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They came from similar backgrounds and shared a vision for their future.

No one would have doubted their compatibility, yet they were a couple that had survived infidelity, addiction, and more.

Their mar riage had been on shaky ground for years, whereas Erika and Rick appeared to be a more typical married couple—resigned to a destiny of togetherness, warts and all, without any grand upheavals to shake the foundation.

Erika finished her call with an exasperated exhale, put her phone away (that wouldn’t last long), and breezed over to Julia.

As she and Rick approached, Julia was struck with an unwelcome thought about the pair’s intimacy.

It would be like a songbird mating with a grizzly bear.

She banished the visual from her mind. Despite the odd coupling, they’d had a child, Lucas, whom Taylor dreaded seeing for unknown reasons and who wouldn’t be at the lake this year—or so Erika had said.

But (surprise, surprise) the information Julia had relayed to Taylor proved incorrect.

As Rick and Erika approached, Lucas slid his lanky frame out of the car, standing almost as tall as his father.

Like his dad, he wore a baggy T-shirt and loose-fitting jeans—“casual cool” was how Julia would describe his style.

He had been shy and introspective as a child, but found his voice when he started playing guitar in middle school.

Years later, he was proficient in the instrument and had become a good singer as well.

He had that long musician hair that drove girls wild, along with brooding eyes and an inscrutable expression that made him even more intriguing.

He gave off artist vibes, and Julia often wondered if he was composing music in his head while everyone else was chitchatting.

Erika had gushed about the kids collaborating on a song during the college tour, with Taylor using her poetry as the lyrics.

What happened between then and now to make Taylor so fretful of seeing him?

Julia wondered if music could repair their friendship.

Perhaps they could create another song together at the lake.

It was a nice thought, but one tinged with idealism.

Oh, if only people could sort out this world with clever wordplay and angst-ridden melodies.

Julia was aware that Lucas wanted to pursue music full time.

It wasn’t her place to say anything. He would learn on his own that mortgage payments, car loans, and dead-end jobs could make every note ring sour.

Or maybe not. Christian, the dreamer, seemed to have missed that life memo.

Lucas collected his suitcase and guitar from the car and dragged behind his parents. Julia searched for Taylor, but she was nowhere to be found. Probably for the best— one drama at a time, please .

At least Julia didn’t have to warn Erika that she was in for bad news. David’s new home loomed before them like a giant see-through abomination. Julia expected a full-blown explosion. It was obvious even from a distance that David’s goliath would be blocking Erika’s precious view.

But instead of a fit of rage or the threat of a lawsuit, Erika opened her arms wide and wrapped them around Julia so tightly the embrace momentarily took her breath away.

Erika pulled back, keeping her hands affixed to Julia’s shoulders, a broad smile brightening her celestial face. “Oh my god, it is so good to see you,” she said, still beaming. “I’m ridiculously happy to be here, and I can’t wait to do absolutely nothing for a couple of weeks.”

She let out a weighty sigh, suggesting Erika had been doing too much of everything for too long.

Now it was time for cocktails, sunsets, and lazy paddles in the canoe.

But all that should have taken a back seat to the glass house.

Erika was petite, but she had the warrior gene, which many prosecutors in Connecticut had come to know firsthand.

She could grow ten sizes taller when she was battling injustice, and David’s new showpiece certainly fit the bill.

“Aren’t you freaking out?” Julia asked, casting her thumb over her shoulder.

Erika startled as though she’d been plucked out of a daze. “Oh, well, yeah… it’s a lot bigger than I thought.”

Julie blinked incredulously. “That’s it? That’s your take—bigger than you thought? Erika, he’s blocking your fucking view.”

“Maybe, but we’re always down by the water anyway. That’s all I need, especially after dealing with the worst case of my career.”

Erika wasn’t prone to hyperbole, except when discussing her law practice, where every case was brutal and every judge had it out for her.

“It was a BUI case—boating under the influence—and unfortunately the judge is a sailor herself. In pretrial she basically insinuated that my client was guilty because nobody would chart a course like he did unless he was drunk. Absolute rubbish, so naturally, we won. But the whole thing was ridiculous.”

“I’m glad you won, and if I’m ever in legal hot water, I certainly know who to call. But, Erika, it’s crazy what David did.”

God, how she wanted an ally, or even a dollop of validation.

She might not have received the expected reaction from Erika, but Julia anticipated that Rick would reset the tone.

He could blaze hotter than his wife when aggrieved.

He did kill things for a living, after all.

She braced herself for a Rick tirade—thunderous voice, pounding fists, and ominous threats.

Instead of a rampage, Rick shrugged as he set his suitcase down. “It’s not that bad,” he said. “Lots of windows. Dave was right about that. And look at all the trees he cleared. That’s one less problem we have to deal with.”

Julia was stunned. “You knew ?” she asked.

Rick and Erika exchanged glances like two people trying to get their stories straight. Rick attempted to explain.

“My folks checked on the progress, gave us some early reports, saw a lot of land cleared, so we knew it would be big. Honestly, I’m surprised how fast it went up. Modular homes have become really sophisticated.”

At least one part of that story made sense.

Rick was close with his parents who stayed in the area after they sold off their nearby camping ground.

Julia understood they were his inspiration for getting into the fish and game business.

Rick was a basic sort; there weren’t a lot of layers to his onion.

He was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy.

But what Julia saw baffled her. Where was the shock, the fury?

Christian spoke up. “We all knew Dave was doing an addition, honey. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he went a little over the top. His company is on fire… unlike ours .”

Julia picked up the jealous undertones, but what galled her was the side-eye he gave her.

On top of suggesting she was overreacting, somehow, without words, Christian managed to make Julia feel responsible for their business’s downward trajectory.

Then again, taking responsibility wasn’t something that came easily to him.

“David said he was keeping you in the loop,” Erika said, sounding too much like a defense attorney for Julia’s liking. “If you were upset, we figured you’d have called. I guess we assumed everyone was accepting of it. And you know how David is—he never goes small.”

That was true as well. David’s creed was if a little was good, a lot must be better.

But Rick and Erika perplexed Julia beyond measure. There simply had to be more to the story than they were letting on.

But what?