A Summer Romance to Remember

Have you ever had a summer romance? One that only lasted as long as you were at summer camp or on vacation? I had one of those.

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When I was a teenager, we did a lot of camping. Our favorite place was Sunset Beach near Santa Cruz, California. Warm during the day, cool enough at night for sweatshirts and bonfires, and a long trek down the side of a cliff to the beach.

The summer that I would turn sixteen, we went for a week-long trip to the beach. In the campsite beside ours was another family. A family with three boys. Two were young, but the oldest was my age.

Philip was gorgeous in that tall, dark, and handsome way of bad boys forever. He played the guitar. And he seemed to like me. I had never attracted boys (late bloomer) and certainly none that looked like Philip.

For a week, we were inseparable. Down to the beach. Climbing rocks and trees. Kissing at the campfire. And then it was time to go. We traded addresses, promising to write to each other…forever!!

I wrote to him every day and I got a letter back every two or three days. Then…

He showed up at my house to see me. It was surreal. Somehow, Philip was supposed to remain at the beach in my mind. A little summer flirting to look back at in the future as a fun, romantic time. Not at my front door.

My mom thought it was the most romantic thing ever. I thought it was stalker-like. He was supposed to stay where I left him. LOL

I can’t remember what I said or what we did that day he showed up, but my confusion and coldness must have shown, because he left that night and I never saw him or heard from him again. But, I choose to remember the time at the beach and keep that good memory.

Did you ever have a little summer romance?

Make sure to check out my story, Retreat, Interrupted in our Summer Romance on Main Street boxed set.

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Jill James, romance writer