This Summer At The Lake

by Daphne James Huff

  They’d been to visit all three over winter break. The snow in the east didn’t scare her one bit, but the distance would be hard. In the back of her mind, she thought she’d go to UM Missoula with Marissa. She got accepted there, too, as a backup, but once the Columbia letter had arrived, her parents wouldn’t let her consider anything but Ivy League.

  Cassie sighed as she climbed into bed. She’d just agreed to yet another thing her dad wanted her to do. She was tired of living the life her parents planned for her, but also…it was kind of nice. Not having to make these kinds of choices on her own. Her independent streak wasn’t that big. Life was good for Cassie Hart, and always would be, if she just listened to her dad. He hadn’t steered her wrong yet, had he?

  So if he wanted her to befriend and help out Logan this summer, then that’s what she’d do.

  Chapter Four

  Logan made sure he was out of Cassie’s line of sight before he called Hideki.

  “Dude, I can’t do it. Can you come and get me?”

  Logan hated to admit that he needed help, and especially hated pulling his cousin out of a party (a good one, by the background sounds Logan could hear on the phone), but he’d have done the same in a heartbeat for Hideki.

  Both only children, the two cousins had considered each other as brothers since they were little and had alternated spending the summer at each other’s houses. Logan had always preferred the summers he was at the lake more than when Hideki was in Helena. The past three years he’d been able to convince his mom he could make more money over the summer at the lake, and she relented. He did miss his mom, though, when he was away, and he didn’t like thinking of her spending so many nights all alone in their apartment. His dad had been out of the picture for years and it had been just the two of them for as long as he could remember.

  Aunt Caroline assured Logan that it was good for his mom to have a little time for herself. Besides, everyone knew that Caroline was the better cook. She’d met her husband while living in Japan for a few years after college and she had learned to cook all the best dishes, and then combined them with Midwestern staples. His three months at the lake every summer were heaven for Logan. Luckily between the manual labor of his various summer jobs and the bike riding, he kept in pretty good shape.

  Not in good enough shape to avoid this injury, he thought miserably as he saw his cousin’s beat up Ford F-150 pull onto the side of the road.

  Logan looked behind him to be sure Cassie hadn’t followed him, and started to lift his bike into the truck bed.

  “Woah, let me help you,” Hideki called out the open window, rushing to open his door. Shaking his head, he ran around to the back. “I didn’t realize you were seriously hurt.”

  “It’s not serious,” mumbled Logan, as he watched his cousin lift the bike effortlessly with his two working shoulders. “Just a dislocated shoulder. I think.”

  “I should take you to the hospital then.”

  Logan shook his head.

  “Absolutely not.” He bit his lip. It wasn’t like his mom’s family didn’t know she had money trouble. After all, they were the ones hosting Logan every summer so that his mom could work longer hours. But Logan didn’t know if she’d told them she’d lost her job recently. No, not lost—left. Logan’s mom had been very specific with her words when she’d told him right after graduation a few weeks ago.

  “Fine, no hospital. Dr. Google, then?” Hideki grinned.

  “Way ahead of you.” Logan made his way to the passenger side and climbed in. Hideki took his seat again behind the wheel and they drove off.

  “Not to be an ass when you’re in pain, but this was not on the BSE list, man,” Hideki said with a shake of his head.

  “I didn’t do it on purpose,” grumbled Logan.

  They’d promised each other this would be the ‘Best Summer Ever’ at the lake before they both left for college. They’d even made a list. It wasn’t a complicated one: as many parties, as many girls, and as much money as possible. There were favorite spots and traditions on the list, too, but Hideki was right that getting seriously hurt was not on there.

  It stung a little how close Logan had been to home. In less than five minutes, they were at his aunt and uncle’s bungalow. It was small compared to the other houses in the area—he’d cleaned places that could fit their whole house into its foyer. But for someone who’d only ever lived in tiny two-bedroom apartments, it always felt like a palace when he visited. He used to share a bedroom with Hideki but this summer their schedules were so off, they’d be waking each other up all the time that way. So Logan was camped out in the office.

  Tonight, however, he didn’t hesitate to head straight to Hideki’s room.

  “I need to lay down on something high and flat,” he started. He sat down on his cousin’s bed and pulled out his phone to show him the video outlining the steps they’d need to take to put his shoulder back in place.

  Hideki’s eyes grew wide.

  “I know we’ve done some stupid stuff, but I don’t know if I can do that. What if I mess up your shoulder?”

  “It’s already messed up!” Logan cried, and grimaced at the bolt of pain his sudden jerky movements sent through his shoulder. “You just need to help me tie something to my arm to weigh it down.”

  After a bit more argument, and two more viewings of the video, Logan managed to convince Hideki that this would work. They set up in the kitchen, where the table was high enough he could lie on his stomach and let his arm hang over the side.

  Nearly delirious from pain and exhaustion at this point, Logan tried not to think too hard about what he was about to do as Hideki strapped a small barbell to his wrist with an ace bandage. Aunt Caroline would flip if she knew they were planning to use her antique table as a substitute for a hospital bed…again.

  This was probably the most serious injury they’d had to handle on their own; however. Thank goodness all Logan had planned for his day off was relaxing at the lake. Even if this worked, he’d be in no shape to do anything else the next day.

  The minutes dragged on as Logan waited for the weight attached to his wrist to slowly move his shoulder back in place. It had seemed the safest of the different techniques he’d found to help a dislocated shoulder, but it was the longest. And possibly the most painful.

  “So, how’d this happen?” Hideki asked, his eyes never leaving Logan’s face as it twisted in agony. Logan was 99% sure he’d pass out from the pain. Or throw up. Hideki did not like seeing anyone throw up.

  That was a big reason why until this ‘best summer ever,’ they’d never gone to any crazy parties. Sneaking a beer or two from the fridge when his parents were away was about the worst they’d ever done. Nowhere near barfing point.

  “Some jerk ran me off the road,” Logan said through gritted teeth. “Probably drunk. I was lit up like a Christmas tree in my jacket. No way they couldn’t see me.”

  Logan grunted and shifted a little on the table. In the rush to get started, they’d forgotten pillows to cushion the hard wood against his face. It was too late to mention it now. He’d handled so much pain already tonight, he could deal with laying on a flat surface for a few more minutes.

  “He didn’t stop?” Hideki’s eyebrows shot up.

  Logan attempted to shake his head against the table. That hurt and made the room start to spin. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The talking was helping distract him from the pain.

  “No. And to make matters worse, Cassie Hart drove by in her big-ass fancy truck and asked if I needed help.”

  “Who’s Cassie Hart?”

  “She’s this girl from school…” He trailed off, not sure how to explain. The town here was so small, they didn’t really have cliques. They barely had a basketball team.

  “She’s a cheerleader,” said Logan, finally. That should be a pretty universally understood stereotype, one that Cassie fit to a T.

  “Why would it be worse to have a hot cheerleader stop to help?” Hideki’s eyebro
ws were now scrunched in confusion.

  “I didn’t say she was hot!” Logan turned to glare at his cousin, but liquid fire shot through his shoulder and neck. He turned back to glare at the floor.

  “Duh, cheerleaders are always hot.” Logan didn’t have to see him to know he was rolling his eyes.

  “She’s this super popular—and fine, hot—cheerleader, who’s never spoken to me before despite sitting next to me for six years in homeroom. And tonight, of all nights, she sees me like this.” He gestures with his good arm down at his torn and dirty clothes, his arm hanging loosely by his side. “She kept asking if she could help me.”

  “And you said?”

  “Of course not! I don’t need her help! I can handle it on my own.”

  Logan shifted again on the table and cringed. Okay, maybe he couldn’t handle it entirely on his own. But he didn’t need someone like Cassie to help him, that’s for sure.

  “Just so I’m clear,” Hideki said, his eyes never leaving Logan’s face. “A hot rich girl stopped to help you and you said no?”

  “I didn’t say she was rich, either.”

  Another eye roll that was practically audible.

  “Super popular, drives a ‘big-ass fancy truck’ and up here in the summer from Helena? Totally rich.”

  Logan bit his tongue. Compared to him and his mom, everyone was rich. He was crazy jealous of Hideki and everything he had, while his cousin spent his time wishing he lived in one of the big houses by the lake. It was all so dumb. He couldn’t wait to get away to school, where no one knew him and no one knew he came from nothing. New York would be where he could make the life he wanted for himself. It would be so much better. It had to be.

  With a sudden shift, Logan’s shoulder seemed to lock back into place. The throbbing had dulled slightly, and the tightness in his chest loosened.

  “Hey, I think that’s it,” he said, sitting up slowly. He reached over to slide off the weight. When he gingerly touched his shoulder, he smiled, relief crashing over him. “Looks like it worked.”

  No expensive hospital trip needed.

  Hideki looked half relieved, half worried.

  “Great! But will you still head to the doctor tomorrow to check it out?”

  Logan groaned and swung his legs over the side of the table.

  “I thought all the nagging adults were away for the weekend.”

  Hideki shoved him on his uninjured side.

  “You have the whole summer at the restaurant and cleaning houses. You don’t want to miss any shifts because you can’t lift things.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Logan said, hopping off the table. “I’ll ice it right after I shower. Thanks for your help, man.”

  Hideki looked him up and down, his brows drawn together.

  “Do you…need any help in the shower?”

  Logan laughed. Hideki’s puckered face let Logan know he really wanted the answer to be no.

  “I think I can manage it. Thanks.”

  He raised his right hand for a high five that Hideki took a good ten seconds to return. Logan didn’t lower his arm while he waited, needing to show his cousin that he’d be okay. When he finally got the halfhearted slap against his palm, he smiled and headed off to the bathroom, alone at last.

  Chapter Five

  An incessant buzzing from her phone woke Cassie up the next morning. Swiping sleepily at the screen, she found a text message from her mom waiting.

  Sorry I won’t make it up there until next week. This charity thing is crazy. I swear they just can’t handle anything without me. Hope you’re having fun with your dad.

  A frown line appeared between Cassie’s perfectly groomed eyebrows. The whole reason she’d been dragged to the lake this summer was for family bonding time, but all three of them had only been together the first night. Her mom had gone back the very next day, citing issues with the charity event. Cassie knew the event was important to her mom, but this was getting a little ridiculous.

  Since marrying her dad right after college, her mom had never had to work. Instead, she had a 50-hour per week schedule of events and committee meetings and galas that Cassie could barely keep track of. But her mom seemed to be even busier than usual lately, not to mention distracted. Her parents had never been the super gushy romantic type, but the one night they’d all been at the lake house had felt off, somehow. There was something buzzing at the back of Cassie’s head about her mom working more being somehow related to her dad suddenly working less…

  But she was too tired to think about it that hard right now.

  At least they’d all be together once her sister Diana came up for the Fourth of July week. Her summer internship at a law firm in Helena kept her busier than both of her parents, but that week was a nonnegotiable. It always had been, ever since they’d been little. Their parents both took off the entire week, no exceptions. The party they threw was one of the highlights of the summer for their friends.

  Cassie didn’t care as much about the party as she did about finally having her big sister in the house. She had so much to talk to her about. What college should she choose? Why were their parents being super weird all of the sudden? And Cassie’s biggest concern she hoped her big sister could solve—how could she break up with Spencer without actually having to do it herself, thereby crushing her parents’ dream of a Huntington-Hart alliance? Her sister had broken nearly every heart there was at Helena Prep before she had gone off to school in California, their parents included.

  California. It was a happy daydream in the dreariness of Montana winters. Cassie had grown up hearing from everyone how beautiful Montana was, but California was something else entirely. When she’d been out to visit her sister at Stanford a few times, everything seemed lighter and brighter. The air even felt sunnier. But her parents were anxious for at least one of their daughters to go to Columbia. Yet something deep inside Cassie wanted to rebel and follow in her big sister’s footsteps. Di had done so well out there. Maybe Stanford would be the right place for Cassie, too?

  Groaning at the flurry of thoughts swirling around in her head before 8 a.m., Cassie flopped back down on her bed and covered her head with a pillow. She didn’t want to think about college, not yet. There was still the whole summer to worry about that. Well, maybe not the whole summer. Her dad would need to send a final check somewhere before September.

  Her phone buzzed again and she nearly cried. She needed at least another few hours of sleep, but the world seemed against her getting any at all.

  Hey are you up?

  It was Marissa. Before she could think too hard about the decision, Cassie dragged herself out of bed, stumbled out the door and made her way down the hall to the guest bedroom. Her eyes were barely open, but she knew the hallway here with her eyes closed. And much better than the hallway at her house in Helena, where her mother insisted on redecorating every few months. At home, Cassie was always running into a new table or painting when she would try to sneak back into her bedroom at night.

  Here at the lake house, nothing much had changed since she was little. They’d updated the kitchen and bathrooms ten years ago, but it was still the same cozy rustic wood interior and antlered decoration that she’d grown up with. The hall was and had always been mercifully free of random items for her to run into. The massive windows on one side looked out onto the cool, blue depths of the lake, but Cassie barely noticed it this morning with her eyes only half open.

  At the doorway to Marissa’s room, Cassie paused and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Seeing an equally bleary-eyed Marissa still laying flat on the bed, curled on her side with her phone in her hand, Cassie crawled wordlessly under the covers next to her and shut her eyes.

  “Sorry I was so wasted last night,” Marissa mumbled, her fingers tapping away. “And thanks for not posting any photos of me passed out online.”

  “Shhh, still sleeping.”

  “Did I do anything too stupid?”

  “Yes, you danced Coyote Ugly style at the bar.”
>
  “Shut up!” Marissa giggled, turning over to shove Cassie, who kept her eyes firmly shut. She considered telling her about all the dancing she’d actually done with Spencer but was too exhausted to work on her master plan. She had all summer to get the two of them together.

  “Just go back to sleep, I’m exhausted.”

  “We didn’t stay out that late, did we?”

  Cassie kept her mouth shut as tightly as her eyes. She didn’t want to admit to Marissa that she’d gone out again after dropping her off. And then there was the long and weird conversation with her dad, who was suddenly very interested in ‘the Hanes boy’ as he’d called Logan.

  With a sigh, Cassie rolled over and opened her eyes. Now that she was thinking about Logan and the promise she’d made to her dad, there would be no going back to sleep for a long time. She rubbed her eyes again and looked at the smiling and eager face of her best friend next to her in bed, a little pang whipping through her heart. Marissa’s dark curls were cute even when they were messy. They were physically total opposites, yet so alike in personality. Cassie would really miss her in the fall. Though she might not know if she’d be East Coast or West Coast, she hadn’t yet found a way to let Marissa know she was most definitely not going to Missoula with her.

  One secret at a time.

  “No, it wasn’t that late,” Cassie said with a smile, turning on her side to face Marissa. “And we’re up early enough to grab some breakfast at The Ranch.”

  Marissa’s eyes lit up.

  “Should we text Spencer to see if he wants to come?”

  Ignoring the lump forming in her stomach at her friend’s excitement, Cassie shook her head firmly.

  “Just girls today.”

  Marissa beamed, her crush on her best friend’s boyfriend apparently not so strong as to warrant giving up a girls-only brunch. Cassie’s wide smile of relief was brief.

  She really did need to break up with him soon.