For the next half hour, Ryker and Andrew lit the sky with sparkling greens, whites, reds, and golds. Nothing was loud, just bright and beautiful. Kate pulled Andrew in for a kiss.

“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

“You know I love you, right?” he replied, his tongue thick and clumsy.

“I always do.”

When the fireworks were done, they sat for a while longer talking, their voices skating across the lake’s dark surface. Kate hoped their neighbors, wherever they were, weren’t upset by the loud interlopers.

And so what if they are? We’re allowed to have some fun on a holiday!

While everyone talked in drunk speak, Kate kept peering into the woods, unable to shake the feeling they were being watched. There had been no signs of their night visitor since Andrew fired the warning shot, but that didn’t mean he – or they – weren’t out there.

So why did the back of her neck tingle?

When Andrew carried her inside, she clung to his neck, eyes adjusted to the dark, seeking any dark shapes that didn’t belong. But the woods were nothing but shadows, and the only things that didn’t belong were themselves.

Chapter Twenty-One

“You up for a run?” Andrew asked Ryker. His brother-in-law sat on the back porch, drinking a coffee. The man bun was gone, and it was obvious he was nursing a bitch of a hangover.

“I’m barely up for a crawl, man. You still run like the devil is chasing you?”

Andrew snickered. “Yep.”

“Then I’ll really pass. You’re gonna hurt yourself one day.”

“I do it to make sure I don’t hurt other people.”

The sun sparkled on the lake like spilled diamonds. Maine had decided to forego its usually chilly, damp start and had gone straight to warm and bright. Andrew looked back and saw Kate still out, lying on her side, her arm draped over Mooshy. Yesterday had been a long day for her, and he knew how much she’d pushed herself. Today was going to be a complete washout for her.

Ryker said, “I don’t blame you for being angry. I get angry when I think of what Katy’s going through, but I don’t have to live with it twenty-four-seven. It’s just sometimes, I’m not even sure what I’m angry at. Maybe it’s a lot of things. Some days, it’s just this fuzzy, all-encompassing hate, you know? And sometimes, it’s hating myself for not being here more or doing more to take care of you both.”

Andrew clapped him on the shoulder. He didn’t know what to say, but he was sure that if he opened his mouth, it would come out wrong. Heart-to-hearts with anyone but Kate didn’t come naturally. Hell, they were even difficult with her.