Silver Lake Read Online Free

ottoman. Allie plunked herself down and put her feet up with a contented sigh. “It’s great to be back here. I was sad when I heard Mrs. Winthrop sold the place after A.J.’s father died.”
    Rain murmured in agreement as she followed Jason’s gaze across the lake. Its vast silver surface stretched out from their beach in all directions. The only thing she could see on the opposite side of the water was a seemingly endless expanse of trees. The mounded hills of green foliage climbed to the sky, and the vegetation closest to the water seemed to lean into the lake.
    Along their beach, a number of narrow wooden piers extended into the water, many with small boats tied up to their pilings. The one to the right of their house had a large rowboat bobbing next to it, and Rain assumed it belonged to this rental unit and was theirs to use. A.J.’s father had owned a similar rowboat as well; no motorboats were allowed on the pristine waters of Silver Lake.
    “Oh, I made appetizers,” Rain said, breaking the contemplative silence. She hurried to the kitchen and returned with an artfully arranged platter.
    “Thanks, Rain,” said Allie as she made her selection. “But you don’t need to serve me just because I’m too lazy to get up! Although I must admit, it feels good to be the one being waited on for once. I promise I’ll help you with dinner.”
    Rain held the plate out for Jason. “Don’t worry about it, I like doing it. And I have everything under control for tonight. You just relax here and enjoy the view. Besides, just talking to Jason is work enough.” She smirked at him and raised her eyebrow playfully.
    “So funny. I forgot how much I missed being constantly mocked.” Jason smiled at her as he helped himself to some crackers topped with neat squares of cheese. “So, you really like cooking?”
    “Of course I do! I’m just so glad to have people to cook for—Holly never lets me do anything. By the time I get home from school, she’s usually done all the prep work for dinner.”
    “I think I’m going to like it here,” Jason concluded.
    That’s the idea, thought Rain as she made her way to the kitchen after leaving the platter on the porch with Allie and Jason. She wanted everyone to spend as much time as possible here. Mostly to help Mrs. Pierce and Brandy, she reflected, but also to take advantage of this opportunity to reconnect as friends. She caught herself humming happily as she started pulling out her dinner preparations.
    The crunch of gravel told her A.J. had arrived. She called out, “A.J.’s here!” as she hurried to greet him; then she stopped in her tracks when she saw the front door was already open. It had been closed when she came in from the porch, she was positive. Perhaps it really did have a tricky latch. Or perhaps she was getting good at making excuses, and Brandy was welcoming A.J. to the party.
    She shook the troubling thought from her head and ordered her feet to move. As she walked through the doorway, a shock of cold air made her jump. She stumbled out the door and almost lost her balance.
    “You okay there?” asked A.J., trying to hold a straight face. “That was an impressive welcome.”
    She caught a quick glimpse of him before he pulled her into a warm hug. He was still the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome: close-cropped dark brown curls, light blue eyes, and aristocratic features.
    A.J. stood back to let her enter the house first, and she braced herself before she passed through the doorway. But the cold air had dissipated, leaving her to wonder again about the status of her sanity. The idea of Brandy welcoming A.J. to his former vacation home was both far-fetched and ironic. Brandy herself had barely been welcome here when they were teenagers. A.J.’s parents had never tried very hard to hide their distaste for the troubled Pierce family.
    Rain watched A.J. wrap his arms around Allie and decided that despite his initial misgivings, A.J. seemed happy enough to be