This Summer At The Lake

by Daphne James Huff

  This Summer At The Lake

  Daphne James Huff

  Copyright © 2019 by Daphne James Huff

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design: Paper and Sage

  Formatting: Kayla Tirrell

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  for Adrianna

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Thank you for reading!

  Acknowledgements

  About Daphne James Huff

  Also by Daphne James Huff

  Mountain Creek Drive

  Chapter One

  The inky black canvas of the Montana night sky was broken only by the lights on Logan’s bike. He knew he would miss the silence once he got to New York, but right now, it was the last thing he wanted to hear. He longed for the excitement of the city, even though he’d never been anywhere bigger than Billings. He’d never even been outside of Montana.

  His entire life, Logan had been listening to tourists from all over talk about how beautiful his home state was. Flathead Lake, especially. This summer he was finally eighteen, and old enough to be a server. Instead of hearing snippets of conversations as he bused tables, he could actually ask the questions that had been bouncing around in his head since the first time he saw Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and the seeds for his escape were planted.

  Along the quiet stretch of empty road, Logan pedaled hard. His heart was pounding, nearly drowning out the sound of his slightly staggered breath. The seven miles home from the restaurant were mostly flat, but he was going faster than usual tonight, energized from his shift instead of exhausted. He had spoken to a couple from Manhattan, who lit up when he told them he was starting at Columbia in the fall.

  “New York will be a big change from all this natural beauty,” was the first comment they made.

  Holding back his eye roll, Logan kept his smile on. People didn’t tip waiters who rolled their eyes.

  “I can’t wait to finally see it. What’s the best part of the city?” His calm voice hid the pure excitement he’d been feeling ever since that big, blue envelope had arrived in the mail.

  Logan’s heart sank a bit, however, when the couple launched into a list of the best restaurants, museums and theaters New York had to offer. Things Logan would never be able to afford. People with money had no idea what life was like for those without it.

  The couple had tipped well, in the end, and now he was flying through the night with the promise of an endlessly profitable summer. If he could pull in three hundred a night, like tonight, then he might be able to check off a few things on his big list of “New York things to do.” Even a hundred a night would get him there. His full ride covered tuition as well as room and board, but the school required all students on scholarships to come with a little money saved. There were ways to get discounted books but for anything outside of school he was on his own.

  Really on his own.

  He’d have to buy a bike once he got there. It would be too expensive to ship this one, even though he loved it. His first summer job at fifteen had earned him the money for it, and he kept it well maintained. It had been his ticket to freedom back in Helena, and though he’d gotten his license right at sixteen he’d always been more comfortable on his bike.

  Most kids at school had gotten cars as graduation presents. He’d gotten a new bike helmet and had been thrilled. His mom had probably gone without something she’d needed that month to be able to offer it to him.

  As he turned a corner, the lake loomed into view: a deep, dark spread of nothingness save for the speckles of light along the banks where the houses were lit up. The same houses he spent every afternoon cleaning before his shift at the restaurant.

  But tomorrow, he finally had his first day off since starting two weeks ago. He would be able to head to the lake to swim, unaffected by the cold the way the tourists were. He’d go down to Wayfarer Park maybe, jump off the cliffs like when he was a kid. After all, this was technically his last summer of being a kid.

  His eyes and mind on the lake, Logan didn’t see the car’s headlights until they were almost right in front of him.

  Cassie was reaching the limits of her patience and love for her family. She’d been up at the lake for a week now, alone with her dad. And if she had to sit through one more afternoon of fishing or yet another dinner in front of the TV watching the Mariners she would scream.

  Not wanting to ruin her family’s summer vacation before it had even truly begun, she’d been texting her best friend Marissa all day, trying to convince her to come up for the night. It was a three-hour drive from Helena, but they’d driven longer for less urgent things. And this was pretty urgent.

  Finally, around three in the afternoon, Cassie’s phone buzzed and she swiped it open eagerly.

  “I took tomorrow off,” Marissa said, without even a ‘hello.’ Her voice sounded echoey. “I’m already driving up.”

  “Awesome!” Cassie’s face broke into a smile and she got up out of bed for the first time that day. She had flat out refused to go fishing with her dad that morning, telling him she had cramps. That always got him out of her room in a hurry. “I guess I’ll actually have to change out of my pajamas then.”

  “Nah, stay that way, you look hot,” a male voice spoke up.

  Cassie’s heart sank.

  “Spencer’s with you?” she whispered. Of course he could still hear her, but Cassie wanted to annoy her boyfriend. Her patience for Spencer had worn off long before summer had started.

  Marissa laughed. Spencer said nothing, so Cassie knew it had worked.

  “I can’t keep him away, sorry,” Marissa said, not sounding sorry at all.

  Bringing him had probably been Marissa’s idea in the first place, since it meant she got to spend a few hours in the car with him. Cassie knew her best friend had always been into Spencer.

  It didn’t bother Cassie one bit. After those first few weeks of dating when everything Spencer did or said was hilarious and cute, Cassie had been pretty lukewarm towards him, despite his killer looks that had every other girl in school swooning. Now approaching their one year anniversary, Cassie found herself part of a couple who everyone, except her, expected to stay together forever. Cassie hoped that with a little creative plotting this summer, Spencer would somehow fall for Marissa and break up with Cassie…so she wouldn’t have to break up with him.

  She didn’t actually expect the plan to work. This wasn’t the first time she’d had a brilliant strategy to push Marissa and Spencer together and finally get rid of him. B
ut every time she worked up the courage to try, her dad would say something to remind her how proud he was that she was dating a Huntington.

  “Where do you want to go tonight, Marissa?” Cassie decided to pretend Spencer wasn’t there, as usual, and just talk to Marissa.

  “We’ll talk when we get up there, Cass, we’re wasting precious road trip time that could be spent listening to music.” Spencer was the one who responded anyway, and Marissa giggled. Cassie let out a long, slow breath and counted to ten in her head.

  “Fine, call me when you get to Finney’s Point.” That was about twenty minutes away and would give her time to put the finishing touches on whatever outfit she came up with.

  “See you soon!” Marissa squealed.

  With a slight pang as she ended the call, Cassie wished she was that excited to spend a few hours with Spencer. What had promised to be a fun break from her less-than-stellar start to the summer would now turn into the same old weekend party scene she wanted desperately to break away from, if only she could figure out how.

  Still, she was excited to see Marissa, and would put up with Spencer if she had to. At least it would make her dad happy.

  Her dad loved Spencer. He was like the perfect mix of sporty ruggedness that her parents surrounded themselves with, plus the added advantage that his insanely wealthy parents were members of the best country club in the state. Apparently belonging to the second best club wasn’t enough for her parents.

  That was at least one good thing about being at the lake for the summer: No country club. And now, after a pretty chill week, things were finally about to get interesting.

  Her dad had been the one to suggest an extra-long trip to their lake house this summer in order to spend time together as a family before she left for school. But he’d been grouchy and tense ever since they’d arrived, and her mom still hadn’t come up yet, too busy with a big charity event she was planning. Her older sister Diana would be here at some point but she didn’t know when. Everyone was busy this summer except her.

  Cassie would just have to do what she’d always done and make do with what she had. To be fair, it wasn’t a bad life, not even close, and most of the time she was happy. She’d focus on her Marissa/Spencer plan tonight, and that would make her even happier.

  Eight hours later, however, Cassie was back to hating everyone and everything. Spencer was drunk, and kept trying to reach under her skirt as she drove.

  “Stop it!” she hissed for the fifteenth time since they’d left the bar. The bouncer hadn’t even looked at their fake IDs once they’d seen Spencer’s. He used his older brother’s, and the Huntington name was enough to get them in anywhere, thanks to daddy owning half the properties out here. “Marissa is right there.”

  Spencer sniggered and looked in the backseat.

  “She’s passed out! She won’t even know…” He slid his hand up her thigh again, and leaned across to nuzzle her neck.

  “I need to concentrate, you asshole.” Cassie didn’t even try to sound cute. She was pissed.

  She turned to shove him back into his seat, and punched his arm for good measure. He laughed hysterically, and she rolled her eyes before turning them back on the road. She opened her mouth to insult him again, but instead, a loud gasp escaped her lips.

  A bike was headed straight for the car.

  Chapter Two

  Logan skidded off the road with a jerk of the handlebars and bumped along the rocky edge until the bike slid out from under him. When he slammed into the ground, there was a distinct “pop” as his shoulder hit hard. A string of curses burst from his mouth as he rolled to his other side.

  From the road, there was the sound of the car zooming by, and he tried to pull up his head enough to get a good look at it. The night was too dark; all he saw was that it was a tiny little something, and maybe red.

  But it was hard to tell, since his entire field of vision was red with pain. The pop in his shoulder was now a dull throbbing and he couldn’t move it very well. He turned onto his back, staring up at the sky, vaguely aware of how pretty it looked all littered with stars. Standing was out of the question for the moment, so he just looked at the distant twinkling spots instead.

  It was entirely possible the twinkling spots were not actually there and he’d hit his head harder than he realized. The shock was still pulsing through him and his mind decided to focus on anything other than what had happened. In a few months he wouldn’t even be able to see the stars—the actual stars. He couldn’t imagine what that was like.

  Logan’s breath was coming out in short bursts, his chest tight as his muscles tensed in reaction to the pain. He closed his eyes, trying to get his breathing under control. Long deep inhales, slow smooth exhales.

  It worked for a few minutes and he alternated calm breathing and staring up at the night sky. But the throbbing was getting worse, and Logan knew he couldn’t lay on the ground forever. He considered his options.

  He could call his cousin, Hideki. But Logan was pretty sure he was still at his job working late at the pizza place two towns over.

  Who else could he call? With a groan, he remembered his aunt and uncle were out of town.

  The one time they’re away all summer, and of course something like this happens.

  Logan felt for his jacket pocket with a shaky hand, and unzipped it to grab his phone, thanking his lucky stars twinkling above it hadn’t broken in the fall. He sent a text to Hideki anyway, just in case.

  You done with work? I kinda had an accident.

  Logan looked over at his bike and let out a sigh of relief. It looked fine. The tightness in his chest loosened a bit. He really didn’t want to spend his first paycheck of the summer repairing it. His shoulder twinged and he grimaced. He’d probably have to use it on repairing himself, instead.

  His phone pinged.

  Oh, that sucks. Work’s done but at a party in Lakeside. Where are you?

  Logan cursed again. All the way on the other side of the lake. It would take him just as long to walk home as it would to wait for a ride. He was only two miles away. On his bike, it would take him less than ten minutes. Walking would be slow and painful, but he could manage. Probably.

  No worries, Logan replied. I think I can make it home. I’m not far.

  He sighed and put his phone back in his pocket. He was still lying on the ground, staring up at the stars. The silence was calming, but he didn’t want to fall asleep out here. Shaking his head, he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. Then, even slower, he held his arm close to his body to steady his shoulder then heaved himself into a standing position.

  A hot streak of fire ripped through his shoulder. He pushed at it with trembling fingers, hoping he wouldn’t feel a bone poking out of the skin or anything. It didn’t feel like a broken bone. Not that he’d ever had one, but the pop he’d heard was worrying. Dislocated maybe? There was a lump around his shoulder joint and Logan let out yet another slew of profanities into the dark night.

  He plopped back onto the ground, feeling a bit lightheaded all of the sudden. A quick search online revealed popping his shoulder back into place was probably not something he should do alone on the side of the road. But once he got home, his cousin would definitely be up for it. They’d gotten into their fair share of scrapes they’d wanted to hide from their parents over the years, and Logan knew Hideki would do whatever he could to help him. In the meantime, Logan gently unzipped his jacket and let it slide off his arms. Taking a deep breath, he reached behind him to get it, trying not to move his right arm. After tying the sleeves together, he looped it around his neck and slipped his arm in the opening.

  It was probably the ugliest sling in the world, but it would have to do for the next two miles. He didn’t usually listen to music while riding home, but he decided he would need the extra motivation and put his headphones in. Looking for the perfect song took a bit of time, and he could only stall the inevitable painful walk home for so long. With the music turned up, he was finall
y ready to get started. Just as he bent to pick up his bike, a flash of red caught his eye and he turned his head. A car was pulling up on the other side of the road.

  It was the first car he had seen since the small and possibly red one had run him off the road. Eleven at night wasn’t exactly rush hour. He still took precautions at night, not that it had helped him tonight. His bright yellow jacket and lights all over the bike would have made him visible from a good half mile away. It hadn’t done him any good earlier, but maybe whoever had noticed him now would offer him a ride home.

  His heart sank when he saw it was a brand new Mercedes SUV with vanity plates reading HART<3. With a sigh, he turned off his music, ignoring every bone in his body urging him to run in the opposite direction.

  Cassie Hart was the last person in the world he wanted to see right now.

  The car door opened slowly, and a blond head popped out, her hair shimmering in the moonlight. Cassie stepped out of the car but didn’t move closer, instead squinting at him from across the road.

  “Are you okay?” she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. The cool night breeze whipped her hair around her face, and she pulled it back with both hands.

  “Fine!” he yelled back and turned to pick up his bike. He let out a sharp gasp as his body shifted forward. Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away. No way was he going to let Cassie Hart see him cry.