“No.” Caroline started from the beginning, telling Megan about the times she had overheard bits and pieces of Billy’s name mentioned by Gram and her mother through the years and especially now after Sara had drowned. She told her how she discovered Billy had drowned when her parents were teenagers. She read about it that day at the Country Store when she had searched the old Lake Reporters.

“I remember. Boring,” Megan said. “What about it?”

Caroline told her how she had put two and two together, that Johnny was named after Billy and that he was really Billy’s son, not Caroline’s father’s.

“Holy shit,” Megan blurted.

“Shhh,” Caroline said. “Keep it down.”

“And you told Johnny?”

“Sort of.”

“Wow, that’s totally messed up.” Megan shook her head. “So, now what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

There was a knock at the door.

Caroline grabbed Megan’s arm. “Promise you won’t say anything. Not until my family figures this out.”

Megan held up her hand. “I get it. You don’t have to worry.”

“Megan,” Mrs. Roberts said. “Jeff’s out front looking for you.”

Megan flung the door open.

Her mother started. “It’s late. I’m not sure you should be going out tonight.”

“Please, Mom. It’s summertime. And Caroline is out. She’ll come with me.” Megan looked over her shoulder at Caroline, pleading with her to say yes.

Mrs. Robert’s crossed her arms. “And what do you plan on doing?”

“I don’t know. We’ll think of something. Isn’t that right, Caroline?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Mrs. Roberts said.

“Please, Mom. I promise we won’t get into any trouble.”

“Well,” Mrs. Roberts said, “as long as you two stay together.”

“We will,” Megan said, and pulled Caroline with her.

Mrs. Roberts followed them to the door. She touched Caroline’s shoulder. “Everything all right, dear?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Everything’s just super.”

*   *   *

Caroline dragged her feet a few paces behind Megan and Jeff, not wanting to tag along on their date or whatever it was they were doing. She’d split as soon as they were far enough away from Megan’s cabin and out of sight. She was trying to think of where she could go, since home wasn’t an option. But when they reached the ballpark, the Needlemeyer twins and Adam were waiting for them.

Ted held a flashlight over a sheet of paper that explained the rules and regulations for the big fishing tournament tomorrow.

Megan stepped back from the group and mumbled, “More boy stuff.”

“I’m totally doing this,” Jeff said about the tournament. “First prize is a hundred bucks. Who wouldn’t try for that?”

The boys nodded, an air of excitement surrounded them.

Adam tugged on Caroline’s arm. “Are you fishing tomorrow?” he asked.

“Nah,” she said, having made up her mind while talking with Gram. “Not this year. Besides, I’ll be too busy rooting for you.”

“Well, I know just the spot to catch the biggest trout anyone has ever pulled out of the lake,” he said.

“You do not,” Ted said.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then show us.”

“I’m not showing you,” Adam said. “You’re the competition.”

“You won’t show us because you’re lying. You don’t have a fishing hole.”

“I do too,” Adam whined.

“Leave him alone,” Caroline said, although the boys ribbing had started lifting her mood. The familiar role of mediator was comforting, a sign something hadn’t changed. She gazed across the open field. Every few seconds the lightning bugs flashed their presence.

“Show us your fishing hole, and we’ll show you ours. That way we’re even,” Ned said.

“Yeah, help the new guy out,” Jeff chimed in.

Adam looked at Caroline, and she nodded. Catching the biggest trout was more luck than anything else. Besides, she didn’t want to go home.

It was that easy. They were off on some kind of quest to find Adam’s honey hole. Caroline trailed behind Adam, the Needlemeyer twins behind her. Jeff grabbed Megan’s hand and pulled her along, taking up the rear. They made their way through the path in the woods that would take them to the lake.

They walked single file, sticks and leaves crunching under their sneakers. Poison ivy spread through the woods to their left. Cougar barked on their right. Adam stopped abruptly, and Caroline nearly walked into the back of him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of beef jerky. “Always prepared,” he said, and exchanged a knowing look with her.

Cougar yanked on his chain the closer they got, stretching every link as far as it would go until he was choking. The stake he was chained to bent at a diagonal as though at any moment it would fly out of the ground. The funny thing was, Caroline wasn’t worried about the dog breaking free. He didn’t sound vicious or mean. His barks sounded more like a cry for attention.

Adam walked up to Cougar but stayed far enough back as not to make contact. The dog yelped, cried, and pulled at the chain in excitement. Adam tossed a chunk of beef jerky over the dog’s head so he wouldn’t continue choking himself. Cougar whipped around and gnawed on the jerky. Adam threw two more pieces.

“One was enough,” Ted said. “Save some for us.”

Adam stuffed the rest of the jerky into his pockets.

The sight of the hungry, attention-starved dog made Caroline feel bad. While he continued to chomp on the beef jerky, she walked up to him and unhooked the chain from his thick leather collar.

“What are you doing?” Megan squealed.

Cougar rubbed against Caroline’s legs, chewing and rubbing, circling her. She reached down and scratched behind his ear. Adam joined her. And soon the twins, Jeff, and even Megan surrounded the dog, petting him, letting him lick them all over.

“Let’s take him with us,” Adam said.

The six of them, seven if you included the dog, proceeded down the path, single file, with Cougar running circles around their legs, darting on and off the trail, tongue hanging out and tail wagging. They stopped when they reached the parking lot, which was now filled with tents for the Trout Festival. People were still working under battery-powered spotlights, setting up displays, preparing for the events the next day. The dark of the night seeped in between the cracks of light. The Pavilion was open, and music blared from the live band performing in the bar upstairs.

Caroline couldn’t help but think, after everything that had happened, summer had come after all.

She turned to Adam. “Which way?”

“It’s on the south side.” He pointed. “Past that old private beach nobody uses. Closer to where the lake feeds the stream.”

“That’s nothing but a muddy hole,” Ted said. Ned agreed.

“No, it’s not all mud. There’s a spot where the water is deep. All the big fish are there. I swear.” Adam’s head bobbed. Cougar poked his nose inside Adam’s pockets, searching for the jerky.

“We’ll have to take the long way around so no one sees us,” Caroline said. A gang of young kids walking around at ten o’clock at night was sure to draw attention. “We can go the way we went to the pump that day,” she said to Adam.

The twins balked. Megan picked at her cuticle, obviously bored. Jeff shrugged.

“You don’t have to come with us,” Caroline said to the others, and started walking.

Adam and Cougar followed. After more bellyaching, the twins and Jeff and Megan chased after them. It took almost an hour to get to the private beach, walking through the woods behind the lakefront cabins with nothing but slivers of moonlight cutting through the branches of trees to guide them. Cougar panted, but his barking had stopped. Once, he drifted toward the lake to get a drink of water, but otherwise he walked alongside Adam the entire way. He was a good dog and meant to be with kids.

The cabin that sat at the back of the private beach was deserted. It had been dark and empty every summer for as long as Caroline could remember. Although she had heard the family who owned the property preferred to stay away from the lake during the peak summer months, coming only in autumn when the air was cool and the trees were dressed in their finest colors.