Previously in the Summer Secrets universe… In the first story, the girls plot to get the boys into romantic situations, while the boys plot to avoid them. Meanwhile, each group sets up a clubhouse and Trixie tries to solve a mystery of Jim’s behaviour. In the second story, the boys are employed by Mr. Wheeler on a project of his, building The Pavilion, on the far side of the lake, Brian keeps his plan to go to Africa a secret and Di and Mart break up. Before the third story starts, Brian breaks up with Honey, Di gets together with Dan and Honey starts dating Mart.

In the third story, a mystery package arrives for Trixie directly after her high school graduation. The mystery that ensues leads the Bob-Whites to Kentucky where Jim and Trixie lose their heads in the face of the curse and elope. They later disprove the curse and decide to keep their marriage a secret. The fourth story deals with Honey’s attempts to find out a romantic secret that Mart is keeping from her and Jim’s efforts to deal with a blackmailer. During the fifth story, Trixie inherits a house, Mart and Honey get married and Dan and Di break up. Between the fifth and sixth stories, Honey and Mart discovered that getting pregnant was not so hard after all and Di begins a relationship with Eric Johnson, whom she originally met at Mead’s Mountain.

In the sixth story, Brian suffers a set-back when he is in a car accident shortly after having surgery, Lucius Englefield’s legacy provides a mystery that Trixie cannot solve, the blackmailer’s actions help push Jim and Trixie’s relationship to breaking point and Honey and Mart’s baby son is born. The seventh story sees Diana and Eric move to Montreal, the summerhouse at Ten Acres destroyed by a falling tree, Brian’s decision to abandon his studies, rebuilding beginning at Ten Acres, Dan and Di enlisting Indira’s help with getting Brian back on track and a scheme to put a stop to the blackmailer. Which brings us to the present… Another year has passed and Trixie is now twenty-three years old.

Part One

She Said

As she walked through her workplace, passing colleagues who had been indifferent to her and those who had irritated her, Trixie felt little regret for what she was about to do. It was true that some people had been kind to her, but they were in the minority and most of them had lost their jobs in the recent restructure. She entered her new supervisor’s office when bidden and handed over the envelope she held.

“How can I help you… uh, Trish, isn’t it?” the man asked.

She suppressed the irritation she felt. “It’s Trixie, actually. I’ve come to give my two weeks’ notice. I had a career path in mind when I started here and, well, the way things are now, this company isn’t going in the direction I want to take.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Trish,” he answered, distractedly. “Are you sure you can’t stay? Jobs are hard to come by, you know. I don’t think you’ll be able to just step into something else.”

“I know a place that will employ me; a couple of places, actually.” She edged backwards, anxious for the interview to be over. “But thank you for your concern.”

He waved her away and Trixie fled the office, returning to her workstation and the tasks that she still had to complete. Truth be told, she was not sure where she was going to go, or how she was going to support herself. She had always intended to make her own way in the world, rather than to work for people that she knew, who would employ her because they cared for her and not because of her talents. The other option was for her to move to Kentucky and take up a position in the foundation that she had established there, using the inheritance she received from Lucius Englefield.

While her fingers sorted through the papers, part of her mind strayed to that idea again and again. It would be hard, she felt sure, to be away from her family and friends for much of the year. On the other hand, a part of her wanted the isolation. Her life was not turning out the way that she had envisaged. Perhaps a clean break was what she needed.

She turned the idea over and over in her mind. Instead of renewing her lease, she could let it lapse. She could contact the foundation and see if any paid positions were open. She could move into the house that she owned, right next door. She could leave the hurts and the disappointments behind and make a fresh start.

But Corbin, Kentucky, held a number of bitter memories, including some linked to the property which housed the foundation. It was the place that had caused a lot of things to go wrong. Lucius Englefield was someone that she disliked remembering, so would it be hard to live in his house?

Her hands stilled and she stared at one of the papers, without seeing it. I am stronger than this, she told herself. I don’t need to live my life cowering in fear. He’s dead and gone and I’m still alive.

The decision was made. All she had to do now was to put the plan into action.

He Said

Brian stood contemplating the menu in the cafe he had chosen for his lunch. The thing that he wanted most of all was a cup of coffee – and he knew this place was good for that. He had never eaten there before, however, and was unsure of what to choose.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

The familiar voice interrupted his musings and he looked across to see Indira. She did not look surprised in the least; he, on the other hand, could not have imagined a more unlikely person to just run into in such a place as this.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, smiling.

She lifted one shoulder a fraction. “Oh, just passing through.” At his sceptical expression, she admitted, “Okay, so I was looking for you. I wanted to see how you are.”

“I’m fine,” he answered. “More than fine, in fact.”

“Good.” She cut off what he was about to say. “Order your food and we can talk.”

“Can I get you something?” he asked her.

She thought for a moment. “Orange and almond cake. With cream.”

“And a drink?”

She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ll get us a table. You order.”

Brian smiled his agreement and did as he was told. He joined her at a table a short time later and they chatted of inconsequential things while they waited. After the food had arrived, though, Brian sensed a change.

Indira was looking at him with appraisal in her expression. She must have liked what she saw, for a moment later she nodded and began to speak.

“Actually, I’m glad we’re here together now. I have a favour I’ve been wanting to ask of you.” She licked the cream off her spoon and set it down. “It’s something rather personal – and I know how private you like to be. I won’t be offended if you say no. You wouldn’t be under any obligations, if you agreed. It would just be the sharing of something between friends, okay?”

Brian eyed her for a moment over the rim of his coffee cup. “What is it that you want to ask?”

She smiled. “Your prudish side isn’t going to like this.”

“I don’t have a prudish side,” he answered, mildly offended. “Whatever it is you want to ask me, spit it out.”

Indira nodded once. “Okay, then. I’m looking for a sperm donor and I want to do it in a private arrangement, not through a clinic.”

He stared at her for a moment. “I suppose you must have a reason for this.”

“Maybe I just woke up this morning and thought, what I really need in my life is some morning sickness.” She rolled her eyes. “My mother – lovely woman that she is – in an argument a couple of weeks ago, told me that there’s a strong family history of early menopause, and that put certain symptoms I’ve experienced lately into rather a different light. I’ve consulted a specialist about it and I’m running out of time. If I’m ever going to have a child of my own, I don’t have time to wait for Mr. Right – if I even believed such a person could exist – and I know too much about communicable and inherited diseases to leave something so important to a Mr. Right Now even if I could find one who wouldn’t freak out about that kind of thing.”

“And so you’re asking me?”

She smiled again. “See, I knew that your prudish side would get in the way. Yes, I think you’re a good candidate – you’re good looking, intelligent, kind and compassionate. I know you well enough to know that I can trust you to tell me the truth. You come from a big family, so it’s likely that you’re fertile.”

“I’ve never attempted to ascertain whether or not I am,” he pointed out. “And I wasn’t thinking of doing so in the short-term.”

“Yes, I’d guessed as much.” She patted his hand, setting the many charms on one of her bracelets tinkling. “Think about it for a little while, okay? I’ve got about two weeks until I’m due to ovulate. I want to get started as soon as I can, though, so if you decide against it, please tell me so I can try to find someone else.”

He nodded, then a thought occurred to him. “And what method are you thinking of using to achieve this conception?”

A slow smile crossed her face. “Whatever method you choose.” His face must have shown some of the surprise he felt, as she laughed. “See, you do have a prudish side. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Brian. I’m sure I can figure something else out; I just need a contribution from you.”

“A contribution,” he repeated. He shook his head. “Are you really sure you want to do this? What about your studies? Your career?”

She took one of his hands between her own. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I am not you. I have an identity outside of my career aspirations; I always did. I will be disappointed if I don’t ever go back and finish, but it won’t break me. This… this is my only chance. If I don’t take it, then I won’t get another. You understand, don’t you?”

He looked away. “My brother’s wife was terribly afraid of having fertility problems. It turned out that she had nothing to worry about. What if it’s the same for you?”

“Nothing lost. I go back and finish later.” She dipped the spoon into the mound of cream on her plate and slowly licked it off again. “And remember, I’m older than you. I’ll be thirty-two in another five months. That’s not quite the same thing, is it?”

He shook his head. “No, I suppose it isn’t.” He glanced down at her clothes. “Are you really thirty-one? I wouldn’t have thought so.”

She smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Indira, I could say that you were the strangest person I’ve ever met and you’d take that as a compliment.”

Her smile widened to a grin. “Yes, I would.”

She Said

At the end of a long day, Diana entered her apartment, went straight to the bedroom and dropped her handbag onto the bed. She stepped out of her high-heeled shoes, placed them carefully in the clear shoebox she had taken them from that morning and put the box back into the stack. Her jewellery went back into its box, each piece in its appointed place. Next, she changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of deep blue leggings and a soft, baggy T-shirt in a coordinating shade of mid-blue.

As she passed by the mirror, she paused to consider the latest subtle alterations to her hairstyle and whether they were working. After a moment, she walked on. She stopped by the small kitchen to get the tub of leftovers waiting for her in the refrigerator and set them reheating. Then she stood by the shelf of DVDs, looking for something to watch. Her finger ran across the messy row. Some of the cases stood upright, while others were stacked horizontally. A few were upside down. At length she found a romantic comedy movie and after checking that the right disc was inside, she set it by the player for later.

The microwave beeped. Di went back to the kitchen and found that her food was hot. She poured a glass of red wine and added some pre-prepared salad to her plate, but left it undressed. She carried plate, glass, knife and fork to the sofa, setting them down on the coffee table while she made herself comfortable.

She took a sip of the wine and opened her laptop. As she waited for it to start up and connect to the wireless network, she took a mouthful of the rich beef casserole she had made the night before. The recipe was new, but sure to become one of her stand-bys, since it was not too difficult and reheated nicely for the next night. This was especially important for nights like this one, where she arrived home tired and would spend the evening alone.

She opened her email program and scanned through the headers. Most she deleted without reading, leaving only a handful in the inbox. The first she opened was from her long-term boyfriend Eric, who had written a short love note in a quiet moment at work that evening. He would be working even later than she had this evening and they had chosen not to try to meet up. Between mouthfuls, she composed a suitable reply.

Next, she read a couple of emails from her mother, who was excited by the prospect of all her children being in the same place at the same time sometime soon. Di answered the longer of the two, but addressed what both had said.

The last email she read as she finished her meal. A smile played on her lips as she saw what Honey had written to her:

Hey Di,

I’ve just got to tell you what happened today or I’m going to burst. And the worst thing is that I can’t really tell anyone else, not really even Mart because he wouldn’t appreciate it, and I wish so much that I could call and tell you, and not just email this, only you’re at work now, and when you get home I’ll be busy and when I’m not busy I just fall asleep, which feels so unfair, but Mart’s mother says is perfectly normal for the mother of a toddler and that it will get better as he gets older.

Anyway. This morning I was at the supermarket and, while I was trying to decide which kind of cereal to buy, I heard someone coming up behind me, talking to someone else, but the thing that caught my attention was that she was talking about Dan. And I really mean our Dan, even though I thought at first that it was just a coincidence and she meant someone else with the same name, especially since it’s kind of common, not like if she’d been talking about Trixie, which I would immediately assume was the same person.

So, it seems that the one girl had gone on a date with Dan and the other girl was curious about how the date went, only it seems that the first girl hadn’t really had a good time on the date and she was saying that Dan’s reputation, whatever it may be, wasn’t deserved. Do you know anything about this girl, by the way? I didn’t even know he was going on any dates, though I kind of assumed that he might.

Oh, and at this point in the conversation I was assuming that it was just some other Dan. But then she said something I didn’t quite catch about Bob-Whites! And then the other girl, I mean the one who hadn’t been on the date, said that it was no good trying to get one of the male BWGs because they were too uptight and never had any fun, not even Dan, who looks like he might. Only, the way she said it made me think that she might be talking from experience. Who do you think she was talking about? I took a look at the two of them and I don’t think I’d even seen them before. So, which Bob-White male did she try to date? And why don’t we know about it already? Let me know what you think, because I’m dying of curiosity!

Can you believe it took me three hours to write this? I feel like I’ve been running all day and I haven’t achieved anything.

Love,

Honey

Di tapped her bottom lip with one finger, then typed a quick reply.

Hi Honey,

I haven’t heard of any new love interests for Dan lately, but I’ll see what I can find out. And I don’t know of any unknown ex-girlfriends, but I’ll check out that angle, too. Maybe the other girl had been out with Dan, too. The alternatives are a bit too strange. I’m sure that it wasn’t Mart and, well, let’s face it: Jim just isn’t interested in anyone but Trixie, no matter how horrible she is to him. Brian? Not really likely, either. He doesn’t live near enough.

Love and hugs to you and Mart and Joshie!

Di

She collected her used plate and cutlery and returned them to the kitchen. Pouring herself another glass of wine, she settled down with her DVD for a quiet end to the evening. It would not matter if she did not reach the end of the movie, as she had seen it several times before. She let the questions leave her mind, to be dealt with another day.

He Said

Jim pulled into the garage of the new house at Ten Acres and hopped out. The door behind him closed automatically as he locked the car and crossed to the door into his house. He hesitated a moment, checking that he had everything, before letting himself in.

The transition to living in Sleepyside had gone much smoother than he had anticipated. His old school was sorry to lose him, but a job opportunity had come up in his home town and he had jumped at the chance. Although the new job would not start until the end of the summer, he was already feeling positive about this move.

The answering machine showed two new messages and he listened to them while doing a few odd jobs. The first was from his sister.

“Oh. I thought you might be there, only it seems like you aren’t, so I think I might just call back later, because it wasn’t anything important, only I wanted someone to talk to, but if you’re not there, it doesn’t matter and I’ll talk to you another time. Bye!”

Jim smiled and resolved to call her as soon as he’d made some coffee. The other message was from Dan.

“How’s it going? I was thinking we should get together sometime soon. Give me a call when you have a minute and we’ll make plans.”

He looked at his watch and made a mental note to do that later, when Dan was less likely to be working. The fact that Dan had left a message at all bothered him a little. Dan was not one to call on a whim. The pessimistic voice that sometimes spoke inside his head suggested that something was about to go terribly, horribly wrong. Jim’s rational side suppressed it at once. The troubles he had experienced at the hands of the blackmailer had been resolved and the man was safely in jail. While his troubles with Trixie were not resolved, they had reached a state of stability. Other than that, there was nothing else on the horizon. At least, nothing he knew of.

His cup of coffee in hand, he settled down to call his sister and see what was happening in her world.

“Oh! I’m glad you called,” she gushed, as soon as he identified himself. “I just can’t seem to talk to anyone at the moment. Thank goodness for email and texts and messaging, because I’d never communicate with anyone. Oh, hold on. I just need to get Joshie off the coffee table.”

Jim smiled and waited, hearing in the background the sound of his sister chastising her son.

“I’m back.” She drew a breath. “So, how are you?”

He made a non-committal reply, deflecting the question back to her. She mentioned having been busy, then asked, “What’s going on with Dan?”

Jim felt a lurch in his chest. “I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to him lately. What makes you think there’s something?”

“Oh, just something I overheard. Do you know if he has a girlfriend at the moment?”

“Not as far as I know.” He frowned. “What is this about, Honey?”

“I was just wondering.” She changed the subject abruptly, chattering about something her little boy was doing.

Jim was left wondering about the different impressions he had received. Was there something wrong with Dan, or was it just another bad date? He determined to find out as soon as he could.

She Said

Trixie sat in her apartment and stared at the phone. She knew that she should tell people about her decision – her family, her friends – but the more she thought about doing that, the less she wanted to do it. Even thinking about the hurt she would cause by keeping the secret did nothing to motivate her.

She jumped as the phone began to ring. Shaking herself to clear away the jumbled thoughts, she snatched it up.

“Hello?”

“Oh, hi Trixie. It’s Moms.”

She closed her eyes, torn between relief and dread.

“Hi Moms! What’s up?” She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice, but it sounded false.

“I was just wondering whether you knew that Diana is planning on visiting Sleepyside soon, and if you were wanting to stay at the Farm at all during her stay.” She paused a moment. “You don’t have to decide right now, but I thought it would be nice if you did, even if it’s only a day or two.”

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Trixie admitted. “I’ll have to get back to you on that, Moms.”

The conversation turned to other topics. When it ended, Trixie had still not revealed her change of plan to her mother. She went back to staring at the phone with a growing feeling of guilt.

He Said

Brian arrived on Indira’s doorstep unannounced, but his friend took the situation in stride, just as he had expected. She invited him in without any question of why he was there, and plied him with various forms of refreshment. At length, he accepted a glass of water.

She rolled her eyes. “You are the most conservative person I know. Do you not like anything else I offered?”

He pushed down the urge to laugh. “It’s barely an hour since I last ate. I don’t need anything.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Sure. It’s really because you don’t trust my cooking, isn’t it?”

“I ate your cooking plenty of times when we shared a place,” he reminded her. “When did I ever complain?”

“Polite and conservative.” She grinned. “But I’ll forgive you.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, side by side on the shabby sofa with its multitude of bright cushions.

“Indira?”

She turned an enquiring gaze on him. “Yes?”

“I have some conditions, but I think that I’m going to agree to your proposal.”

“Yes!” she cried, giving him an impromptu hug. “Thank you, Brian! I don’t have a problem with conditions.”

“You haven’t even heard what they are yet,” he objected, gently disentangling himself.

She waved the matter away. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. But, since you’re so eager to tell them to me, you might as well go ahead.”

He nodded and sat down. “First, I want strict anonymity. I don’t ever want this getting back to my family, do you understand?”

“Of course. I don’t have plans of advertising your involvement. Actually, I was thinking that I’d pass it off as the result of a one-night stand with a man whose identity was a complete mystery to me. No matter who donated, I was thinking that would be the best plan.”

Brian nodded his agreement with the logic, if not the morality. “That suits me. Secondly, I want to make sure that you get all of the proper medical attention during the pregnancy.”

Her expression clouded. “You don’t think you can trust me to do that myself?”

“I hope that I can trust you to do that yourself,” he clarified, “but I want to make sure. If I agree to this plan, I’m potentially putting you in danger, if you don’t place yourself under medical supervision.”

She smiled and waved the matter away. “Brian, you have my word that I will look after myself and listen to the doctor. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I won’t be able to help being concerned.”

She patted his hand. “Yes, I know. But I’m asking you to manfully overcome this tendency.”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’ll do my best.”

Indira laughed. “So, what’s the last condition?”

For a moment, he hesitated. “What makes you think there’s one more, and only one?”

“Just a hunch?”

He contemplated that for a moment and then let it pass. “The other thing I want you to do before we make an agreement is for you to read this carefully.” He handed her an envelope. “This is medical information on me, and concerning my family history. I’d like you to keep it confidential, but to keep it for the child, if one eventuates. Otherwise, you can return it to me.”

Her fingers caressed the folded edge of the flap. All hints of teasing had gone from her expression. “Thank you. I’ll do that.”

“Let me know what you decide – after you’ve read it.”

The teasing note returned to her voice. “Are you going to ask questions, to make sure I have?”

Brian smiled. “I probably should. Just read it, okay? You need to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Conservative, polite and stubborn.” She tapped the envelope against the fingers of her other hand. “I might be in a lot of trouble, if they take after you. They’ll probably grow up to be a fine, upstanding citizen.”

“You are a fine, upstanding citizen.”

Indira laughed. “Shh! That’s supposed to be a secret. Don’t let it out.”

She Said

Diana picked up the phone and dialled Dan’s number. She had done a certain amount of preliminary investigation into what Honey had overheard in the supermarket and felt that it was time to apply that knowledge and confront her main target.

“Hello?” she heard him answer.

“Hi Dan, it’s Di. You have time for a chat?”

“Sure,” he answered. It sounded like he was making himself comfortable. “What’s up?”

“Do I need a reason, just to talk to you?”

She must have played it wrong, because he laughed. “You’re up to something; I can just tell.”

For a moment she hesitated, then decided to come clean. “Okay, so I was after some information from you.”

“And?”

She sighed. “And I was intending to just see if you’d tell me, without forcing you into anything you don’t want to do.”

“Nah. I think it would be better for you to just ask.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you have to make everything more difficult?”

“Yes.”

Di took a calming breath and rethought her strategy. “Tell me what’s going on in Sleepyside and surrounds right now. I want to know what I’ll be walking into when I get there.”

“Not much different to what you saw the last time you were here, I guess,” he answered, sounding confused. “We’re all doing the same old thing.”

“But it’s been months! What is this? Some kind of holding pattern?”

He chuckled. “Must be. Maybe air traffic control went to lunch and forgot us.”

“Funny.” She shook her head, even though he couldn’t see it. “So, there’s no news at all; nothing is different; you’re all just the same as you were before.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Di sighed and let it go. In this mood, he would be no help. Furthermore, she decided, it would be easier to get information from him when they were face to face and she could get visual clues. This line of enquiry would just have to wait until her visit.

He Said

Dan watched as Jim crossed to the table where he was waiting, noting the slight look of hostility and the tenseness in his shoulders. The crowded restaurant was not his first choice for a meeting place, but he knew that Jim would be more comfortable here than in a bar. By the looks of things, he needed all the comfort he could get.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jim greeted him, taking a seat. “Traffic.”

Dan waved the apology away. “I only just got here, too. It’s bad out there.”

Jim nodded and picked up the menu. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

For a moment, Dan was taken aback. It had not occurred to him that his friend might construe this invitation to get together as having an ulterior motives for something more.

“Nothing particular. I just thought… you know… the girls always say we should actually talk to each other.”

To Dan’s puzzlement, Jim looked sceptical. “Right.”

Someone came and took their orders and an uncomfortable silence descended. After an interval, Dan decided to take a chance.

“What is it that you think I want to talk about?”

“It’s too good to be true,” Jim burst out, to the surprise of a woman walking past.

“What is?” Dan’s voice was calm and he managed not to flinch.

Jim looked away. “Peace and quiet. Something is going to go wrong and I think you know what that something is.”

A silence fell, while Dan tried to think of what this might mean.

“I don’t know of anything that might be going wrong,” he admitted at last, his words slow and even. “Unless you count my love life.”

Jim’s earlier scepticism paled in comparison to the look he now gave Dan. “Excuse me? Your love life?”

Dan shrugged. “Why not? I haven’t had a steady girlfriend since Di. I don’t think anyone’s gotten past the second date.”

“I guess so,” Jim answered. He gave Dan a searching look. “You really aren’t about to drop a bombshell? No blackmailers lurking in the shrubbery? No dark secrets about to overtake us?”

“None that I know of.”

Jim sat in silence and digested that for a moment. Before Dan’s eyes, the tension seemed to leave him. A moment later, Jim began talking about basketball, the previous topic abandoned. Dan joined in with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He was glad to have cleared up that much, but it seemed that the instinct that Jim needed his friends to stay close was correct. He would just have to keep making that effort.

Continue to part two.