off!”
I stood up from the table, dumped my garbage in the trash can and waited for Lony on a bench by the mall exit. If I’d had the keys to the car, I would’ve been tempted to leave without her. Lony followed a few minutes later, with a look of apology on her face.
“I’m sorry, Cady,” she said. When I didn’t answer, she sat down on the bench next to me and continued. “I was being bossy again, wasn’t I? I don’t mean to be that way, but you’re my little sister.”
I kicked my shoe at a scuff mark on the tiled floor. “Eight minutes does not make me your little sister,” I said for the thousandth time in my life. The familiar joke cut the tension between us somewhat, and I broke into a reluctant smile.
Lony put her arm around me in a half-hug. “I just miss you, that’s all. We used to be best friends, and now I hardly see you. It shouldn’t matter that we have different friends and like different things. We’re twins, not clones.”
“I know. I miss you, too,” I replied honestly.
“So does that mean you’re gonna go out with me tonight? I promise if you’re miserable, we can go home.”
Being miserable was virtually guaranteed, but I’m not one to fight a losing battle. “Fine…”
With a triumphant grin, Lony pulled me off the bench and drove us home.
Chapter 5
Amy Sutherland, a friend of my sister’s, was in the middle of telling me a rather boring and overly-detailed story about a guy she met during the summer while working at a resort in the Wisconsin Dells. I pretended to be interested and wondered how much time I’d have to sit there before it was socially appropriate to ask Lony to take me home. We were hanging out on the hood of Amy’s Chevy in a small parking area at the Mines of Spain. At one point in time, the river bluffs along the Mississippi were full of lead, attracting miners to the area. After the minerals in the hills were exhausted, the state sectioned off the area as a nature preserve filled with hiking trails winding through the forest. Kids weren’t supposed to loiter there after dark, but that just added to the appeal.
Amy didn’t need much encouragement to keep her chatter flowing. I nodded once in a while and made noises where appropriate. Something about her story made me doubt the existence of this summer dream boy. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine any guy finding her interesting enough to waste a whole summer on. My shoe rhythmically kicked her car tire to the beat of a song in my head.
Twenty or thirty other kids from school were with us. If the DNR were to spot us while on patrol, they’d assume we were up to no good and kick us out. In reality, we were just a bunch of kids standing around and talking with nothing better to do on a Saturday night. I could see Lony leaning against Cane’s truck, pretending to thumb through his iPod for some music, but the glare fixed on her face along with her repeated glances in Cane’s direction told a different story. He stood talking with a petite redhead who came with some kids from Hempstead High. While I didn’t notice any outright flirting going on, I knew Lony must be jealous. Cane was easily the handsomest guy in our school. He had sun-streaked blond hair and soft green eyes. As he laughed a big throaty chuckle at something the girl said, I noticed his smile looked like something straight out of a toothpaste commercial. I could understand what some girls saw in him, even if he wasn’t my type.
“Hey,” Matt Kutch called out, “Anyone want to go for a walk?”
“Not on the cliffs!” Lony replied. “I’ll go if we stay in the low areas.”
Everyone in Dubuque knew how dangerous the Mines of Spain could be at night. Every few years, some teenager would accidentally fall off one of the cliffs or drown in the Mississippi River which rolled on the edge of the park. Usually, those incidents involved alcohol, which was thankfully absent tonight, but even a sober person could misjudge the footing on the narrow trails and tumble down the rocks.
“Wanna walk?” Amy asked me. I glanced around and it seemed only Matt, Lony and Cane were planning to go. I had no intention of letting my sister leave me here with a bunch of kids I