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“Stay put. I’ll pick you up in ten.”

“I’ll try to be ready.”

Less than thirty minutes later, Eric was pulling her equipment from the back of his car. On the way, they’d eaten sandwiches Allye had prepared beforehand. Good thing too. With her call coming right after the chief’s end-of-day lecture, he hadn’t had time to even think about dinner.

The sun hung low, but they still had plenty of time before color would begin to streak the sky. Allye held out her hands for the camera bag and tripod, but he shook his head.

“Nothing doing.” He slammed the trunk and gestured toward the lake. “Show me where to go.”

After a second’s hesitation, Allye took the lead. He followed, scanning their surroundings as they went. There were a few people around—a man walking a dog, kids on the playground with their mom nearby. No one that appeared suspicious. No one that matched Allye’s description of her attacker. His shoulders relaxed slightly.

As they neared the lake’s edge, she paused and angled her head, shook it, then moved a few more yards. She repeated the evaluation until finally a smile broke across her face. “This is it.”

Eric glanced at the lake from this position. Looked about the same as the other places she’d tried, but he said nothing, just swung the tripod from his shoulder and offered it to her. More quickly than he’d have thought possible, she had it out of its carrying case and assembled.

“Impressive.”

“I know.” She grinned and reached for her camera bag. Chuckling, he released it to her. She set the bag on the ground and removed her camera. She inspected it—lens, battery, memory card—before attaching it to the tripod.

“Now what?” he asked when she finished her adjustments.

“Now we wait.” She lowered herself to the grass and sat cross-legged facing the water.

“Fair enough.” He turned his back to the lake and took a leisurely look around. Still no sign of trouble. Or of Dion. But that would be too much to expect. “So you really wanted to come out here just to catch the sunset?”

“Well, not just that. I’m sort of celebrating too.”

He swiveled back to her, his hopes rising. “Celebrating what?”

She pushed her hair out of her face but kept her gaze on the lake. “The doctor is pretty confident I don’t have MS.”

“Allye, that’s wonderful!”

“Yes, it is.” She finally looked up at him. A sheen of tears glimmered in her eyes, but she was smiling. “We still don’t know what I have, but I’m glad to take that win for now.”

He wanted to ask what was next, if the doctors had any idea what else might be going on, but he held his tongue. He sensed she didn’t want to face the unknowns right now. She was celebrating, but her victory was tenuous. Instead of voicing his questions, he glanced around them once more before joining her on the ground.

“I love this place,” Allye murmured. “Even though we lived so close, sometimes we’d camp here on long weekends or just come for a day trip. Dad loved taking us kayaking on the lake.”

He absorbed her recollections, the wistfulness in her voice. He hadn’t known Allye’s dad—the man had been killed in action before Eric came to Kincaid to live with his grandpa full-time—but he could hear her love for him. His own father had never been interested in family outings. Drugs, booze, anything to escape reality—those were the things his dad cared about. Mom hadbeen the same. Try as he might, Eric couldn’t dredge up a single instance they’d spent time together that hadn’t involved one or the other of them making a detour to meet their dealer, being at least half stoned already, or raging mad because they weren’t.

“You okay?”

Allye’s concerned voice pulled him from the black hole he’d begun to sink into. “Yes.” He loosened his clenched jaw and forced himself to relax. There was a reason he didn’t allow his thoughts to linger too long in that period of his past.

“You ever go camping as a kid?”

“Nah. My parents weren’t into that, and Gramps was past his prime by the time I moved in with him.” He hoped she’d leave it at that, but of course she didn’t.

“You never talk about them—your parents, I mean.”

He tried not to bristle. He really didn’t want to get off on that topic. “Not worth talking about.”

“Do they live around here?”

“No.”

From the corner of his eye, he could see her studying him, but she apparently got the hint. Instead of pushing further, she redirected the focus of conversation. “What keeps you here? Bryce commented the other day how he always expected you to return to the city after high school.”