Gabe’s day was not going well. He worked on autopilot, hammering nails and letting the sound of saws drown out the real world.

It had been two days since his blow up with Violet and he had not heard a word from her. More concerning, neither had Lily. Not since she’d explained why their friendship was a bad idea had anyone heard from Violet.

Her house remained dark and the door locked. He’d stopped by no less than ten times, just checking to see if she’d come back. She wasn’t answering calls or texts.

It was exactly what he’d feared was going to happen but he knew, he’d caused this, not Violet. She hadn’t walked out of Fortune’s Bay looking for her next great adventure. He’d pushed her out, and he knew that down to his bones.

Furious with himself, he hammered harder, working his aggression out physically.

He thought about Violet from sunup to sundown. The last days had eked by, passing slowly while he walked through his life like a robot. Lily would barely speak to him, rightfully blaming him for the loss of her friend.

He’d lost out too, he’d realized quickly.

If Lily was the light in his life, then Violet was the heat. She warmed him, made him feel comfort when he thought there was none. She thawed him, when he thought he was well beyond being worth the effort.

She was right when she accused him of being the one who felt the long-term effects of Rachel leaving Lily. He had trust issues and it all stemmed from that incident. Sure, he and Rachel hadn’t been together, but he’d thought they’d be parents together. He hadn’t expected to be raising Lily on his own. Not only did he hold resentment toward Rachel, but he let it cloud the rest of his life. He didn’t trust easily, and no matter how many times she’d proved otherwise, he’d pegged Violet as a flake and a temporary fixture.

He had to fix things with her. Not just for Lily, but for himself. Violet wasn’t the only one who’d fallen in love this summer.

He swung the hammer back but this time it hit with a sickening thump and his thumb exploded in pain. He yowled, most unmanly, gaining the attention of his crew.

“Boss?”

He held his thumb in his other hand, almost afraid to look. The pain was scorching, streaking up his arm, and he gritted his teeth and breathed through his nose.

“Let’s see,” his surly foreman, Nick, said, unwrapping his fingers and revealing the digit.

There was some blood but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

“What the hell happened?” Nick asked. Nick was a medic and a war veteran, and though he was younger than Gabe, his eyes often looked like they’d seen a thousand lifetimes.

“Wasn’t paying attention,” Gabe growled.

“Huh,” Nick replied simply, a brow raised. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with why you’ve been stomping around here for a few days, would it?”

“No,” Gabe lied, snatching his thumb back and holding it in his hand.

“Nothing to do with the little redhead who mysteriously skipped town a few days ago?”

Gabe narrowed his eyes. “Is there a direct line you call to get town gossip or do you have your own rocking chair in the knitting club?”

Nick raised his other brow. “I like sandwiches. No sandwiches the last few days now that Batten Down the Hashes is getting fixed.”

“Fixed?”

“Refrigeration unit shit the bed. Was gonna take a few weeks to get back up and going.”

“I read yesterday on their Instagram that they’re closed for the season. Might not open again at all,” someone interjected.

“Well, damn,” Nick muttered and squinted at Gabe. “I’d be very unhappy if I never got another of those mushroom burgers.”

The thought of Nick being very unhappy, made Gabe nervous.

“I’m going to the clinic,” he told the crew. “Finish up here if you can, otherwise we’ll finish in the morning.”

* * *

He called Miles on the way and they walked him right back to an exam room when he arrived. Miles came into the room, the grin on his face more annoying than anything else.

“Why do you look so smug?” Gabe asked.

“You’re kidding, right?” Miles got to work, inspecting Gabe’s thumb, poking and prodding. “You’ll need a few stitches.”

“Why would I be kidding?”

“Because you came in here not too long ago with Violet, glaring daggers at her and snipping about being careless. Now, here you are, after hitting your thumb with a hammer. What are you, in a Tom and Jerry cartoon? Who even does that?”

“Your bedside manner sucks,” Gabe commented.

“Apparently, not as bad as you suck at wooing women.” Miles stuck a needle in Gabe’s thumb and began the numbing process. “You’ll probably lose the nail.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your nail will fall off at some point,” Miles said, purposefully misunderstanding Gabe’s question.

“Not that,” Gabe growled. “That I suck at wooing women.”

“Maybe not all women, but Violet for sure. She’s got pale skin and when she cries, the evidence sticks around for a while.”

“When did you see her?” Suddenly, Gabe couldn’t care less about the shade Miles was throwing him, or the fact that he was jabbing him with a sharp needle. Miles had seen Violet and that was all that mattered.

“Couple days ago,” Miles responded cryptically.

Gabe huffed in annoyance. “When was that?”

“Oh, I assume about the time you broke her heart and ran her out of town.”

“I did not,” Gabe argued. “Ow!”

Miles looked up from his work, the humor gone from his face. “You sure about that?”

“Yes, I’m sure that hurt. Come on, Miles. I know I’m an idiot. You know I’m an idiot. Now, Violet knows I’m an idiot. Can we all carry on so I can fix it? She won’t answer my calls or texts—”

“What’s your big plan to fix it?”

Gabe shrugged. “Throw myself at her feet and beg for forgiveness is all I’ve got so far.”

Miles huffed. “That’s it? Seems like you’re leaving something out there, Romeo.”

“Declare my undying love? Ask her to be my valentine forever? I don’t know. I’ve never done this before. I figured I’d start with I’m sorry, and go from there.”

“I wouldn’t skip that first part. Seems like the meat of it, you know?” He sat up and began wrapping Gabe’s thumb in gauze. “She’ll like this, though. She’s got a mean streak and it seems only fitting. She’ll be sad she missed it.”

“You ever going to get the part where you tell me about seeing her?”

Miles stripped his gloves off and stood, arms across his chest. “She came here a few days ago, asking about donating medical supplies. One of her sisters lives on an island that just got hit by a hurricane—”

“Ivy.”

“Last I heard, she was gathering up everything she could to sail down and donate it to the people in need.”

The boxes. Violet packing everything she owned, not to move, to donate.

The realization must have shown on his face because Miles nodded. “I’m supposed to be delivering said medical supplies before they leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” The thought choked him.

That didn’t leave him much time, but hopefully enough to get his apology in order.

* * *

Gabe’s phone rang as he was checking out of the clinic. Miles was next to him, signing some paperwork at the admin desk.

“Hello?”

“Gabe,” his father’s voice was stone-cold serious and Gabe stood straighter.

“Dad?”

“Is Lily with you?”

“No. I’m at the clinic. You’re supposed to pick Lily up at the bus stop today.”

“I’m here, son, but she didn’t get off the bus. The driver said she never got on at school.”

Terror, like he’d never known, flashed through him. Where could Lily have gone?

His first call was to the school where they confirmed that Lily had been in school all day long and had been there when the day ended. Sometime, between school dismissal and getting on the bus, she’d disappeared.

At Miles’s urging, Gabe called the police on the way to the school. It wasn’t far from the clinic, and he was relieved to see a crowd of people, including teachers and staff, and the police.

His father called again as he stepped out of the truck, letting him know that Lily wasn’t at either of their homes.

Gabe choked his fear down and squashed it. He could let feelings overtake him later.

For now, he just had to find Lily.

* * *

Violet was bored. Without her usual life to keep her busy, things were just plain old boring. Her parents snorkeled in the water under the ridge, near the dock they were tied to. They walked the beach hand in hand, collecting shells and talking. Her mother painted, her father read.

Violet mostly brooded but that was getting boring.

Sometimes, she watched the ferry come in from Fortune’s Bay and imagined Gabe running off the boat and down the wooden dock across the way. He was far too stubborn for that, too jaded. If he hadn’t seen her good qualities yet, he wasn’t going to and he certainly wasn’t running after her.

She’d resigned herself to the fact that there was nothing else she could do. Going south and staying with Ivy for a while seemed like a good start for now. Maybe she’d find a way to move on and find a new direction in life now that her dream of settling into her Gram’s house had imploded around her.

Violet squinted into the sunset as she watched a few stragglers get off the ferry. It was late, most of the tourists having already headed back to town; the boat was practically empty. She checked her watch. This would be the last boat of the day.

One man strolled down the dock toward the cabins that dotted the ridge. A fisherman most likely, or one of the old timers that inhabited the island.

Violet shot up in her chair. There was a little girl over there, her hair dark like Lily’s. She was looking around like she wasn’t sure where to go. Violet stood, her legs moving on their own as she jumped from the boat and onto the dock.

“Violet?” her mother called. “Where are you going?”

Her eyes never left the girl as she jogged to the shore and ran to the ferry’s pier. The closer she got, the more sure she became that somehow, some way, Lily was on Shelter Island.

Gabe was nowhere in sight.

When she turned the corner at a full run, she nearly fell, but she managed to stay on her feet. Lily caught sight of her, a smile lighting her face.

“Vi!”

By now, Violet was close enough and when she could, she swept the girl up in her arms, a combination of love and longing squeezing her chest.

“What in the world are you doing here?” she asked, never letting the girl go.

Lily squeezed her back, tears soaking through Violet’s shirt. “I wanted to see you so bad. I missed you and I hate when you aren’t there. Please don’t leave me,” she cried.

If anything, Violet held on tighter. She didn’t want to leave Lily. She didn’t want to leave Fortune’s Bay.

She just wasn’t sure how to stay.

“I’m sorry, Lil. I know this is hard for you, too,” Violet whispered.

“You promised you wouldn’t leave. Please don’t go.” Lily leaned back and looked up with tearstained cheeks. “Let me come with you. I won’t be any trouble, I swear.”

Violet pushed the girl’s hair back gently and framed her face. “I wish I could, honey. I love you more than anything, you know that. But you’ve got to stay here to take care of your dad, and he really needs you.”

“He doesn’t care what I need,” Lily argued, her face darkening.

“All he cares about is what’s best for you,” Violet countered. “You know that, you’re just angry.”

Lily’s face crumpled and she pressed it into Violet’s chest as she sobbed. She wasn’t far off from sobbing herself. The scene was heartbreaking.

“Vi?”

She turned to find her very worried looking parents standing behind them.

“Lily? Want to meet my parents?” The girl nodded and swiped her forearm across her face to clean herself up. “Lily, these are my parents, Iris and Reed.”

They both smiled down at her though there was deep concern etched in their faces.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Lily. I’ve heard a lot about you,” Iris said, leaning down and extending a hand to shake. “Does your father know where you are, by any chance?”

Lily shrank back a little and all of Violet’s happiness drained away. Gabe would no doubt blame her for Lily’s stunt, somehow making it all her fault. He’d be furious with her all over again.

“Oh, Lil,” she whispered. “You have to call him.”

The girl shook her head. “I can’t.” Her little lip trembled. “He’ll be so mad.”

Reed shook his head. “As a father, I can tell you he’s probably scared to death with worry.”

“How about this,”—Iris held her hand for Lily to take and they began walking toward the beach—“You come back to the boat with us and we’ll let Violet call your dad. We’ll figure the rest out after that. How does that sound?”

Lily looked to Violet, her eyes wide.

“I’ll call,” Violet conceded.

Lily walked all the way to her parents’ boat, holding Iris’s hand and coming out of her shell. She wasn’t an outgoing child but she was easily coaxed into conversation when the right subjects came up. Reed, usually a font of wise words, said nothing as they walked the beach, leaving Violet to worry herself sick over the phone call she was going to have to make.

“I heard you like pancakes,” Iris said as they helped Lily onto the boat. “I make a mean pancake.”

“Yes, you do,” Reed agreed.

“Are they as good as Violet’s?” Lily asked.

“Probably not.” Iris laughed. “But I can try while she calls your dad.”

* * *

Violet powered her phone back up and watched as notifications poured in—missed calls and texts from days of her phone being off. She didn’t look at any of them, just dialed Gabe’s number. He must have been sick with worry and as angry as she was with him, she’d never dream of not calling to let him know that Lily was safe and sound.

He answered on the first ring, panic make his voice sound brittle. “Violet, have you—”

“Lily’s with me and she’s fine,” she interrupted. “She showed up on the last ferry to Shelter Island tonight.”

The sigh that came over the phone was of obvious relief. “Oh, thank God.” The phone went muffled as he yelled, “She’s with Violet. She’s fine. Someone find me a boat.”

Bossy as ever, she thought.

“You’re sure she’s alright?” he asked.

“She’s eating pancakes with my parents on their boat,” she told him. “I didn’t know she was coming. I never would have told her to come out here without telling you first.”

“I know that,” he said, softening. “Violet…”

He let the thought trail off and then said nothing. She guessed that meant there was nothing left to say.

“That was the last ferry of the day. She’s welcome to stay overnight and either I can bring her back in the morning or you can come get her.”

“I…” Again, he didn’t finish the thought and left her with nothing but silence that sliced through her chest.

“If it wouldn’t be too much to ask,” she choked out, “I’d like to keep her for one last sleepover. Maybe I can teach her to yodel off the ridge.”

He finally broke the silence and ground out, “Keep your phone on.”

That was it?

“Yeah, okay,” she whispered before hanging up and looking up at the moon. “Keep my phone on?”