Page 34 of Death of a Grill Master

Hayley sighed, busted. “If you knew why I was coming, why play along?”

“Because I wanted to see how you’d spin it. The fake nature quest was a bold move. Didn’t think you’d go that far.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of,” Hayley muttered, but she smiled despite herself.

Hannah scratched her name on a release form and shoved it across the counter. “Let’s go, then.”

“What—now?”

“You signed up for a guided paddle, didn’t you?” Hannah said, already reaching for her keys. “Time to reconnect with nature, Chief.”

They loaded two kayaks into Hannah’s beat-up pickup, the inside of which smelled faintly like sunscreen.

Hayley had just settled into the passenger seat when Hannah pulled out of the lot and headed west toward Eagle Lake.

“Why Eagle Lake?” Hayley asked.

“Calmer water. Less boat traffic. Lower risk of you flipping over and embarrassing us both.”

“Comforting.”

“Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

By the time they reached the lake, the late summer sun had reached that soft golden hour when everything looked warmer, more inviting. The water was smooth as glass, broken only by the occasional ripple of a duck or distant paddleboarder.

Hannah guided Hayley through a basic safety talk, ignoring Hayley’s repeated claims that she’d totally done this before.

Once in the kayak, Hayley discovered just how little she remembered. Her paddle dipped too deep, throwing off her rhythm, and within ten minutes she was drenched from the elbows down and moving in a wide, clumsy zigzag.

Hannah, paddling effortlessly beside her, watched with an arched brow and finally chuckled.

“You gonna make it back to shore on your own, or should I call the Coast Guard—assuming they even bother with lakes?”

“I’m just … acclimating,” Hayley said through gritted teeth. She splashed her paddle again and overcorrected, tilting so violently to one side she let out a yelp and dropped an oar entirely.

Hannah doubled over laughing. The sound was sudden and unguarded—rare, Hayley could tell.

When she retrieved the paddle and finally found her balance, she let the kayak drift for a moment. Hannah gestured toward a clump of trees.

“Blue heron,” she said, pointing. “Pretty common, but tourists lose their minds over ’em.”

“They are majestic,” Hayley offered.

“So is a good parking spot at the Shop ’n Save, but I don’t burst into tears over it.”

They drifted a little farther, the lake hushed around them.

When Hayley was sure Hannah had relaxed her guard, she said, “So … you were watching the fireworks that night?”

“Yep.”

“From where?”

“Up near the bluff,” Hannah said. “I like to be alone. The harbor gets too crowded, and I don’t like listening to people scream every time something goes boom.”

Hayley nodded, pretending to accept that. “Funny thing, though—someone mentioned seeing a kayak out in the harbor that looked a lot like yours.” She watched Hannah carefully. “Makes me wonder if you’d been around more than you let on.”

Hannah’s jaw tightened. “And I suppose you’ve heard about the dustup between me and Hank last year.”