Page 47 of The Other Half

“I got pretty lucky.”

“Seriously! You’re right on the water! The lake is so beautiful and looks so clean. Can you swim in it?”

“Oh yeah. People swim in it all the time, and there’s a little public beach area just up the way. Nothing better than a dip in the lake on a hot summer day.”

“I need to try it sometime. But I have to hike a minute through the woods down to my water and I’m too scared to get eaten by a coyote.”

“You’re not going to get eaten.” I laughed.

We stood staring at my freshly mowed backyard. It stretched down to the small wooden dock jutting out into the lake. A few shade trees dotted my yard, and my mother’s vegetable garden off to the side had fresh plants since I’d been trying to keep it up.

“This place is amazing.”

“It’s been in the family for years. There’s no way we could afford waterfront property in Door County if it hadn’t been. Fucking rich people just keep gobbling it all up.”

Her gaze dropped to the ground. “Yeah. That sucks.”

“Developers keep offering me more and more for it, but there isn’t a dollar sign in the world that will make me give it up. I love it here.”

“I can see why.”

“Whose place is that next door, anyway? If you look on the land map, it’s just registered to some trust somewhere, but we’ve never seen the owners. Do you know who owns it?”

“Huh?” she asked.

“Your place. Does your family own it or are you renting it?”

“Oh. Um. My grandpa set me up there.”

“Is it his?”

“Huh?”

Scrunching my brow, I watched her shift her eyes to everywhere but mine.

“Does your grandpa own the land? I’ve always wondered who owns it.”

“I, uh, don’t know. He just told me I could stay here. Hank! Whatcha doing?” Cassie turned to where Hank was rolling around the yard with a ball. Hearing his name, he perked up and grabbed the ball in his mouth. “Come on, Hank!”

He raced over to where she stood slapping her thighs and I tried to push aside her strange answer about the property. After sticking my foot in my mouth about her parents, I didn’t want to pry. Hell, it was probably their cabin, and my nosy questions just ripped open the obvious wound again.

“I’ll start the fish,” I said to her while she tossed the ball for Hank.

“Okay!” she called back.

After getting the fish placed on the tinfoil, I set it on the grill and sprinkled it with seasoning before putting butter and a squeeze of lemon on it. The vegetable packets I’d made up earlier got tossed on the grill beside them. When everything was set, I grabbed my mug of wine and walked over to where she stood waiting for Hank to return with the ball. All I wanted to do was step up behind her and wrap my arms around her like I’d done last night, but I stopped myself and stepped beside her instead.

“He’ll never stop, you know.”

“Who, Hank?”

“Oh, yeah. If you let him have his way, he’ll make you throw that ball until one of you drops dead.”

Laughing, she took the ball from him again. “Last one, Hank.” With a grunt, she whipped the ball and Hank blasted off after it.

“Not a bad throw.”

“Thanks.”