In between the two houses, the so-called creek was still flowing like a wild river. He turned to head up to the street, taking his chances by going around to the back of the houses—and came face-to-face with Winnie.

“Hey,” she said, looking over her shoulder as if to make sure no one was watching.

“Hey,” he said back. “Want to tell me why no one seems to know you’re pregnant with my brother’s baby?”

“Oh my God, shhh!” She looked over her shoulder again, then grabbed his hand and yanked him down the steps and into the light drizzle. She pulled him around the corner to the side yard, where they stood beneath the overhang protecting the air-conditioning unit.

She wasn’t showing at all, which made sense. She’d gotten pregnant three months ago, just before Rowan’s death. “You left the funeral without saying good-bye. I’m taking it that was on purpose,” Cam said.

Winnie closed her eyes and then opened them again, revealing a grief that Cam understood all too well. “I appreciate you telling your dad to let me know about the funeral. I also appreciate you sending me the money for the flight and hotel costs to get there.”

“What money?”

She gave him a get real look, gentled by a small smile. “I know it was you, Cam.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Rowan would’ve wanted you there.”

Her eyes went a little shiny as she nodded and looked away.

He gave her a moment, mostly because seeing her grief triggered his ever-present pain as well. “He wanted me to take care of you,” he finally said, putting his mission out in the open. He’d promised Rowan, and Cam never broke a promise. At least not anymore. In the past, he’d let down his mom. He’d let down his brother. And now they were both gone, and he could never make it up to them.

And hell, he’d also let his dad down, by not even knowing the guy was sick. That was especially hard to take, because he didn’t think he’d survive failing someone else he cared about.

But Winnie was shaking her head. “Thank you, but I don’t want to be anyone’s burden. This”—she pressed her hands to her still-flat belly—“the Bean . . . it’s on me.”

“You’re not a burden.” He waited until she looked at him, this woman who was still mostly a girl, but had been encumbered with a responsibility that he was pretty sure she didn’t yet fully understand. “And I want to do this. You’re carrying my future niece or nephew.”

She stared up at him. “So . . . you don’t think I’m a screw-up? Just a girl who was stupid enough to get herself pregnant?”

“Is that why you’re not telling Piper? You think she’ll call you a screw-up?”

“Yes, because I am.”