June twentieth had been circled on my calendar since Cam told me he’d been given a court date a few weeks ago. We were two weeks away, and the tension among the locals was about as thick as it could get.

The tourists, of course, couldn’t have cared less. They came in waves, trickling in on weekdays like this, only to hit us by a thousand or more a day on the weekend. Business was good.

“How’s that going?” Pat asked, his smile tight.

“The case, the mine, or Cam?” This had the potential to get super awkward super fast.

“Uhhh—” Pat suddenly found his napkin incredibly interesting.

“Oh, stop it,” Thea chided but tugged his tie playfully. “Come on, Pat. That’s still Willow.”

Pat rolled his eyes but finally met mine. “I’m sorry. It’s just…odd.”

“The case, the mine, or Cam?” I teased him with a repeat.

“All of it,” he answered truthfully, then let out an oof as Thea elbowed him. “What? We’ve been friends for long enough to tell her the truth, honey.”

“We have,” I agreed as Tillie appeared with our drinks.

We all thanked her, but she only responded directly to Pat as she moved to another table.

“Well, then truthfully, I have a hard time with the guy. You know that.” He shrugged in apology.

“He’s still pissed that Cam wouldn’t let him into the hot springs party his freshman year,” Thea jibed.

Pat side-eyed his wife. “That’s not it. Look, Willow, you’ve been put through more than your fair share, and I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“And I appreciate the concern.” I swirled my straw around the ice cubes in my lemonade, making them clink. “But Cam isn’t going to hurt me.”

His eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward. “You’ve only been together for, what? A couple months? Cam isn’t known for being easy on anyone or anything.”

I folded my hands on the table and looked him straight in the eye. “You were Sullivan’s best friend, so I get the protective bit, and I’ll let that one slide. That one, Pat.”

He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more but then shut it instead.

“I love Cam. Cam loves me. He has never once hurt me, unless you’re thinking about the summer he may have bruised my feelings.”

Pat’s mouth set in a way that told me that was exactly what he’d been thinking about.

“Trust me, I bruised his deeper. There’s a hell of a lot of backstory you’re not privy to, and no, I’m not going to tell you, because it’s none of your business.”

“Never once hurt you? He saved you from the fire he started.” He said it gently, so I didn’t kick him under the table.

“That was ruled accidental,” Thea hissed.