Page 3 of Our Darkest Summer
I woke up to sunlight burning through my eyelids. Shielding my eyes, I scooted closer to the middle seat, sighing in relief as the shade swallowed me. Connor was asleep in the passenger seat, his head tipped back. The soft hum of music from the radio mixed with the steady whoosh of the road beneath us.
I stretched, glancing at the dashboard clock. 4:17 p.m.We had been on the road for over four hours. A yawn crept up my throat as I peeked out the window. The view had shifted into something out of a painting. Tall trees, rolling green meadows scattered with colorful wildflowers. My feet numbed while I was asleep, and I quickly changed position, pushing my green Converse off and pulling my legs up to the seat. As soon as I relaxed back against the warm leather, the side of my face tingled. I turned my head away from the road, and my eyes met with another in the rearview mirror.
My stomach flipped. Thomas’ gaze was impossibly dark as he observed me. It crept down to my bones, until I felt as bare as if I was sitting naked here. I looked away, boring my eyes back into the passing scenery while my heart rattled against my ribs. I couldn’t remember the last time we locked eyes. It was probably back in February, before he started avoiding me like the plague.
Just after our parents suddenly announced that they not only knew each other but were starting a fake relationship to expandtheir client lists. He had cut off every thread from me, leaving me to spend months trying to figure out if I did something wrong.
Because it couldn’t have been just about our parents playing house to rake in more business, could it?
I didn’t think so, but I never asked. And I probably never will.
Still, there were nights, days, and long hours when I caught myself missing our bickering and chess matches. His snarky comments…Him. I grimaced. Maybe it wasn’t him I missed, just the familiarity. The nostalgia of something I had lost months ago.
That was why, when my mom and Joshua suggested I accompany the boys on their trip up to their old lake house—for show—my first answer was a confident no. What else would it have been? I didn’t want to be part of their act. And I most definitely wanted to stay as far away from Thomas Rhodes as possible. He hurt me once, I wasn’t about to give him a chance to hurt me again.
But Connor had decided he was going to convince me no matter what. He spent hours talking about how much fun we’d have, and didn’t leave me alone until I at least promised to think about it. Then somehow, in the past couple of days, he actually succeeded.
But there was something else. Something that nagged at the back of my mind.
Connor had told me neither of them had set foot in that house for twelve years. He didn’t elaborate but his body did: his voice was off, he avoided eye contact, and he kept tapping on his thighs. And the fact, that all of the sudden, Thomas wanted to go, and Connor wasn’t about to miss out on the opportunity even when he showed clear signs of nervousness, led me to wonder.
Why switch from every summer on Martha’s Vineyard—warm sand and salty air—to one of Maine’s isolated lakes?
Maybe it was nothing. Maybe I was just being overly suspicious. But knowing Thomas, he always had a reason. He just didn’t like to share what it was.
So, this was how I found myself in the car with the boy I wanted to stay far away from. Led by my stupid curiosity.
I glanced at Thomas just as he ran a hand over his dark waves. There was something so familiar about the motion it made me wince. Suddenly, I started to regret the decision I made by coming. But it was too late. There was no going back now. The best thing I could do was lock myself in a room and try to survive the week-long getaway where we were supposed to havefun.
Fun.
Fun.
Fun.
Chapter Two
Kinsley
Welcome to Coldwater, Maine. Where the Lake Remembers Your Name.
I blinkedat the green sign on the side of the road. The motto was probably meant to be welcoming, but I couldn’t shake the creepiness of it. Why would a lake remember my name? Why would they use personification like that? I stretched my arms and slipped my Converse back on.
According to Wikipedia, only 3,065 people lived in this town. Then again, those sites could only be trusted so much. I pressed my nose closer to the window as we drove through what looked like the main thoroughfare. It was lined with charming Victorian townhouses, restaurants, cafés, and small shops on the ground floors, but it notably lacked pedestrian traffic. Which, for a lake town, mid-summer, was strange. Not that I minded. I needed to detox from the crowded city anyway. Still, the few people we did pass made the small hairs stand on the back of my neck. Each of them turned after us with a nosy, suspicious look. What they said about small towns seemed to be true: there was no such thing as privacy here.
“Ahh, I missed this place.” Connor’s voice broke the low hum of the air conditioner, and I drew away from the window. “I didn’t remember it until—” He didn’t finish his sentence, instead he moved closer to the window, almost knocking his forehead against the glass. “Isn’t that Kevin? Kevin Miller. He was your friend, wasn’t he?” he asked Thomas, who just shrugged without taking his attention off the road. “Come on, pull over.” Connor nudged, his gaze moving between Kevin and his brother.
“I’m not going to—” Thomas grunted before frowning. “That doesn’t work on me, and you know that.”
The annoyance in his voice was enough for me to know, Connor must have tried his famous puppy eyes on him.
“Just stop the car, T,” he sighed, “Jesus.”
The corner of Thomas’ mouth twitched upward at his brother’s annoyance, but the car began to slow. We pulled over in front of an old movie theater, and Connor rolled down his window while I sunk into the seat, as if it would make me invisible. After six hours in the car, I wasn’t up for any interactions.
“Kevin!” Connor called out to the boy, who by some miracle heard him over his headphones and turned around with a frown. He sheltered his eyes from the sun, a smile appearing on his face as he must’ve recognized the boys.
“Rhodes!” He crossed the sidewalk and leaned inside of the car, reaching past Connor to shake hands with Thomas first. “Nice car,” he said, resting his elbows on the window frame. “BMW X5?” Thomas slightly nodded, to which Kevin reacted with a whistle. “I wasn’t expecting you unt—” He bit the word in half, his eyes widening in a way people’s do when they blurt out something unintentionally.
