Honey took Kitt’s hand and stepped out of the canoe and onto the pebbled shore of the island in the middle of the lake.

The trees on the island seemed taller and darker up close.

They scrambled up the hillside together, Kitt’s hand strong and warm around hers.

Although this was a brand new adventure, Kitt wasn’t his usual upbeat self.

Honey had a nagging feeling that something was wrong.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

He looked down at her, his gray eyes crinkling in the warm, sexy smile he saved just for Honey.

“I’m sorry, my love,” he told her. “I know I’ve been distracted lately.”

She nodded. There was no point pretending she hadn’t noticed.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No. It’s just Indiana,” he said. “I’m worried about him.”

“Oh,” Honey said, wishing she were better with words.

Indiana was pining for Nikki. They all knew it.

And Nikki was being, well… characteristically Nikki. She was pulling him closer and pushing him away at the same time.

Honey liked Nikki, a lot. But in spite of her obvious warmth, Nikki always seemed to hold Honey at arm’s length, Addy too.

At first Honey had thought it was because Nikki was new to the friendship and maybe she and Addy had too many old in-jokes.

But Nikki was cool with the in-jokes, cool with their many foibles, god knew they had enough - even cool with the fact that Honey and Addy were sneaking their guys into the cabin basically every night now.

But once in a while, a perfectly normal conversation would cause their new friend to retreat into herself, or even literally retreat, out of the room or out of the cabin.

In the beginning Honey had chalked it all up to religion. Strict beliefs explained away a lot of the social behaviors Nikki avoided and the topics of conversation she wasn’t comfortable with.

But lately Nikki couldn’t seem to stand even the most innocuous moments of camaraderie that the three used to engage in.

Last night they’d had tea, as usual. Nikki had gotten out a couple of muffins she’d brought home from the restaurant. At the sight of the muffins and tea Addy predictably and loudly declared that Honey and Nikki were the best friends ever. Honey had laughed. But Nikki got a look on her face like a kicked dog and dashed to the bathroom.

“Nikki’s having a hard time lately,” she heard herself say to Kitt, feeling a little guilty for ratting out a friend.

Sisters before Misters had always been her policy. But this was too important.

“Does it have to do with Indiana?” Kitt asked.

Honey was grateful that he wasn’t pretending not to know why she had brought up Nikki when he said Indy was down.

“I’m not sure,” she said, thinking about it. “Maybe. We probably shouldn’t interfere.”

“We came here together, my brothers and I,” Kitt said, looking miserable.

“I know you care about him,” she said immediately.

“Yes, of course, but it’s more than that,” he said. “We came as a unit. I’m not sure what will happen now that Remington and I have clicked with you and Addy, if Indiana doesn’t click with anyone. I’m not sure if any one of us can truly be successful without the other two.”

Wow.

“Could they take you away from me?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

“That’s awful,” she whispered.

“Do you think you could talk to Nikki?” Kitt asked.

Her first instinct was that of course she would speak with her friend.

But her sense of right and wrong precluded that.

“I spent too much of my own life being pushed around, Kitt,” she said. “I have no right to pressure my friend into a relationship.”

“Of course not,” he said immediately. “I only meant that it might help her to know how much may be riding on this. So if she isn’t serious about him…”

Kitt trailed off, but Honey knew what he meant. If Nikki wasn’t serious about Indiana, then she should tell him, so that he could try to find another mate.

But knowing Nikki, this info would only make her panic and push Indy away even if she returned his feelings.

Honey’s consternation must have shown on her face.

“Maybe I’m worrying for no reason,” Kitt said in a comforting way. “You said she’s not herself lately, maybe she’s doing some soul searching. Do you think she’s considering accepting Indiana?” Kitt asked.

“Well, I don’t know for sure,” Honey replied. “But it would be hard not to think about it.”

“Hey,” Kitt cried, pretending to be jealous.

“I only meant that with me being madly in love with you, and Addy with Remington, it would be hard for her not to at least consider falling for Indy,” Honey laughed.

“So you’re madly in love with me?” Kitt wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close enough for a kiss.

“Well, maybe a little,” she murmured against his lips.

“Did you bring me out here so that I could make love to you in the trees?” Kitt asked, looking decidedly in favor of the plan.

“No,” she said, desperately trying to wrench her eyes away from his. One more moment in that gray gaze and she’d be making love to him in full sight of Maxwell’s if he wanted her to.

“Then I’d better let you go, or that’s what we will end up doing, regardless of our intentions.” He grinned and released her. As usual his thoughts seemed to mirror her own.

“Come on,” she said, and hiked a bit further up the hillside and just into the tree line.

It was odd to see Maxwell’s from this angle. The place looked so much smaller and quainter from across the lake - like a scene on a postcard.

She traveled east a couple hundred feet and pointed to the restricted area of the lake.

“Do you recognize that?” she asked.

“Sure, that’s where the boat got stuck on the gas line,” Kitt replied.

“Right,” she said, and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

She brought up the YouTube video of Remington saving the day.

“What do you notice about this?” she asked.

Kitt shrugged.

“Look,” Honey said, and lifted her hand up to face the lake.

“Oh,” Kitt said.

They were standing almost exactly in the spot where the video had been recorded. The shot was focused on the water, but it was easy to recognize by the angle of the warning signs and floating rope that marked the edge of the restricted area.

“Whoever took this video was here, on the island,” Honey said.

She continued to watch the screen for a few more seconds for clues, but try as she might, she couldn’t figure out anything else about who had shot it.

When she looked up, Kitt was standing across from her instead of behind her. She hadn’t noticed him move.

“Honey, we should go,” he said in a careful voice.

“We just got here,” she said. “We need to look for evidence.”

“It’s getting dark,” he said, taking her by the elbow and guiding her down the hillside before she could protest.

“But—” she began.

“We shouldn’t be on this island after dark,” he said, agitation clear in his voice. “It’s not safe.”