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I tucked the two hundred dollars in my back pocket, keeping it away from the rest of the money I’d made as though it was tainted. I’d put it toward the bill for our next group dinner at Lucy’s Bar, so at least some good could come of it.

The polka band played on, and I hoped they’d be stopping soon for the other bands to start. Another ten minutes passed though, and they showed no signs of flagging.

In a rare break in foot traffic, Sam wandered up to my stall. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I said. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah.” He raised his eyebrows at my seriously depleted stock. “I’d ask the same, but clearly you’re killing it.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna be packing up a lot earlier than I thought.” My stomach clenched against a sudden storm of butterflies, and I drew Adam’s note out of my pocket. “Uh, can you read this for me?”

I always been ashamed to ask the guys for help, but that was on me, not them.

Even when we were kids, they’d never made me feel lesser for my dyslexia.

I wasn’t stupid or lazy; my brain just worked differently.

And all three of them had understood that way before some of the adults in my life had come around.

“Sure,” Sam said, reaching over the table.

He unfolded the note and began to read, his eyes widening before he looked at me again.

“Oh, wow. Okay.” He cleared his throat. “‘Ryan, I should be writing my book, but I’m thinking of you instead. I never imagined when I came to Harmony Lake that I’d meet anyone, especially not someone as amazing as you.

You are one of the kindest and sweetest guys I’ve ever met, and I know you get embarrassed by compliments, so I hope that writing this down for you will save some of that.

’” Sam snorted. “Sorry. ‘I can’t wait to see you today, and I can’t wait for us to be alone together tonight. Yours, Adam.’ Then there’s a heart.”

I reached out with a shaking hand to take the note back and stared at it as though somehow it might magically reveal itself to me now Sam had read it aloud. It didn’t.

“Shit, Ryan,” Sam said. “You guys are together? Why didn’t you say?”

“It’s new,” I said. I folded the note up and tucked it into my pocket. “Don’t say anything to the other guys yet, okay?”

“I wouldn’t,” he said earnestly.

I nodded. “It’s short-term, I guess. Like, he’s here until June, then he goes back to Ohio. It’s fine, you know.” I wasn’t sure which one of us I was trying to convince. “It’s fine.”

“Okay,” Sam said. “But never say never, right?”

“He writes books , Sam.”

“So what? I farm maple syrup. Doesn’t mean I expect Ben to do the same, right?” He looked at me intently. “Right?”

“Sure,” I said, not wanting to get into a discussion about it. “Yeah.”

Because Sam was wrong. It wasn’t the same at all because Ben, even though he might not know the first thing about farming maple syrup, could at least appreciate the final product. And that was more than I could ever do for Adam.

I CLOSED MY booth down early and didn’t stick around for the concert.

Crowds weren’t my thing, and after the stressful day I’d had dealing with all those people, I just wanted to go home.

Usually my workshop was my sanctuary. I’d go inside, draw a deep breath, and the rest of the world would fade away as I got to work.

But this evening I headed straight for the cabin.

“You’re home early,” Adam said, getting up from the couch when he saw me. His laptop was open, and the page on it was full of words.

“Yeah, I already sold everything.”

“That’s great! I was going to go back for the concert, but once I got here and took my shoes off it all seemed like too much effort.” He tilted his head. “Unless you want to go?”

“I think I’m pretty peopled out.”

“Same.” He threw me a grateful look. “Also, guess what?”

“What?”

“I discovered that I really love maple syrup candy.”

I laughed. “It’s still early though. Want to take a walk by the lake?”

“My spine is a pretzel,” he said. “A walk sounds great.”

“It might be better for your back if you sit at the kitchen table to work.”

“Oh, it definitely would be,” he agreed. “But your couch is too comfortable. Oh, I bought a bottle of wine today when I was in town. Maybe after our walk we can sit by the lake and drink it?”

“I don’t think I have any wine glasses,” I said.

Adam grinned and headed for the kitchen. “Big Wine doesn’t want to tell you this, but you can just use regular glasses.” He dug around in the cabinet above the sink. “Or even plastic cups.”

Our stroll along the lakeshore was nice, even though the wine bottle that Adam had shoved into the surprisingly expansive pocket of his shorts kept jabbing me in the thigh whenever he leaned into me.

I wasn’t complaining. It was a gorgeous afternoon; the surface of Harmony Lake was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the brilliant blue sky above it.

It was the sort of day that would usually have drawn out boats and jet skis, but with everyone in Caldwell Crossing at the Founders Day celebrations, it was quiet on the lake.

Adam asked a lot of questions about the different types of plants and trees growing around the lake, listening intently to my answers. And then, when we were back at my jetty, he said, “Can you swim in the lake?”

“Sure. It’s safe.”

He pulled the wine out of one pocket, the stacked cups out of the other, and took his shoes off. His shirt followed it, and then he strode to the end of the jetty. “Is this water going to freeze my balls off?”

Without waiting for an answer, he climbed down the little ladder, hung off it for a moment, then let go.

“Shit!” he yelled. “Yes!” But he was laughing.

I was laughing too and pulling off my own shoes and shirt. I jumped in. The water wasn’t that cold, but it definitely brought me out in goose bumps. I pushed farther out into the lake, letting the sunlight warm my shoulders as I slowly adjusted to the temperature.

Adam swam toward me, flicking me with water. “It’s so cold!”

“This was your idea!”

“Well, maybe I have terrible ideas! Did you think of that?” Grinning, he pulled me closer and pressed his lips against mine.

The kiss warmed me more than the sunlight could, and I smiled as he released me. “That one was pretty good.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?” He floated for a moment and then said, “It’s not too bad, once you get used to it.”

We swam for a little while longer, then got out of the water.

We collected our shirts and shoes from the jetty and walked barefoot back to the cottage.

The afternoon sunlight stretched our shadows along the ground.

I grabbed two towels from inside the cabin, and we went and sat on one of the logs by the fire pit and opened the wine.

The cat joined us, perching on the opposite log and glaring at us narrow-eyed. She looked hostile and suspicious, so nothing new there. She seemed happy enough to be near us though.

“This is gorgeous,” Adam said, gazing out over the lake. “How do you even get any work done with a view like this? Don’t you just want to sit here all day and take it in?”

It wasn’t the view I was taking in. I was looking at him instead, with his damp hair plastered to his skull, and a leaf stuck in it.

He’d somehow got a smudge of dirt on his cheek.

He was gorgeous. I thought of the note he’d given me, how thoughtful and loving it was— he was—and how it wasn’t fair to either of us for my embarrassment to sour what was such a sweet gesture.

The only fluttering in my gut should have come from anticipation, from that feeling of falling even deeper for the guy, and not from shame. Adam deserved better than that.

I reached out and wiped the smudge of dirt away with my thumb.

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I could look at the view forever.”

IN THE MIDDLE of the night, leaving Adam snoring gently in bed, I went out to the workshop, grabbed a rough cube of basswood, and started to carve.

I usually made roses because that was what people wanted, and they sold well.

They could be tricky, but once you did a few it got easier.

I wasn’t making a rose tonight. On our walk by the lake, Adam had spotted a white water lily growing right by the shore, and had marveled at how beautiful it was.

I’d done a fair amount of decorative carving onto custom furniture before, and a water lily would be easier than a rose—there was no stem to worry about. I figured I could make one in a few hours and maybe even before Adam woke up.

Because I couldn’t write Adam a love note, but I could do this . And I’d hoped it would say what I wanted without needing words.