He rubbed the back of his neck, his face white and stiff.

Vanessa reached over and seized his arm.

“Ethan, anybody would’ve made the same mistake, right?” she said.

“You took her for a homeless stranger,” Ethan said.

He yanked his arm free of her grip.

“Look, you blasted a stranger with freezing water just for walking on the grass.”

I put a hand to my collarbone.

I reached down into my soaked canvas grocery tote.