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Chapter One

The lake had always calmed him

Without fail, it had been the one thing Teague Siainst the boathouse The echo of a distant ainst theor the song of a s used to soothe his mind They used to fill up the space inside his head and erase the is he’d seen and witnessed

War Famine Genocide The endless brutality that only humans could inflict upon one another

And then there were the things he’d done…

Teague reached for the bottle of whiskey and tipped his head back, e across Lake Muskoka Vibrant shades of red, yellow and orange stretched across the dark sky and the cal to be a hot one With only one week of June left, this piece of northern paradise was already heating up

He squinted against the burgeoning sunlight, settling deeper into his favorite worn Adirondack chair, and ran a hand over the week old stubble on his face Shit He needed a shower and a shave

He eyed the empty bottle

Or he could just hit up the liquor cabinet, find another friend, and spend the day drinking

Teague stared at the e it aside with a frown What the hell was he doing? Was he really going to becouy?

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and rested his head He was da dew and yet it didn’tseemed to matter anymore

Teague groaned and buried his chin against his chest Dahts filled with too et had taken their toll

If only he could forget

He must have dozed off because when he opened his eyes the sun was full-on shining, and several boats dotted the lake Wared out of his blue plaid, ther the sensation of sun on skin He was bare chested—hadn’t thought past grabbing the jacket when he’d wandered out to the deck the night before It wasn’t as if there was anyone around Most of the cottagers came up for the July 1 and July 4 celebrations and that was nearly a week away

Stretching out his long legs, Teague was content to just sit for a while He probably should eat, but the thought of eggs was a turn off He’d had them every way that you could make them this past week Scrambled Poached Hard-boiled Sunny-side up With a scowl he leaned forward, knowing he’d have to head to town to stock up or he’d be eating eggs for lunch and dinner Right about now a steak sounded great

He eyed the ee of the deck and sht about now—

“Why are you in your underwear?”

What the —

Teague jerked his head to the side and spied a little girl staring at hiest blue eyes he’d ever seen She was s dark hair (one side braided the other loose) Dressed in shorts that looked more suited to a boy and a Spiderman T-shirt that had seen better days, she looked as if she’d taken off before whoever she belonged to was ready to let her go for the day

Not that he cared about any of that He didn’t particularly like little kids and this one didn’t belong on his deck

“Who are you?” he asked, voice a little hoarse from misuse He’d not spoken to anyone since his brother Jack called a few days back

She didn’t flinch Heck, she took a few steps closer, those big blue eyes of hers taking in everything as she gazed up at hirown-out hair and unshaven face, he knew he looked like a damn mountain man, so this kid had some balls

For a girl

She took another step closer and then her little nose bunched up He noticed a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge A ser against her thumb

“You smell,” she said