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Sydney’s hand. “How are you? Really? I’ve thought of you so often.”

    “I’m doing okay. Today has been a good day. Yesterday was a good day. Two weeks ago, I had a really bad day. It happens. Not as often as it used to, but still…”

    “I suppose it’s to be expected.”

    “That’s what I’m told.”

    “I hope we can spend lots of time together while you’re here. I want you to come to my house and see Mac and meet Thomas—” Maddie stopped herself, and her face flushed. “I’m sorry.”

    “For what?”

    “I shouldn’t have… You may not want to see Thomas.”

    “Oh, Maddie, of course I want to meet your son. I’d love to.”

    Maddie’s eyes filled. “I think about Max and Malena all the time. They were so beautiful and so well behaved.”

    Sydney smiled even as her throat closed at the reminder of her children. “I was proud of them.”

    “With good reason. So will you come over some time soon? Have dinner? Mac’s sister Janey is getting married at the end of the month, so it’ll be a fun time around here. I hope you’ll be part of it all.”

    “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

    Maddie stood to go. “Don’t be ridiculous. There’re so many McCarthys, one extra person would hardly be a hardship.”

    Sydney got up to hug Maddie. “Those McCarthys are lucky to have you.”

    “We’re lucky to have each other. Call me?”

    “Promise.”

     
    After Maddie left, Sydney fed Buddy and prepared a pasta dinner with some grilled shrimp she’d picked up at the grocery store the day before. She made a salad, opened a bottle of white wine and sat at the kitchen table that overlooked the pond. At home, dinnertime was one of the more difficult parts of her day. It reminded her of just how alone she really was. Often she didn’t bother to cook, resorting instead to a sandwich or a can of soup. What was the point in cooking for one?

    Here on the island, removed from the daily grind of her routine, being alone didn’t feel quite the same as it did in the too-quiet house that had once teamed with activity and the shrieks of children. Sure, her children were present here, too, in the house they’d loved to visit each summer, but it was different. She could breathe here.

    Sydney cleaned up the kitchen, poured a second glass of wine and took it to the porch to watch the sun set. Long after the sky went dark and the activity on the pond stilled for the evening, long after she finished her glass of wine and the crickets began to sing, Sydney stayed on the porch, rocking back and forth as Buddy slept at her feet.

    She told herself she wasn’t waiting for Luke. He hadn’t made any promises about coming back. They’d said everything they needed to say the night before. What was left to say?

    Just as she was about to head inside, she heard the unmistakable sound of his boat scraping against the beach. A smile tugged at her lips, and her heart began to beat fast with anticipation. He’d come back.

     

Chapter 3
     

    All day, Luke had vowed to stay away. After their conversation the night before, he had the closure he’d longed for. He had the satisfaction of her apology, of knowing she’d suffered over what she had done to him, that she hadn’t left him behind and never thought of him again while she moved forward with another man. What more was there to say?

    Apparently, a lot, he thought, laughing softly to himself as he pulled the boat onto the beach, announcing his arrival to her. Would she be waiting? When she asked him to come back, had she meant the very next night? Those were the questions that had tormented him all day as he went about his work at the marina, guiding boats, collecting payment and shooting the shit with Mac, his father, “Big Mac” McCarthy, and the other old men who hung out on the docks. Just another busy summer Sunday at McCarthy’s.

    At midday, Mac had asked him if everything was okay.

    Taken aback by the question, Luke had nodded, surprised to