“Does he know how to sail?” Lexi asked Steve.

Steve nodded, but his lips were drawn in a grim line. There was a chill in his brown eyes that Devin hadn’t seen before.

She shifted Amelia and focused on Lucas as he maneuvered in a big arc against the setting sun. Once turned, he lined up, pointing the craft toward them, coming in at a fast clip as he ran the boat back up on the soft sand. Lexi quickly grabbed one of the pontoons. Lucas hopped off and grabbed the other. Together they dragged it a safe distance onto the beach.

Lexi immediately started taking down the sail.

“Thanks,” she called to Lucas while she worked.

Lucas glanced down at his dripping clothes, then over to the jacket that was halfway in the water, its fabric being ground against the sand by the lapping waves.

It occurred to Devin that she probably should have thought to pick it up for him. Whoops.

He paced over to retrieve it. “I cannot keep a suit clean around you people.”

She couldn’t tell if he was angry or joking.

Lexi had offered to lend Lucas a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt left at her house by her oldest son. So, he stood in Devin’s tiny shower rinsing off the lake water and sand, the plastic curtain brushing up against his skin every time he moved, while he struggled to keep his shins from hitting the steep sides of the narrow antique tub. The water temperature was erratic, the pressure pathetic, the taps whistled and a wire soap dish stuck out at a dangerous angle from the worn, tiled wall.

How did Devin put up with this every day of her life?

Rinsed clean, he cranked off the creaky taps and drew back the plastic curtain, scraping it noisily against the curved metal rod as he stepped from the deep tub onto a turquoise mat. The towels were small, with a pink floral pattern and a fringe at either end. He caught a glimpse of himself drying his hair in the steamy mirror, and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of roses topping his head.