Page 22 of The Summer for Us


Font Size:

She didn’t look away when our gazes locked. Instead, her right brow lifted slightly. She kept her eyes on me even as she brought her wine glass up to her lips. I liked her confidence, and I liked how she didn’t look away.

The rest of the dinner conversation flowed smoothly. Juliette shared more about her time in Golden Falls. She’d only been here for a couple of weeks and was already on a first name basis with a handful of the residents, including Hal. Honestly, if you had Hal’s approval, you had nothing to worry about.

Lily talked about her café and the rest of her plans for the summer. Cooper brought up how he was looking forward to spending time with the summer camp kids through the educational programming the park rangers helped out with.

I stayed quiet, mostly, more excited to hear what everyone else was up to than to share what’d been going on with me. But when my mom asked about the bar, I mentioned the busy summer season at Lake Ridge and how I’d been wanting to talk with Eliza about picking up some bartending shifts if she was still looking for an evening gig when she got back from her trip.

Lily turned to Juliette. “Oh, we should really stop by Wes’s bar one of these nights before Eliza starts working there, especially on a night when he lets me take over the music.”

“You don’t give me much of a choice.” I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile that tugged on my lips. As much as I pretended to be annoyed, the nights Lily controlled the music were the nights we had the highest drink sales and people stayed right up until bar close.

She had a natural knack for reading the room and identifying what people wanted to listen to. Every time she visited, she’d curate a playlist with pop, country, and rock hits and throwbacks. I planned to use her playlists even on nights when she didn’t stop by.

Juliette hummed, an amused smile on her lips as she looked between me and Lily. “Sounds like a plan. I’ve been needing a good night out, especially if there’s dancing.”

“I’ll see what works for Eliza once she’s back. We have so many plans for the summer!” Lily said with a laugh.

I knew my sister, and I knew how easily she got attached. And how easily she tended to get hurt.

Lily could handle her own—I knew that—but I hoped she wasn’t forming a close friendship with someone who was simply going to forget about her after the summer was over. Juliette said so herself she was thinking about what her next stop would be. But after hearing about how she was getting to know everyone, how she was taking time out of her night to havedinner with my family, I had a feeling she’d leave her mark on Golden Falls.

Either way, she was leaving at the end of the summer. That much was clear.

“Oh! I got a text back from Jade,” Lily exclaimed as her phone screen lit up with a message from our sister. “She finished up her shift and got back to the apartment and can talk for a few minutes to say hi.”

I was close with both of my sisters, but growing up, I’d spent more time with Jade, likely because we were closer in age. I was the oldest, Jade was two years younger than me, and Lily was eight years younger than me.

When Lily and Jade weren’t together, Jade was hanging out with Cooper and me.

We had countless memories of getting up to the wildest shit, sneaking around, and staying up too late. We were always up to something.

Things obviously changed as we got older, and especially when Cooper and I were going off to college. Even when we’d visit for the weekends or stay longer in the summer, things were different. Good, but different. It wasn’t until Jade graduated from college and decided to go out to California that things changed. Cooper and Jade would get under each other’s skin more often than not when they spoke.

“Hey, Lil. Hey, everyone,” Jade greeted after picking up the FaceTime. “How’s dinner?”

“It’s great.” Lily’s whole face lit up at the sight of our sister. “We’re just missing you! Thought we could say a quick hi. You must be tired from your shift.”

“I am, but I’m excited to see you guys. It’s been a while since I’ve called.”

I admired my sister a hell of a lot for the work she did and how much she cared for others. It wasn’t an easy task, and from the sound of her voice, I could tell it had been a long day.

Lily turned the phone so it was on her and Juliette. “I also wanted to introduce you to Jules. She’s staying at the cabin this summer.”

“Nice to meet you, Jules. Glad you’re able to enjoy the cabin. I didn’t realize Mom and Dad were renting it out. How’s Wes?” Apart from Cooper, Jade was the only other person who knew more about what happened with Gretchen.

Lily didn’t put the two together, thinking Jade was asking how I was doing overall. “Oh, Wes is fine.” She waved her hand to dismiss Jade’s concerns. “Grumpier than usual. Here, see him for yourself.” Lily reached over the table, handing me the phone.

“Hey, sis. Yeah, I’m fine,” I assured her with a nod. It’d been too long since I’d checked in on her. “It’s good to see you. Figured you were off busy saving the world. You taking care of yourself?” I held the phone out, making sure Cooper was in the frame, too. For a second, I thought our connection had frozen or Jade hadn’t heard me, because her face went blank.

“Oh, uh, y-yeah. Trying to, at least,” she stammered and offered a tentative smile. “Cooper, hey. It’s, um, good to see you.”

Cooper, who normally was smooth and always had something to say, looked just as paralyzed. These two were acting like awkward fucking teenagers. I elbowed his side, which caused him to clear his throat and offer one of the most strained smiles I’d ever seen from him.

“Hey, Jade,” was all that came from Cooper.

What the hell?

We continued to pass the phone around, my mom taking the most time as we talked with Jade over the next twenty minutes. She told us about Hawaii, her patients, and the hospital, likelysharing just the highlights and leaving out the painful or difficult parts of her day. After working twelve-hour shifts over the last three days, Jade had a few days off. She planned to do some hiking with her coworkers who also had time off, as well as spend time on the beach.