The Cousins(26)
Away from the lights of the restaurant, Jonah’s face is nothing but shadows. “I’ll tell you everything, but I have one condition.” He raises his voice to cut off the protest I’m about to launch. “You don’t tell anybody who I really am. Well, you can tell Aubrey. But that’s it.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Jonah doesn’t answer, and I fold my arms tightly across my chest. It feels like the temperature dropped by at least fifteen degrees since we arrived at Dunes, and the sleeveless top that was fine inside the crowded restaurant isn’t doing me any favors out here. Jonah, on the other hand, looks perfectly comfortable in a flannel shirt over his usual faded T-shirt. “You don’t get to make the rules when you’re the one committing fraud.”
Jonah shrugs. “Okay, then. Have a good night.”
He turns away, and I lunge for his arm. “You can’t just leave!”
“I can if we don’t have a deal.”
“That’s—” I sputter for another few seconds until it occurs to me that lying to a liar isn’t the worst sin I could commit. “Okay, fine. I won’t tell.”
Jonah turns so he’s fully facing me once again. “I don’t really believe you,” he says, almost to himself. “But I can always drag you down with me if I get caught, so there’s that.”
“No wonder you and JT are friends,” I snap. “You have a lot in common.”
“I never said we were friends,” Jonah says coldly. “This is a business arrangement.” I force myself to keep quiet, and after a few seconds he blows out a sigh. “Here’s the thing. JT wanted to go to science camp. Which you knew, right?” I nod. “His father said no once they got the invitation from your grandmother. JT was pissed, because he got a scholarship and everything, which is tough to do, and Anders still told him he had to come here. I got into the same camp, but I didn’t get a scholarship. So I couldn’t go.”
A note of bitterness creeps into Jonah’s voice as he adds, “The whole thing was JT’s idea. He heard me talking at school about not being able to go to camp and cornered me in the cafeteria one day, saying we could help each other out.” His jaw ticks. “For a second, I thought he was gonna offer me his scholarship. Which was stupid. JT’s not that kind of guy, and anyway, it probably wasn’t transferable like that. But he said he’d pay me to go to Gull Cove Island in his place and not tell anyone. He’d go to science camp, and I’d get this sweet summer job with an extra bonus from him.”
“Extra bonus?” I raise a brow. “How much? What’s the going rate for impersonation these days?”
“Enough,” Jonah says shortly.
The wind picks up, and I shiver as I clutch my arms more tightly. Jonah starts taking off his flannel shirt, but I stop him with an upraised hand. “Don’t bother, Lancelot. I’m good. Did you guys even think this through? I mean, to be perfectly blunt, we’re all here to get into Mildred’s good graces. What did Jonah—or JT, or whatever—think was going to happen when she realized he sent a fake?”
Jonah shrugs his shirt back on. “He didn’t believe your grandmother actually planned to do anything for you or your families. He thought it was just some weird game she’d decided to play that would mess with his future for no good reason. Which, given how things are going so far, seems about right.”
Ugh. I hate that JT Story didn’t harbor any pointless hopes like me and Aubrey. The fact that we were gullible and he’s spending his summer exactly how he wanted sharpens my tone. “And how did you expect to pull this off for two months? I figured it out in less than a week and I wasn’t even trying.”
Jonah rakes a hand through his hair. “God, I don’t know right now. It seemed logical at the time. JT and I are the same age, from the same town, and we have the same first name. We have the same coloring. The resort never asked for photo ID, just a birth certificate. JT has, like, zero social media presence, so it’s not like anybody would expect him to be posting about his summer. He hadn’t seen you or Aubrey in years, and his grandmother ever. And he gave me lots of background on your family—that whole you know what you did letter, plus stuff about your and Aubrey’s parents, and the different ways everyone tried to get back in touch with Mildred over the years. I thought I had all the information I needed.” He shakes his head in disgust. “Shellfish allergy. God damn him.”
“So was that you messaging me and Aubrey, back when we first got the letters?” I ask. “Or was that JT?”
“It was JT. When you guys started the group chat—that was all real—he thought he’d have to go to the island with you. Then, once I agreed to take his place, he just played along like nothing had changed. He gave me printouts of all the chats so I’d know what you talked about.”
“What’s your deal, then? Who are you?”
“You saw the license. I’m Jonah North. I live in Providence and go to high school with your cousin. I needed the cash, so I posed as him when he asked me to. That’s it.”
“What do you care if I tell, then?” I ask. “You got your money.”
“It’s an installment plan,” Jonah says. “I only got the first third. Plus, Gull Cove Resort pays way better than what I’d make working at my parents’ place.”