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That Summer
Max Turner tries to stop his father from beating his mother and accidentally kills his old man
in self-defense. His mother refuses to let him confess to the police and forces him to leave indefinitely. Max makes his way from Arkansas to
Texas and is hired by Angie Rawlings, a widow nearly the age of his mother, to help with her farm. Angie teaches him to be a man, but when Max
meets a beautiful, black girl named Mallory Washington, he’s smitten and soon realizes he must choose between working for Angie or being with
Mallory. Only before he decides, fate throws out another curveball and turns Max’s life inside out..
It
was a late July afternoon. Max was repairing the fence in a remote part
of the property. He watched as the sky began to darken. Luckily, Angie
came looking for him to take him back in the jeep.
“I think a severe storm system’s coming. Get in, Max. We’ve got to get the animals to safety.”
Max hopped into the jeep and Angie drove back. Lightning slashed the skies and a few moments later, rain began to fall. Together they rounded up the animals and were nearly finished when the sky opened up and began to drench the earth and everything on it. By the time everything was tied down and secure, they both looked like two drowned rats.
As they were making a mad dash back to the main house, Angie burst out laughing. Max had never heard Angie laugh as heartily as she did then. It made her look like a young woman again.
“Come on, take off all your wet stuff, Max,” Angie said, as she peeled off the top layer of clothes she had on. “I don’t want to track water throughout the house.”
He couldn’t blame her. They were so wet, that they would have dripped all over the hardwood floor. Max pulled off his boots and then tackled his wet jeans. He’d been soaked right through to the skin. Getting out of his jeans proved to be quite difficult and Max hadn’t realized that Angie was watching him. When he did, he felt his body react, making him hard. She hadn’t missed that, either. Standing there feeling like a dolt in his underwear, he felt his face heat, which made matters worse.
She moved closer to him and touched his face, which surprised him. In all the time he’d been working for her, she’d never physically touched him. Her leathered hands, weathered by the sun, suddenly felt soft like velvet on his skin. When she smiled, it was almost as if years had melted away, making her appear younger. There was something her face was telling him. He could only interpret it as a desire. Only, having never been with a woman her age before, he realized he could be wrong, until she reached for his hand. She then led him into her bedroom.
Max had never been in there before and was surprised to see that it was furnished with simple furniture that could have been handmade. The bed had a pine headboard that matched the two night tables and chest of drawers. On one night table, there was a stack of books. The top one had a half-dressed man in chaps embracing a woman dressed in a frilly blouse on the cover. His eyes traveled to the bureau. There he saw several framed pictures next to a jewelry box. One caught his eye. It was a picture of Angie when she was younger holding a little boy. Angie had never mentioned she had a kid or anything else about her life— other than her husband. Max decided not to pry. If she wanted him to know, she would have told him.
She pulled down the spread and sat down, patting the spot next to her. “Sit, Max, I won’t bite.”
He slowly sat down. She placed her hand on his thigh. “First time with someone like me?”
Max nodded. He’d never gone all the way with a girl before—let alone a woman his mother’s age.
She smiled and said, “Let’s make it special.”
“I think a severe storm system’s coming. Get in, Max. We’ve got to get the animals to safety.”
Max hopped into the jeep and Angie drove back. Lightning slashed the skies and a few moments later, rain began to fall. Together they rounded up the animals and were nearly finished when the sky opened up and began to drench the earth and everything on it. By the time everything was tied down and secure, they both looked like two drowned rats.
As they were making a mad dash back to the main house, Angie burst out laughing. Max had never heard Angie laugh as heartily as she did then. It made her look like a young woman again.
“Come on, take off all your wet stuff, Max,” Angie said, as she peeled off the top layer of clothes she had on. “I don’t want to track water throughout the house.”
He couldn’t blame her. They were so wet, that they would have dripped all over the hardwood floor. Max pulled off his boots and then tackled his wet jeans. He’d been soaked right through to the skin. Getting out of his jeans proved to be quite difficult and Max hadn’t realized that Angie was watching him. When he did, he felt his body react, making him hard. She hadn’t missed that, either. Standing there feeling like a dolt in his underwear, he felt his face heat, which made matters worse.
She moved closer to him and touched his face, which surprised him. In all the time he’d been working for her, she’d never physically touched him. Her leathered hands, weathered by the sun, suddenly felt soft like velvet on his skin. When she smiled, it was almost as if years had melted away, making her appear younger. There was something her face was telling him. He could only interpret it as a desire. Only, having never been with a woman her age before, he realized he could be wrong, until she reached for his hand. She then led him into her bedroom.
Max had never been in there before and was surprised to see that it was furnished with simple furniture that could have been handmade. The bed had a pine headboard that matched the two night tables and chest of drawers. On one night table, there was a stack of books. The top one had a half-dressed man in chaps embracing a woman dressed in a frilly blouse on the cover. His eyes traveled to the bureau. There he saw several framed pictures next to a jewelry box. One caught his eye. It was a picture of Angie when she was younger holding a little boy. Angie had never mentioned she had a kid or anything else about her life— other than her husband. Max decided not to pry. If she wanted him to know, she would have told him.
She pulled down the spread and sat down, patting the spot next to her. “Sit, Max, I won’t bite.”
He slowly sat down. She placed her hand on his thigh. “First time with someone like me?”
Max nodded. He’d never gone all the way with a girl before—let alone a woman his mother’s age.
She smiled and said, “Let’s make it special.”