Their old friend’s sun-kissed skin and sharp features were mostly the same as she remembered, but his face had squared more with age and his fierce jaw was shadowed from missing a day or two of shaving. His beautiful brown hair was still wavy and thick, only trimmed shorter than he’d worn it in high school. He was possibly more handsome than before. But there was something in his green eyes that made her shuffle back. They were dull…filled with question as they volleyed between Mia and Ben. “Hope I’m not interrupting. I didn’t realize you two were still in touch.”

  “We’re obviously much more than just in touch,” Ben informed him in a sharp tone.

  Matt blinked several times before a slow, reluctant grin pressed to his lips. “Wow…that’s…I’m happy for you guys, I guess.”

  Mia felt a little thrill to see him again, but quickly realized she no longer felt the kind of attraction she’d held for him as a teen. “It’s good to see you,” she told him. “What—”

  “Sorry, Mia,” Matt interrupted, “but this isn’t a social call. It’s your mom. I’m staying with my folks for the summer, and my dad said the hospital couldn’t reach you by phone, so I volunteered to run up here and see if I could find you.”

  Instantly, she braced herself against Ben’s thick bicep. “The hospital? What happened to her?”

  Matt’s eyes softened with pity. “Dad says she suffered a massive heart attack. Luckily she was still with it enough to call nine-one-one, but…Mia, it isn’t good.”

  While Ben drove to the hospital, Mia sobbed without making a sound. She gripped his hand firmly as she wondered why the universe continued to beat her down. Hadn’t it been enough that she’d lost Bella and her father? She couldn’t fathom the idea of losing her mother too. Gigi would be her only family member to remain, and she likely wouldn’t be around much longer. Mia left a message with the nursing home, asking them to call her as soon as Gigi woke from her nap. Her heart sank when she considered her grandmother might not be strong enough to survive the news about her daughter.

  A nurse in the ER told them Sarah was in surgery for an emergency bypass, and they’d be updated by the surgeon as soon as the procedure was finished. Mia dozed off on Ben’s shoulder in the waiting room, phone perched in her lap so she wouldn’t miss the nursing home’s call.

  She woke with a start to the sound of her ringtone, and discovered her phone clutched in Ben’s fingers. With a cold and grim expression, he passed the phone back to her.

  “It’s Matt…again. He called three times while you were out. He must be really worried.”

  The call ended before she had a chance to answer. She sat up and glared at him. “Don’t you dare go all alpha male on me, Benjamin Pitt. He knows my mom pretty well, too. He has a right to be concerned. But there’s no need to be jealous. What I felt for him was a silly teenage crush…nothing more. I haven’t thought about him since I left Shetek.”

  The darkness lingering behind Ben’s eyes didn’t fade. “What about me?” He backed away, shaking his head. “Did you ever think about me in the past five years? Did you ever wonder where I was, or try to answer any of my letters…my calls?”

  His mannerism felt off, almost as if rehearsed. They’d been ready to make love just hours earlier. Was he really petty enough to believe she still felt something more profound for Matt? Bitterness burned her tongue. “Where’s this coming from? This is not a competition, Ben. And I’m a grown woman, not some hormonal girl.” Crossing her arms beneath her chest, she sat a little taller. “You’re the only man I’ve ever truly cared about, and you broke my heart when you left me, so I really don’t appreciate your tone.”

  He rose to his feet, eyes wild as he rubbed both hands over his shaven head. “I have to go.”

  Panicked, she glanced around the empty room filled with informative posters and rows of blue plastic chairs. She didn’t want to be alone when they updated her on the surgery, but there was no one else she could call. Liz was over two hours away. “Where are you going?”

  “This was a mistake…you and me.” He continued to rub his head as he paced the laminate floor, refusing to look her way. She’d become accustomed to his odd behaviors, but this felt way too extreme to be real. “I shouldn’t have come back. I’ll always remind you of the night your sister went missing, even if we don’t actually talk about it.”

  Unbearable pain wrenched her entire body. He was going to leave her in the middle of another crisis? Was he insane? She would’ve laughed it off as a joke if he hadn’t appeared so distraught and resolved. It was as if he’d transformed into an entirely different man than the one who had worshiped her body and told her she was beautiful.

  She shot up to her sandaled feet, teeth clenched. Her hand twitched, aching to slap some sense into him. “So you’re just going to take off again, like you did right after that night? Are you at least going to say goodbye to me this time?” Hot, angry tears slid down her cheeks. “If you do this, you’re dead to me, and I never want to hear from you again!”

  Eyes hard, he swooped her into his arms, kissing her with determined strokes of his lips and sweeps of his tongue. His manly scent and minty taste all at once made her nauseated. She wanted to shove him away and tell him to go to hell, but she was too wrapped up in his feverish kiss to do anything other than respond wholeheartedly. She fisted his t-shirt and clung to him with all her might. Surely he’d change his mind. She had to have been caught up in a nightmare.

  She let out a heartbroken cry. “Ben—”

  He promptly backed away, releasing her with a grim frown. “I’m sorry, but it’s for the best. I’ll always love you, Mia.”

  Confusion and rage ripped her apart as she watched him swiftly exit through the automatic doors. He wasn’t the brave, thoughtful man she’d thought him to be. He was a coward and a fool. She couldn’t believe she’d opened her heart to him. She couldn’t believe she’d been stupid enough to fall for someone who’d truly become a stranger.

  Through a blur of tears, she glanced down at her phone. Her stomach surged. Below the notification of Matt’s missed calls, a banner showed an email from YourOldFriend@ShadyOaks.

  * * *

  I won’t be needing you after all. I got it all wrong with Bella, but was given two more opportunities to make it right. And by god, they were glorious. Goodbye, sweet Mia. At least…for now.

  Mia’s mom took her last breath on the operating table just five hours after her artery had blocked…a mere hour following Ben’s hasty departure. With Liz still an hour and a half out, and no one else around, Mia returned Matt’s calls and asked him to come to the hospital.

  Sarah had been so dedicated to operating the resort on her own that she’d lost touch with old friends, and she’d never made an effort to get to know her extended family. Mia was unable to locate her uncle Butch to let him know of his sister’s passing. Liz, Gigi, Matt, and Dr. Martin were the only attendees for her celebration of life on the shore in front of Shady Oaks as Mia scattered her mother’s ashes in the same spot where they’d spread her father’s. Ironically, the most comfort Mia felt came from Matt who held her hand the entire time.

  Sheriff Perkins was unable to trace the mysterious emails Mia had received. The monster remained hidden among the oak trees’ shadows.

  Part III

  Rock Bottom

  * * *

  “The only good thing about hitting rock bottom is that it can’t get any worse.”

  -Unknown

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The massively pitched roof of Shady Oaks’s grand lodge glowed with an eerie halo that reflected in jagged lines across the still water. The powerful mid-July sun had sunk beneath the horizon in a glorious display of pastel colors several hours prior. Intertwined with sand volleyball pits and a maze of high-top tables, the crowd chattered at full volume while sucking down keg beer and sugary cocktails. Some danced under the glow of the moonlight and twinkle of the stars amidst the electric guitar riffs, tribal beat of the drum kit, and shrill pitch of the band’s lead singer belting 80s anthems.

  The resort’s annual Shetek Shindig—or “SS bash” to the locals—had become a legendary celebration in the past decade. It seemed all of western Minnesota, eastern South Dakota, and northwest Iowa were in attendance. The cabins’ occupants had been granted reservations a year in advance through a lottery. A sober bus shipped the remaining partygoers to other lodging in the surrounding towns. The servers and bartenders would each pocket nearly half a thousand dollars in tips, and the resort would net nearly a hundred grand.

  Although it was their most successful night of the year, the Martin family was engaged in a much more somber gathering.

  It had been sixteen years since the last abduction of a woman on Lake Shetek. Sixteen years since Mia’s mom had died an untimely death. Sixteen years since Ben Pitt had walked out of Mia’s life a second time.

  After the funeral, Matt had stayed behind to help Mia keep the resort afloat, and they’d reconnected at a bizarre, dizzying rate. She’d never intended to get involved with him, but she supposed it happened because she’d been grossly rejected by the man who’d destroyed her heart. Within a few weeks, she was pregnant with his child. Whether she’d let it happen on purpose or not, she wasn’t sure. When she’d hastily agreed to marry him, she told herself she still was harboring feelings for him after all. They were wed by a judge at the courthouse just months before she gave birth to Gavin, making Matt a joint owner of Shady Oaks. Gwen came fourteen months later, around the time Mia started to suspect her husband was stepping out on their marriage.

  Across the table from their two children, now teenagers on break from serving for the bash, Mia settled in a chair next to Matt. She admired the youthful glow of her fifteen-year-old daughter’s sharp cheekbones, generous length of her thick lashes, and the natural golden highlights woven into her silky blond hair from endless hours playing in the sun. Aside from having her father’s green eyes, she reminded Mia of Bella at that age, which was downright terrifying. Mia wished she could lock Gwen in her room so nothing could harm her. Her sweet daughter had no idea the lengths of her natural beauty.

  At sixteen, Gavin resembled his father at his age, right down to Matt’s green eyes and wavy brown hair. Gavin had spent every free minute of his sophomore year at the gym, thinking he would play college football. The way his immense muscles stretched the blue Shady Oaks polo shirt to its limit, and a light dusting of acne freckled his chiseled jaw, Mia once again worried he was dabbling in steroids. Too often she looked at him and was transported back to the fateful night Matt had driven his father’s boat.

  With a world of regret on her shoulders, she glared over at her husband. The influx of fine lines around his eyes and distinguished strands of white crowning his forehead made him even more handsome than the teenager she’d crushed on in her youth. It wasn’t exactly surprising how many women fell for him despite the wedding band on his finger. She’d never hated anyone as much as she hated him in that moment.

  She returned her focus back on her children’s beautiful faces, wondering where time had gone. She felt as if she’d been their age not that long ago, dealing with the loss of her sister. “Your father and I are getting a divorce,” she announced.

  “About damn time,” Gwen huffed, crossing her arms.

  Simultaneously, Gavin’s handsome face twisted with anger. “Wait, what? You guys can’t get divorced! Where are we gonna live?”

  “Your father will keep the house,” Mia told him. She thought of the grand lake house he’d insisted on building ten years earlier. She couldn’t fathom being burdened with the four-story monstrosity after both children graduated. What would a single woman do with a house that size? Besides, she refused to step foot in the master bathroom ever again after walking in on Matt drilling his 24-year-old mistress in their shower. At least the lines of cocaine they’d left on the mirror nearby provided the leverage Mia would need to negotiate custody if Matt pushed. “I’m going to get a place of my own…somewhere nearby so you don’t have to switch schools.”

  “I’m living with you,” Gwen declared, eyeing Mia.

  Gavin shook his head. “What, we have to pick who we’re staying with?”

  Matt lifted the palms of his hands. “Not necessarily.”

  “You two are old enough to decide where you want to live,” Mia disagreed. She shot her husband a dark look, reminding him of all the ugly truths she was holding over his head. “We’re not going to waste everyone’s time and energy by dragging this through court.”

  Gavin shoved away from the table. “This is bullshit!”

  “Calm down, Junior,” Gwen said with a quick roll of her eyes. “Mom deserves better.”

  “What the hell did you say?” Matt snarled.

  “Watch your tone with her!” Mia warned, spinning around to shoot him a deadly glare. “If you want to be angry at someone, turn that anger on yourself! We wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for you!”

  “What’s she talking about?” Gavin demanded, hovering above his father. “What’d you do?”

  Gwen laughed in a sharp sound. “More like who didn’t he do.”

  “You’re such a psychopath, Gwen! Stop making shit up about dad!” Gavin whirled around, headed for the bar. Matt was on his feet a second later, charging after him.

  With a bright smile, Gwen stood to round the corner of the table and wrapped her arms around Mia. “I’m happy for you, Momma. You should’ve left him years ago.”

  “He’s still your father,” Mia reminded her, unsure of what else to say. She briefly hugged Gwen back for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “I need a drink.”

  Gwen straightened and adjusted her floral headband that complimented her Shady Oaks polo shirt. “Stay put…I’ll get you a margarita.” With a wink, she turned on her heels and was swallowed by the crowd.

  Mia’s head spun. She couldn’t believe the rate at which the conversation had gone south. Gavin must’ve seen the signs that his parents weren’t getting along, although she supposed he hadn’t wanted to admit they were there. He’d always been her soft-hearted child, protective of his mother, and eager to please.

  She was still trying to process her son’s anger when Matt’s father moved in beside her, hands inside his shorts pockets as he observed her like a judge at a competition. Like his son, Richard Martin had also become more handsome with age. Ironically, he’d gone through just as many affairs as his son, even throughout countless marriages. The deep scowl painted on his wide lips only seemed to remain constant whenever around his daughter-in-law. “I hear you’re filing for divorce.”

  “Word travels fast around here.” She sniggered, shaking her head. “I suppose you’re here to lecture me on why I shouldn’t leave your golden boy.”

  He lifted his nose, as if smelling something rotten. “I’m here to tell you Matt deserves to retain his ownership in the resort.”

  “Shady Oaks is my family’s resort,” she snapped. “My grandparents created it, and my parents made it grow into a successful business. Matt’s getting the house. The split will be more than fair, considering your son is an unfaithful prick. We wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with if he had the ability to keep it in his pants.”

  “Nonsense. This resort is worth millions more than that house. He’s put more time and energy into this place than you. Don’t think you can blackmail him with whatever bogus proof you think you have on him to get your way, either. My attorneys will bleed you dry if you try to fight him.”

  “I don’t know what I expected when I married him. I should’ve known he’d follow in your footsteps…drinking his way through life and screwing every woman with a pulse. The sanctity of marriage means nothing to the Martin men.”

  His lips turned down with a ferocious snarl. “You always were a crass little bitch. Matt should’ve listened to me when I warned him marrying you was a mistake.”

  She stood, bending in until she could detect the bitter stench of whiskey on his breath. The urge to spit on his face watered her mouth. “Go to hell, Dick.”

  She raced away to find Gwen, and claim her first margarita of the night. She was unnerved by her father-in-law’s threats, worried she’d drain her life savings from her paintings while trying to defeat him in court. While Gwen hustled around, waiting on intoxicated customers, Mia reconnected with one of the bartenders who’d been working for the resort since her parents had both been alive. Troy continued to serve her margaritas, bantering with her while he poured countless drinks.

  It was well after midnight when Gwen stopped to check in with her mother. She giggled loudly when Mia greeted her with a fierce hug. “Hello, sweet baby girl!”

  Gwen drew back, eyes bright with humor. “How many of those have you had, Mamacita?”

  “Not enough,” Mia decided, shaking her head.

  “How are you getting home?”

  “I’m not going home. Remember?”

  Gwen shot her a dismayed look. “Then where are you staying?”

  She’d considered crashing in the resort’s office until she’d remembered it was one of the many places Matt liked to entertain his mistresses. With a start, she realized she was essentially homeless as all the local accommodations were booked for the bash. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Hold on, I’m going to find Gavin to give you a ride home. You can stay with me in my room tonight so you don’t have to see dad.”

  Mia’s insides hardened. She only planned to return home to pack up her things when Matt wasn’t around. “I’m fine, Gwen. I swear.”

  “No, you’re not.” Gwen pointed at Troy. “Don’t let her leave before I get back.”

  Troy lifted his hand to his forehead in a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Gwen tugged on the silver coin-sized disk necklace dangling from her mother’s neck. Gwen and her brother had gifted it to Mia one Mother’s Day when they were little. The inscription on the back of the delicate metal plate was an inside joke of sorts between the three of them. After Gwen and Gavin had each been teased for being “weird” in elementary school, Mia told them they were “three weirdos in a pod” and declared they were both miniature versions of herself. Gwen wasn’t much of an emotional person, and began using “weirdo” as her special way of saying she loved her mom.