I tried not to register the mud now on the floor mats. I’d clean them up later. I’d put everything back to normal later. It would all be fine.

“I think the seat belt over here is broken,” he said, sliding next to me as I drove away from the lake and toward his house.

My heart seemed to stop. “It is? Can you fix it?”

“Moore, it was a joke. You know, the best pickup line ever.”

“Oh. Right. It’s just this truck: nothing can happen to it.”

“I know. It’s fine. You’ve done fine.” He kissed my cheek.

“Don’t distract me. I have to drive.”

He rested his hand on my knee, which wasn’t any less distracting. “Didn’t we already hear this song? Is the radio playing repeats?”

He was right. We had heard it. Or at least the first part of it, not the whole thing.

“That happened last time we stopped too. Is it a . . .” He pushed a button and the music stopped and a tape came sliding out of the slot on top. “It’s a tape.”

My breath caught. “It is? It must’ve been his. Does it say anything on it?”

He took it out and flipped it once. “No. But someone made it. There are too many artists on it to be one album.”

“Do you think Eric made it?”

“I don’t know, but if he did, he had excellent taste in music.”

“I was going to say the same thing.”

He smiled and put the tape back in the player. “Thanks for letting me be part of tonight. I had fun.”

“Me too. I guess you need to take Heath Hall away now.” I nodded toward the dash where he and his empty eyes still gazed at us creepily.

He loaded him into the backpack and zipped it up. “Do you have anyone you want to nominate to wear this?”

“Besides you?”

“I just walked into an icy cold lake. I’m good.”

I squeezed his hand. Was he good?

“I think I’m going to pass on the torch,” he said. “Let someone else be the mask’s keeper.”

“Really?”

“I was hanging on to it for so long because I felt like it was the only purpose I had in my life. I think I was scared to let it go. But it’s time for Heath to move on.”

“Do you know who you’re passing it to?”

“I’m not sure. What do you think about Amelia?”

The suggestion surprised me, but then it didn’t. “She’d actually be pretty perfect.”