“Oh, that,” says Emily. “It all blew over the next day. We were in a shop and Ma saw this painting for sale and fell in love with it. But it cost three thousand euros. She didn’t even dream of buying it. Then later before dinner, Da said he was going out for a pint and came back with the painting all wrapped up like it was Christmas. Now they’re carrying on like they just fell in love or something. It’s disgusting.”
“Your parents?”
“Yeah.”
“Kind of embarrassing,” says Braedon.
“I want to die.”
The day after Teddy’s funeral, Judd and Braedon head north to a fish camp on Lake of the Woods. It’s a seven-hour drive from southeast Minnesota to the top of the state. They will be gone for six days. The trip coincides with Deb leaving town to visit her sister in Seattle, and Mei’s week of continuing education where she’ll learn how to work with a robot during valve-replacement surgery.
Clay had planned on spending this week at home fishing the Root River and its tributaries. But he changed his plan after Teddy’s body surfaced in that river. Clay needs some time beforewading its current again—it’s too easy to imagine Teddy’s body moving downstream. Too easy and too haunting.
Instead of staying put, Clay heads out for a week of fly-fishing in Wisconsin’s driftless area in and around the town of Viroqua. He stays at the Hotel Fortney, an obnoxiously romantic place on a quaint-as-hell Main Street.
Zoey tells Kimmich, Wahlquist, and the rest of the department that she’s vacationing up north to visit family. Only Sue suspects otherwise. But she keeps her suspicions to herself. She’s on Zoey and Clay’s side. It’s a match she’s hoped for since Clay moved back to Riverwood.
“It was too your idea I come along,” says Zoey.
“I remember you inviting yourself,” says Clay.
They sit up in bed drinking white Russians made with full-fat oat milk—Zoey is lactose intolerant—after spending the entire day on the river. They showered and dressed for dinner and decided they looked too good to go out. They ordered room service instead.
“No,” says Zoey. “I said I’d like to learn how to fly-fish. And you said you would teach me and you were going to Viroqua for the week. And I said sounds like a plan.”
“The way I remember it,” says Clay, “is I said I would teach youbutI was going to Viroqua for a week. Implying that I would teach you when I returned. And you saidsounds like a plan.Then you showed up at my place with your stuff, and here we are.”
Zoey laughs into her drink. “And then I said let’s just hang out for a week in a romantic hotel in a cute town and see what happens.”
“And I said”—Clay’s smiling so hard it hurts—“okay, but we’re getting separate rooms.”
“No you didn’t. You said separate beds. And then I said fine. I don’t want to get kicked in the middle of the night by a professional soccer player.”
“This is our third night,” says Clay. “I haven’t kicked you once.”
“That’s why I haven’t slept in the other bed,” says Zoey.
“And that’s what led to the sex,” says Clay.
“Is that what we did, have sex?”
Clay laughs hard. “I don’t know. It was hard to tell. You wouldn’t stop talking the entire time.”
“Well, someone has to teach you what to do.”
They laugh themselves into silence. A long, comfortable, sad silence. Clay feels guilty for how much he’s enjoying this trip. Zoey understands. She waits patiently for Clay to get through the moment. The regret. The sadness. His missing Teddy. A minute later, he lets it go with a sigh and reaches for Zoey’s hand.
CHAPTER 45
They celebrate the Fourth of July on the fifth of July. Zoey had to work on the fourth: Crowd control at the parade down Riverwood’s main street. Pulling over drunk drivers on ATVs. Writing citations to exploders of illegal fireworks. But today they gather at Clay’s house for a family cookout.
Sue and Carol brought over their electric smoker last night. Beef ribs have been in there since 6:00AM. Now Braedon’s in the backyard with Daniel. They’re both talking to Emily on FaceTime, telling her that Braedon sent the message to his mother ten minutes ago. It’s 3:00PMin Minnesota. That’s 21:00 in the UK or 9:00PM. Braedon’s mother may not see the message until tomorrow.
Sue and Carol are on the back patio taking the ribs out of the smoker. The meat has to rest for an hour before serving. Sue and Carol insist on that and tent the platter with foil.
Zoey, Deb, and Mei drove off to Value Foods. Zoey forgot to bring whipping cream for the rhubarb crumble. Mei and Deb went along for the ride.
Clay stands over the kitchen sink peeling back corn husks and removing the silk. He then replaces the corn husks and drops the cobs into a tub of water to soak so the kernels can steam-cook on the grill. Judd halves cherry tomatoes and tosses them into a big bowl of spring greens. He wears a ring of black silicone on his left ring finger. Mei wears the same in pink. They’re engagement rings. Mei proposed during the fireworks last night. Got down on one knee and everything. Made it kind of hard for Judd to say no. That’s the joke he’s been telling all day.
