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problem. It’s great to see you, Scarlett.”
    She sounded sincere. This confused me. Maybe I was misreading the situation. I adjusted my posture, relaxing my arms and taking a half step back.
    “Yeah,” I said. “It’s been a while.”
    The others turned away, and Kaitlyn’s eyes narrowed. “You and Andy seem pretty friendly,” she said.
    It was there—the animosity I had suspected, but she had it layered under a saccharine coating.
    “Yeah,” I answered, keeping the heat of anger inside of me under control. “I guess my absence made his heart grow fonder.” I shrugged as if it didn’t matter to me either way.
    “Hmm,” she said. “We’ll see, I guess. You’re looking … skinny.”
    I couldn’t tell for sure if that was meant to be an insult or a compliment, but I decided to take it as the latter.
    “Thanks,” I said.
    Andy returned with our putters and two golf balls. He handed me the red one. His was blue.
    “You ready?”
    The next hour was a lot less difficult than I thought it might be. Everyone cheered my good shots and consoled me when my putts went wide, in a clear effort to make me feel comfortable. Of course, all the extra attention did the exact opposite, but I knew their hearts were in the right place.
    Kaitlyn glued herself to Connell’s side, flirting with him outrageously and asking him for tips on how to negotiate the tougher holes. This was completely transparent as Kaitlynwas one of the most dexterous players, but at least it kept her out of my hair for the night.
    It felt good to be out, but I couldn’t help feeling I was betraying Ronny. I knew he’d want me to be having fun. No one loved a party more than Ronny. He had always made sure that everyone around him was at ease and having a good time.
    I gave up keeping score, just concentrating on holding myself together as we negotiated our way around the tight little course. Ahead of us was a family of four—the mom and dad with their two little kids, an older sister and a little brother.
    The girl was probably about ten. I could tell that she had a real competitive streak from the way she was vigilant about keeping score. Her baby brother, just four probably, kept messing up her strokes, swinging his putter in wild loops, tumbling on the green, kicking the balls every which way. She tolerated him the best she could, but I could see the strain it was causing her. The parents laughed easily, and took turns trying to distract the little boy.
    They looked happy. Normal. As if they had no idea how lucky they all were.
    I tore my gaze away from them when the mother caught me staring, and focused on my shot through a haze of tears. Andy must have seen me fighting to maintain my composure, because he leaned in close to me and whispered, “You want to get out of here?”
    I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He took my putter and ball and returned them to the booth. Then he led meby the arm away from the green and called over his shoulder, “Catch you later, guys.”
    I heard a mix of voices calling out goodbyes, but didn’t turn as I raised my hand in a halfhearted wave.
    All of a sudden, I didn’t have anything else to give. I’d managed to fake it for almost an hour—pretty good for a first attempt. I felt Andy navigating me toward the lights of the boardwalk, though I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were headed.
    “Hungry?” he asked.
    I shook my head.
    “Mind if I get something to eat?”
    I shook my head again.
    Steering me by the small of my back, Andy maneuvered us through the crowded main street toward a little café. I knew it well; my family was friendly with the family that owned it. The Hendersons had five daughters: one off at college, one who’d gotten pregnant during her senior year and still lived at home, now with her baby boy, two who were still in school with me, and one in middle school.
    One of the owner’s teen daughters, a sophomore named Hailey, was working the hostess stand. There