Onemissing Stories

Last summer, there were six of them. This summer, there's an empty chair at every bonfire. Ever since her cousin Ava died, nineteen-year-old Nora Hayes has been counting time in befores and afters. Before the accident. Before the silence settled over their once-unbreakable friend group. Before everyone started pretending they were okay. Now, the five of them are back for another summer in the lakeside town that holds every memory they wish they could forget. Mia is trying to keep everyone together. Eli is carrying more responsibility than anyone notices. Finn is holding everyone up while falling apart himself. And Luke Carter-the reckless flirt who never took anything seriously-is suddenly impossible to read. Nora has spent years dismissing Luke as the charming disaster who left broken hearts all over town. Falling for him was never part of the plan. But somewhere between dockside sunsets, midnight swims, old traditions, and the grief they can't outrun, she discovers the boy hiding behind the reputation-the one who loved Ava like a sister, who blames himself for the night everything changed, and who might be the only person who understands the pieces of Nora no one else can reach. As the anniversary of Ava's death draws closer, the truth about that night threatens to shatter the fragile peace they've spent a year rebuilding. Some summers change your life. This one will decide whether the five people left behind can finally learn how to live again-or lose each other for good.