“Yes. There will be one essay question worth twenty points and the rest is multiple choice.”

He nodded. “Multiple choice give you plenty to choose from. You just have to concentrate on what you know is the right answer. And as far as the essay, you’re good with writing. If you recall, you helped me get my writing scores up when I was in my junior year. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have passed to the twelfth.”

“Liar.”

“No, honestly. You know how old man Goldman felt about people living on the bayou.”

His words gave her pause because she knew. Everybody knew and they still allowed him to teach until her mother, Debbie Witherspoon, forever the outspoken Canadian social activist, called for the man to resign at a PTA meeting. Her mother had gotten a standing ovation because she had stood up and done what no one else in the cove had had the guts to do.

“Well, you proved him wrong.”

Kaegan didn’t say anything and she wondered if he was remembering what all they’d been through together over the years. The good, bad and ugly. They had survived it all.

That was why his rejection had been so devastating for her, and caused her an incredible amount of pain. But it had also taught her something. You couldn’t put all your hopes and dreams into one person. She had. Kaegan had been her world, and when he’d walked out of it, she’d thought her world had come to an end. It had taken her a while, but she’d recovered. Found out life went on and the world still existed.

She had made some changes in her life, got her self-esteem back, decided to go into business for herself and live for today and not tomorrow. She knew not to depend on a man for her happiness, not to believe any man was perfect, and she had accepted that nothing was forever. In a way, she owed Kaegan for being the one to stop seeing life in a fishbowl. She owed him for showing her that whatever she did in life, she had to do it to make herself happy because she could not depend on anyone else for her happiness.

Kaegan eased up off the floor and her gaze followed the movement. She couldn’t help it. Since he’d come straight from work he still wore his jeans and T-shirt. He’d taken off his fisherman boots at the door and walked around in socked feet. He looked comfortable at her place. So at home. A part of her was glad to realize their friendship was still there after everything. It was time she told him that.

“You need to take a break from studying tomorrow for a while, Bryce. I suggest that you do something fun to clear your mind. Take a tour of the cove on one of Ray’s boats or take the trolley car around town for a few hours. Then come back here and binge-study the way we’ve been doing the last three days. If you do that then you won’t have anything to worry about when you take that test Monday.”