The Cousins(92)

Anders Story and his family still live in Providence, but JT and I don’t go to the same school anymore. He’s finishing his senior year at some charter school outside Newport. Long commute, but it has the benefit of being full of kids who don’t know him. Except by name. The Story scandal was a big deal on the East Coast for months, so he can’t escape it entirely. Anders is starting a new company, which I know nothing about other than what he shared with the Providence Journal last week.

“Everything I’ve learned, everything I stand for, and everything I have, will be poured into this new venture,” he promised.

My mother tossed the newspaper aside with a disgusted snort after she read that. “In other words: nothing,” she said.

Theresa’s sister, Paula, is still at large. I have to admit, she’s the one who interests me the most—the dark horse of the group, always in the shadows, who had so little going on in her life when Mildred Story died that she could give it up to pose as Theresa. The media keeps trying to profile her, but there’s not much to go on. Twenty-four years ago, she was a fifty-year-old woman living in a suburb of New Hampshire and working for the electric company. Then one day she just—left. Quit her job, gave notice on her apartment, and said she was moving out of state. No one cared enough to ask why.

I told Milly once that I thought that was sad. She glared at me. “Lest you forget, you’re talking about the woman who burned down Catmint House,” she said. “She could’ve killed Aubrey and Uncle Archer! Don’t you dare feel sorry for her.”

“I don’t,” I said, and it’s true. I hate the idea of Paula sipping cocktails on some foreign beach as much as Milly does. It’s just…I can’t help but remember how hard it was to pretend to be someone else, even for a short time. Occasionally, I wonder how she pulled it off for as long as she did. And the same answer hits me every time: because there wasn’t a single person in the world, aside from the sister she agreed to impersonate, who would miss her.



Okay, maybe I feel a weird pang of sympathy. But I’m sure as hell not telling Milly that. Because Milly—God. That I get to call her my girlfriend still feels like a miracle. We see one another as often as we can, and when we talk about what we’re going to do postgraduation, it’s always about how we’re going to wind up in the same city. Not whether.

And who knows, maybe our trio will reunite. Aubrey was offered a swimming scholarship to Brown, which is incredible, but she was also offered several a lot closer to home. Milly’s making it her mission to lure Aubrey to the East Coast. Starting now.

We settle ourselves on the same side of a booth behind the pool table area, and Milly props up her phone between us. Once she’s dialed Aubrey’s number, she pulls off her moto jacket to reveal the Brown University T-shirt we picked up this morning.

Aubrey appears on screen, holding a tiny, squirming baby in the crook of one arm. “Hey, it’s Aedan,” I say, then do a double take when I get a good look at the kid’s face. The last time I saw him via FaceTime, he was a newborn. Now he’s two months old, and starting to resemble an actual person. One in particular, as it turns out. “Holy shit, Aubrey, he looks exactly like you.”

She grins. “I know, right? It drives my father crazy, especially since he’s always insisted that I only have my mother’s genes.” She strokes the baby’s tufty blond hair with her free hand. “I guess there’s more than one way to look like a Story.”



It shouldn’t have surprised me, Aubrey being Aubrey, that she fell in love with her half brother straightaway. It’s not like the mess he came out of was his fault. Still, it’s pretty cool of Aubrey to be as involved with him as she is, when she could’ve easily held a grudge.

Milly crosses her arms over her chest, forgetting her T-shirt as she eyes Aedan warily. Babies make her nervous, even when viewed through a screen. “Is he going to cry?” she asks.

“He never cries,” Aubrey reassures her. “He’s the happiest little guy.”

Milly settles back in the booth, looking unconvinced but willing to give the baby the benefit of the doubt. “And how are his parents?” She spits out the last word like it tastes bad.

“Well…” Aubrey jiggles Aedan meditatively. “Everyone says babies are hard on a relationship, right? Let’s just say, as easygoing as he is, this little guy has been especially hard. They’re not talking marriage anymore. Coach Matson got a new position a few towns over, but she really wants to stay home with Aedan. Dad, of course, refuses to get a job, and he’s already burned through the settlement money and his royalties. I think Coach Matson is finally starting to realize what she signed up for with him, and she is not happy.”

Milly leans toward the screen, her baby trepidation entirely gone. “I’m gonna start calling you karma, buddy,” she coos. Aedan offers a toothless grin as Aubrey tries, unsuccessfully, to smother a laugh.

“You’re terrible,” Aubrey says, then shifts her glance to me. “How’s business?”



I give her a thumbs-up. “Better all the time.”

She beams. “I can’t wait to visit. I’m so sorry I couldn’t this week. Our meet schedule is killing me right now. But spring break should definitely be doable. I want to go to Gull Cove and see Uncle Archer, too.”