Chapter 12
Kinsley
Chapter Twelve
Was it a good idea to go out the day after someone left a threatening note on the front door? Probably not, but I was curious and wanted to see the town. Maybe I will even learn something that could be useful later.
A light blue Jeep was parked outside the house, and Aaliyah waved to me from the driver’s seat. I hurried down the stairs and jumped into the passenger’s seat, readjusting my dark blue top. The sun was hot against my skin, and I glanced toward the dark lake while Aaliyah turned on the engine. As soon as we rolled up to the road leading toward Coldwater, she put on a familiar song. It took me a second to realize it was one of those songs Connor always listened to while he studied—or did basically anything. Sometimes he would just barge into my dorm room and make me dance with him. He especially loved to do that when it was finals week, and I haven’t left the room for a while. It’s somehow become our thing, especially this past term when I had the tendency to be a bed gremlin. I could now recognize Taylor Swift anywhere. Aaliyah sang along with the song while also drumming the rhythm with her fingers on the wheel. Without realizing it, I started to hum, too, my lips curling upward into a smile.
Aaliyah glanced toward me while she sang. “Come on, sing.” She laughed, the wind blowing her baby hairs back. She grabbed my hand, leaving only one on the steering wheel, and raised it up out of the car, the wind crashing against it.
A laugh bubbled up in my throat at the sudden freeing feeling that came over me, and I started to sing. I was never much of a singer, which meant I probably sounded terrible, but as the two of us sang together while the summer breeze played with our hair and the sun caressed our skin, I somehow didn’t care. I screamed the next few lines with a laugh, and Aaliyah raised our crossed hands up to the sky again as she screamed too.
The town’s welcome sign came sooner than I wanted it to, and we turned down the music while Aaliyah navigated the car up to the main street. Coldwater looked exactly how I remembered it. The only difference was that now the streets were a lot more crowded. Aaliyah found a parking space in front of a café, and we got out of the car.
“The only good street in town. Whatever you need, you will find it here.” She smiled. “Movie? Dinner? Ice cream?—”
“I think I got it.” I laughed.
“So, what would you like to see first?” she asked, her dark brown eyes turning toward me. “There’s the library.” She pointed at a big brick building. “And that’s our old school, but it’s kind of lame,” she added, pointing at another building.
I could kill for an iced coffee, but my eyes suddenly stopped on a small shop that looked like it sold souvenirs. “There,” I said. “I’ll just buy one postcard, and then maybe we can get a coffee?” I asked, and Aaliyah laughed. I knotted my brows at her, confused.
“It’s such a shame my parents are out of town, they would have loved you,” she said, linking our arms. “They own a café.” She pointed at the other side of the town square, and I followed her finger. It was too far away for me to get a good look at where she was pointing, but I nodded.
“It’s actually why they are not here. They went to Costa Rica to try out new coffee beans,” she explained. “Of course, they left me and my sister behind to run the business.” She sighed, and I gave her a sympathetic look. “But we could stop by after you buy the postcard.”
“That would be great,” I smiled.
“I will just text Cora to meet us there. She wanted to come with me this morning but had to help her mom out at the last minute.” We stepped into the small shop stuffed with paintings, magnets, and postcards, and I mumbled an “Okay” to Aaliyah, my attention already focused on the postcard stands. There were a lot more options than I expected, but after spending five minutes trying to decide between two, I finally chose the one with the lake on it.
“That’s a nice one,” Aaliyah said while we walked to the cashier.
I felt stupid buying this, but I knew I would regret it if I didn’t. I put the postcard down on the counter and noticed a map collection of Coldwater hanging behind the cashier’s back.
“And one of those, please,” I added, pointing at the one that had the lake and the lake houses visible on it.
Two minutes later, we were on our way to Aaliyah’s family’s café. Aaliyah raised her hand from where she was walking next to me and waved. A blonde girl standing under a big sign with Sunnyside Hideout Café written on it, waved back at us.
The café was between a beauty salon and an abandoned-looking flower shop with a For Sale sign on it. I must have lingered in front of the shop, because Aaliyah leaned closer with a whisper.
“The owner died,” she explained, and I bit into my cheek. “My parents are thinking about buying it.” She sighed. “They say it would be nice to expand the café, but to be honest, it creeps me out.”
I could imagine why.
We left the flower shop behind and stopped in front of the blonde girl. “Cora, this is Kinsley. Kinsley, Cora, my girlfriend,” Aaliyah introduced us.
“Nice to meet you.” I held out a hand and Cora took it. “I heard a lot about you.” I smiled. It wasn’t even a lie, despite having only met Aaliyah less than a day ago.
Cora’s smile widened, too, at my words, and Aaliyah rolled her eyes at her. “Hi,” Cora said after a moment, shaking my hand. “I’m sorry I missed your tour, but I hope it went well.”
“It did,” I replied with a nod.
“See.” Aaliyah opened the door to the café. “I told you I’m a great tour guide. She even bought a postcard.” She pointed at my hand, and I raised it with a chuckle.
“You really did.” Cora smiled. “I’m impressed,” she said as we stepped into the café.
“Thank you.” Aaliyah grinned. “And thank you for lending me your car as well,” she added, kissing Cora and dropping the Jeep’s keys into her palm.
I tried to pay attention to the rest of their conversation, but the view took my breath away. Aaliyah’s parents’ café was definitely straight out of a romance novel. It had a cozy, woody design with white and lilac colors. We found a free table next to the window with a clear view of the town square. It was more like a park with flowers and a white gazebo in the middle of it. Every road in the town led there; it was like a big roundabout.
“Look who showed up,” someone said, and I turned my gaze up to a girl, probably in her late twenties, standing next to our table. She was wearing a lilac apron with a name tag on it.
“Kinsley, meet my sister, Lila.” Aaliyah sighed, not even glancing at her sister. “She’s mad at me because she says I forgot to come to work this morning, but I didn’t. I texted her that I had other things to do.”
“Hi.” Lila smiled at me before she turned back to her sister, all the niceness disappearing from her face. “And you did not,” she replied, crossing her arms.
Now that I knew they were siblings I could see the similarities between the two of them. I glanced at Cora who looked back at me with an awkward shrug.
“I did,” Aaliyah argued. “You should check your phone sometimes, grandma.”
Lila opened her mouth but then closed it. Her nostrils flared and she blew out a long breath. “What can I get you girls?” She turned her attention back to us, forcing a smile to her face.
Cora ordered a strawberry milkshake, and Aaliyah, after exchanging some evil sibling stares with Lila, ordered a caramel macchiato. I, on the other hand, stuck with a basic iced coffee.
“And some of those heavenly doughnuts, please. The new ones,” Aaliyah added, right before Lila stepped away from our table to take another order.
“Ooo, there are new ones?” Cora sounded excited, and Aaliyah bowed her head with a smile.
“There are crumb ones and sprinkle ones, and my personal favorite is the one filled with lemon,” she said with a dreamy voice. Her eyes wandered toward me. “My sister’s just upset because business is not as good this year as it was last year,” she started, and I raised my brows at the sudden change of subject. “She thinks we will turn into a ghost town,” she explained, leaning onto the table.
“Aaliyah,” Cora hissed disapprovingly.
“What? Can’t I gossip about my own sister? Believe me, she gave me hell when we were teens; let me have my revenge,” she answered, and I chuckled.
“Why would the town—” I wanted to ask, but Aaliyah cut in.
“Because here everyone either dies of old age or moves away.” I widened my eyes.
“But there are so many people on the street right now.” I looked out of the window.
“I know, that’s what I always say too.” Aaliyah shrugged.
“You guys want to move too?” I asked, and they nodded in sync.
“West Coast,” Aaliyah added.
“But we would like to travel, too, for a while,” Cora said.
“But only after Cora finishes college.” Aaliyah grinned, kissing Cora’s cheek.
“What is your major?” I asked, turning my eyes toward the blonde girl, who gave me a shy smile.
“I was actually on a gap year. But I would like to major in arts.” She glanced toward the counter, and I used the opportunity to size her up. Her butterfly earrings were visible between her straight blonde hair, and she was wearing a pink summer blouse over her sun-kissed skin. I noticed small sun freckles on her nose, too, just as they were on mine.
“She just got accepted into NYU,” Aaliyah continued, and my eyes rounded.
“Al,” Cora hissed, her cheeks flushing.
“Congratulations.” I smiled. I was about to ask her which art studies she was interested in when my eyes caught on something else. Someone else to be exact. There was a girl kneeling in the flower beds next to the gazebo. She looked awfully familiar, but I couldn’t place her. “Who’s that?” I asked, forgetting about my other question to Cora.
The two girls followed my gaze and answered simultaneously. “Samantha Jones.”
“She was at Braxton’s party, you might have seen her,” Aaliyah added. “Braxton has a thing for her.” She grinned.
“He has a thing for everyone.” Cora laughed, relaxing back into her seat.
I only met him yesterday, but I could absolutely picture that. Aaliyah was right, though. Samantha was the girl Braxton chased after at the party. She just looked—I narrowed my eyes—very different from the leather jacket girl I saw last night, standing at the edge of the crowed. Now she had a floral-patterned gardening apron and a head kerchief on.
“Did you guys all go to the same school?” I asked, turning my attention away from the ginger girl.
“Oh no. Braxton lives in California. They only have a vacation house up here,” Cora explained.
“He goes to Caltech. I think he’s starting his fourth year there. But if you ask him, he will tell you all about it, in a long speech.” Aaliyah rolled her eyes. “So, my advice, don’t bring it up with him.” We shared a laugh.
“But he throws the best parties in town,” Cora said, and Aaliyah agreed.
“All summer and almost every day,” Aaliyah confirmed, while my mind wandered back to my meeting with Thomas in Braxton’s house. How he was so different. How his breath tickled my skin and made my toes curl.
I was brought back to the present when Lila placed our orders down on the table. “By the way, I found that box you were looking for,” she said as she glared at Aaliyah, who then sucked in an excited breath.
“With the journals and everything?” she asked, and her sister nodded. “Where did you find it? I looked for them everywhere.” She took a big sip from her drink, waiting for her sister’s answer.
“It was exactly where you left it, hidden from Mom in the wall panel under the window.”
Aaliyah let her head fall back with a sigh. “I totally forgot about that one. Thanks, sis.”
“If you insist on using secret hiding places, you should at least keep track of them, Al. Write them down or something.”
At that, an idea clicked in my head.