Cole doesn’t head toward the house, though. Instead, we head down toward a tall privacy fence at the bottom of the yard. He pops open a rusty padlock and it makes a loud click. “My mom has no idea this lock is broken. So that’s going to have to be a secret,” he warns me. “Just between us.” I glance back toward the house. The last thing I want to do is piss off Willa. “Don’t worry,” he says. “They’re both in the city with important friends today.”

When the gate swings open, I stop short and suck in my breath. Cole ushers me through and closes the gate behind us. My knees go weak. I take a few steps back, pressing myself against the wood of the fence. Because we’re standing at the top of a steep cliff. It’s a sheer drop down to the water below. And I’ve never been afraid of heights before.

But that churning water.

“Whoa.” Cole shoots out a hand to steady me. “It’s okay. I got you.” I let him steer me over to a rusting garden bench where we can sit together.

“Your mom put up the wall,” I say as soon as I get my voice back, “and the gate? After my mom . . .”

Cole nods. “I was still little. And I think it scared her, you know? That long drop to the sea.”

“Why’d you bring me here?”

“Two reasons.” He hasn’t taken his eyes off me. “First, I just wanted you to see it.” I sneak a peek toward the edge of the cliff. The abrupt drop to the waves below. “It’s amazing, right?” He’s watching my face so intently. “But also because I remembered something last night.” He picks up a toy boat that’s sitting in the grass next to the bench. It’s simple. Clearly homemade. Just a little piece of wood cut into a wedge shape. It’s painted blue and white, and there’s a tiny sail attached to a drinking-straw mast. “Do you remember being up here? With me? That summer?”

I shake my head.

“Here.” He hands me the little wooden toy. “Tide’s on its way out. We have to do it now.”

“Do what now?” I’m so confused.

“I made this one, but when I was little, my dad used to make them for me. Out of little bits of wood stolen from the scene shop. I loved tossing them off the cliff, here, and then picking them up later on the beach at Whisper Cove.” He looks embarrassed all of a sudden. “I thought it might help you remember.”

“What are you talking about?”