“Not yet. But I’ll bring you some tomorrow.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Is it poisoned?”
He huffs a laugh. “Yeah. Took real effort to coordinate a group assassination by casserole.”
“Just checking,” I say, because if I don’t tease him I’m gonna say something else. “Wouldn’t put it past your wife.”
His expression shifts at that, just a flicker.
“It’s from Lottie,” he says even. “Not Bethany.”
I nod once, trying to pretend that matters less than it does.
“And this?” I ask, lifting the neon thing.
He actually looks faintly embarrassed. His ears don’t go red or anything dramatic, but the man’s got a tell. His eyes slide away like the dock’s suddenly interesting.
“Apology,” he mutters.
I unfold it.
A bright green T-shirt with a cartoon lake monster, eel shaped with a pig’s nose, grinning across the front like it’s proud of itself.
I stare at him.
“You brought me Lake Monster merch.”
He shrugs. “Figured you could use a laugh.”
I bite back a smile and fail. “It’s hideous.”
“There were worse ones.”
He pulls the rest from the bag. Shorts. A navy bathing suit. And, inexplicably, a stuffed version of the Herrington Lake Monster with beady plastic eyes and a crooked grin.
“Oh my God,” I breathe, and it comes out softer than I mean it to.
“Marina guy swears it’s real,” Oaks says. “Said it sunk a floatel last month.”
I glance out at open water. Gray-blue, glassy, innocent-looking, which is how the worst things always present themselves.
“I’ve heard the stories,” I admit. “My daddy used to tell ’em when I was little. Said there was something long and black under the water that bumped boats just to see who’d scream.”
“You believe it?” he asks.
“No,” I say quick. Then I glance at the water again like my body didn’t get the memo. “But I don’t like not seeing what’s under me.”
He watches me for a long second. “You think I’m trying to scare you?”
“Are you? When haven’t you been?”
He shakes his head once. “I’d rather you be mad than scared.”
That lands too deep. Not romantic. Not sweet. Just true. Like he’s been living by that rule a long damn time.
I set the food on the small table and look back at him. “So what’s the deal? You bringing me lake monsters and fried chicken, or you planning to stay the night?”
His eyes darken slightly, then the guard snaps back into place.
