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As he approached the carriage, he raked his hair off his forehead and placed the hat more firmly on his head.

One of the female teenagers sitting in the front row looked at him. Then her eyes widened, and she let out a squeal. “Oh my gosh, I don’t believe it! You look just like Eli Noble. I mean, like, you could be his twin and everything. Except he had longer, blond hair.”

An older man with a balding head and a paunch sitting next to her, maybe her dad, scowled. “Who?”

“Eli Noble. You know, that lead singer in the band I love. Phoenix.” While flapping one hand, her thumb moved across the screen on her phone. Then she held it up to the man. “See?”

The man took the phone, then lifted the glasses hooked on to the collar of his shirt and placed them on his nose. He peered at the phone, then over the top of the glasses at Asher. Then he nodded and handed the phone back to the giggling, red-faced teenager. “Sure. Sure. I see it.”

Asher silently begged for a sinkhole to appear in the street. He pulled himself up onto the bench and reached for the reins. “Let’s take a tour of the island. Who wants to see the fort?”

The girl placed her hand on the back of Asher’s seat, leaned forward until her head was near his, then shoved her phone in front of him. Her thumb pressed the button before he had time to react. The girl sat back in her seat. “I’m sending this to my friend who has all things Phoenix in her room.”

Asher whirled around, an arm pressed on top of the seat. “I didn’t give you permission to take my picture. Please delete it.”

“No way.”

Asher’s jaw tightened as his eyes clashed with the guy sitting next to her. Asher could certainly take the overweight, middle-aged man, but that would only tank any online reviews he’d hoped the tour would generate.

An older woman leaned forward and looked at the teenager’s phone. She looked at him. “Same nose, dark eyes. Youcouldbe twins. But you have scars, and this person doesn’t.”

The teenager sucked in a breath. “Scars. That’s right. Oh, man. Those must be from the fire.”

“Fire?” Sadie reached over and took the girl’s phone out of her hand.

“Hey, give that back to me.”

Ignoring her, Sadie stared at the phone, then lifted her face and locked eyes with Asher, the horror of what she’d just learned so very evident as the color drained from her face. The optimism she’d shared at the onset of the tour vanished. Instead, she stared at him with a mix of shock, disbelief, and maybe something else…fear?

Raindrops fell gently from the bloated clouds, drumming steadily against the carriage roof.

“Sadie.” He reached for her, but she leaned away from his touch.

He wanted to reassure her that he wasn’t the same guy as the photo, but what could he say? Really?

Her eyes shuttered as she thrust the phone at the girl. Without a word, she turned her back to him and welcomed their guests. As she began her rehearsed script, he took that as a cue to drive the team.

For the next thirty minutes, Asher guided them past the highlighted areas of the island and listened as Sadie shared fun facts about the founding of the island and unique highlights about the different quirks, like the fudge wars that Lily and Declan longed to forget.

And not once did she include him in her conversations with their guests.

Probably a good thing. The less they focused on him, the better.

Asher brought Gus and Ginger to a stop in front of the livery where more people waited to board for their scheduled ride. He climbed out of his seat and helped the passengers disembark. The redheaded teenager who started the whole Eli Noble nonsense shot him a wide grin, then squealed as she followed her father down the sidewalk.

As soon as the final passenger disembarked, Sadie looked at him for the first time. Fire blazed in her eyes. “You lied to me. Ithought you were different, but I was wrong. You’re no different from Garrett.” Then she lifted her skirts and hurried down Blueberry Boulevard toward Main Street.

“Sadie, wait!” Asher started after her, but then one of the guests caught his arm. Sadie turned the corner and disappeared. He stopped and looked back at the guests, still waiting for their discounted tour.

They could wait another minute.

More than anything, he wanted to chase after her and let her know the man in those pictures wasn’t the same man she’d gotten to know on the island.

But it wouldn’t matter.

The damage was done.

Thunder rippled across the island as jagged streaks of lightning lit up the sky. Heavier winds blew pelting rain through the open carriage, soaking the seats.