But hadn’t she just been regretting that she’d let him keep her away for so long?

Yes, she should stop doing that.

She tilted her head up. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting. A sign from the universe?

A chunk of plaster fell out of the ceiling.

The little prodding of guilt that had been popping up here and there the past few days was suddenly starting to feel more like a bulldozer—a bulldozer dangerously near her slippery slope. She sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll give it some thought.”

When Jake showed up at Sawyer’s house, he was wearing a suit.

“Wow.” Sawyer raised his eyebrows. “Look at you all cleaned up.”

“It’s my funeral suit.”

Aww. Sawyer felt like an ass. He remembered now that Jake had bought that suit for his son Jude’s funeral three years ago. “Right.”

“Just came from the Mermaid.”

“Right.”

Jake looked at him pointedly.

“I was on duty until seven.” Working the shift he’d added to his schedule specifically so he’d have an excuse not to go to Lucille’s funeral. Evie was here for a week, and she clearly didn’t want to see him. Even though he felt terrible for not paying his respects, it seemed like the least he could do.

Jake sat next to Sawyer on the couch. “What are you watching?”

Sawyer flipped his phone over. What he was watching was a YouTube tutorial on how to build a canoe, but Jake did not need to know that. Not yet, anyway. He was pretty sure he was going to need Jake when it came down to it. Sawyer used to like noodling around building stuff when he was younger, but Jake was actually good at it. He was always fixing stuff in town or building sets for Maya’s plays.

Sawyer had started the canoe that last summer Evie was in town. Since she didn’t swim, he’d had the idea that maybe she could experience the lake on a boat. How much had he loved playing around in the shed in his backyard, Evie perched on a stool talking to him—or just reading a book? Doing her thing while he did his?

It had made him feel normal. Happy.

But then she’d left—then he’d sent her away—before the canoe was done.

Though it hardly mattered. The damage his father had done to it was probably irreparable.

“You ever think about starting a carpentry business?” he asked Jake, verbalizing the thought as it popped into his head.

“Why would I do that? I’m a fisherman.”

“Except you hardly ever actually fish.” He’d all but stopped after Jude died, after Kerrie left.

Jake stood up. Sawyer had gone too far.