“It’s not the ghost thing. She’s always coming to the city council meetings stirring up trouble. Reporting people for stupid things. Giving premonitions about the end of the world. I think she spends too much time alone with her cat and it’s gotten to her.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Sure, she seemed strange,” I concede. “But not downright crazy. Or at least not in the time it took to have a cup of tea.”

Ezra pulls back from me with an expression of confusion. “Wait a minute. You had tea with Leslie Swann? At her cottage?”

“I stopped in on my way home from the marina yesterday. My mother used to be friends with her mother. I just thought it would be nice to say hello. She invited me in for tea, we talked a bit, and that’s all.” Again I’m hesitant to tell Ezra the full details of our conversation but not totally sure why.

“Do me a favor, June,” Ezra says, more serious than I’ve seen him yet. “Stay away from Leslie Swann. She’ll just find some reason to start a campaign against you.”

“Okay,” I’m quick to answer. “It’s not like I want to be her best friend or anything.”

“Good,” Ezra says, before getting up from the glider and going into the cottage, putting an abrupt end to the conversation.

His dislike of Leslie is uncharacteristic. Ezra is the kind of guy who likes everyone and never has a bad word to say. I can’t help but wonder what on earth she did to make him dislike her so much.

Ezra wants to check in on his mom before going shopping, so we head to his place first. I’ve never been to his house before, and it makes me realize how tied to Avril Island we were during the summers, and the places that were frequented mostly by cottagers. Very rarely did we mix with local people.

It’s right on the lake and has a brand-new looking boathouse with a double boat slip and apartment up top. Ezra tells me he built it when his business started to take off and he needed to have a place to dock both boats and store his tools. He added the apartment for himself so that he didn’t have to live in the house anymore but still be close enough to keep an eye on Willa.

The little stone cottage that sits beyond the large boathouse is a stark contrast. Ezra takes me up to his apartment first. He wants to shower and change clothes.

It’s open concept, with big windows looking out at the water. I’m impressed. He’s made it feel spacious but cozy at the same time, not too crowded but with enough stuff to make it feel homey. Looking around, I note the obvious influence that working in million-dollar cottages has had on his taste.