“Will you slow down?” Victoria stopped and drank from her water bottle. Twenty feet to her right, the trail dropped off a steep embankment. The Long River flowed past. Sunlight sparkled on the rippled, dark surface, like light reflected off the cuts of a gemstone in a jeweler’s case. On the left side of the trail, a rock outcropping jutted out of the earth and angled away from the river.

The midday sun had turned unexpectedly warm. Under her nylon jacket, sweat soaked her gray University of Boston T-shirt between her shoulder blades. She didn’t know which burned more, her thighs or her lungs. There might not be any mountains in the area, but this trail had been an uphill hike all morning. “Not all of us are cross-country runners.”

Ashley caught up and wheezed. “Seriously.”

“Sorry.” From twenty feet up the trail, Samantha spun around and bounced back to her friends. “The lake is just over the rise.” Despite her skin-tight black leggings, the collegiate runner didn’t have an ounce of jiggle on her ridiculously long legs.

Victoria bent double and touched her toes. Her hamstrings tightened, then gave. Ahhh.

They trudged over the summit and out of the woods. Waves on the lake sparkled. Fifty yards away, a man piloted an old fishing boat across the water.

“Oh. Pretty.” Victoria let the slope carry her down to the water’s edge. “Look, there’s a nice beach on the other side. Who’s up for renting kayaks tomorrow?”

Beside her, Ashley eased her butt onto the weedy bank. She unzipped her yellow windbreaker. Red splotches colored her face.

“Are you OK?” Victoria asked.

“Yeah.” Ashley held up a hand and sucked air. “I just need a minute.”

With a conspiratorial glance at Victoria, Samantha glanced at her watch. “You know what? It’s time to head back anyway.”

“No, you guys wanted to go farther. We don’t have to stop because of me,” Ashley protested.

“It’s not because of you. It’s because I want cookies.” Samantha grinned. She adjusted the blonde ponytail looped through the back of her Red Sox cap.

“And lemonade,” added Victoria. Her stomach rumbled. She let her pack slide down her arms to the ground and dug a protein bar out of the front pocket. “Anyone else hungry?” She gestured to her remaining food stores: trail mix, energy gel, more protein bars.

“Nah, I just ate a PowerBar.” Samantha bent a leg, caught her boot behind her with her hand, and stretched the front of her thigh. Her mouth stretched in a mischievous grin. “Besides, we can drive to the beach tomorrow. If we go back to the inn early enough, maybe we’ll get to see Mr. Super Hot.”

Victoria fanned herself. “Could he get any more tall, dark, and handsome?”