“The water’s down, but that’s not a bad thing,” Zeke said.

She rose and glanced over at him, where he tied a feathered bit with a hook on the end of a line. So that’s what a jig looked like. It was really small. She’d seen fishing supplies in a store once and the baits were much larger. “When is the best time to fish?”

“Every day,” he said, looking up with a grin that made her stomach flutter.

And why in the world would that happen? If anything, Chase was experienced around guys. Too experienced, some would say. But Zeke made her feel different. Maybe it was because he seemed unfazed by her fame. Maybe it was because he wasn’t so careful with her. Treated her like any other person. Made her think about all those times she thought about getting in her car, driving, cutting and dyeing her hair, and starting over as Katie. So many days she wanted to be that girl. Someone normal who came home, made a cup of soup, and took her dog for a walk. A girl who bought her clothes at Target, sang in the church choir, and volunteered to read books to old people at senior citizen centers. Just boring ol’ Katie. Not train-wrecked Chase.

Yesterday, when she’d jokingly told Zeke she wanted to go fishing, he’d nodded and said, “How about tomorrow? I had a cancellation.”

She hadn’t been serious when she’d said she wanted to go, but when he’d offered, it became imperative that she experience fishing. Olivia’s questions about her lack of a childhood had banged around her brain. She’d not realized how many things she’d missed out on—roller-skating, the circus, road trips, a first date where she was so nervous she nearly puked. But going fly-fishing with Zeke could fill one of those holes in her life. At the very least, Olivia’s weird brand of therapy had made Chase determined to get a shovel and attempt to fill a few.

Then Olivia had tried to hijack her outing with the whole dramatic “let’s blow this joint” routine she’d done on the porch yesterday. Obviously, Olivia didn’t like wrinkles. Neve was like a tsunami of wrinkles plopped into Olivia’s world. If, you know, there could be an actual tsunami of wrinkles. After making sure they could stay at least long enough for Chase to try her hand at fishing, Chase had given Zeke a salute and followed her combination therapist, drill sergeant, and pain in her ass back inside the house.

Zeke took his leave, promising to pick her up the next day after lunch. Chase tempered the excitement of doing something totally out of her comfort zone with the thought that she had to spend an awkward evening with Olivia and Neve.

When Chase had walked back inside the cabin, she noted that Neve looked smug.