Page 1 of Little Stolen Memories

CHAPTER 1

Cora Callahan kicked back in the worn leather recliner, smiling as she watched her friends dance to Usher’s “Yeah!” in the living room. The plan to take a trip with Brynn and Aubree before the trio headed off to separate colleges in the fall had taken weeks to put in motion. Once the arrangements were made, Cora moved on to step two: convincing her mother to allow her to take a weekend trip without parental supervision. It took some finagling, but in the end, she’d done it.

Her parents believed the three of them were spending the weekend at the beach.

In truth, they were nowhere near it.

They were in the woods at Cora’s grandmother’s summer cabin.

And they weren’t alone … their fellow classmates Aidan, Jackson, and Owen had joined them.

It was the perfect getaway for what Cora was sure would be a weekend none of them would forget. Brynn was dating Aidan, and Aubree was dating Jackson. That left Owen, who had been Cora’s next-door neighbor since they were seven.

Cora and Owen had shared many memories over the years, and in recent months, her feelings for him had begun to change. What started out as a childhood friendship had blossomed into something more, and Cora found herself struggling to decide the best way to tell him. She was ninety percent sure Owen shared her feelings. But that stubborn ten percent kept her lips sealed, and she’d pushed her feelings down, down, down until she’d all but convinced herself she no longer had them.

Tonight, it was all about to change.

Tonight, she’d tell him everything.

Thinking about it now, her heart raced.

“Come on, Cora,” Aubree said, waving her over. “Dance with us.”

Cora looked at Aubree, whose long, blond hair was bouncing up and down to the beat of the song, and said, “I’m waiting for Owen.”

“You don’t need Owen in order to dance,” Aubree said.

“I know. It’s just … we’re supposed to go for a walk.”

Aubree glanced outside. “In the dark?”

“We have flashlights. We’ll be fine.”

“Where is Owen, anyway?” Aubree asked. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”

“He was outside earlier,” Jackson said. “He went to get his glasses. He left them in the car.”

“When?” Cora asked.

Jackson shrugged. “I dunno. Been a while, I guess.”

Cora shot out of the recliner and walked to the door, opening it, and flicking the porch light on. She cupped a hand to the side of her mouth and shouted, “Owen? Are you out here?”

She was met with silence.

Poking her head outside, Cora glanced in all directions, shouting his name a few more times. When she got the same results as before, she pulled a mini flashlight out of her pocket and clicked it on, shining it in the direction of Owen’s car.

Nothing suspicious there.

Still, she was beginning to worry.

She stepped back inside the cabin and said, “If he was out there, he isn’t now.”

“What did you say?” Aubree asked.

Cora walked over to the stereo and lowered the volume. “Owen’s not outside. I mean, he’s not answering when I call his name.”

“Have you tried looking upstairs?” Jackson asked. “Maybe he’s in his room. Brynn and Aidan are in theirs, spending … ahh, time together.”

---