All the Days of Summer

Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-four Chapter Twenty-five Chapter Twenty-six Dedication Acknowledgments Other Titles About the Author Landmarks Cover Cover Title Page Contents Start Copyright Print Page List v vi 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 vii ix x xi ii 333 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 All the Days of Summer is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 Copyright © 2023 by Nancy Thayer
 All rights reserved.
 Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
 Ballantine is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
 Hardback ISBN 9780593358450
 Ebook ISBN 9780593358467
 randomhousebooks.com
 Book design by Alexis Capitini, adapted for ebook
 Cover design by Susan Zucker
 Cover images: Sandra Cunningham/Trevillion (house); Shutterstock (hydrangeas, sailboat, sky)
 ep_prh_6.1_143319816_c0_r0
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 
 
 Chapter One
 
 
 Chapter Two
 
 
 Chapter Three
 
 
 Chapter Four
 
 
 Chapter Five
 
 
 Chapter Six
 
 
 Chapter Seven
 
 
 Chapter Eight
 
 
 Chapter Nine
 
 
 Chapter Ten
 
 
 Chapter Eleven
 
 
 Chapter Twelve
 
 
 Chapter Thirteen
 
 
 Chapter Fourteen
 
 
 Chapter Fifteen
 
 
 Chapter Sixteen
 
 
 Chapter Seventeen
 
 
 Chapter Eighteen
 
 
 Chapter Nineteen
 
 
 Chapter Twenty
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-one
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-two
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-three
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-four
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-five
 
 
 Chapter Twenty-six
 
 
 Dedication
 Acknowledgments
 By Nancy Thayer
 About the Author
 
 
 _143319816_
 
 
 one
 It was Heather who hated Kailee first.
 Well, she didn’t actually hate Kailee. But she wasn’t sure she liked her.
 The first time she met her future daughter-in-law was when Heather and Wall went to a UMass Amherst football game. It was early October. The air was cool, bright, and clear, what Heather’s mother had called “snapping weather.” The trees were changing color, putting on a brilliant display of red, orange, and yellow, and Heather had brought a container of her famous autumn chili in a tub in the Styrofoam cooler to give to Ross, because that was his favorite food. Ross didn’t play football, although he had in high school, maybe because sports seemed to be the only topic he and his father could discuss without arguing.
 Heather and Wall had made plans for Ross and Kailee to meet them at the Inn on Boltwood in Amherst for drinks and dinner. It was pricey, but Heather guessed from her phone conversations with Ross that Kailee might be special. Ross was handsome, tall, wide-shouldered, with curly dark hair and a great smile. He’d had plenty of girlfriends over the years, but the way Ross spoke about Kailee…there was a warmth in his voice. A happiness. Heather hoped that Kailee was an easy hugger, because Heather was, and if Kailee made Ross happy, Heather wanted to hug her tight.
 Heather and Wall got to the restaurant first and sat at their table reading the menu. Heather wore her light brown hair in a messy bun and her favorite blue cashmere sweater with jeans. Wall wore jeans, a button-down shirt, and his good L.L.Bean vest.
 Heather looked up and saw Ross and Kailee walk in. She nudged her husband, so they were both smiling at the couple as they threaded their way between the tables. Heather noticed that everyone else in the restaurant watched the couple as they passed through, as if they were royalty, and really, Kailee