He eyed her cart—a box of tampons, ice cream, and wine—and bit back a smile. “Rough day?”

She lifted her chin. “What makes you think that?”

He took in her flashing eyes that were lined with exhaustion, and decided not to point out that it was all over her face. And in her cart. “Just asking.”

She sighed. “I’m making dinner tonight,” she said, as if she were faced with walking to her own guillotine.

“Interesting menu,” he said, nodding at the contents of her cart.

She stepped in front of it, blocking his view. “You making fun of me?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

She sighed and sagged a little. “It’s family dinner night. Used to be tradition for the three of us. But now . . .” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to make. I’m completely out of the habit of cooking.”

“What did you used to cook?”

She gave him a small smile. “Mac and cheese and hot dogs.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“You think?” she asked, looking so adorably hopeful, he nodded. “Okay, then,” she said. “Thanks.” She started to move off, but he put a hand on her cart.

“You probably don’t know this,” he said, “but it’s customary when someone gives you a suggestion for what to cook for a dinner party that you invite them to attend.”

She blinked. “You want to come to the Manning shit show? Like, on purpose?”

She was a confident, strong-willed, strong-minded woman in every part of her life. Except, apparently, in recognizing when a man wanted her. Really wanted her. “I like your family,” he said. “You’re all . . .”

“Cray-cray?”

“Real.”

She looked at him for a long moment. “Dinner’s at six.”

He smiled. “See you then.”

Twenty minutes later, he’d driven his dad home and ended up in the marina office, where he’d been trying to make sense of the mess.

Apparently Rowan had done everything here, which made Cam feel even worse, because he’d accused his brother of being irresponsible and immature. Of giving up on college without even giving it a try, to hang out on the lake and do nothing. Of not giving a shit about his future.

Turned out, Cam had been dead wrong, about a lot of things. He hadn’t realized how hard his brother had been working, or how without him, the marina would have fallen into disrepair and disorganization.

His dad was lost without someone to run the place, and Cam intended to fill that gap until he had to go, hopefully hiring someone to help before he left.

But the real question was, how did one apologize to a dead man? Because Rowan hadn’t been slacking. Chances were, he’d felt he couldn’t go off to college. He’d had to stay here and help out their dad, holding the marina together so the guy would have an income.