Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune: Summary and Study Guide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

You can also check the ending explained page for a focused look at the conclusion without the full plot breakdown below.

For a quick review, try the quiz or the questions and answers page.

If you're looking for discussion starters, see the essay prompts.

For deeper dives, use the chapter links in the table below or explore the characters, themes, and symbols pages.

This guide is designed to help you understand the story, its characters, and its themes, and to support your reading or book club discussion.

All plot details are based on the novel's outline and text.

Happy reading!

Quick Facts

• Title: Meet Me at the Lake

• Author: Carley Fortune

• Publication Year: 2023

• Genre: Contemporary Romance

• Setting: Brookbanks Resort, Muskoka, Ontario (present) and Toronto, Ontario (flashbacks)

• Narrator: First-person (Fern Brookbanks), with interspersed diary entries from her mother, Maggie

• Main Characters: Fern Brookbanks, Will Baxter, Maggie Brookbanks, Peter, Whitney, Jamie

• Themes: Familial Duty vs. Personal Desire, Secrets and Honesty, Fear of Inheriting Parental Flaws, Vulnerability and Trust, Second Chances and Change

• Symbols: Fern Motif, Lake and Dock, Sketches and Drawings, The Diary

Short Summary

Fern Brookbanks returns to her family's Muskoka resort after her mother's sudden death, intending to sell the property and return to her city life. But the arrival of Will Baxter, a consultant her mother hired before she died, forces Fern to confront the unresolved promise they made ten years ago—to meet at the lake the following June. As Fern reads her mother's diary and uncovers long-buried secrets, she must decide whether to honor her mother's legacy or follow her own dreams. The novel weaves between the present and a single transformative day in Toronto a decade earlier, exploring how love, loss, and honesty shape the people we become.

Full Summary

Meet Me at the Lake opens with Fern Brookbanks hiding in the office of her family's resort, Brookbanks Resort, in Muskoka, Ontario. Her mother, Maggie, has recently died in a car accident, and Fern has inherited the property. She is avoiding the guests, still raw with grief. Her ex-boyfriend and current general manager, Jamie, persuades her to greet a longtime guest family, the Hannovers, who offer condolences. Afterward, Fern spots a tall man in an expensive suit at the front desk. As she approaches, she recognizes him: Will Baxter, the man she met ten years ago and who never showed up for their promised reunion.

The narrative then shifts to June 14, ten years earlier. Fern, then a university student in Toronto, is about to move back home to Muskoka after graduation. She spends a day with Will, an illustrator from Vancouver who is painting a mural at the coffee shop where she works. Over the course of that single day, they explore Toronto together—visiting Graffiti Alley, a record store, Kensington Market, and a bar—and form an intense connection. They share personal stories, and Fern learns that Will has a girlfriend named Fred, while she has a long-distance boyfriend, Jamie. At the end of the day, they agree to meet at the docks of Brookbanks Resort the following June, when Will will be in the area for his father's wedding. Will gives Fern a sketch he drew of her, and they part without exchanging contact information.

Back in the present, Will checks into Cabin 20. Fern is shocked and overwhelmed. Will reveals that Maggie hired him as a business consultant before her death, and he has come to fulfill that commitment. Fern is suspicious and hurt, especially because Will never showed up for their meeting nine years ago. Over the next weeks, Will helps Fern evaluate the resort's finances and options, while Fern reads her mother's diary, which reveals a secret: Maggie had a relationship with a summer lifeguard named Eric, and Fern's biological father is not the man she thought. The diary also shows Maggie's deep friendship with Peter, the resort's pastry chef, and hints at unspoken feelings between them.

As Fern and Will work together, their old attraction resurfaces. They share intimate moments, including a near-kiss in a storage shed and a night together. Fern learns that Will has been living in Toronto for nearly a decade, working as a consultant, and that he gave up his dream of being an artist to support his sister and niece. Will, in turn, learns about Fern's rebellious past and her guilt over her mother's expectations.

The novel alternates between the present and the past, with diary entries from Maggie in 1990, when she was pregnant with Fern. These entries reveal that Maggie planned to travel to Europe but decided to raise Fern alone after Eric left. Peter, her best friend, supported her, and their relationship deepened over time, though they never became a couple.

In the present, Fern decides to keep the resort and run it herself, despite the financial challenges and the threat of developers. She and Will begin a tentative relationship, but Will's past and his fear of commitment create obstacles. He reveals that he has anxiety and takes medication, and that he left art school to help raise his niece, Sofia, after his sister Annabel became a single mother.

The climax comes when Will abruptly leaves the resort after the end-of-summer dance, without explanation. Fern discovers he checked out and learns from his sister that Sofia was hospitalized with meningitis. Will ends their relationship, saying it was a mistake. Fern is devastated.

A week later, Annabel visits Fern in Toronto and explains that Will initiated the consultancy work with Fern's mother, not the other way around. She also reveals that Will has been struggling with his mental health and his fear of becoming like his own mother, who suffered from depression. Fern decides to confront Will. She drives to his townhouse, and they have an honest conversation. Will admits he was at the dock nine years ago but didn't approach her because he was ashamed of abandoning his art and unhappy with his life. Fern gives him a five-part list for winning her back: apologize, be honest, let her help, wear an apron, and draw her a picture. Will agrees, and they reconcile.

The novel ends with Fern and Will together. They navigate a long-distance relationship, and eventually Will moves to Muskoka to be with Fern. They rename the resort's restaurant