I couldn’t look at her. “I’ll go get some more towels,” I said.

Once in the kitchen, I slumped back against the countertop and hung my head in my hands. I couldn’t believe how clumsy I’d been. Tamara must have thought I was a total spaz. How could I even face her now, let alone try to “make a move”? That settled it. I would go back in there, clean up, apologize to Tamara and Bryn, and go home.

I reached for the towel drawer and cursed as my palmtop buzzed in my pocket.

U’d better not chicken out, bro. Or we’ll have to serve YOU for dinner next time. Henry’s text was followed by a grinning devil emoji.

“You bastard,” I muttered under my breath. Now I couldn’t run away. He knew. He torquing knew. I took a deep breath, begging my stomach to stop feeling so shaky. It was time to man up.

I came back into the great room with an armful of towels, telling Bryn once again how sorry I was before I got on my knees to clean up my mess.

“Don’t worry about it, Isaak,” Bryn told me with a warm smile. “No harm done.”

I looked around. “Where’d Tamara go?”

Bryn pointed over her shoulder as she took the vase out of the room to refill it. The large French doors that led to the deck were open, the gauzy drapes blowing in the night breeze.

I groaned. Great. She was probably all torqued off at me for wrecking her music room. Not that I could blame her.

“Hey, Tamara,” I said as I stepped out into the dimness. Tamara was leaning against the railing, looking out at the bay. I closed the doors firmly behind me. “Look, I’m really sorry.”

Her shoulders shook, and for a moment I thought she was crying. Then she turned to me, and I saw her face was filled with mirth. “No, I’m sorry,” she said between fits of laughter. “That was just too much. We never seem to have any luck, do we?”

“We really don’t.” I joined her beside the railing. The breeze from the bay was sharp on my face. Hopefully it would make my cheeks cool down. Hopefully.

She nudged her shoulder against mine and smiled before turning her gaze back to the bobbing sailboats across the water. “How did we get into this whole stupid mess?”

It took me a minute to realize that she was talking about us as in the four of us, not us as in me and her. Together. As a couple. I sighed. “It was my fault.”

“No. It wasn’t. Even if you hadn’t found the arch, how long would it have been before that Emil guy recognized you at the train station? It’s his fault, Isaak. Not yours.”