It was Jake. Who, judging by the footprints behind him, had just come from the cottage.

“Yes! Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be here.” She swiped at her eyes and started walking back toward the shore.

He held up a hand. “Don’t mind me. I’m on my way out.”

“But it’s your beach.”

“You’re always welcome here.”

What a curious thing to say, given that he hardly knew her. He was a year older than Sawyer, and by the time she left Moonflower Bay, he’d been working on his dad’s boat. He’d had an apartment he shared with his girlfriend Kerrie. She had thought of him as an adult. “That’s really nice of you, but I don’t want to disturb you or your family.”

“Dad and Jamila live in town full-time now, and my brother moved to Alberta. And I’m on my way out, so you’re not disturbing me.”

“What about Kerrie?” She glanced at the cottage. “Will she mind?”

“Kerrie’s not around anymore.”

“Oh, I’m…” She’d been going to say she was sorry, but she wasn’t really sure, given the way he had phrased it, if he meant they had broken up. And if they had, whether sorry was the correct response.

So she ended up standing there awkwardly. There had been a few instances like this, when she was hit with some knowledge from the decade she’d been away—like when she’d found out about Jake’s mom’s death, actually—and ended up feeling like a jerk. She was missing a lot of knowledge. She finally settled on, “So you’re out here by yourself now?”

“Yep. Took the plunge and moved out here full-time.”

“I came out here because…” I’m trying to teach myself to swim because I made a moonflower wish but it wasn’t really a wish; it was more like a vow. “I wanted to be by myself. It’s the parade today, and…” They’re setting up on Main Street and I can’t bear to be around anything to do with that stupid parade.

“This town can be a lot,” he said.

Exactly. He understood. Jake didn’t talk much, but he had perfectly summarized her swirling thoughts. Hmm. Was it possible Jake was a low-key guru, full of wisdom? She decided to test him with a little bit of truth. “It turns out even though I thought I hated this town, I’m also sort of…remembering what I always liked about it.” What I loved about it.

“This place’ll get under your skin.”

“You going to the parade later?” she asked.

He smiled—a little sadly, she thought. “Nope. Going out on the boat.”

“Good fishing.”

“Not that boat.” He pointed at a canoe stored on a rack next to the cottage.