Page 57 of The Magic We Made

“I had a pretty good idea I’d see you again.”

I remain where I am. It’s after nine and quiet along Lakeview Drive. It’s too chilly for crickets—though I hear one or two hardy souls giving it their best—and I know the DeLongs switch off their hearing aids for the night right after nine, whenthey put their grandsons to bed. There’s no one to overhear us—unless one of those runaway girls is lurking around somewhere.

But I don’t think there is. The night is cool and clear, a half-moon rising up from behind the trees and bathing the lake in mysterious silver light. The lamp I’d left on in the living room window throws an almost perfect square of gold onto my yard—almost perfect because there’s a cat-shaped shadow in the middle of it, where Daisy is still sitting on the back of the sofa, watching me.

It’s into this square of light that Ash steps.

He still looks good. Too good. This is irritating. Or is my irritation with him something else entirely?

“Are you okay?” he asks again.

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“Because you bolted out of there like you saw a ghost. I know you don’t believe in ghosts, but—” He walks out of the square of light and onto the driveway. “You still seemed kind of spooked. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“That’s tremendously generous of you, leaving your uncle’s engagement party just to come check on me.” I’m being sarcastic, but he doesn’t appear to notice. “Not at all weird and stalkerish.”

“I’m not a stalker. I didn’t leave only to check on you.” Hecrosses the driveway to come stand beside me, not taking the hint through my body language—arms folded across my chest, ankles crossed—that I’m not exactly looking for company right now. “That party wasn’t my scene, anyway.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“No.” He comes to lean beside me, his back against my car, his own arms folded across his chest. It’s chilly enough outside that I can see his breath. “I’m not really an engagement party kind of guy.”

I raise my eyebrows. He’s standing so close, I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to. To distract myself from doing so, I ask, “Then why did you go?”

“Family,” he says with a shrug. “You know how it is.”

I do. But I’m not letting him off the hook that easily.

“You never mentioned that you have an uncle here in town. Is that why you bought a house in West Harbor, to be closer to him?”

Ash bursts out laughing. “ToDerrick? No. Look, I know it’s weird that I have an uncle my own age. He’s my mom’s half brother. I told you that I can explain—”

“Oh, I’m sure you can. Like you can explain why you chased off Debi like that.” I shake my head. “She used to be my yoga instructor, you know. Dual relationships aren’t unheard of in small towns where there aren’t enough mental health providers. So it wasn’t totally off the wall for her to ask me if I would treat her.”

“Yes, it was.” I can see his expression in the moonlight, and it looks completely incredulous. “You may be a doctor, but you don’t have some kind of duty of care to everyone in this town, especially someone like her.”

“What do you mean, someone like her?”

“The person who ran off with Dr. Dick!” Ash isn’t trying tokeep his voice calm at all. He’s shouting his opinions freely into the chilly evening air. It’s a very good thing the DeLongs have turned off their hearing aids.

“Shhh.” I shush him automatically. “Keep your voice down.”

“Why?” he demands. “No one around here is going to disagree with me. I talked to all our neighbors today, and every single one of them thinks your ex is a dick and is glad he’s gone.”

“You talked to myneighborsaboutRichard?”

“Sure. I wanted to make a good impression on them.”

“By talking aboutRichard?”

“Yeah. People bond over two things—things they love, and things they hate. And let me tell you, everyone in this neighborhood hates your ex. None of them can believe how shittily he and that Debi treated you.”

“I knew it.” I push myself away from the side of my car and whirl around to confront him. “If you aren’t stalking me, then how do you even know who Debi is?”

“Because I’m your neighbor. I’ve lived next door to you for a year. I basically watched your divorce happen in real time.”

“That’s impossible. You were never even here.”