Moment in Time, book 1 of the Summer House Series

Chapter One

Copyright 2015 Lisa Mondello (All Rights Reserved)

Chapter One

Jenna

Life has a funny way of jumping off the rails when you're not looking.

Too bad I wasn't looking.

I don't know exactly when it happened. Being told I had cancer definitely got my attention. But hearing I was cancer free, at least for the time being, did a lot to change the way I view the next however many days or years I have left to live. As in, I'm not looking that far ahead. I'm living in the here and now. Because after two years of the Grim Reaper knocking on Jenna Traynor's door, I just want to live again.

That's what this summer on Nantucket is all about.

I drop my iPhone in the duffel bag I'd bought while scouting colleges before I'd gotten my diagnosis two years ago. I only needed a few things for now, so I drop in an extra pair of sandals and cut off shorts.

Nantucket Island. I've lived in Massachusetts for years and I've never been. This summer isn't about doing a drive-by. It's about living, feeling, experiencing.

My parents hated the idea. That made it all the more appealing to me.

I zip the duffel closed as excitement races through me. No chemo. No poking and prodding. I may even come back home with hair that touches my shoulders. I touch the short crop of sandy blond hair that is finally coming in, just thinking of what Jared would say if he saw me with hair again.

"Jenna? We're going to be late," my mother called from downstairs.

"I'll be down in a minute!"

"You're going to miss the ferry!"

I groan and grit my teeth. This I won't miss.

Lifting the duffel, and feeling satisfaction that my strength has come back enough that it didn't have me falling forward under the weight of it, I head downstairs. It was going to be a long ride to Hyannis.

"Today would have been her birthday," my mother said wistfully. I don't have to ask who or what she was talking about. I don't bother answering anymore. We don't have time for it and I sure as hell don't want to get into it. But Mom knows that, which is why she brought it up. It was just like my mother to remind me of things I didn't want to remember.

"Did you pack everything?" she finally says.

"If I forgot anything, I'll get it on Nantucket."

"You'll pay and arm and a leg on the island. We can stop on the way."

"I thought you were worried about me making the ferry? We might hit traffic on the Sagamore Bridge. If something costs too much, then I won't really need it. All I need is a bathing suit and clothes for walking around. I'm getting a uniform for work." My mother heaves a sigh. "I wish you would change your mind. You're father and I—"

"Yeah, let's not go there," I say as I climb into the front seat and slam the door. "I'm going. I just want to get this summer started, Natalie."

My mother shoots me an angry look. "We talked about that."

"I'm twenty. Why can't I call you by your name?"

She guns the engine and looks straight ahead. "Because, I said so."

* * *

As Nantucket Island came into view, my excitement was enough to keep the slight nausea I'd been feeling for the last hour at bay. Cancer had done a job of derailing any plans I'd had. It had been enough of an excuse for Jared to run away. And it had given me a heartache I never want to know again. Okay, cancer had scored some points. But I was far from checkmate. This summer was not about losing. It was going to be about living. And I'm determined to drink in every bit of living I can. My cell phone rings, pulling me for the destination in front of me. I grab my cell and see that it's my mother.