He hadn’t realized he was crying until he blinked and everything got gauzy.

A life with Kate was a life in which the darkest dreads were always lurking, waiting for their moment to steal their dreams, their future.

It was also a life of unbridled love and surprising strength, of second, third, even tenth chances, of an exploration of the limits of human endurance and the will of one’s spirit.

Kate and Andrew knew what they had had survived made them different from most people. Sometimes, those differences made them feel like aliens on a strange planet, outsiders, the kids who were punished during the block party, forced to hear all of the fun happening outside their window but never allowed to join in it.

No matter what they missed out on, they had each other. Learning to live in the small moments, to lean into the good and the bad, to appreciate the simple joy of sitting next to one another, watching an old movie – that’s what made life special. That they had found one another and shared those moments was miracle enough.

It’s time for another miracle, Andrew thought when he saw the cottage.

The gaping hole in the front of the house called to him. Even though there was no actual safety in going inside, it was an escape from the wild, the domain of the creature.

If he could find a place to hide Kate just for the time it would take him to get the canoe and come back, that would be the sign that things were turning in their favor.

Can you hide her from it? Won’t it know exactly where she is? Can it see what she sees?

There was no time for questions or contemplation. He had to keep pushing.

Focus on Kate.

For the first time, he saw Nikki’s body. Her crushed head was mercifully hidden under her folded body. The impact must have snapped her spine in half. Settling dust had coated the pool of blood around her.

“Where should I put her?” he said to the dog. Buttons wagged his tail, panting like mad. The poor guy’s legs trembled. “Better yet, where should I put the both of you?”

He looked outside. There was no sign of the creature.

Unfortunately, the cottage had neither a basement nor an attic. The only other rooms were the bedroom and bathroom.

The closet.

He’d settle her in the bedroom closet with Buttons. It wouldn’t stop the creature from taking her again, but it might buy Andrew time to get the canoe. He’d lock the bedroom door and pile some junk against it, just to make it even more difficult to get to her.

With no time to waste, he carried her to the bedroom, yanking the clothes from the hangers to make a comfortable place to lay her down.

He smoothed her hair back. Her skin was cold, alarmingly so.