My Summer with CJ

I have a feeling I’m going to regret agreeing to spend the summer with my mother.

Olivia Blackwood was anything but maternal. When my parents divorced, she practically signed away her rights to me without hesitation, leaving Dad and me to move six hours north while she stayed behind in her polished, perfect world. A world where I didn’t belong. I never fit into the image she wanted beside her new husband, the wealthy and ridiculously famous Richard Blackwood.

Yes, that Blackwood.

The Blackwoods founded Blackwood Ridge generations ago, turning a sleepy stretch of Southern California into a town filled with sprawling vineyards, luxury estates, and old money prestige. Their name was on practically everything—the wineries, the private hospitals, entire streets, and especially Blackwood University, one of the most elite Ivy League schools in the country.

My mother met Richard at a banking conference years after high school, reconnecting over champagne and mutual ambition. Apparently, rekindled teenage crushes and shared wealth were enough to build a marriage. At least for people like them.

For people like me? Not so much.

“Earth to Natalie!” Cara practically screams in my face.

I blink and look up from my thoughts. “Jesus. You trying to kill me?”

She laughs, tossing a pillow at my head. “Only if you keep zoning out like that. I asked if you’re coming to the party tonight at Brody’s frat house.”

We’re sprawled across her bed surrounded by old photo albums from middle school, the pages filled with awkward hairstyles, braces, and memories from before everything in my life went to shit.

I shrug lazily. “Sure?”

Cara narrows her eyes. “That sounded painful.”

“It probably will be.”

“When are you seeing your mom?” she asks carefully, like the topic itself might detonate.

“Tomorrow.” I groan dramatically, throwing an arm over my face. “At the prestigious Blackwood Manor.”

Cara winces in sympathy.

She’s the only person from Blackwood Ridge I stayed in contact with after Dad and I moved away. Ironically, she now attends Oakbrook University with me in Northern California, where my father teaches history courses. Oakbrook is another Ivy League school full of overachievers and trust fund kids pretending they understand struggle.

Meanwhile, I’m over here double majoring in library science and history because apparently I enjoy making my own life difficult.

Still, I love it.

Books have always been my safe place. Especially old books. Dusty pages, worn leather bindings, faded ink—something about them calms me. The smell alone is enough to settle every anxious thought in my head. Ancient texts make sense to me in ways people never do.

Which is exactly why I volunteered at the Blackwood Ridge Library for the summer. Their historical archive contains one of the largest collections of apocryphal texts and rare manuscripts in the country. Most people come to Blackwood Ridge for wine tastings or lake parties.

I came for dead languages and fragile paper.

Exciting, right?

Cara continues rambling beside me, flipping through another photo album while filling me in on every piece of gossip I missed over the years.

Apparently, half the town is cheating on the other half.

“Wait,” I interrupt, pointing at a picture she shows me. “Didn’t those two hate each other?”

“They’re engaged now.”

“What?”

“And she cheated on him with his cousin.”

I stare at her. “This town is insane.”

“That’s not even the worst part.” Cara grins wickedly. “You haven’t met the out-of-town hotties yet.”

I snort. “Please never say hotties again.”

She ignores me completely. “Brody’s friends all came in early for the summer because they’re working at the lake resort.”

“Thrilling.”

“One of them is apparently six-foot-five and covered in tattoos.”

I look at her blankly.

“What?” she asks. “You’ve been single too long. I’m trying to help.”

“I’m busy.”

“With books.”

“Yes.”

“With dead people books.”

“They’re called historical texts.”

Cara laughs so hard she nearly falls off the bed.

Her boyfriend Brody apparently plays football and somehow manages to have both muscles and a functioning brain, which she talks about like she discovered a rare species. They’ve been doing long distance while he attends Blackwood University, and honestly, I have no idea how she manages it.

Relationships sound exhausting.

Between school, volunteering, cheerleading, and trying not to disappoint my father, I barely have time to sleep. Dating someone feels impossible.

Not that anyone around Oakbrook really interests me anyway.

I know exactly why my mother suddenly wants me back in her life this summer. She wants to parade around her accomplished daughter like some kind of trophy. Look at Natalie with her perfect grades and athletic scholarships and Ivy League education.

Never mind the fact she barely raised me.

I cheer professionally for the San Francisco Sharks, this year’s Super Bowl champions. Calling it professional feels generous since the pay is practically nonexistent, but I genuinely enjoy it. It’s one of the few things in my life that lets me shut my brain off for a while.

Dad says I work too hard.

He’s probably right.

Cara suddenly jumps off the bed, nearly giving me whiplash as she rushes toward her closet.

“We need outfits.”

“We absolutely do not.”

“Yes, we do.”

“No, you do.”

She spins dramatically. “Natalie Marie Bennett, you are not wearing ripped jeans and a white T-shirt to a frat party.”

I glance down at exactly that outfit. “Seems fine to me.”

“You look like you’re about to alphabetize someone’s bookshelf.”

“That’s because I probably am.”

Cara groans loudly before diving into her closet like her life depends on it. Clothes immediately begin flying across the room.

A black dress smacks me in the face.

“No.”

A crop top lands next.

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re impossible!” she shouts.

“I drove six hours today. I’m lucky I’m conscious.”

Honestly, I don’t even want to go to this stupid party. My suitcase still sits unopened in the corner of Cara’s bedroom because I’ve barely had enough energy to shower since arriving in town. But Cara insists I need to meet Brody and his friends before they all disappear to work at the lake resort for the summer.

Apparently she has an entire vision planned out involving sunshine, bikinis, boats, and excessive alcohol.

Meanwhile, my ideal summer involves hiding in the library basement surrounded by ancient manuscripts while avoiding my mother as much as humanly possible.

If I’m lucky, I’ll only have to see Olivia during mandatory family dinners at Blackwood Manor. Pretend to smile. Pretend we’re normal. Pretend she didn’t choose her new life over me years ago.

Easy enough.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

But deep down, I already know this summer is going to change everything.