This Summer At The Lake

by Daphne James Huff

  He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him, and he wasn’t sure why. Was it the sudden ditching? The unexpected meeting with her father? He shook his head. Cleaning houses together for a few minutes didn’t change anything. She was just someone to talk to about Columbia and New York.

  So why was his heart squeezed so tightly in his chest?

  A buzz from his phone jerked him out of a spiral into extreme moodiness.

  Sorry about that! My dad is not someone you say no to.

  Logan breathed a sigh of relief. He could definitely understand that. He sent off a reply before he could think too hard about it.

  Too bad. You were really showing promise there as a potential assistant cleaner.

  He was pleased at how cool he managed to come off in his messages with her. If only he could be like that when she was actually around him.

  Maybe tomorrow could be the next lesson?

  He stared at the phone, reading three times to make sure he understood.

  You really want to spend all day cleaning with me tomorrow? he asked.

  Well… no, came her quick reply.

  His fleeting hope vanished like a puff of dust.

  But I can drive you. She added a smiley face to the end of the message.

  It didn’t seem real that someone like Cassie would actually want to hang out with him. But then he remembered the Columbia thing and that the only reason she’d have anything to do with him was because of school.

  I do have a few more questions about New York, if that’s okay?

  There. This way she knew he wasn’t interested and it wouldn’t be awkward for her. He worried he’d come on a little strong with his comment on her being funny. He could practically see Hideki rolling his eyes at that one.

  Of course! That’s what I’m here for. See you tomorrow.

  Logan suddenly couldn’t wait to clean houses again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Finally!” Cassie squealed as her big sister stepped out of the car with their mom. She ran out the front door, still emitting a high pitched noise of excitement and ran to give Diana a hug.

  With less than a week to go before the Fourth of July, Cassie had been worried that her mom and sister wouldn’t actually come. Even the night before, Di had ignored her beseeching texts demanding to know their arrival time.

  “Are you that bored you’re excited to see your dull lawyer big sister?”

  “You have no idea,” said Cassie, pulling out of the hug with a huge sigh. “Dad makes me watch baseball while we eat dinner.”

  Di widened her eyes and pulled down her open mouth in mock horror.

  “Not baseball! What a barbarian. I bet it was all frozen dinners, too?”

  “Di, it’s been terrible.” Cassie linked arms with her sister and walked her into the house. They left her bags in the car, knowing that someone would be along soon to take them in. Along with their mom, some of their staff had arrived to start the preparations for the party. Cassie had enjoyed the break from the constant commotion of a house full of people and staff, but it would be nice to finally eat properly and not have to remind her father to buy food.

  As they passed by the head maid, however, Cassie stopped to ask that they not clean her room anymore. The gray-haired woman nodded without comment.

  Di, however, had a lot to say about that.

  “What’s this? You’ve finally learned to clean up after yourself?” Di raised an eyebrow.

  Cassie flushed.

  “Well there’s no maid at Columbia, is there?”

  “True. Wait, does that mean you’ve finally decided?”

  “I guess so…” Cassie trailed off as they walked into the living room. The sun was pouring in through the wide wall of windows, but the house had never seemed this bright until today. Having her whole family together made all the difference in how the house felt.

  “Does that mean there’s still time to convince you that the west coast and Cali boys are the way to go?” Di wiggled her eyebrows and Cassie giggled.

  “That does sound tempting. Anything would be better than Montana boys.” Cassie ignored the image of Logan laughing while she swept floors yesterday, as a little voice inside her whispered ‘not all Montana boys.’

  “Uh oh. What did Spencer do now?”

  Cassie hesitated, a lump forming in her throat as she considered how to reply. Her dad hadn’t questioned her about where she was going when she’d driven Logan to work the past few days, still assuming she was with Spencer. Everyone still assumed this, since Cassie still hadn’t mentioned the breakup to anyone. What would she tell them in a few days when he most definitely did not make an appearance at their party? What if he showed up with Marissa instead?

  She told herself this was what she’d wanted. This was her life to live. Her parents didn’t decide who she dated, any more than they decided where she went to school…even if they kind of already had.

  “We broke up,” Cassie said firmly, swallowing the lump in her throat once and for all. Di dropped onto the couch, open-mouthed.

  “Wow! Looks like California it is, then!”

  A buzz from her phone drew Cassie’s attention. She smiled when she saw the name.

  “Uh oh, maybe not.” Di leaned forward and snagged the phone. “Whoever could be making you so smiley if not the charming Mr. Huntington?”

  Cassie made a squawk of annoyance and grabbed for her phone.

  Di held it high above her head as looked at the name with her brows furrowed.

  “Logan Hanes?” She raised an eyebrow at Cassie.

  “Does everyone know him?” Cassie let out a frustrated sigh. “Is he like, secretly famous or something?”

  Di shook her head, handing Cassie back her phone.

  “It’s nothing, just the Hanes name seems familiar. Does he have an older brother I may have dated?”

  Cassie laughed.

  “No, but way to rub it in my face that you were more popular than me.”

  Di shrugged.

  “I can’t help it if I’m the pretty one.” She fanned herself with a hand, leaning back in a model’s posture to let her long blond hair tumble out artfully behind her. They were practically clones of each other and both plenty beautiful. Cassie knew it, but five years made a big difference. She could still remember sitting on her sister’s bed as a gawky ten-year-old watching Di get ready for dates. A different guy every Friday, it seemed like. Now she claimed she was too busy between law school and internships for a boyfriend. If their mom didn’t get her fill of harping on Cassie about colleges tonight at dinner, she’d turn on Di to start offering suggestions on finding an eligible bachelor to bring home for dinner.

  “But seriously, Cass,” Di sat up and crossed one leg over the other, leaning on the armrest to stare at her. “Is this something serious?”

  “Oh, my gosh, no!” Cassie screeched, looking around to make sure no one was in the room. “It’s just a thing for Columbia. He’s going there in the fall and it’s a new student match thing. We’re just talking about New York and classes and stuff.”

  Di pursed her lips and stared at Cassie.

  “Fine,” she said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. It was most definitely not ‘fine’ but Cassie appreciated her sister being willing to move on to other topics. “So what’s the deal with Spencer?”

  Relieved to finally have someone to talk to about everything, Cassie launched into a long explanation of all the pressure Spencer had been putting on her and what a jerk he’d been at the restaurant, but left out the fact that Logan had been the waiter. That really wasn’t the important part, but how Spencer had treated her after. When she got to the revelation about something happening between the Harts and the Huntingtons, Di frowned.

  “Do you know what it’s about?” Cassie asked, eying her sister carefully. Di was usually pretty good at hiding her emotions, being the future lawyer and all. But she looked distinctly troubled.

  “What did dad say when you asked him?” Di asked,
her eyes not quite meeting Cassie’s.

  “Just that it was a business thing. He said Mr. Huntington introduced him to some business contacts.”

  “Hmm,” was all Di said.

  Cassie waited to see if there was more. When her sister remained silent, she decided to just let it drop. Spencer was out of the picture, she still hadn’t talked to Marissa since that night, and she was thinking about Logan more than she really wanted to. Her promise to her dad about helping Logan had not involved daydreaming about his dimpled smile and the way his eyes had lit up when he got into her car that morning. She had enough to worry about without adding whatever drama her dad and Spencer’s dad had going on.

  “Tell me about what’s going on in California,” Cassie said, though she’d already been out to visit her over spring break. Her sister’s life seemed so glamorous, and her friends all very sophisticated. She studied like crazy but at night they’d been out to restaurants and gone sightseeing all weekend.

  “Are you really considering it?”

  “Considering what?” Their mom’s voice rang out from the other side of the room. She’d just walked in from the backyard, where people were measuring for the tents and the landscapers were getting things into shape. The two sisters turned to look at their mother, a third perfect blonde clone without even so much as a wrinkle on her surgically-enhanced forehead. In her pastel pink skirt suit, their mom was like a life-size version of ‘Charity Planner Barbie.’ Meanwhile, Di was in a pair of cutoffs and an oversized Stanford tank top. Cassie’s look was a mirror image of her sister’s, though she knew Di had a closet full of skirt suits just like their mom. Cassie got a brief flash of herself in a similar suit, parading through the streets of Los Angeles…and then it shifted to Manhattan. And she wasn’t walking alone.

  “She’s considering joining me in California,” said Di, not trying to hide the giddiness in her voice. “Stanford, here she comes!”

  Their mom raised an eyebrow and walked over to sit on the chair facing them on the couch.

  “I thought we’d agreed on Columbia?”

  “I don’t…” Cassie looked back and forth between her mom and her sister, both with wide eyes as they waited for her answer. She put her hands under her legs, and took a deep breath. “Do I really need to decide right this second?”

  The two women leaned back in their seats and sighed.

  “You should have decided months ago,” said her mom. “At this rate we’ll need to find you an apartment since the dorms will be full, no matter where you choose. That will get expensive.”

  Cassie’s forehead crinkled as she took in this odd comment. This was the first time she’d heard her mother worry about the cost of anything.

  “Can we wait until after the party?” Cassie was hoping by then she’d be done with helping Logan and could spend some time thinking about what she wanted in the fall.

  “Fine,” her mother said in the tone that meant it wasn’t fine but she was done talking about it. “Speaking of the party, the Huntingtons haven’t RSVP’d yet. Has Spencer said anything to you?”

  Cassie looked to her sister, who was studying her nails. Di wouldn’t tell her secret, but now that it was out in the world, it seemed pointless to keep it quiet any longer.

  “I wouldn’t know, I haven’t talked to him in days,” Cassie said. She took a deep breath. What’s the worst that could happen? “We broke up.”

  Apparently, the worst turned out to be a two-hour fight.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Every day since Logan had given Cassie a cleaning lesson, she’d driven him to work in the morning, and then to the restaurant at night. The first few days he’d been quiet, unused to spending so much time with anyone other than Hideki and his family. But once he started asking questions, it was hard to stop. It was incredible to hear so much about New York, but he felt guilty for taking so much of her time.

  “I’m sure you have other things to do this summer,” he said on the third day of their new routine.

  “Like keg parties?” She arched a brow at him. She was wearing the same cutoffs from the night she’d stopped on the side of the road.

  Not that he noticed stuff like that.

  “Seriously though,” he pressed her a bit. “I want to be sure I’m not keeping you from anything. I don’t think this is what Columbia had in mind when they matched me with your dad.”

  She waved a hand.

  “It’s helping me too.”

  He frowned.

  “How?”

  She gave him a half smile, the one that he’d picture sometimes right before he fell asleep at night.

  “It’s a nice break from all the keggers.”

  He hadn’t asked her that again, but there were plenty of other questions he had for her. Eventually he did run out of New York topics and they made their way into the getting-to-know-each-other kinds of questions that he’d been so hesitant to ask. Surprisingly, she was more than willing to open up. And even more surprisingly, Logan found out they had a lot of stuff in common.

  “Favorite food?” he asked.

  “Macaroni and cheese.”

  Excellent choice.

  “Coffee or tea?”

  “Tea. Coffee is so gross.”

  Agreed.

  “Favorite movie?”

  “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist.”

  “Shut up, no it’s not.” His mouth popped open. It just wasn’t possible.

  “It totally is! Why? Is that weird?” Her brows scrunched up, and she twisted her mouth into a little frown. He’d noticed himself staring at her mouth more and more during the rapid fire questioning session in the short drive to the restaurant.

  “It’s just…that’s my favorite, too,” he said as heat crept up his neck and into his cheeks. “It’s the one that made me want to go live in New York one day.”

  She pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and turned to smile at him. Her eyes were sparkling.

  “It made me want to live in New York, too.”

  He messed up five drink orders that night and had to give up a fair chunk of his tips to keep his coworkers happy, but he just couldn’t get the picture of him and Cassie in New York out of his mind.

  It was stupid, he told himself. Just because they both liked mac n’ cheese and a random movie, that didn’t mean anything.

  Did it?

  One night, just a few days before the Fourth of July, Cassie showed up after Logan’s shift at the restaurant. Hideki was already there waiting for him, and when they saw Cassie get out of her car, his cousin let out a low whistle.

  “Seriously, shut up, Hideki,” Logan hissed at him. Cassie spotted them and waved Logan over, but he stayed put. “I don’t want to go with her.”

  “Why not? Pretty sure riding around in cars at night with hot cheerleaders is key to the best summer ever. Even if it’s not technically on the BSE list.”

  “I smell like the restaurant, that’s why!” Logan flushed. He knew his cousin had noticed all the extra time he was spending getting ready for his shifts now. Even his aunt had commented once or twice on the sudden increase in gel and cologne usage. Logan knew it wouldn’t make much of a difference—he could never compare to someone like Spencer—but he was still hoping to erase that very first impression he’d made on her, dirty and broken on the side of the road.

  Hideki called out to Cassie across the parking lot.

  “He says he stinks! Maybe next time?”

  Cassie threw up her hands and marched over. It was the same look she’d had when forcing him to go to the doctor. Logan wasn’t sure why he even bothered resisting at this point.

  “Come on, let’s go to the lake,” she said when she was within hearing distance. She looked at Hideki and smiled, though her eyes looked moist with recently dried tears. “You coming with us, Hideki?”

  “Dude, she remembered my name,” he said in a stage whisper. “And even said it right.”

  Logan closed his eyes and wished he were anywhere
else in the world.

  “No thanks, I had to pause a seriously intense game of Madden to come out here. He’s all yours.”

  Logan’s face grew hot and he took a deep breath to stop himself from punching his cousin in front of Cassie.

  “Let’s go,” she said, and grabbed Logan’s hand. She practically dragged him over to her car.

  “Woah, what’s up?” He tried to ignore the tingling in his hand and focused on her frown.

  “Nothing, just family stuff. I don’t want to be at home right now.”

  Logan’s eyebrows drew together. They’d never gotten this personal before in their conversations, beyond the recent revelation of their shared love of New York movies. And that time she mentioned her first kiss in Bryant Park.

  Not that he still thought about that.

  “Wouldn’t you rather be with Spencer or Marissa?”

  “We broke up, okay?” She dropped his hand and turned to face him. Her angry eyes softened when she saw Logan’s open mouthed surprise. “Sorry, it’s just part of all the family drama tonight. We broke up that night we were at the restaurant, and I only told my parents tonight. They were not happy about it.”

  She unlocked the car and opened her door with a frustrated huff. Logan walked slowly to the other side, slightly regretting now not going home with Hideki. This was not what he’d expected to be doing tonight and he didn’t like feeling unprepared.

  He thought about everything he’d said and done in the past few weeks. She hadn’t been with Spencer nearly the whole time she’d been spending time with him. Did that mean something?

  Logan sat in silence as she maneuvered out of the parking lot, wracking his brain for how best to respond to the bombshell news. Hopefully better than her parents had.

  “Why does it matter to your parents that you guys broke up?”

  She shook her head.

  “There’s a big party they throw every year on the Fourth of July. The Huntingtons usually come, and a lot of other people. They’re worried this year they won’t show, and it’ll be bad for Dad’s business. He gets a lot of clients from Mitch Huntington.”