Chapter 1:

The Catch

I never thought this summer would turn my life upside down. College was finally over for the break, and I was back in the house I’d grown up in since Mom married Max when I was fourteen. He wasn’t my real dad, but he’d been the only father figure I really knew rugged, broad-shouldered, with calloused hands from years on construction sites. At forty-eight, Max still looked like he could bench press twice my weight. Salt-and-pepper hair, strong jaw, and those piercing blue eyes that always seemed to see right through me.

Mom was away for a work conference until tomorrow night, leaving just the two...