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“Sam told me you guys were close.” Alex slid the mustard and mayo down to Lily and handed her a knife. “How did you meet?”
“Well, Sam is my ex. Although, I’m not sure if I’d say we were dating at the time.” She paused, reaching for the pickles and arranging four dill slices on the ham as she tried to think of words to wrap around their relationship that summer. “It was more like…”
“More like fucking than dating?”
Lily laughed, plopping a tomato slice on her masterpiece and cutting it in half. “Well, damn, you don’t mince words, do you?”
“Not usually.” Alex grinned, dropping a handful of cookies into a paper bag and folding it over. “Especially about relationships.”
“It was tense for a minute, but the three of us came through it fine, and we’ve all stayed close. Sam was the one who encouraged me to get off my ass and sign my first book contract.”
Alex raised an eyebrow and took a bite of her sandwich.
“Yeah, I saw my latest book on your nightstand. You’re busted.” Lily looked up as she dropped her sandwich into a sack. “Especially since my picture takes up the entire back cover.”
Alex just smiled, then hopped up to sit on the kitchen island. “Listen, you look like you look.” Alex paused to let her gaze drop to Lily’s shoulders briefly, then folded over the top of Lily’s sack. “I know you have to have women hitting on your constantly, so I let you have your space.”
Lily smiled, bumping Alex’s knee with her hip as she bit into a cookie. “Not that I wanted much space in the end, as it turns out.”
Alex got a bigger canvas bag from underneath the island and loaded in the cookies and fruit. “Speaking of which, are you ready to go?”
“Go where?” Lily looked at the clock and back to Alex. “Am I late for something? I swear, my sense of time has been warped since I’ve been here. I don’t know what it feels like not to be constantly working.”
Alex hopped down and put the cheese and meat away as she shot a wink over her shoulder. “You’re not late for anything
unless you want to be down at the campfire bowl with Charlotte and all the couples.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “So far, they’ve been great, but it’s a hard pass on all the loved-up couples tonight.”
“Hard pass every night for me.” Alex hit the lights and guided Lily out, one hand warm on the small of her back.
Darkness had fallen in the blink of an eye, and the shimmering Edison bulbs that crisscrossed the center of the property seemed like endless strands of golden stars strung end to end. The air had cooled enough to bring out the fresh scent of the lake water, and peeper frogs chirped and warbled from the dark edges of the forest. Alex led them down the hill to the dock and, ten minutes later, had nearly convinced Lily to step into one of the canoes.
“So,” Alex said, zipping her jacket and running a hand through her hair. “Just so I’m clear, what’s the holdup here, exactly? Canoe phobia?”
Lily gazed with distrust at the dark, glittering water. “Just that literally anything could be out there. What if McCall has their own version of a Loch Ness Monster or something?”
Alex dutifully scanned the water with a serious look she just managed to pull off without laughing. “Well, I’ve got a flare, a lantern from the boathouse, and my cell phone. And if we’re going to the island, Sam is literally a hundred yards away. Like, less than a minute by speedboat.”
Lily paused, carefully weighing her options, then gingerly stepped into the boat with a single foot only to pull it back out again. “And if I agree to this ludicrous night trek to a dark, mysterious island where I’m virtually certain to become Dateline’s newest episode…” She paused for dramatic effect. “Then I get sole custody of the bag of cookies?”
“Agreed.” She held out a paddle for Lily and motioned her into the boat.
“You think I’m rowing?” Lily smiled, taking the paddle with her thumb and forefinger and laying it back into the bottom of the canoe. “That’s adorable.”
Alex laughed, pushing the extra paddle to the side. “Well, technically, it’s ‘paddling,’ but I stand corrected.”
“That’s what I thought.” Lily stepped carefully into the canoe and sat gingerly on the back seat, looking warily into the inky water. “Pass those cookies back here just in case I don’t make it to the island. I’m not taking any chances.”
Alex shook her head and laughed, pulling smoothly out into the water. As they got farther and farther from the docks, the stars above their heads became a glittering expanse of diamonds scattered across a bolt of black velvet. A duo of spotted brown owls followed them, swooping in a crisscross pattern over their heads, undoubtedly amused by Alex’s nervous dramatics when they came too close.
“I feel like I’m being divebombed by rogue bird assassins.” Alex ducked as one of the assassins dove close enough to ruffle her hair with the breeze from her wings. “I mean, damn, did you just see that? And that was a flashing neon sign that they speak English too. Fantastic.”
“Gonna have to toughen up if you’re going to hang out with me. I’m a wildlife magnet for some reason.”
“Well, I’m not about to have a calm conversation with a grizzly bear, if that’s what you mean.” Alex turned back around to wink in her direction. “I heard a story about you taming the wild beast that decided to hang out on Sam’s porch a few years back.”
“What?” Lily leaned back and picked the chocolate out of her cookie to eat first. “That’s almost certainly a lie.” She was thankful she was sitting behind Alex as she tried to feign indignation. “Who was telling the story?”
