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Pop shrugged, then wrapped Tea in his arms and gave her a smooch on the cheek. “Love you, angel. Come back soon.”

She melted in his embrace. “I’ll try.”

They climbed into the car. Tea eyed the lake one last time, watching the yellow sail drift among the water, and the loon that flew above it.

“Bye,” she whispered.

Mom rolled her car slowly down the dirt road and out of the resort. Tea hadn’t seen many of the owners as they left, but she did that on purpose. She wanted to leave quietly.

The box remained on her lap for a few minutes, unopened, as Mom drove along the winding roads leading out of Silver Falls.

“Well, are you going to open it?” she asked.

“I’m a little scared to,” Tea responded.

Mom sighed. “Do it. It can’t be that bad.”

Tea gingerly untied the bow, then tipped the box open. The inside was fluffed with tissue paper, with one item and one note.

The item was a picture frame, one that she’d tried to leave behind. It was the photo of her and Archer, blue teeth, smiling at the camera.

She bit her lip as she picked up the note.

Don’t make the same mistake.

She shook her head, shoving both of them back in the box, placing it on the ground, and kicking it in the corner, far away from her reach. It didn’t matter what she did. Every decision she was poised to make seemed like the wrong one.

They stopped at a diner in Madison for dinner. The place looked completely dead, which worked in their favor. They took a booth in the far back corner, away from the counter and the workers, giving them a safe space to eat in peace.

Tea poked at her salad with her fork. She knew she should eat something, but she didn’t have an appetite for it. Not after looking at that picture, the image of Archer haunting her. Memories of the boy she used to play with at the lake. Moments with the man she spent wrapped up in this summer, the way he gently cradled her and made her feel safe.

Mom bit her club sandwich, then wiped her hands with a napkin. “Honey, enough sulking. Spill.”

She kept playing with her food. “What is there to say?”

“Maybe you can finally tell me what’s going on with you and Archer?”

She put down her fork and glanced out the window, the sky dusty as dusk settled in. “He told me he loves me.”

When Mom didn’t respond, Tea turned to face her. She was leaning back, arms crossed, not looking surprised in the slightest.

She circled her hand, signaling her to continue. “And?”

“And what?”

“Did you say it back?”

She pursed her lips and glanced away again.

“Oh, Tea bear, why not?”

“Because I can’t,” she whispered.

She could sense Mom leaning in. “Can’t, or won’t?”

Tea brought her knees close and hugged them. Screw manners.

“Do you love him?”