Page 51 of 15 Summers Later

“That’s something,” she said dryly.

He laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about Mad. She’ll come around. She never could hold a grudge for very long.”

He paused, debating whether he should get involved at all in the tension between the sisters. Then he remembered that ache of longing in Madi’s eyes when she talked about her sister and decided to take the chance.

“She misses you,” he said, his voice low.

She gave a sound of disbelief. “I don’t think so. Right now, I’m her least favorite person on the planet.”

“Right now, maybe. She’s annoyed with you about the book. She’ll get over that eventually. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling there was something of a chasm between you before you ever publishedGhost Lake. Am I completely off base?”

She looked as if she wanted to argue but she finally sighed. “You’re not wrong,” she said, her voice low. “I wish things could be different.”

“Why can’t they be?”

“It’s a good question. I don’t really have a good answer. Our lives have moved in different directions over the years, I suppose.”

He knew that wasn’t the full story, but he also sensed Ava wasn’t going to open up to him.

“If I can help, let me know. You two need each other.”

She studied him in the fading light of the afternoon, her expression much harder to read than her sister’s.

“You’re a good friend, Luke. Your whole family is always so kind to Madi. I’m very grateful to you.”

“We love her,” he said gruffly.

Those words rang more true now than he anticipated. She gave him a careful look and he was quick to qualify the statement.

“We love her like she’s part of the family. The thing is, while she might feel like part of our family, sheisyour family. Leona is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but Madi needs her sister in her life.”

“I’m still in her life. We talk on the phone and text quite often and we occasionally have video calls,” she said, a note of defensiveness in her voice. “I live nearly six hundred miles away. I can’t help that. My husband is there. Our apartment. My life. It’s only natural for our worlds to drift apart. We’re never going to be as close as we once were when we were...when we were teenagers.”

“What about the baby? You’re going to need your sister more than ever then,” he said, taking another chance. Even as he said the words, he knew his suspicions could be completely off base.

She gaped at him, eyes huge. “B-baby? What baby?”

He gave her a careful look. “Leona mentioned you’ve been queasy since you came back to town. I wondered if you might be expecting.”

“I’m not,” she exclaimed, jumping up from the swing. He had to plant his legs to keep it from swinging wildly from the momentum.

“Forgive me,” he said. “I suppose I’ve been working with animals too long, where reproduction is a normal part of life.”

She continued to stare at him, her eyes huge. “I’m not a dog about to have puppies! And I’m not pregnant. It’s...it’s impossible.”

What was that sudden desperate look in her gaze?

“My mistake,” he said, voice low and even, in contrast to the sudden wild panic in her expression.

“I can’t be pregnant,” she whispered.

“You’re probably not,” he assured her, annoyed with himself for putting that panic in her gaze. “Forget I said anything.”

She stared at him for several seconds, then shook her head like she was a prizefighter whose clock had been thoroughly cleaned.

“I need to...” She pointed toward the house and rushed inside, leaving him feeling presumptuous and overfamiliar.

He was about to go after her to apologize again when Madi sat down on the swing beside him, her gaze pensive as she looked at her sister’s retreating back.

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