“He’ll get over it. I’ve been trying to convince him to leave, since the stalker has been keeping his distance, but he needs a nudge. He can’t put his life on hold forever just because something might happen.”

I reached across the console and took her hand, keeping the other firmly on the steering wheel. “He wants to keep you safe. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“There is if he’s missing out on his own life,” she grumbled.

I sent her a look of disbelief. “Says the woman who put everything on hold to raise her family.”

“They were kids, and I was an adult. It’s not the same. Blair and I are both adults now. He doesn’t have to take care of me, and I feel guilty knowing that he might be missing out on career opportunities because of me.”

I wanted to argue, knowing Blair would disagree with her interpretation of the situation, but I kept my mouth shut, not wanting the day to get off to a bad start. I knew Kennedy didn’t like other people being put out because of her. After all, wasn’t that the whole reason we’d broken up for eleven years?

We reached the start of the walking trail in only a few minutes. I leaped out of the Ute and rounded the hood to open her door. She’d been looking for something in her backpack but stopped when she noticed me.

“Did you happen to bring extra sunscreen? I put some on before we left, but I’ll need more once we’re at the tarn.”

“I have plenty,” I assured her.

“Good.” She slid out of the Ute and shouldered her bag.

I put my own on and looked around at the other vehicles that were already here. “We’re lucky we found a spot.”

“Yeah. I should message Blair and let him know to hurry.” She took her phone from her pocket and tapped at the screen, then put it away again. “Ready?”

I gestured for her to lead the way. “After you.”

As we started up the trail, the sound of voices filtered through the trees, and the imprint of shoes in the dirt showed that plenty of others had already been here this morning. I glanced at Kennedy out of the corner of my eye and tried not to think about the fact that in a couple of hours, I’d be seeing what was underneath her clothes for the first time in over ten years. I felt like a teenage boy who was finally getting the chance to go past first base. Not that I necessarily expected anything to happen between us, but my body stirred at the thought of seeing all of her creamy skin with droplets of moisture beaded on it.