The Cousins

Aubrey Story finishes almost last place at her swim meet but is unbothered because she is angry at her swim coach and wants to get back at her for something. She says that it doesn’t matter anyway because “[she’s] never swimming for Ashland High again” (32). Aubrey gets a ride home from her boyfriend Thomas, but she states that home is “the second-last place [she] want[s] to be” (35). Aubrey is in a group chat with her cousins, Milly and Jonah, discussing plans to meet up on the ferry to Gull Cove Island. Milly is ambivalent about working at the resort for the summer, but Jonah adamantly expresses his anger: He wanted to go to science camp, not work a minimum-wage job for his estranged grandmother. Aubrey’s father, Adam Story, is one of four children: Adam, Anders, Allison, and Archer. Aubrey explains that her father was the “golden-boy athlete” (38) of the family who turned into a failed author, and he recently dropped a huge bombshell on their family. When Aubrey tries to kiss Thomas goodbye, he avoids it, much to Aubrey’s confusion. In the house, her father explains that her mother is “taking some time” (42) in response to the information he revealed the night before. Aubrey wants to lash out at her father, but she says nothing. She looks forward to leaving home for the summer to escape the fallout of her father’s big announcement.

Jonah North, disguised as Jonah “Story,” sits in an Uber, stuck in traffic on the way to catch his ferry to Gull Cove Island. He has a portfolio of news clippings, photos, and notes about the Story family and his “cousins.” He remarks that “[he] [doesn’t] know these people. And when [he] [doesn’t] know something, [he] stud[ies] it” (47). When he realizes that he won’t make it in time unless he runs, he takes his bag and sprints for the ferry, barely making it aboard on time. He meets Milly and Aubrey, and they both seem doubtful that this boy is their cousin, Jonah. Milly says that she wasn’t expecting the “J. Crew model look,” and she thought he would look how he talks, “like a constipated gnome” (54). Aubrey is polite but admits that he doesn’t look like a Story. Jonah gets a text from a contact he has saved on his phone as “JT,” who asks him how everything is going. The cousins discuss their families, and Jonah admits to not being close to his father, Anders. Aubrey admits that she wrote to their grandmother six times, and she wonders why Mildred is reaching out to them after all these years. Milly comments that “this entire family is built on secrets” (61) and asks Aubrey and Jonah if they have any secrets. Aubrey says that she doesn’t but is obviously lying. Milly focuses on Jonah and hints that she knows he is hiding something from them. After all, “Everybody has secrets [...].The only question is whether you’re keeping your own, or someone else’s” (62).

As the ferry approaches Gull Cove Island, Milly observes Jonah, noticing how much he has changed over the years and how handsome he has become. The island is bland-looking and “flat and unremarkable” (64) but full of tourists. As they leave the ferry and head for the resort, Jonah reveals that he wasn’t able to attend science camp because he couldn’t afford it. Milly remembers reading about how Jonah’s father, Anders, was a financial consultant reported for fraud, but “all that could be proved was that Uncle Anders gave bad financial advice” (69). A strange old man approaches Milly, mistaking her for her mother, Allison. His granddaughter, Hazel, finds him and introduces herself to the cousins. When she learns that they are related to Mildred, Hazel explains that her grandfather is Dr. Fred Baxter: the former family doctor to the Storys. The cousins arrive at Gull Cove Resort, and although they are expecting to meet their summer hire coordinator, Edward Franklin, they learn that he has recently quit. Instead, they meet his replacement, Carson Fine, the head of hospitality for the resort. He brings Mildred to meet them, and Milly “take[s] her in bit by bit,” noticing her jewelry and posh, clean-cut, elegant attire. Mildred says very little but mentions that she will “arrange a more fitting time for [them] to talk” (82). However, Milly believes that Mildred “had absolutely no idea that [they] were coming” (82-83).