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that the banks alongside seemed barely able to contain it. In love with the lullaby of moving water whispering its promises to her as she drifted off to sleep under a canopy of trees. Cam’s cottage was just over the hill, so the river became the centerpiece of that summer, her oasis from the commitments she balanced to make this new chapter of her life unfold.
    It was the first day of July, and she and Meredith were close to being done with the space. Their goal was to finish by the Fourth of July. Meredith, however, had a prospect she couldn’t ignore.
    “His name is Sam Watanabe. He’s five eight.” Meredith grabbed her purse and prepared to leave for the date. “Finally, I found a first-generation, Japanese-American man who’s actually tall enough for me. And he’s a biochemist. And he’s cute. Even my parents should approve.”
    “I would never ask you to pass up destiny.” Kerris laid out her sarcasm along with a tarp for painting.
    “I’m actually excited. I think Sam and I could hit it off.”
    “I can’t wait to hear about it.” Kerris adjusted the edges of the tarp, glancing at Meredith over her shoulder. “And you look really pretty, by the way.”
    “I’m not sure I can return the compliment.” Meredith examined Kerris’s cutoff jeans, white wifebeater and work boots. Kerris’s hair was caught up in a messy ponytail atop her head, dark tendrils escaping around her face and neck. “Will you get to freshen up at all before Cam comes with dinner?”
    “It’ll have to do.” Kerris grimaced, glancing down at her paint-spattered hands. “He’s been slammed, too, with this crazy deadline at the office, so maybe he won’t look much better.”
    “He needs to be painting. His talent is wasted with graphic design.”
    “I know. It’s in his plans.” Kerris blew at a tendril of hair drooping over her eyes. “In the meantime, he’s got bills to pay like the rest of us.”
    “I’m sure Kristeene Bennett would help, right?”
    “If Cam would let her, yeah.” Kerris glanced at her watch. “You better get outta here if you don’t want to be late for your date with destiny.”
    “Thanks again for the pass tonight.” Meredith backed her way toward the door.
    “Just name your firstborn Watanabe after me!” Kerris flung the request after her friend dashing down the front porch steps.
    Still laughing, Kerris slipped in her earphones. Her pop playlist got her through half a wall before her stomach growled like a stray dog. Her phone screen lit up with an incoming call from Cam.
    “Hey.” She sidestepped two buckets of paint. “You on your way?”
    “About that.” He colored his sigh with frustration. “This project is kicking my ass. I don’t think I’ll make it over.”
    Kerris swallowed disappointment, wishing it were a Big Mac. Her stomach growled more aggressively, echoing its displeasure.
    “That’s okay. I’ll be fine. I think I have an apple left from lunch or something.”
    “Actually, Walsh said he could drop something off here for me on his way home, and I asked him to pick something up for you, too.”
    “No!” The word erupted from her mouth more violently than she had intended. “I mean, he doesn’t have to. Call him and tell him not to do that. I don’t want him going out of his way.”
    “It’s not out of his way. It’s on his way. Besides, he’s already on his way over.”
    “Oh, how sweet.” Kerris gnawed on her bottom lip and fiddled with the pencil securing her washed-two-days-ago hair.
    “Okay, babe.” She could hear Cam’s attention already drifting back to his project. “Gotta get this done tonight. Love you.”
    “Love you, too.” She tugged at the frayed bottoms of her cutoffs, glancing at her paint-stained wifebeater.
    Walsh was on his way. She had tried to avoid being alone with him for the last month. They saw each other at least once a week at the children’s ward for craft hour. Was it coincidence that he was usually there visiting