When I glance at Summer, she has a faraway look in her eyes. “She was spunky and fun, not at all one of those helicopter parents. She never hovered. She let me figure things out, but I knew she’d be there if and when I needed her.”

“That’s cool.”

Summer nods. “She was.”

When I close the door to the stove, I feel Summer behind me. “Do you want me to show you how to get this started again if it goes out?”

She nods. “Yeah, that would be helpful.”

“So, you want to get the kindling just right. That part’s important.”

I show her how to add more logs. Summer’s quiet while I mess with it. Once I’m done, I close the door to the stove again.

“That should last you about two hours. Just keep adding more wood.”

She stands in front of the stove, rubbing her hands together in the warmth it’s slowly starting to put off.

“Better?” I ask, standing to join her.

“So much better.” She smiles. “I’m happy I won’t have to wear twenty layers to bed tonight.”

Another punch of emotion hits me right in the chest.

Summer is so cheerful and good-tempered, even when I’ve been nothing but a dick to her. Even when she doesn’t have any family left in the world. Even when she nearly froze to death, sleeping in her jacket last night. It’s like nothing fazes her. She’s still smiling.

Who is this girl?

For the first time in a long time, I find I want to spend time getting to know a woman. Part of me wishes she’d be here long enough for me to figure out who Summer Campbell truly is.

“Did you grow up here on the property?” she asks, changing the topic back to me.

“No, we only moved here about ten years ago. I was thirteen. We lived in a town a couple of hours away before this. But this was my dad’s dream, living off the land as much as possible. Space to roam, and space for us to just be kids.”

Summer nods. “It’s a nice dream to have.”

I raise one shoulder. “It can be. It can also be a difficult one.” As is evidenced by how much Graham is struggling to get things to work.

“Will you tell me about him?” she asks, her expression growing soft.

“My dad?”

She nods.

I’m not sure I want to, but then before I decide to keep quiet, words start to spill out of me. “He was great. Taught me to how to fish, how to hunt. He wanted to make this place work so badly. He wasn’t the easiest guy to get along with, he had an opinion about everything, but he was good to my mom and loved her unconditionally. I never heard them argue.”