had earlier that morning. At least she had gotten the initial awkward run-in with Fitz out of the way, she thought. Of course, now she had a dinner to plan and the promise of an even more awkward evening with him and his family.

Olivia finished out her shopping trip by choosing potatoes, asparagus, and lettuce in the produce section and then buying the steaks that she would grill on Friday evening. As she did so, she told herself how this dinner would be a casual event. She would wear jeans and flip flops. The kids could hang out together. Dinner with old friends was truly no big deal. At least that was what Olivia tried to tell herself.

Present Day, Late June, Late Afternoon

When Olivia arrived back at home with the groceries, Emily was sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for her. Emily could tell that something had happened at the supermarket by the way her mother looked – she actually looked happy and Emily hadn't seen her mother looking happy for quite some time.

"What happened?" she asked, but Olivia didn't answer, just began unloading her grocery bags. "Mom!" Emily said and Olivia looked at her.

"Hmm?" she said in a strangely high pitched voice. "Oh hey, Em, can you help me put this stuff away?"

Emily stood and opened one of the bags. "What are all the steaks for?" she asked her mother.

"Oh!" Olivia said, focusing on Emily as if suddenly realizing her daughter was asking her something. "I ran into an old friend at the store. I invited him and his family over for dinner on Friday."

Emily wrinkled her nose. An old friend? Him? "Who?" she asked her mom.

"What?" Olivia replied, moving to put away the breads she had purchased.

"I said, who did you invite over?" Emily said.

"An old friend of mine, Fitz Grant. And his wife, and his two kids. They're your age, the boy is 17 and the girl is 15, isn't that perfect?"

"Mom," Emily said.

"Yes?"

"I thought this summer was supposed to be about you and me healing together from Dad's death. Not about some strangers and me having to act all cool in front of some other kids I don't want to meet."

"Em, Fitz isn't a stranger. I've known him since I was fourteen years old. He was my best friend when I was your age."

"Oh, so he's an old boyfriend, not an old friend then?" Emily challenged.

"He's an old friend," Olivia said again. "From when I was your age. And he's bringing his wife and his kids."

"Dad's only been dead for three months," Emily pointed out, returning to her chair at the table.

Emily and Olivia had discussed multiple times the fact that people grieve differently. After her father's funeral, Emily had isolated herself from her friends and concentrated solely on finishing her sophomore year of high school. Her mother had also isolated herself, discussing her feelings about her husband's death only sparingly. She preferred to lose herself in her large glasses of red wine and then cry herself to sleep at night. Emily knew her parents hadn't had a perfect marriage. She knew that in some ways her mother was probably relieved that her husband had been removed from her life so simply and quickly – in a car accident in which he had died at the scene. However, she also knew her mom missed her dad and that she was lonely. Which was why she was so excited to see this old boyfriend of hers. Add this to mom's stages of grief – first, drink. Second, dinner with old boyfriend.

Olivia sat beside her daughter at the table. "I know you miss him, Honey," she said. "I know this is difficult. And I promise you and I are going to spend a lot of time doing things together while we're here. We'll scatter Daddy's ashes somewhere nice, together."

"Daddy hated the beach," Emily grumbled, remembering the one time the family had come to the beach together. Her father had complained almost the whole time.

Olivia sighed. "I know. The truth is I invited Fitz without really thinking about it. But I don't want to cancel now. So can we just try to be friendly hosts when they come over?"

Olivia looked so hopeful in that moment that Emily couldn't help but nod. "Okay," she said.

"Thank you, Honey. I so appreciate it." Olivia got up and returned to her grocery bags. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

Emily hadn't been truly hungry in months. She ate, but only a little at a time. Just enough so she wouldn't starve. She and Olivia had eaten on their way to the rental house and now Emily wanted to unpack and rest in her room.

It was later that night – much later, after Emily had arranged her room, eaten a sandwich, sat outside on the back porch and read a book, and finally fallen asleep in her bed, which was surprisingly comfortable – when Emily startled awake. At first, she wasn't sure what had woken her and she walked out of her room and stood in the hallway, listening. When she placed the muffled sounds she was hearing as the quiet sobs of her mother, she went to her. And as if she was the mother awoken by the sounds of her child crying, Emily drew back her mother's covers and climbed into the king sized bed beside her.

"I'm sorry, I'm okay, you can go back to bed," Olivia said, but Emily shushed her, stroked her arm, and lay beside her in the place her father should have been if he was still there with them now.