He still thought about Courtney every day, but he focused on the bad times so he wouldn’t forget why he couldn’t be with her. He rarely, if ever, thought about the good times. Floating on his back, looking up at the cloudless blue sky, he indulged in memories of better times, such as the day he’d married the woman he’d expected to spend the rest of his life with.

They’d had one great year before it all fell apart. Or at least he’d had one great year. All that time, she’d been battling a foe bigger than both of them. It’d begun with a routine surgery to relieve a compressed disk in her back.

He met her six months after the surgery, from which she’d fully recovered—or so she said. It had taken two years for him to discover that she was addicted to the pain medication she’d taken after the surgery. She’d kept her dependence on the meds well hidden from him, and by the time he’d uncovered the web of lies and financial ruin she’d left in her wake, he was nearly ruined, too.

His happy life blew up in his face during one twenty-four-hour period that still ranked among the worst days of his life—second only to the day his mother died when he was seven. Left shocked, despondent and nearly bankrupt, Shane had done what he could to get help for her. A year later, after months of rehab he was still paying for, she’d asked for a divorce and crushed him all over again.

What was that old expression? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Yeah, he was an idiot, and she’d played him every way it was possible to be played by a woman. First by getting him to believe she truly loved him and then by lying to him about everything else that mattered.

So while he was truly happy for Laura and Owen, he was done with love and marriage and all that shit. He was happy to leave that to his sister and cousins, who’d fallen one right after the other in the last couple of years, leaving him and his cousins Riley and Finn still unattached. In his opinion, the three of them were the lucky ones.

He was about to swim for shore when a scream caught his attention. With the sun still high in the afternoon sky, it was difficult to see where the sound had come from. But then he heard thrashing and another cry for help coming from a distinctly female voice.

Shane swam in the direction of the cries while hoping this rescue mission wouldn’t make him late for his sister’s wedding. Following the sound of splashing and struggle, Shane swam faster until he reached the woman.

“Hey,” he said, “relax. I’ll help you.”