began to head out of the city. “Probably a hundred times. It was our favorite spot growing up. Deb and Bob had a pontoon boat too and we’d go out on it every weekend in the summer. A bunch of their friends would bring boats too, and we’d have barbecues out in the middle of the lake and the kids would take turns riding inner tubes on the back of the speed boats.” He turned down the radio. “My mom didn’t have a lot of money, as you probably guessed, when I was a kid. We were happy, but she couldn’t afford the vacations she deserved. So, I’m grateful that Deb and Bob always took her out on the lake when she had a day off.” He gave me a smile. “Did you spend a lot of time out on water growing up?”
“You know, the small town I’m from in Idaho is named after its lake?”
“I didn’t know that.”
I nodded. “It’s not huge—but where we live, you only need to drive about a half hour before you end up at another lake. So it’s nice to have a lot to choose from. My parents had a house on the lake when I was in high school and we spent every summer out there on the water.”
“Have you done much fishing?”
I tucked my answering smile away. “A bit,” I said coyly.
“Well, Vince is the big fisherman in our group. He’s gone to tournaments all over the world. It’s one his favorite things, so don’t be surprised if he tries to show you what to do.”
Since Liam had brought him up, I decided to ask him about Vince. “Is he okay? He seems to need a lot of support from you guys.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s one way to put it.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “He’s obviously going through some shit right now. I know we’re going to need to talk to him about it, but this is kind of shitty timing.”
I nodded, agreeing. “Does he live here?”
“I live the closest. Chad lives in Utah, Seth lives in Maine, and Vince lives in San Diego.”
“And Will lived here?”
He nodded.
“He was your best friend,” I said remembering. “I’m guessing they all are your best friends, but Will was different, wasn’t he?” I thought about what Deb had said about Liam, about how she worried about him.
“He was different.” He looked sideways at me. “Spontaneous, like you. Happy. You know, it’s cliché when people are talking about someone and they say there was no one like them. But really, there isn’t anyone like Will. You remind me of him.” He said it softly, almost as if he’d meant to say it only to himself but the words had found their way out of his mouth instead.
“Well, considering how much everyone talks fondly of him, I’m honored to be compared to him in even a small way.” When my dad’s sister died unexpectedly, I remembered how much everyone tiptoed around her, afraid to say her name—as if saying her name had the power to cut us in half; as if we were already dealing with grief that felt too heavy to carry alone. Late into the night, Dad and I had stayed up late chatting about her. I distinctly remembered the way it lit up his face to reminisce, and since Liam seemed to enjoy talking about Will I thought it was a good idea to get him talking. “When was the last time you saw him?”
Liam blew out a breath and pulled his sunglasses off his shirt collar in order to put them on his face. “Six months or so ago. We had a falling out.”
Oh. Maybe I had been wrong to want to talk about this. Before I could come up with a subject change, Liam continued.
“After my mom died, Will was there for me like no one else. He stood by me through everything I was dealing with—anger at her, for not telling me how sick she was. Anger with my dad, for putting her through years and years of hell. I blamed him a lot, even though he’d been in prison for over a decade before she died. And Will knew exactly what to do—when to give me space and when to give me support. I didn’t have to ask him to be there for me. He just was.” He paused and shook his head. “Have you ever had a friend like that?”