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He coughed. “Didn’t feel like having dinner with your grandparents tonight?”

She shrugged. “I kind of felt like you needed me.”

He furrowed his brow. “Why?”

She brushed the crumbs off her hands, then took a pull of her beer before she answered. “Except for that first night we talked, you’ve avoided eating with your family, even though your mom is so insistent that you go over there.”

Archer clenched his fists, then released them. Clenched, then released.

“You also kind of seem like you have a lot of anxiety about the pandemic.”

This time his stomach didn’t just churn. It dropped with a thunk, like a solid, heavy boulder.

Clench. Unclench.

She pointed to the cabin behind them. “Your place was practically empty of food. I was going to play it off as you being a guy or something, but this past week you kept joking that you couldn’t make it over to your folks’ place to steal food because they were always there. And you never once mentioned buying food at the store.”

His chest flared. He sucked in a breath and looked out at the lake. He wasn’t ready to tell her how the pandemic had upended his life.

She scratched at the paper label on her beer bottle, wet with condensation. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, I also am scared about what’s going on. But I can’t figure out if the reason you’re avoiding your family is because of COVID, or something else. That’s why I made a game out of grocery shopping today. I hoped it would get your mind off having to go in.”

Archer rested his elbows on his knees, pressing his fists into his eyes hard. He didn’t want to admit any of his feelings with her. He wanted to keep things surface level and easy. Clear boundaries. Casual. Friends.

He could hear her shifting in her seat. “Arch?”

He sat up straight, eyes on the lake. “Yeah?”

“You mad?”

Yes. He closed his eyes, imagining building a brick wall around his heart. A strong defense. Unbreakable.

When he opened his eyes, he smiled. “I’m really busy. Grocery shopping or spending time with my family is the least of my priorities. As for the pandemic, I’m trying to keep everyone safe.”

He knew in his heart he wasn’t outright lying, because those were the reasons why. But by the way her chest fell at his response, Archer knew Tea wasn’t buying it.

“Okay,” she replied softly, pulling her gaze away, her eyes on the wet beer label she was scratching off. “Sorry I assumed.”

He leaned back and crossed his arms. “All good.”

Chapter 9

Tea

Loons prefer lakes with coves and islands for resting and nesting, but enough water for easily taking off in flight. They are excellent indicators of high-quality water, choosing unharmed lakes that haven’t been heavily polluted or are free from disturbances such as human activity and motorboats. They also choose habitats with an abundance of fish.

“Nan tells me you’re hanging out with Archer again.”

Tea was standing on the beach, toes in the water, face shaded by her hat while the rest of her skin burned. She didn’t care. Hearing her mom’s voice was worth it, and she didn’t dare face the reception black hole that existed between the beach and Cabin B. She’d rather burn outside then lose Mom on the phone in an attempt to get more sunscreen.

Unless they would be talking about Archer for too long.

“Yep,” she answered, her tone curt. “Can’t really avoid him if I’m going to be here for three months.”

“Sure, that makes sense. But Nan says you spend every day at his cabin.”

Tea sighed. She wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Nan made it sound like something it was not. “I’m helping him out with some admin work this summer. Did she tell you that Archer took over as the Wild Pines manager?”

“Already? I thought Astor had another five years before he was going to hand it off.”