The lake looked different in September.
Softer somehow. The sharp, bright edges of summer had blurred, traded for a gentler kind of gold. The maples along the ridge were just starting to blush at the tips, like Maple Falls was easing itself toward autumn instead of diving headfirst the way it usually did.
The Hot Honey Hideaway was closed for the night, theOpensign dark in the window, the patio chairs stacked and tucked away. But the place didn’t feel shut down, not with the flicker of campfire and the twinkle lights surrounding the bar.
Joe had said he wanted to stop by, to make a drink for the two of them. A place where they could relax and just be.
His hand was warm around hers as he guided her down the last few steps toward the Hideaway, and something about the quiet set of his shoulders made her suspicious.
And then she saw it.
Flickers of light danced across the shoreline.
Krista slowed. Mason jars with tea lights lined the deck, creating a soft-lit path to a blanket spread near the edge of the dock, positioned so the lake stretched out in front of it—moonlight skimming the water, soft and silver. Two pillows waited at one end, slightly rumpled like he’d already tested them. A small basket sat between them, lid propped open.
Krista’s feet stopped moving.
“Joe…” Her voice came out thin, like she didn’t trust it not to break. “What is this?”
He gave her a sideways look, almost shy for once. “A picnic.”
“At the Hideaway?”
“At the Hideaway,” he confirmed, and his thumb brushed over her knuckles like he couldn’t help himself. “I wanted it to be here.”
She knelt, peeking into the basket. Crackers. Strawberries. A small round of goat cheese. A jar of Moonlight Kiss honey with her grandmother’s unmistakable handwritten label.
And two chilled glasses, rims dusted with salt.
“You really didn’t have to do all this,” she murmured, looking up at him.
“I know.” His gaze held hers in a way that made her chest ache. “But I wanted to.”
Krista shifted her weight back, still staring at the lanterns, the blanket, the careful little touches that felt like him saying,I see you without ever having to use the words.
“This is why you made Frankie stay behind, isn’t it?” Krista laughed.
“You know that dog can’t be trusted around cheese. He’d run off with it before we even got a sample.”
They stretched out on the blanket; the night stretched out before them.
Out on the lake, a loon called, its cry stretching into the evening air.
In a few days, they would leave.
The thought should have knotted her stomach, but for once it didn’t. Her parents had driven up every weekend in August,patching things with words and actions. They’d purchased a second home, so they could be close by. They were helping at the cabin, too, installing railings and grab bars for Alice, running her to doctor appointments, and helping to pay for all the insurance premiums and therapy visits.
There was still a lot of hurt and resentment the way the last thirteen years had played out, but both sides were trying to listen to the other and show up in ways that mattered.
Robyn had already moved into the little apartment above the bookshop, which was full of the scent of old paperbacks and cinnamon candles. She split her days between helping Alice, writing in the window seat of the bookshop, and “accidentally” bumping into her co-worker Tyler in the romance section.
The town still dropped off casseroles and jars of soup to Walt and Alice and seemed never to plan to stop.
And the Hideaway was still hers. Joe and Madison, and everyone else had been right––she hadn’t needed to sell it. Not when she didn’t have to manage everything on her own. Not with Joe by her side, being the extra set of hands she needed, and her mom stepping up to care for her aging parents.
Soon, the Hideaway would be closed for the season, and Joe and Krista would be heading off to Europe.
She still half expected the universe to snatch that away if she looked at it too directly, but the tickets were booked. Joe’s revised contract was signed. Three weeks in the fall for this assignment, then shorter trips throughout next year, with plenty of time to spend together in Maple Falls.
