This Summer Will Be Different
by Carley Fortune
Contents
Chapter 28
Overview
On a strained group trip to North Cape, Lucy avoids Felix until a storm forces a reckoning. Lucy explodes over mixed signals, and Felix admits he wants more than a fling. They confess mutual feelings, choose to pursue more, and consummate on the beach before returning to Summer Wind. Bridget, rattled, books Lucy a Wednesday flight.
Summary
Lucy, Bridget, Zach, and Felix drive to North Cape. Lucy, nauseated and resentful, refuses to meet Felix’s eyes while Zach recites lighthouse facts. At the shoreline, Felix draws a parallel between converging tides and their pull toward each other, unsettling Lucy, who retreats to Bridget and Zach.
On the stormy drive back, Bridget texts Miles as Zach chatters to cut the tension. Parked at Summer Wind in heavy rain, Lucy confronts Bridget about the trip and demands honesty. Bridget, tearful, offers to get Lucy back to Toronto and books a Wednesday flight when earlier options are sold out. Overwhelmed, Lucy bolts into the storm.
Felix follows her to the beach. Lucy accuses him of pretending to care and only wanting sex, while Felix insists he cares about her. Probing why the casual label hurts her, he pushes for honesty. Lucy admits it’s no longer fun.
Felix declares he doesn’t want to be her friend and kisses her. He apologizes for the past year, revealing he thought she understood his feelings and that her abrupt departure hurt him. He confesses he dated others to get over her and asks Lucy to say she wants him, not just sex.
Realizing their feelings were mutual last summer, Lucy tells Felix she wants him. Felix says he wants “more than one night,” and Lucy agrees. They have urgent, consensual sex in a secluded cove as the rain eases, reaffirming their commitment to something deeper.
After, Felix helps Lucy dress, and they return to Summer Wind, laughing and sandy, carrying the decision to pursue a real relationship as Bridget’s booked flight looms.
Who Appears
- LucyProtagonist; storm-fueled confrontation with Felix leads to mutual confession and choosing a real relationship.
- FelixAdmits deep feelings, rejects being just friends, asks for “more,” and reconnects physically and emotionally with Lucy.
- BridgetTexting Miles, tearfully books Lucy a Wednesday flight after tension peaks; wants time together before her wedding.
- ZachProvides lighthouse facts, attempts to ease tension during the trip and stormy return.
- MilesBridget’s fiancé; appears via calls/texts during the tense return from North Cape.