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Beauty was everywhere: the trees, the reflections in the water, the perfect sky. She drank it in. She could only imagine how pretty it would be in autumn. Leaving so soon, she’d never see this again. Her eyes blurred. Never see Dan again. She gulped back the emotion. Did she really have to go?
She took in a deep breath. Yes. Despite all his kindness toward her, Dan had never really said anything about the future. And despite his denials about Ella, it was obvious there would be a long line of girls willing to step into his arms. She winced.
“Sar?”
Thank God for her big Jackie O sunglasses that hid emotion. “Yes?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You sure? You’ve been a little preoccupied today. You’re not still thinking about scary teddy bears, are you?”
“No.” She managed a chuckle she hoped gave the impression of ease, but the tenderness in his face suddenly made the truth so much harder to say. How could she hurt this man who’d always been kind to her?
Dan steered around a heavily wooded peninsula, and his familiar red boathouse came into view. She was running out of time. He steered closer to his dock. Killed the motor. Threw the rope around the pole. Stepped out. Held out his hand.
“Here you go, Princess.”
His smile had always made her respond in kind. But she couldn’t right now.
She stood on the dock, waiting as he finally finished securing the boat.
“Hey, Dan?”
Be brave.
She swallowed. “There’s something you should know.”
* * *
After waiting all day,suddenly he didn’t want her to say it. The perfect Muskoka afternoon would be wrecked by such a disclosure. He gestured to the bags. “Want to put them away first?”
“Uh, sure.”
Five minutes later they were on the cottage’s back deck. Sarah was picking at her fingernails.
“Sar?”
She glanced up.
“You want to talk here?”
She shook her head.
“At my place?”
She shook her head again. Seemed she didn’t want to say what he didn’t want to hear either.
He stepped closer. “The dock?”
She nodded. She slipped her hand into his, and they slowly walked to the dock. He loved the feel of her hand—small, delicate softness entrusted to his care. He glanced across as they passed the large pine’s shadow. The late afternoon sun caught the golden strands of her hair, setting them on fire. Her face was pale—that wasn’t anything new—but the resolute look she wore was different from the usual openness in her face.
They reached the dock and walked slowly to the end. “This is one of my favorite places.” Dan stopped and turned. “It’s a good place to sit and talk or pray.”
Sarah sat, the long hippie-style skirt spreading around her in a pool of green and purple. She took off her sandals and stretched out her legs, her scarlet-painted toenails pointing toward the distant twinkle of lights across the indigo lake. She leaned against his shoulder. “This is nice.”
“Yeah.” It was a mild evening, and the day’s heat had made the boards warm to touch. He waited for her to speak while dusk slowly stole over the far horizon. The sun was setting, creating a pink-and-gold light show in the clouds.
