“Oh, Cam.” Her expression said she was still flipping out on the inside, but she was determined to help him. She scooted closer so that they were thigh to thigh, whispering “Oh my God, oh my God” to herself the whole time, before very slowly lowering her feet over the side of the dock to match his position.

He brought himself out of his own head enough to be impressed. “Are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“Trying not to die? Then yes, I’m doing exactly what you think I’m doing.” She took a deep gulp of air. “We have this deal, a secret for a secret, right? So . . . I’m going to tell you another secret.”

“Now? While you’re shaking in your boots and trying not to throw up?”

She slid him a look.

He didn’t laugh, because she was serious.

“I’m afraid of the water,” she said.

“Hate to break it to you, but that’s still the same old secret you’ve pawned off on me three times now. I’m beginning to think you’re cheating.”

“Yes, but you asked what happened.” She paused. “I had a near miss here on the lake. Almost drowned.”

Ah, hell. Reaching out, he took her hand in his. “That would do it. When?”

“The year after my parents died. It was my fourteenth birthday party. My grandma had invited all my friends, and we spent the day outside by the lake. We were in canoes. I was with two other girls in one that was meant for only a single occupant.”

“Never good,” he said. “You rolled.”

“Oh, yeah. And panicked. One of the girls who I didn’t know very well held me down. She thought it was funny, but I was a terrible swimmer to begin with . . .” She shook her head. “I got turned upside down and couldn’t figure out which way was up, and I lost it. Spots were dancing around in my eyes, and just before everything went dark, I was scooped up and shoved to the surface.”

“The girl?”

“No. My grandpa.” She smiled a little. “He was sick and had been sitting on the porch of the house. He never paid any attention to us kids, but he had an eagle eye.” She shuddered with the memories. “It was the most terrifying moment of my life.” She paused. “He passed away shortly after that,” she said softly. “And I know it sounds melodramatic, but that was the last time I ever felt really safe.”

He thought about all she’d said, and all she hadn’t said. By age fourteen, she’d lost both of her parents and her grandpa. She’d been helping to raise her two younger siblings.

She’d never had a real childhood.