Cassidy wasn’t known for keeping many possessions. She believed in theless is morephilosophy. This box was all that was left of her. A box Kinley had never been able to open before now.
Kinley clenched the sweatshirt against her chest, inhaling the faintest trace of the jasmine perfume her mom wore more days than not. She wished she had a bottle of it now. Memories of happy times flooded Kinley at an alarming rate.Walks along the bay, ice cream cone Saturdays, nature hikes, nights spent on their backs stargazing from their backyard . . .
She anticipated the eventual heavy tears the moment Ryder carried the box down the ladder. But the choking sobs of grief gripped her the most when she looked through the half dozen photos. Cassidy’s illuminating smile stared back at her from each one. Some included Fiona, some Kinley. And others were just her mom. But always, always smiling.
Kinley sobbed into the sweatshirt, desperately trying to suffocate her sobbing so Fiona wouldn’t worry. She cried until the tears dried up and her face was swollen. She didn’t need a mirror to tell her she looked terrible.
The phone chime that resembled a doorbell echoed in the small room, drawing Kinley’s focus away from the pile of her mother’s things for a moment. Had signal not been so rare out at the cabin, she might’ve ignored it. Instead, she reached for the phone and flipped it over screen-up on the bed.
Ava:I have a pint of moose tracks ice cream that’s about to go bad. Want to help a girl out?
Kinley:I’ll be over in 10.
Ava:Your phone works!
Kinley:Must be something in the air. Don’t eat it all without me! I’m on my way.
Relieved for the distraction and not sad at all about the late-night treat, Kinley gathered her mother’s items together. She tucked the pictures and postcard into an interior pocket of her purse. The velvet bag dropped onto the floor with a thud as she placed the rest of the items back in their box.
She snatched the blue drawstring bag from the floor, but before successfully adding it to the treasures in the box, a necklace poured out onto the comforter.
Lifting it with her fingers, a hollow heart dangled at the end of the silver chain. Red gems twinkled against the lamplight. Kinley wasn’t one for jewelry, but she couldn’t resist slipping it around her neck. The necklace brought her closer to her mom, and for that she’d make an exception. Maybe it was Mom’s way of reminding Kinley she was still watching out for her—she was still here even though she was gone.
“You heading out?” Fiona asked with a yawn from her recliner, rocking with Pickles nestled in her lap.
“Going over to Ava’s for a bit.”
“Ava’s, huh?”
“Yes,Ava’s. For ice cream.” If she didn’t know better, she’d think Fiona was hoping she and Ryder would become a couple. Never mind the impossible logistics of that scenario. Everyone seemed to overlook the small detail that Kinley would leave next week.
Everyone but Kinley.
Chapter Ten
Ryder
The retaining wall project on Mom’s list was a larger undertaking than Ryder had anticipated. Chase tried to warn him, but until they tore it apart, Ryder didn’t believe him.
He surveyed the supplies it’d taken them the better part of the morning to bring in. They’d just finished unloading their second haul from Mershire’s Home and Garden: twenty bags of pea gravel, top soil, and mulch that Ryder was really hoping they didn’t needallof. But Chase insisted. The masonry blocks were stacked in piles along the gravel drive, small pyramids to the gods of bad timing.
“Got a hot date or something?” Chase ribbed when he caught Ryder checking his phone.
“Supposed to meet Kinley for lunch.” With her only days away from leaving, he hated canceling on her. He wasn’t convinced the time they had left was enough to change any possible future between them. In fact, that felt impossible. But the retaining wall still required reassembling. It’d be an all-day project.
“Knew it.”
“Wipe that smug look off your face,” Ryder warned, though a smile cracked through his rigidly straight lips. “We’re friends. That’s it.” Never mind that he almost kissed her on the boat. Or that last night he dreamt about their first kiss at the pier. It didn’t change the inevitable end crashing toward them.
Rowdy let out a bark when Mom emerged from the sliding door, two bottles of that overly sweet water in hand. Maybe she hoped to drown out the sour inside him. “Don’t worry, girl,” Mom said to the shepherd. “I have some water coming for you. Maybe a little something extra too.”
“You don’t need to spoil her,” Ryder called to her, though he didn’t mean it. Rowdy had been happily living on ground caribou, Cheetos, and shared meals for days now. It didn’t get more spoiled than that. He’d been putting off buying dog food from the grocery store only because he didn’t want to jinx their time together. Buying her a bunch of supplies seemed the surest way to summon her owner back to town.
Ryder shouldwantto help Rowdy return home, where she was possibly loved beyond measure.
It bothered him most that no calls had come in to the vet clinic, local shelter, or even city hall about a missing dog. The image of Rowdy racing down the pier, dragging a leash behind her, plagued him. It screamed abandonment.
Tomorrow he’d make the promised drive, if necessary.
