layer of ketchup over the tops of the homemade meat loaves before they went into the oven.
“Lily happened to like the description I wrote up for the auction, by the way. She said it was very creative.”
That was one word for it.
“Calm water? Sunshine?” Liam stuffed a dry bag into the bed of the pickup. “You know you can’t promise those kinds of conditions.”
“It’s called setting the right mood.” Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “And since we’re on the subject, what’s up with yours? It’s not like this will be your first trip down the river.”
True. But it would be his first trip down the river with Anna.
“I’ve got two canoes to finish by the end of the week,” Liam muttered.
Also true—but a deadline wasn’t the reason Liam had been plagued by a series of clips straight from the archives of High School Past ever since he’d gotten home from the shelter’s fund-raiser earlier that afternoon.
Past, Liam reminded himself, being the key word here.
Even though Anna, who’d been wearing denim shorts and an apple-green T-shirt when he’d danced with her that afternoon, didn’t look much older than the girl who’d breezed up to Liam’s locker on his first day at Emerson Middle and High School. She’d had a bright smile on her face and a sheaf of colorful flyers advertising the pep rally on Friday night tucked in the crook of her arm.
Liam had been tempted to go, just so he could see her again, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Anna Foster belonged to an elite inner circle. Or that Mr. Swanson’s fifth-hour study hall would be the closest Liam would ever get to her—and that was only because the seats were arranged alphabetically.
He’d been right. Liam had seen Anna at school practically every day, but it was easy to remember the number of times they’d actually spoken. Once. And that conversation had pretty much destroyed any chance of there ever being a second.
Anna’s hands tightened on the steering wheel when she turned the corner and spotted Liam and Aiden standing in the driveway.
Why had she agreed to this?
Over the past few days, she’d tried to come up with a reason to bow out of their upcoming canoe trip gracefully, but the twins had been talking about it nonstop since the fund-raiser on Saturday afternoon. And in those rare moments of silence when they weren’t talking about the outing, they’d been preparing for it. Studying the map that highlighted their projected route and memorizing the list of safety tips Sunni had emailed to Anna on Monday morning. Filling out the detailed questionnaire used to determine their level of experience.
On the last page of the information packet, Sunni had added a personal note: “Happy Birthday, Anna! Enjoy the peace and tranquility of a day on the river!”
Peace and tranquility?
Not when Anna’s stomach tilted sideways at the thought of spending those hours with Liam.
Regret coursed through her, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Words Anna had spoken in anger the night of their senior prom had formed a wall between her and Liam that remained intact even after she’d returned to Castle Falls. Strengthened by time and distance and a silence neither one of them had attempted to break.
But Anna could still see the flash of hurt in Liam’s eyes, a sign her words had hit their mark.
What makes you think that my relationship with Ross is any of your business? You don’t know the first thing about him...or me. And from what I’ve heard about your family, you don’t know anything about love, either.
How ironic, that she was the one who’d proved to be blind when it came to that particular emotion.
A mistake she wasn’t going to make again...
“Morning, ladies!” Aiden called out cheerfully. He could have passed for a modern-day river pirate in faded jeans and a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off at the shoulders. A red do-rag matched the flames painted on the side of the canoe jutting from the back of his pickup truck.
Still, the knot in Anna’s stomach loosened a little. She wasn’t sure if it was because Aiden was the youngest in the family or because a perpetual gleam of mischief danced in his cobalt-blue eyes, but Anna had always found him to be the most approachable of the three brothers.
Cassie and Chloe obviously didn’t share her opinion. They bailed out of the backseat and sprinted across the lawn toward Liam, their copper braids streaming behind them like the tails on a pair of kites.
Anna dragged in a breath, afraid the girls were going to bowl the man right over. But at the last possible second, they skidded to a stop directly in front of him, chattering a mile a minute about their upcoming adventure.
As Anna made her way toward them, she managed to catch every third word or so. Photographs. Sunflowers. Pins and journals.
The average person would have been hard-pressed to make sense of the lilting duet, but instead of clapping his hands over his ears or running for cover, Liam bent closer and gave the twins his undivided attention. A swatch of silky dark hair slipped over his eye and for a moment, Anna saw a lanky adolescent boy slumped in his desk in the back of the classroom.
Rumors had started to run rampant even before Liam and his brothers moved in with the Masons. Some of the kids said they’d been living on the street. Others claimed that Liam’s parents had been sent to prison and the boys would have disappeared into the foster-care system if Rich and Sunni hadn’t stepped in and offered them a home.
Anna figured the real story lay somewhere in between, but it was difficult to separate fact from fiction when the people in question refused to speak up on their own behalf.
Brendan, who’d been a sophomore when they arrived in Castle Falls, regarded everyone with barely veiled hostility. He’d stalked the narrow hallway between the middle and high schools with a grungy backpack hooked over one shoulder and a pretty good-sized chip on the other.
Aiden, at ten, didn’t sport an attitude, but Anna had overheard Mrs. Harris, the fourth-grade Sunday-school teacher, refer to him as “an active body.” A tactful way of saying that Aiden was everywhere at once. Anna had witnessed him crawling under tables and climbing over chairs in the church fellowship room like he was competing in an obstacle course.
And always in the center, like a blue-eyed fulcrum meant to balance the chaos, was Liam. Coaxing a smile out of his older brother. Making sure Aiden’s energy was channeled in a positive direction so he wouldn’t bump, break or burn something down.
It suddenly occurred to Anna that she’d noticed a lot of things about Liam Kane...
Her heart stuttered like the engine in her cantankerous minivan when her gaze unexpectedly locked with the very grown-up version of the boy she’d been remembering.
“You kids have fun now.” Aiden’s rumble of laughter broke the silence and he thumped Liam on the arm. “And make sure you do everything I taught you, bro.”
Liam
