Page 89 of The Cherry Blossom Boathouse

We never got to fix it, she thought numbly. We never got to explain or apologize or try again.

Minutes stretched into an eternity. Someone—Mabel, maybe—pressed a thermos of tea into her hands, but she couldn’t drink it. Her entire body had turned to ice despite the muggy heat of the storm.

The wind began to ease slightly, the driving rain softening to something less apocalyptic. Sophie watched the lake through the marina office windows, seeing patches where the whitecaps were settling into mere choppy water.

“Look,” she said, spinning toward Ray who was monitoring the Coast Guard radio. “It’s calming down. We can go out there, help look for him. Right, Sheriff?” she asked, looking at Steffan who’d now joined them.

The sheriff shook his head. “We’ve got search and rescue protocols, I’m afraid. Civilians stay put during active operations. Last thing they need is more people to fish out of the water.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” Jake said, though Sophie could see the frustration written across his face. “Much as I want to get out there, we’d only complicate things. They’ve got the training, the equipment—”

“Luke’s boat!” Abbey’s voice cut through the chatter as she burst into the office, phone pressed to her ear. “Abe just spotted debris near Maple Island.”

Debris.

The word sent a chill through her.

The sheriff walked off, frantically speaking into his radio.

Sophie whipped around to face Jake and Ray. “Come on!” she said. “That’s not even ten minutes by boat. Luke’s told me about all the times you guys have broken the rules.”

“Sophie…” Jake said with a sigh.

“Luke is out there, possibly hurt.” Sophie’s voice cracked with desperation. “You happy to just stand here doing nothing?”

Jake and Ray exchanged looks, some wordless communication passing between them. Then they both nodded. “Fine.”

Ray peered at Steffan, who was still distracted, then discreetly started heading to his boat with Jake.

Sophie jogged after them. “I’m coming.”

“Not a chance,” Jake said.

“Yeah,” Ray said. “If Luke finds out we brought you into a storm zone, he’s going to kill us both.”

Sophie wanted to ask if he really still cared for her enough to react that way. But it felt like a frivolous question compared to the life-and-death situation standing before her.

“I don’t care,” she said, marching ahead of them. “I’m going out there whether you take me or not.”

Another look passed between the two men, then Ray caught up with her, keys in hand. “Fine, but stay low, hold on tight and do exactly what we tell you.”

Sophie nodded, her heart pounding as she leaped into the boat just as Ray fired up the engine.

As they pulled away from the marina, Sophie gripped the side of the boat and stared out toward the dark outline of Maple Island, barely visible through the sheets of rain.

Please be alive, she thought desperately, watching the island grow larger as they cut through the choppy water. Please, Luke. Just be alive. Everything else we can figure out, but you have to be okay.

Thirty-Six

Luke

The world turned to chaos in the space of a heartbeat.

One second Luke was fighting to keep the boat steady, the next he was underwater, the lake rushing into his mouth and nose like it was trying to claim him for good. The wave had hit sideways, catching the boat at the worst possible angle, and now he was tumbling through black water with no sense of up or down.

His grandfather’s voice echoed through the rushing water: When the lake speaks, best listen. Well, Solace Lake was speaking now and what it was saying was: You should’ve stayed home, you stubborn bastard.