Read Huckleberry Summer for Free Online

color of Aden’s eyes. Anna handed the purple scarf to Lily. It felt fuzzy and oh so soft.
    “Oh, my. This is beautiful,” Lily said.
    Anna gave Aden the green scarf. He took it without complaint, though Lily knew they would both be sweating within minutes.
    Aden shrugged and curled his lips into a good-natured smile. “Come on, Pilot.”
    The dog tore his gaze from Lily’s face and eagerly followed Aden out the door. Lily wrapped the scarf around her neck and then covered her nose and mouth. Perfect.
    She ambled behind the barn to the raspberry patch, which probably covered an eighth of an acre. Stakes were already in the ground with three levels of wire strung between them.
    Aden emerged from the barn with the dog trotting cheerily behind him. He took one look at Lily with her ridiculous scarf-mask and his eyes danced. Twitching his lips as if he were trying to hold back a laugh, he said, “Lips cold?”
    Lily was glad for the scarf covering half her face since she was certain her cheeks had bloomed bright red.
    Aden’s scarf hung casually around his neck, lending added brilliance to his eyes. Their depth only strengthened Lily’s resolve to stay away from him. She could lose herself in those eyes.
    Getting lost was dangerous.
    He handed Lily some shears and a ball of twine. “Some of the canes are tall enough to stake to the second wire.”
    Lily nodded. He laughed.
    After cutting herself a piece of twine, she sat in the dirt next to the first raspberry plant, picked a cane, and tied it to the wire. Aden sat in the dirt on the opposite side of the row and started tying his own canes.
    She got along fine until that mutton-headed dog sauntered toward her. Standing over her like that, he could lick her whole head if he wanted to. Why in the world couldn’t Aden babysit his own dog?
    Ignoring the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach when she came near a dog, she held up her hand as if stopping traffic and spoke in a loud, authoritative voice so she could be heard through the scarf. “No, Pie Man. Get away.”
    The dog halted in his tracks, tilted his head, and let out a little whine. All that dog needed was a firm hand and a little discipline. He stared at her pathetically for a moment, then lay down with his paws resting in front of him.
    “Good. Stay.”
    She looked at Aden, who seemed intent on tying his bushes, but a hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. Didn’t he feel even a smidgeon guilty that he should have been the one disciplining his dog?
    Lily tied another cane before glancing at the dog to make sure he still behaved himself. She was a bit startled to discover that he lay in the same position but that his front paws were mere inches from her foot. How had he managed that?
    While tying the next cane, Lily watched Aden’s dog out of the corner of her eye. He scooted toward her, quarter inch by quarter inch, until his massive front paws touched her foot. Swallowing her fear, she narrowed her eyes and scowled at him, which probably didn’t look too fearsome with a scarf over her face.
    The dog lowered his head and pretended to settle in for a nap.
    When she looked away again, she heard him scoot closer and felt him lay his snout on top of her shoe. She didn’t want to hurt him so couldn’t very well kick him away. There was probably no harm in letting him stay there. Her shoes had been exposed to lots worse germs, and he didn’t seem inclined to bite.
    “He likes you,” Aden said.
    Lily merely nodded. Why couldn’t Aden and his dog leave her alone?
    Aden slid toward her to reach the next raspberry plant. “You must have heard some truly horrible things about me.”
    “What?”
    “The way you’re acting, you’ve probably been cautioned to stay far away from me, and it’s kind of hard when you work on my grandparents’ farm.”
    Confusion overtook her. She was so embarrassed she wanted to wrap her entire face in the scarf and run to the safety of the house. But with her eyes