Page 20 of Thin Ice

I ran an extension cord from the shop and set the space heater going on the cabin floor. Camp lantern on the chart table. The blankets from home, the wool ones that smelled like our house, laid over the bench seats. Thermos of cocoa and the good hand warmers.

By seven-forty the cabin glowed. Lantern light coming through white plastic, soft as the inside of a shell. Best room on the lake, and only one person in the world knew it existed.

I climbed back down to wait. On the way, I caught my own coveralls hanging on the shop hook by the door, grease-stiff, Brackett Lake Marina stitched over the pocket, and I took them down and shoved them in the supply closet before I decided to.

Headlights swung into the lot.

7:58. Two minutes early.

He got out of the BMW in a peacoat, a scarf, and my hoodie underneath it all. I could see the burgundy cuff past his sleeve. His breath came out in a cloud, and he stood in the empty lot looking at the dark marina like he wasn't sure he had the right place.

"You found it," I called to him.

He came towards me. Under the one working lot light, his face did the thing it does when the mask is off. Opened up. Younger. "I've been guessing all day."

"Hey," I said. "Before we go down there. I'm sorry about the other day,"

"Liam—"

"I was pushy. I know I was. You'd been in that house for an hour, and I was already on you and that wasn't fair."

He stopped right in front of me, eyes bright.

"It's okay," he said. "I know you just wanted to see me."

"I did."

"I know." He breathed out slow, and the cloud hung between us for a second. "All of this stuff with my dad. I'm scared, Liam."

"What happened in the meeting?"

"He gave me a folder. The rest of this year planned out. Courses, an internship at the firm, no joint program. Ready for my signature."

"Did he bring up the financial stuff? The review?"

"No. Not yet. That's the next step if I don't sign."

"So…?"

He looked past me at the dark lake. Then back.

"I'm not going to sign it Liam."

I held his eyes. He looked tired and scared, and sure all at the same time.

"I know," I said. "I'm here for you. Whatever happens."

He smiled through his fear.

I stepped to him and pulled him into my arms. His body relaxed against mine.

"Come on," I said. "It's this way."

I led him down toward the water, and when we hit the dock, I felt him figure it out. He slowed.

The dock. This dock. The same planks that had been here when a red speedboat with gold accents came screaming into the no-wake zone.

"This is where you almost killed me," I said.