This Summer Will be Different

Felix and Lucy don’t speak for three months after their last night together. During that time, Lucy takes on fewer hours at the shop, using her newfound free time to rekindle old friendships and cultivate her hobbies. When she feels ready to reach out to Felix again, she sends him a packet of forget-me-not seeds. In return, Felix sends her a copy of The Secret Garden, resuming their old ritual in reverse. They begin texting and calling one another frequently and cook together via FaceTime once a week. Though Lucy loves their dates, she doesn’t feel like they are enough.

In January, Bridget FaceTimes Lucy with several pieces of important news. First, she is having a baby girl; second, Lucy will be her honorary aunt. The third is that Joy is engaged to a man from PEI. Finally, Bridget tells Lucy that she has had Zach look for purchasable land on PEI, and he has found several affordable acres on Point Prim Way. Looking at the listing, Lucy begins picturing her farm.

Lucy turns 30 in February. Despite her active social life, she chooses to spend the day alone, and the amount of fun she has surprises her. The following week, she visits her mother. Over lunch, she catches her mother up on her timeline with Felix. Lucy’s mother is doubtful. She says that she wants Lucy to be happy, and Lucy replies that she is “getting there.” After lunch, she calls Zach and confirms her intention to purchase the Point Prim land.

In March, Felix picks Lucy up at the PEI airport. She instructs him to drive to Point Prim Way and then surprises him with the news that she has bought the land and intends to start her cut-flower farm here. Lucy gives Felix a copy of Anne of the Island, where Anne goes to college in Nova Scotia, leaving her home in PEI. The novel ends with Anne returning to PEI, realizing that the island is her true home, and marrying Gilbert Blythe, the love of her life.

Lucy tells Felix that he is in all her dreams and asks if she is in any of his. In response, he kisses her passionately and tells her that she has his entire heart. Lucy looks Felix in the eye and says that she loves him, and Felix says that he loves her, too.

Lucy and Felix travel back and forth between PEI and Toronto for several months. Lucy fully invites Felix into her life, introducing him to her friends and family. When her mother expresses reservations, Lucy says that she is an adult who doesn’t need her mother’s blessing to date.

In August, Lucy and Felix fly to Australia to meet Bridget’s baby girl, Rowan. Lucy tells Felix that she is ready to move to PEI. She wants Felix to build a house for them to live in together. Felix says that he has already been working on design sketches. He asks Lucy to confirm that this is what she wants, and she does so.

The summer after Lucy’s official move to PEI, Felix and Lucy host a housewarming party for the Prim Point Way property. Felix has built them a modern farmhouse, which they nicknamed Primfield House. Behind it, he’s built a greenhouse and begun the foundation for a garden. Lucy has handed management of In Bloom over to Farah.

Lucy’s attention is drawn by someone tapping on a champagne glass. Looking toward the source of the noise, she is shocked to see Bridget, Miles, and Rowan entering the room. Standing on the staircase, Bridget gives a heartfelt speech about their friendship. She says that she and Lucy “became adults together” (327), learning the meaning of compromise and found family. Lucy has taught her that “the greatest loves are not always romances” (327). She finishes with a toast to Lucy, Felix, and their new home.

After the party, Bridget and Miles linger at Primfield House along with Zach and Lana. Lucy and Bridget discuss the future. Miles and Bridget will remain in Australia for another two years before moving back to Toronto. Bridget promises to visit as often as possible. She muses that seeing Lucy and Felix together is “mildly disturbing” but that she “wouldn’t have it any other way” (330). Looking at Felix and their assembled friends, Lucy realizes that she has everything she wants.