CHAPTER 3
“Millie, please say yes,” my best friend Evelyn begs me, clasping her slender fingers together in a plea. Her hazel eyes—that look more green than brown today—are in a classic “puppy dog” stare, her glossy lips pulled down at the corners, the bottom lip jutting out. “We can do all the things you never got to do as a kid. And it’ll be a nice break before school starts again.”
I shift on the sage-colored couch we’re sitting on in our small apartment living room, the one we’ve shared the last four years as we’ve attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst together. “You seriously don’t think your parents will care that I stay at your family cabin all summer for free? And they’ll feed me? Without me having to pay or work or do anything to earn it?”
She flings her arms out, the gold bracelet on her wrist sliding down with her movement. “For the hundredth time… NO!”
I had already told Evelyn I’d be fine here alone while she visited her family in New Hampshire. The paid internship I was supposed to start next week was exactly what I’d wanted before beginning my master’s program in business marketing this fall.
But the company contacted me, stating they were laying off a bunch of people and no longer needed an intern. I had no job. No internship. And no desire to scramble to find another solution at the moment. Going home to see Mom or stay at Dad’s new place wasn’t an option either, since things were still awkward after their divorce.
Evelyn insisted I take the summer off and join her and her family at Lake Lloyd. But I still have to earn money somehow. My bills won’t pay themselves. Evelyn, of course, doesn’t quite understand that, as her family has money. Old money. Evie lives off her trust fund.
I still laugh over the fact that she chose to live in student housing when she started college five years ago. She’d simply shrugged and said she wanted to experience college like a “normal student” when I’d asked her about it our freshman year.
Thankfully, we moved out of our dorm before our sophomore year and into our apartment we have now. Living with the two of us is way more fun than with six girls.
“Camden will be there,” she sings, like mentioning her brother, who she has tried to set me up with multiple times (and failed) is a selling point.
It’s not.
I grab Evie’s hand. “Okay, I’ll come with you.” My tone suggests I’m the one doing her the favor, though we’re both well aware it’s the other way around. And I would have agreed to come no matter what. I have a hard time saying no to her. “But I need to find a job. Is there a restaurant I could serve at or something?”
She squeals and pumps my hand up and down. “Yay! I’m so excited. This is going to be the best summer ever! For once, I won’t be the only girl.”
I note she purposely doesn’t answer my question about a job. It’s fine. I’ll look when we get to Stokesley. “Thank you for saving my butt from a lonely three months. I’m looking forward to hanging around the lake and doing recreational activities.”
She shakes her head, her blonde ponytail swaying behind her. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how annoying it is being around a bunch of guys all the time?”
Negative, ghost rider. I do not.
I have this bad habit of always picking the wrong man to date, which has left me with a broken heart way too often. Until I figure out how to keep myself from immediately assuming my happily ever after right after meeting someone, I’m on a break from dating. “You’re related to them. Of course it’s not that fun.” And I have to think of them like family as well so I don’t repeat my old patterns.
From the pictures Evie’s shown me, she’s related to some of the hottest guys I’ve ever laid eyes on, but it’ll be fine. I’ll be fine, I lie to myself.
She points at me. “Exactly. This summer all of that changes. Instead of being the lone wolf, I’ll have my she-pack with me. The people of Stokesley better watch out because you and I”—she wiggles her brows—“are in for a summer of fun!”
What she thinks is fun and what I think, are as different as the desert and a rainforest. “Just know I will not pretend to like some guy’s friend so you can hang out with the man you’re interested in. Okay?”
She wrinkles her nose like what I suggested is disgusting, though that exact scenario has played out multiple times in our friendship. “We’re not freshmen anymore. If I like someone, I can date him on my own.”
I hold back my snort. “I’m going to remind you of this conversation later.”
She stands, smoothing out the wrinkles on her khaki paperbag shorts. “You won’t need to. But come on”—she holds her hand out to me—“we need to get laundry done and start packing.”
I put my hand in hers, letting her pull me up. “I’ll get a load of lights started, then scrub down the bathroom. Want to tackle the dishes?”
“You know I’ll do the kitchen over the bathroom any day of the week.”
I have to give Evie’s parents props. Most rich kids Evie told me about have “a person for that,” meaning they don’t know how to cook, clean, or do laundry because they’ve always had someone there to take care of it for them. Evie’s parents made sure she functioned like a mostly normal adult.
In our bedroom, I sort dirty clothes into white, light, and dark piles on the floor. The first time I met Evie’s parents, Harvey and Clara, I thanked them for raising Evie and allowing her to room with me. For being multimillionaires, they were really down to earth. Honestly, I thank my lucky stars every day for Evie, and now her family, too.
Because of them, I”ll get to experience a new place with my best friend before my last two years of college, all while keeping my heart safe.
It’s a win-win summer for me.