Walt smiled and, impulsively, Annie gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He batted her away with a wave, but looked pleased.
“Go on up now and finish getting ready before you ruin your makeup.”
Annie nodded and raced halfway up the stairs before pausing to look back, her hand on the wall.
“You won’t say anything to anyone? I just don’t want to make something out of this when it might end up being nothing.”
“Don’t you worry,” he said with a solemn nod. “I do most of my talking on the inside. But be brave, Annie. The sweetest berries are worth the briars.”
“Thank you.”
Walt nodded again, then went back to his work without another word.
At the top of Lake Lumin Road, Annie pulled the Jeep through the open gate.
The sunset was on full display over the western woods, the undersides of the low clouds blushing pink, silhouetting Daniel where he stood beside the painted lake, stoking the fire with a log in each hand.
Annie took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.
“Hey,” Daniel called, watching her over the fire with a half smile on his lips.
“Hey.”
As she neared the blaze, Annie caught the scent of roasting fish. A trout was suspended on a grill over the flames, sizzling in the heat, and the aroma made her mouth water.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Smells good.”
Daniel lifted half a lemon from a plate beside the fire and squeezed it over the fish, sending up a cloud of citrus steam.
“I grow parsley and dill in a little bed on the far side of the boathouse.” He adjusted the fish on the grill with a metal spatula. “And there’re wild onions in the woods. My favorite way to grill fish from the lake is brushing it with butter and fresh herbs, then dousing it with lemon when it’s almost done. This place will feed you if you let it. You want a drink?”
“Sure.” Annie dropped into one of the two Adirondack chairs that sat facing each other across the fire.
A spouted jar half full of amber liquid stood at his feet, and Daniel filled a glass and handed it to her.
“Homemade whiskey?” Annie joked, twisting the glass in her fingers with an eyebrow raised.
Daniel laughed. “Raspberry sun tea. My mom used to make it when I was a kid. You brew it outside all day in the warmth of the sun.”
Annie took a sip. It was sweet and complex, tangy with the lemon slices floating in the jar and fragrant with the scent of fresh raspberries. Lifting the glass for a second drink, she watched Daniel take a knee beside the fire. He looked different. He wore the same torn jeans and fraying shirt, but there was an openness that had never been there before. He was smiling freely as he prodded the fish, eyes glowing with the embers. Their kiss yesterday had pulled back the curtain that he’d kept closed between them, and Annie had a feeling that this might be her first chance to get to know the real Daniel.
She nodded toward the fish that he was lifting onto a platter with two knives. “So, you can cook, too. I’ll just add that to the long list of surprising things about you.”
Daniel said nothing, still smiling as he topped her plate with a fresh slice of lemon.
“Snares still empty?”
“Yeah. Checked this morning.”
“Thanks.” Annie took another sip from her glass.
Daniel took his seat across the fire. “How’s the case coming?”
Annie set her plate on the arm of the chair to cool. How strange it was to be up here alone with him, testing the waters with small talk about cooking, and the cougar traps, and work, when she was sure his mind was replaying the exact same moment hers was, their incredible kiss of the night before.
“Lake Lumin gossip reaches you way up here?” she asked with a laugh.
Daniel blew at the steam and took a bite. “It’s all they’re talking about down in town. Have they arrested anyone yet?”
