Had I been Miles, he wouldn’t have appreciated the worry, but he smiles and says, “Thanks darlin’. This is my father, Artemis Shepard.”
The man tips his cowboy hat toward me and lifts his chin, revealing a handlebar mustache.
I wave. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“I take it you’re looking for a certain moody broody sort?” Artemis asks with a hearty grin. “He took off after his dad here was discharged. Can’t say I know where he went though.”
I nod, disappointed. “Thanks. Good to see you upright again, Shep.”
I turn and start back toward the cabin.
“Teddy,” Shep calls. “My boy is lucky to have you. Don’t give up on him, okay?”
He doesn’t wait for me to agree. He follows his dad up the trailer steps and shuts the door.
Every muscle in my body groans in protest as I traverse my own cabin steps. I’d like to just collapse on them, but I want to be alone. When I fall back on my bed, my arm smacks into a hardbound cover. Reaching across my body, I pull it from beneath me and hold it in the air like an accordion over my face. I flip it open to the first page… the moment that inspired me to a put pencil to paper and sketch again. The pages, once empty—a perfect portrayal of my life at the start of the summer—nowburst with color. I fan them to the last empty one and sketch until my fingers cramp. Until I know where to find him.
I’ve never been to Bloomington Lake in the evening as the sun sets. Instead of a blanket of warm amber light across the water, cotton candy clouds blot the horizon over a swirl of creamsicle hues. He’s wedged between two knobby tree roots, bunched in a tight ball next to the rope swing. Even from several dozen feet away, I see a glistening trail streak his cheek.
I cut across the floating log, through the tall grass, and down toward the water. While he doesn’t acknowledge any change around him, he must know I’m here. I can’t escape his periphery from this position, and I don’t want to. The grass has grown taller, and I smooth it down with my hand before sitting on top of it.
“I thought I’d find you here,” I say.
It’s minutes before he says something, but I’m not prepared for it when he does.
“It was me,” he whispers through choked tears.
“The person who left me all alone in bed this morning? I know,” I tease, but Miles doesn’t find my joke funny.
He starts thrashing his head back and forth. “You don’t remember that part, do you?”
“Remember what part?” I question, but I can feel my throat closing off. It’s getting harder to breathe every time I inhale because there’s only one part of my life I still can’t remember.
“I caused the accident,” he says.
I blink, staring at him, stunned.
“It was me,” Miles whimpers.
He was right. I didn’t remember that part.
CHAPTER THIRTY
SUMMER, ONE YEAR AGO
The sun bleats through the opening in the ceiling of our tent, waking me around six. There’s a dull ache behind the puffy rims of my eyes. I’ve never felt more conflicted than I do right now. My heart waited years to hear Miles say that he loves me, and of course, it had to come the day after I agreed to be in a relationship with Reed.
Cozy yawns and stretches her arms above her sleeping bag. “Best five bucks I ever spent.”
“Remind me never to let you enter another bet again,” I gripe.
She props herself up on her elbows. “Why?! I think I did well for myself, thank you very much.”
“Okay, touché to the sleeping bags. They are way cozier, no pun intended, than the ground would have ever been.”
Cozy flashes me a pleased smile.
“You’re only here a few short weeks, what else do you want to experience while in Bear Lake?”
