Read That Carolina Summer (North Carolina) for Free Online

I'll show you,” Annette declared on an infectious note of confidence.
    Marsha was half-convinced that her older sister was a bulldozer made out of velvet. Somehow Annette managed to push obstacles aside as if they didn't exist. For the past ten minutes she had been talking to the tennis pro on duty about the selection of times the courts were available in the next few days—talking and joking with him as if they were old friends, that is.
    When the phone in the tennis shop rang, Annette casually turned the reservation book around so she could read it, and smiled at the pro. “Go ahead and answer that. I'll look over these free times and decide which one we want to reserve."
    He agreed without any hesitation and moved to the end of the counter to pick up the phone. Annette slid a twinkling glance of triumph at Marsha and began looking over the list. Josh Lord's name practically leaped off the page across from the five o'clock slot the next afternoon.
    When Marsha noticed that the court next to the one Josh had reserved wasn't booked, she murmured in a low undertone, “You lead a charmed life, Annette."
    “I do, don't I?” Annette admitted that luck played an important role on this occasion. The subject was shelved as the tennis pro hung up the phone and came back. “Mark me down for tomorrow afternoon at four-thirty.” She gave him her name and room number. “And we'll need to rent some tennis balls and rackets."
    “Sure thing,” he nodded. “Any preference in equipment?"
    “No.” Annette shook her head with indifference. “Whatever you have on hand is fine. Marsha and I aren't particular.” She pushed away from the counter to leave while Marsha stared at her in openmouthed astonishment. “See you tomorrow."
    They were outside on the sidewalk before Marsha recovered her voice. “When did I say anything about playing tennis?"
    “I took it for granted that you would,” Annette admitted, a little startled that her sister appeared unwilling. “It's a trifle difficult to play tennis by yourself. What did you think I was going to do?"
    “I thought you were just going to find out when Josh was going to be there, then drop by,” she replied.
    “What would I do? Watch him play?” Annette scoffed. “That's a bit obvious, Marsha. If I'm playing tennis I have a reason to be there—and he can't be sure I'm only there to see him."
    “But I told you I didn't want to get involved in any of your schemes,” Marsha reminded her.
    “All you're going to do is play tennis, for heaven's sake!” she declared in mild exasperation, shaking her head.
    “But I know the way you work,” Marsha countered. “It all starts out so innocent. You involve people on the very edges of your plans—and before they know it they're in over their heads."
    “You're exaggerating, Marsha,” she dismissed the statement.
    “No, I'm not,” her sister replied with the certainty that came from past experience. “Even if Joshua Lord notices you tomorrow, I don't see what good it's going to do you. He thinks you're seventeen. He isn't going to take you seriously until he finds out you're older. You really should tell him before it goes any further."
    Annette stopped, striving for patience. “And just what am I supposed to do? Should I walk up to him and whip out my driver's license, birth certificate and passport, then say, ‘Look, Josh, I'll be twenty in four more days'?"
    “How will you tell him?” Marsha asked, since that was obviously not her sister's choice.
    “I'm not sure yet,” she admitted. “At the moment, being seventeen in his eyes is an advantage."
    Marsha frowned. “I missed something. How is it an advantage?"
    “I wouldn't even want to try to guess how many twenty-year-old girls he's dated in his lifetime, but how often do you think he's been attracted to a supposedly seventeen-year-old girl? Right now I stand out in a crowd. I'm not just another blonde in his life,” Annette explained.
    “I hadn't thought of it