This Summer At The Lake

by Daphne James Huff

  Still, Cassie had spent most of the day eating ice cream and watching bad TV. Around four that afternoon she’d gotten it into her head that she should offer Logan a ride to work, so she could ask more about what the manager had said. What if he’d mentioned why he’d given Logan the bartending job? Cassie had to be sure that her secret was safe. At least, that’s what she told herself as she stood paralyzed in front of Logan’s door.

  After taking a deep breath of courage, she lifted her hand again to knock when it opened. She stepped back, surprised, and stumbled a little. A strong arm shot out to pull her back upright.

  “Woah,” said Logan, still gripping her arm. Her body was now only inches away from his. She could smell his shampoo and see the little flecks of gold in his brown eyes. “What are you doing here?”

  Cassie took a step back and blinked up at him, her mouth opening once without words coming out. He didn’t let go of her arm, and she realized she didn’t want him to. He didn’t look mad, just surprised, which gave her the final boost she needed to speak.

  “I came to give you a ride to work.” She flashed him a grin that hopefully hid the slight tremor in her voice.

  “Thank the hot cheerleading gods, I can go back to my game now!” a voice called out from inside the house.

  His cousin stuck his head out the door and smiled.

  “She seems pretty cool, Logan, not sure why you were complaining so much about her.”

  Logan turned bright red. He dropped her arm and shoved his cousin back through the door.

  Cassie felt her own face flush, but she wasn’t sure why. She was just helping Logan out. Like she’d promised her dad.

  “Ready to go?” She held up her keys and jingled them.

  He just nodded and followed her to her car.

  “So what kind of complaints did you have?” she teased as they were buckling themselves in.

  “It’s nothing.” He was turning a bright red. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be saying anything. You’ve been nothing but nice to me.”

  Her smile faltered.

  “That’s not entirely true.”

  “Oh?”

  Her heart was pounding at his quirked eyebrow and slightly tilted head.

  “I should have stuck up for you in front of Spencer. I acted like I didn’t even know you. That was rude.”

  He shrugged, but she saw a small smile and the merest hint of the dimple appear on his face.

  “It’s no big deal,” Logan said. “We don’t really know each other, you know?”

  “Well the whole point of this match thing is to change that.” Cassie’s chipper cheerleader voice filled the car.

  “I thought the match was supposed to be with your father?”

  Crap! Cassie could barely keep the lies straight, apparently. With Marissa, her father, and now Logan. But it felt worse to lie to Logan.

  This was a chance to finally have someone see her for herself and not the spoiled cheerleader or Spencer’s girlfriend or the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hart. She wanted him to know her as she really was, not her fake persona. It scared her, but with everything that had happened last night, it was at least something that felt like going in the right direction.

  “Yeah but what good does it do to get to know an alum?” She winked at him, then immediately felt like an idiot. “You’re not going to school with him, are you?”

  Logan nodded slowly.

  “So what do you want to know?” he asked. “There isn’t much to tell. I’d rather hear more about New York.”

  Cassie sighed. They were nearly at the restaurant. It was probably pointless to try to change how he saw her at this point. First impressions were hard to get over.

  “We can pick this up on the way home, okay?” she said as they pulled into the parking lot.

  Logan shook his head and unbuckled his seatbelt.

  “No, really, you’ve done plenty. I can’t keep bumming rides off of you all summer.”

  “Well, it does interfere with my partying schedule,” she said with a wink. He laughed, and a happy pool of light spread through her stomach. It felt good to be around him. It was nothing like the bored attention she gave to Spencer, or even the giddy gossiping with Marissa. Both of which were apparently over now. If this was the alternative for the summer, it wouldn’t be that bad.

  “I’ll see you later then?” He looked at her with hopeful eyes, and she couldn’t help but grin.

  “I can’t wait.”

  Chapter Twelve

  When Logan’s mother showed up halfway through his shift to surprise him, he was happy. Really. But he was a tiny bit bummed that it meant no ride from Cassie. Not that he’d been looking forward to it or anything.

  Looks like I won’t need that ride, my mom showed up. He texted her as soon as his mom walked through the door.

  Have fun! Cassie sent several smiley faces along with her message.

  And you can too tonight now that you don’t need to drive me around. Logan knew someone like her must have better things to do than be his chauffeur.

  Yes, super fun watching baseball with my dad.

  He smiled at her sleeping emoji.

  “Who’s got you smiling like that?” his mom was sitting at the bar, sipping the Shirley Temple he’d made her. His mom never drank, so he hadn’t grown up knowing anything about drinking besides the random beers he and Hideki would sneak sometimes whenever he was up at the lake. The one thing he was actually dying to ask Cassie was about keg parties. He was slightly worried about going to his first one and not knowing any of the unspoken rules. That probably wasn’t the kind of information Columbia intended to be shared through this match program, so maybe it was a good thing her dad was too busy to be the one to meet with him this summer.

  “No one,” Logan said, shoving the phone in his pocket.

  “It’s not the Hart girl, is it?” His mom kept her voice even, but he knew her tones well enough to tell she was not very happy about it.

  “It’s Columbia stuff. You wouldn’t understand.”

  Her face fell and Logan felt like an ass.

  “That came out wrong, I’m sorry.”

  “No, it’s fine.” She shook her head, staring down into her pink drink. “You’re right. There will be a lot of things I can’t teach you about that world. I just wish there was someone else who you could talk to about it besides her.”

  The question was burning on his tongue, dying to be asked. Why not Cassie? But he decided to just drop it. Just like knowing what all his mom’s voice tones secretly meant, Logan knew the best ways to keep her happy. Changing topics away from upsetting things worked every time.

  “How are my bartending skills so far?” He gestured at the mostly empty bar. It had been a slow night, so perfect for learning the ropes from the regular bartender. He didn’t seem that upset about having to split his shifts with Logan. Apparently he had been begging Tony for weeks to train someone else so he could get a few days off.

  “Well, this is good. What else can you make?”

  Logan started rattling off everything he’d learned, and his mom seemed to relax a little. He hoped she wasn’t working too hard this summer. He was really looking forward to the extra money he’d be able to pull in as a bartender. Maybe he’d even be able to surprise her with a ticket to New York to help him move in.

  As much as he hated to admit it, maybe getting run off the road hadn’t been the worst thing to happen this summer. He was still furious at whoever had done it, but he was starting to let go of that a little bit. It had been painful in the moment, but there was finally a silver lining.

  It had been three days since his mom’s surprise visit and Logan had almost convinced himself that Cassie was just another friend. Someone he could call for a ride—which he hadn’t, not yet—or someone he could talk to about regular stuff.

  He still hadn’t dared ask her more than just things about New York, but it had gotten a little more personal in his messages now, though not entirely on purpose.
/>   What’s your favorite park in New York? he asked one day during a break cleaning houses.

  Bryant Park, she’d replied seconds later.

  No need to think about it? He’d been surprised by her quick response.

  Nope. My first kiss was there.

  He stared at the phone, questions swirling in his mind. Was she saying that just to be honest? Or to make him think about kissing? He shook his head. Why would she want him to do that? He wanted to ask if it had been Spencer, but Logan knew that was dumb for so many reasons.

  First, they weren’t that kind of friends—at least, he didn’t think so. He didn’t actually have many friends that were girls. He’d been so focused on school the past four years, and summers were spent up at the lake doing jobs not many girls his age did.

  Second, she’d only been with Spencer since the beginning of senior year, and she’d obviously dated boys before that. His lack of experience with friends as girls was nothing compared to his total lack of experience with an actual girlfriend. It’s not even something he’d really thought about. Even if he had dared to ask someone out, he didn’t exactly have the extra cash, let alone a car, to take a girl anywhere.

  In the end, he decided not to reply to her first kiss revelation, and told himself he wouldn’t think about it anymore. It was pointless to think about kissing someone he barely knew. Someone with a boyfriend. Someone totally not interested in him like that.

  Someone whose green eyes crinkled up adorably at the edges when she smiled.

  His phone buzzed, and he shook his head to clear his thoughts of her eyes and lips and other pointless things.

  What do you think you’ll major in?

  He frowned. So she was just going to ignore the fact that the word “kiss” was sitting there, in the message above? That’s fine, he could, too. Because he was definitely not thinking about it anymore.

  They have a good math program. What about you?

  Partying, obviously.

  He rolled his eyes and got back to work. It was the perfect opening to ask his questions about what to expect at a college party, but she clearly wasn’t in a very serious mood at the moment. He had yet to see her serious about anything other than bugging him about his shoulder. With a sigh, he realized she didn’t have to be serious about anything. She’d probably be off at parties while he spent every weekend doing what he was doing now. Working.

  It would all be worth it though, he reminded himself as he bent to start scrubbing his tenth toilet of the day.

  Considering the effort he spent over the next twenty four hours to not think about her, Cassie was the last person Logan expected to walk in the door of the house he was cleaning. When he saw her dad was with her, however, things clicked into place. This was a brand new house, just completed, with a giant ‘Hart & Preston builders’ sign out front. The cleaning company Logan worked for has been hired to take care of all the dust and dirt the workers had left behind. Of course the developer would want to come see how they were doing.

  Logan realized he’d actually seen Mr. Hart before, at other houses in previous summers. But he definitely would have remembered seeing Cassie with him.

  Logan kept his head down, however, as a flash of blond hair whipped past him. Her father walked around, inspecting the finishes and pointing things out to Cassie. She sounded interested and even made a few comments that her dad seemed to appreciate.

  As an odd tingling spread through his chest, Logan told himself he should go introduce himself. This was a perfect opportunity to network with an alumnus, and one who already knew who he was. But he looked down at his grubby clothes and dirty hands and hurried off to somewhere less visible.

  “Hey.” Not five minutes later, Logan heard Cassie’s voice behind him and turned, a bottle of furniture polish in one hand and a filthy rag in the other.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, quashing his embarrassment with a rising irritation at her butting into his life unexpectedly yet again.

  She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

  “You do realize that you’re always asking me that, right? It’s getting kind of rude.” She smiled as she said it though, and his heart returned to a semi-regular rhythm. “You could just say hi, like a normal person.”

  He cleared his throat.

  “Hi.”

  They looked at each other for a moment, Logan’s breath hitching at bit as he took in her barely there shorts and tank top. He prayed the push and pull of irritation and attraction wasn’t too obvious on his face.

  She glanced down at the bottle in his hand.

  “Is it a lot of work, cleaning houses?” she asked, a hand twirling around her sleek ponytail.

  He shrugged and turned slightly, so he could keep working on the table without the distraction of her eyes on him. The staging was already set up in this room, and a massive dining room table sat covered in dust. He didn’t know why someone would move furniture in before the builders were done, but he wasn’t here to ask questions. Just clean up.

  “It’s okay. I’ve always been pretty tidy. I like things being clean.” He bent over the table, gripping the rag a little tighter as he brushed it across the dark mahogany.

  She made a “ugh” noise and he turned his head to see her wrinkling her nose.

  “You like cleaning?”

  “I didn’t say that.” He moved to a chair, concentrating on a smudge to avoid her eyes. “I like things being clean. Orderly. It’s a pain to get it that way, but I do like the sense of accomplishment once it’s all over, though.”

  She didn’t say anything, and just watched him work for a moment.

  “Can I help?

  “I’m sorry, what?” Logan turned, to see if she was making fun of him. Her face was totally serious. She shrugged.

  “My dad has three other houses to look at on this street. I don’t want to just stand around.”

  “Why’d you come with him then?” Logan grimaced. He sounded more irritated than he really felt. It was kind of nice to have someone here to talk to while he worked.

  Another shrug.

  “He asked me to tag along. I didn’t have anything else to do.”

  “No Spencer or Marissa?”

  A dark look settled on her face.

  “No.”

  The word lay heavy between them. He ached to ask her more, but it wasn’t his place.

  Was it?

  “So are you just going to stand there watching, or do you want to help?” he said, giving in to her odd request.

  Her face lit up.

  “You really want me to help?” She clapped her hands and bounced on her heels.

  “Uh, have you ever cleaned anything before?” He narrowed his eyes and frowned. It wouldn’t do him any good spending time with her if it meant taking twice as long to clean up after her.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Of course.”

  He bit his lip.

  “I mean, like, really cleaned? Gotten down on your hands and knees and scrubbed a toilet?”

  “Well, no.” She flushed and looked down at her hands. “Maybe I could start with sweeping or something?”

  He laughed and went to grab a broom from the supplies by the front door, passing by some of his colleagues to get there. Two were college kids, new this summer, and they didn’t talk to Logan much. The older ladies that he’d worked with for the past two summers, however, raised their eyebrows at him as he walked by with broom in hand. His face grew hot under their amused smirks; he knew he’d have to deal with their questions later.

  “Let’s get started,” he said, handing the broom to her. She took it and turned it upside down so the bristles faced the ceiling.

  “Like this?” She gave him a quirky half smile that made him forget for a minute he was covered in dust and dirt. He laughed and she giggled, her eyes shining.

  They spent most of the next half hour laughing, with Cassie pretending to misunderstand every single direction Logan gave her. He’d tell he
r to wipe something down, and she’d throw the rag in the air asking ‘Like this?’ with a dopey grin on her face. Or when he told her to pass him a paper towel, she’d hand him the toilet paper instead. She was careful to not actually make anything messier, or make his job harder; she just made the whole thing more fun.

  “You’re not like I thought you’d be,” he said, watching her wipe a mirror with a cloth.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She turned to face him, hand still wiping.

  Logan looked down.

  “I meant it as a compliment,” he said, not looking at her. He suddenly felt very shy, despite the past half hour of confidently giving her directions. It had been nice knowing something she didn’t, even if was just how to properly wipe glass without making streaks. “You’re really funny.”

  “Thanks,” she said, her voice soft. He peeked up at her. She had that little half smile on her face again.

  “Cass, you don’t need to do that.” A deep voice behind Logan made his back shoot up straight and Cassie’s face pucker.

  “Dad! I didn’t see you there.” She hopped off the stool and flushed. “This is Logan…Hanes.”

  Heart beating wildly, Logan turned to face the large man in the doorway. He didn’t look much like Cassie. His hair was dark with streaks of gray and his wide shoulders took up nearly the entire doorway. A phone in his hand held most of his attention, but he looked up and took Logan in with a quick sweep of his eyes. Logan stood perfectly still, painfully aware of his dirty jeans and dusty t-shirt.

  “You did a nice job on this house. Thanks.”

  Logan let out the breath he’d been holding with a whoosh. He bobbed his head in thanks, and Cassie’s dad turned to leave.

  “It’s time to go Cass,” he called over his shoulder, not looking back.

  Cassie ran after him without a word to Logan.

  Logan stood there for a moment, holding the cloth Cassie had shoved into his hands in her rush to leave.