“Hmm.”

We gazed at each other.

“Well?” Mom called.

I snapped out of it and turned back to her. “I have work Saturday, Mom.”

“Thanks for the invite,” Justin said.

“Okay, let us know if you change your mind!”

They went back inside, there was giggling, a playful shriek, and then the balcony door closed.

The motion sensor light stayed on for a few seconds, then doused us back into soft darkness. Maddy was almost here. Too close now for a kiss to be anything but rushed. Oh well.

Justin put his hands in his pockets and looked around the yard. Then he gave me a playful glance. “You know what this feels like?”

“What?”

“A zombie movie.”

I snorted. “I was just going to say that. That dark, eerie night, the moon’s out and zombies start ambling from the bushes and you have to run for your life.”

“We would be pretty screwed if we had to run from zombies here,” he said.

“Why?”

He nodded at the lake. “We’re trapped on one side by water.”

“You just run around them back to the car.”

“You can’t outrun a zombie horde,” he said.

“Yes you can. They’re dead, they’re not fast.”

“Yeah, but they never stop. That’s how they get you.”

“Uh, I promise you I can outmaneuver a zombie, Justin.”

“Well, if you can’t, I promise to run slower than you.”

I smiled and so did he. He was really cute.

Two seconds later the pontoon pulled up to the dock. Justin stepped away from me to go catch it. He said hi to Maddy and secured the boat. Then he hugged me and whispered “Next time…” in a quiet voice that made my stomach do summersaults. He helped me onto the platform, pushed us off, and stood there watching me until he was too small to see while Maddy steered us back to the island.

CHAPTER 17 JUSTIN

I was sitting in the passenger seat of my car with my dog on my lap. Alex was driving. Another lesson. We were on side streets and he was doing well enough that I felt safe checking my texts. This morning Emma and I had swapped Spotify playlists. I just finished hers.

Emma: Well? What do you think?

I keyed into my phone.

Me: Not bad. I like the throwback with More Than Words by Extreme. A little too much of 1975 and Nothing But Thieves, but I think the Lola Simone tracks make it work overall.

I smiled at my screen at the Emma is Typing popup.

Emma: More Than Words is Maddy’s favorite song, it’s in there for her. I’m still listening to yours. It’s three hours long. And you have an almost nine-minute song on there about someone ending up in the belly of a whale? What is actually wrong with you?

Me: The Mariner’s Revenge is a cult classic. Chelsea calls it the pirate song, she likes it. Do you ever think about the children, Emma? No. You only think about yourself.

She sent me a long row of laughing emojis and: “Am I the asshole?”

I beamed at my phone.

Our second date would be tonight. It had been six days since dinner at Mom’s and I’d been looking forward to seeing her all week. I was taking her to Stillwater, a small town on the St. Croix River. Ice cream shops and antique stores, a river walk. My favorite wine bar for dinner.

I might kiss her tonight. I almost did the other night at the dock, but then Amber showed up. I was looking forward to the do-over.

Alex and I finished the driving lesson and went to Burger King for lunch. I just got food for my brother. Sarah was at Josie’s and Chelsea already had dino nuggets. Leigh and Mom were home, but they didn’t want anything. They were going out tonight for their last hurrah before Mom went away.

She left tomorrow.

The last week had been a daily countdown of activities Mom planned to make as many memories as she could before she left. She took the kids to the zoo, then up to Duluth. Did a movie night in the living room, spent a day at the lake with everyone. I went to as much of it as I could around work. Tonight was her last night out with her best friend and then tomorrow she got dropped off at the prison.

It was weird how normal today felt against the tectonic shift that would take place twenty-four hours from now.

I was glad I had Emma here. It was a distraction. Something to look forward to when pretty much everything else was awful.

We got to Mom’s and I came inside with Alex to say hi. I was in a rush. I had to stop at Brad’s, then go home and get ready for my date, then I had to drive to go get Emma. But the opportunities to come in and say hi to Mom were running out, and I didn’t want to waste one.

I’d tried to be softer with her the last few days. The energy shift I’d had over Mom after my talk with Emma was almost as bad as being mad at her. At least when I was mad, I didn’t feel the guilt I was feeling now.

I thought about Emma’s island, the metaphorical one she’d told me about. And it made me wonder if we all have an island sometimes and maybe Mom had been on hers alone and I hadn’t known. This ate away at me now.

Mom was at the kitchen table with Leigh already petting my excited dog before I came in. I gave her a small squeeze on her shoulder before I sat down next to her.

“I can’t stay long,” I said. “Just wanted to come in and say hi. I’ve got a date.”

“Oh? With who?” Mom asked.

“Her name’s Emma,” I answered.

“She’s cool,” Alex said, taking a bite of his burger. “I met her the other night. She’s like, superhot.”

“Sweetie, don’t chew with your mouth open,” Mom said. “Will I get to meet her?”

The full question hovered between us. Will I get to meet her before I go? And no, Mom wouldn’t get to meet her.