Page 7 of 15 Summers Later

After sharing a room with her sister all her life, this room had been the first one Ava could claim as exclusively her own, and that was only because Madi’s room downstairs had to be outfitted for all the things she needed to help her rehabilitation.

She pushed the memories away and pulled out her phone. Her literary agent, she saw when she checked the display.

Sylvia Wittman was a lovely woman who absolutely wanted the best for Ava. At this particular moment, they couldn’t quite agree on what that was.

She sighed and let the call go to voicemail, as she had all the others that day.

Sylvia was no doubt calling with news about the various film and TV offers that had already come their way or to let her know some other book club wanted to featureGhost Lake.

Most writers would consider it a dream come true to see their work go viral and generate so much interest on the national and international stage.

Ava supposed she wasn’t most writers.

She only wanted to pull her old comforter off the bed, carry it to the closet and hide in the corner until all of this went away.

Tomorrow. She would deal with everything tomorrow, after she had the chance to sleep away this exhaustion that had seeped into her bones, her sinews.

Then she would have to figure out if there was anything she could do to fix her marriage or the rift with her sister...or if the wounds she had inflicted on the people she loved through her words could ever heal.

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Blood stains the earth beneath us as the reality of our escape becomes painfully tangible. The pursuit of freedom comes at a terrible cost.

—Ghost Lakeby Ava Howell Brooks

Luke

If he wasn’t careful, he was in danger of being kicked in the groin by a goat.

Luke Gentry shifted positions as he tried to hold tight to the annoyed animal. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he murmured. “I’m trying to help so you can walk better and without pain. I promise, you’ll be happier when I’m done.”

He continued talking nonsense to the goat as he trimmed her hooves carefully.

For a long time, he hadn’t been sure this was the career choice for him. While he had always loved animals and never minded helping out at his father’s veterinary clinic, he had resented everyone’s automatic assumption that he would naturally want to follow in Dan Gentry’s footsteps.

Luke once had other dreams. He had wanted to become an adventurer, to rock climb all the highest peaks in the world and ski the steepest slopes.

He hadn’t really cared where, he had only known he hadn’t wanted to be tied down here in Emerald Creek, Idaho.

Em-C, as the locals called it, was a pretty little town with plenty of recreational activities, but it had always felt too small to hold all his dreams. The world was so much bigger than this community of genuine ranchers and farmers as well as outdoor lovers and weekend cowboys near Sun Valley.

Over the years, his perspective had changed. He loved being the town’s only veterinarian, building his home and his career here with his daughter, and couldn’t imagine his life any other way—as long as this goat didn’t manage to emasculate him, anyway.

He finally finished the last hoof and released Martha. “There you go. All done. See? That wasn’t so bad.”

The goat bleated at him and retreated to the other side of the pen. He opened the pen door to the outside and she escaped with a high-spirited leap into the Idaho sunshine.

He was heading to the office inside the Emerald Creek Animal Rescue barn when the double doors burst open and Madison Howell burst through, almost staggering under a large bag of dog food that probably weighed half as much as she did.

Luke had to fight down his instinctive urge to take it from her. He knew Madi well enough to know that probably wasn’t a good idea.

She dropped the bag inside the barn and straightened, arching her back. Her features brightened when she spotted him. “Luke! Hey! I didn’t expect you to drop by this evening, after you’ve already had a long day.”

“So have you,” he pointed out. He knew that all too well, since she was a veterinary technician in his clinic when she wasn’t hauling dog food around here at the animal rescue. “I had a free few hours, so I swung in to check on Barnabas’s injury and take care of Martha’s hooves. He’s doing fine and Martha should be good now and ready to rock and roll.”

She gave her half smile, the one that always managed to brighten his entire day.

“Thanks. I could tell they were bothering her.”

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