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Archer’s eyes widened. “New management? Dad, no. This is your life’s work. Our family’s legacy.”

“It is. But it’s not my only job.” He sighed. “My first job and top priority has been to my kids. I worked hard because I knew how much you loved this place, and how much it meant to our family. But that doesn’t mean we have to keep it in the family.”

He hesitated. “Won’t that make you sad?”

Astor shook his head. “It would make me even more sad to see my son unhappy every single year.”

Archer swallowed, unsure of what to say. It’s not like managing the resort was an all-year thing. He planned on living in Minneapolis during the off season, and he could still have a future in cocktails…if Hermes Lounge let him come back. But that did mean giving up his whole summer, for a job that in the deepest parts of his heart he knew he couldn’t do all on his own.

“You don’t have to give me an answer now, but I would consider it and bring it to the owners by the end of the summer if you decide it’s time to move on.”

Archer rubbed his neck. “You really think I should give it up? Didn’t you say I was doing a good job?”

“You are. You’re excellent for the job. But that doesn’t mean it has to be yours forever. Not if you’re not passionate about it.”

He took a minute to think it through. The truth was, once Tea began to help him, his feelings about managing Wild Pines had shifted. It was easier to have a partner to handle the tasks with. “Tea has been a really big help,” Archer replied, not sure how else to respond to his father.

Astor scratched his beard. “If you stayed, do you think she would come back to help next summer?”

His forehead wrinkled as he shook his head. “No. Her dream is to work in New York, to be closer to Molly.”

The thought of not seeing her every day left a pang in his heart.

Astor shrugged. “The pandemic changed my perspective on a lot of things. Who knows, maybe she’ll find herself with a new dream.”

Hope flared in his chest at the thought. Could her mind be changed…and could he be the one to change it?

No, I couldn’t do that to her. He wouldn’t hold her back from being close to her mom, from following her dream. Not after losing Gareth way too soon.

But that didn’t stop him from letting the hope take shape, and for the most dangerous word to take root in his heart.

Maybe.

Archer didn’t have time to work through his conflicting emotions about Tea, so he ended up carrying them onto the boat. He and Austin promised the girls a day out on his father’s motorboat before their long drive back to Fargo, just like old times. The four of them swimming and tanning, picnic lunches and beers. This time they were ice-cold in coolers, not warm from the box, hidden inside wrapped-up towels.

Tea was the first to show, wearing her denim cut-offs and that striped one-piece suit he couldn’t take his eyes off weeks ago. Her wavy hair hung loose by her shoulders, tucked inside a fading Silver Falls cap. Her nose was pink from being out in the sun yesterday during the party.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

She didn’t seem to notice as she stepped in, plopping her bag down on the bench seat. “Need a hand with anything?”

He blinked, then shook his head. Snap out of it. “Nope, all good.” He tossed life jackets into the lazarette, then snapped it shut a little too loudly.

She flinched.

“Sorry.”

“Are you still stressed about yesterday?”

The party and all of its risks hadn’t even crossed his mind. His thoughts were elsewhere. On his conversation with his father and the maybe that clanged around his head…and that damn blue-and-white-striped swimsuit.

He couldn’t unload any of it, though. She’d asked to be friends, and he said yes. He would have to swallow whatever he was feeling. He finally had Tea back in his life, and he really didn’t want to lose her again after taking things too far like last time.

He shook his head. “You’re right. I think everyone needed yesterday after these crazy, fucked-up five months.”

“Completely agree.”

They stood there in the boat, underneath the canopy, staring at one another. A strand of her hair was out of place, blocking the corner of her eye. He wanted to tuck it behind her ear. Then tip back her hat and—