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a young Roger, with his blue eyes and wavy
hair. My mind drifted as I waited for the eggs to cook; I buried my
nose against a small warm head of blond curls while the other young
man squeezed my shoulders and smiled down at us. Wasn’t that just a
few months ago?
    “Ma! This old place only
has one bathroom? Upstairs? Where should I sleep?”
    Reality always cuts to the
immediate, rather than the important questions. “How about one of
the little rooms off the living room? I don’t have an extra bed
yet, but it would be more private for you.”
    “That’s perfect. I’ll use
my camping pad and sleeping bag. No big deal.”
    For the rest of the
morning, Chad and I brought each other up to date on the events of
the summer. We’d talked by phone a few times, but the connection
was never good enough to really visit. Of course, I wanted to hear
what he’d been doing on Isle Royale, but I was surprised and
pleased that he was interested in my summer, too. I gave him a tour
of the house, and he liked what I’d accomplished, but he mentioned
the lack of a television and an internet connection.
    When I got to telling him
about the recent confusion over a body washing up at Jalmari, he
held up a hand. I stopped talking.
    “I think you’ve found a new
hobby, solving mysteries,” he said.
    “Oh, no, I don’t have
anything to do with this one,” I said, bugging out my eyes and
shaking my head. I changed the subject. “How long can you
stay?”
    “’ Til Saturday, I think. I
need to go see Dad, too, before I have to be back on
campus.”
    I knew this was the outline
for my future, having to share Chad with a man who made my stomach
contract into a hard knot. I wanted to protest that two days was
too little time, but I knew my desires couldn’t make Chad stop
caring about his dad. I didn’t want him to hate Roger. Well, maybe
just a little bit.
    “How about if I help you
get those shutters for the screen porch started tomorrow?” Chad
said, pulling me back to the conversation.
    “That would be great,” I
said, “But why not start today?”
    “I have something I’d like
to do, if you don’t think it’s too stupid.” The impish grin I love
broke across his tanned face.
    “What’s that?” I asked,
wondering what on earth he might have cooked up in just a few
hours.
    “I drove in to Cherry Hill
pretty much along the river. This part of the state is beautiful.
Can we go look at cabins on the water? I’ll be in work-study this
fall, and maybe I could make payments on something
small.”
    “But you don’t have any
idea where you’ll be working after college, or anything yet,” I
protested.
    “Yeah, but you plan to stay
here, right?”
    “I think that’s settled,” I
said. “But what difference does that make?”
    “If I had a cottage, I
could have my own place and still see you without being a bother.
Even if I end up with a family some day, it would be a great
vacation place.”
    “Chad, I don’t know.
Anything on the water will be expensive. Who will take care of it?”
I didn’t want to get saddled with the upkeep on another old
building.
    “Oh, c’mon. Looking is
free. It’s probably just for fun. Are you worried about
high-pressure realtors bugging you after I leave?”
    “Maybe a little bit,” I
admitted, picturing the lady in the tropical print with the husky
voice. She had seemed very forward, but I supposed realtors had to
be. “All right. It’s a good trade for help with all that plywood
tomorrow. Where shall we start?”
    In about an hour, we were
driving into Cherry Hill, past the park beside the river where I’d
faced off with a really bad man in May, and over the Mill Street
bridge. Chad had talked me into letting him drive my Jeep, so I was
in the passenger seat. We turned west on Liberty Street. I’d never
seen this part of town, since it wasn't really on the way to
anywhere.
    “Hey! There’s the old
school,” I said. I pointed at a large red brick structure on my
side of