Jack woke up early the next morning, staring at his living-room ceiling and swearing at the vicious light that shot in through the window. A glance at the coffee table reminded him of the reason why he was lying on the uncomfortable couch cushions and not in his bed. A half-empty bottle of vodka sat on the table, and his head throbbed as though he’d been run over by a Mack truck. He sat up slowly, rubbing his temples.

His visit to Fortune’s Bay hadn’t turned out as well as he’d hoped. However, at least now he’d confirmed that Laney didn’t intend to see him again, but he still didn’t understand why. She’d said something about him taking all the credit for locating the Livingston, but he hadn’t. He’d even managed to get them both lecture spots at the upcoming conference.

He’d thought she’d be excited about it, but he hadn’t had the chance to tell her. He groaned. He wished Lisa had never told her about the job offer in California. When Laney had mentioned it, he’d frozen. After meeting Laney, he’d planned to decline being considered for the job there. He didn’t want to be that far away from her. But, he hadn’t wanted her to feel guilty for being the reason he didn’t take the job. Instead, his silence may have killed their relationship.

In the short time they’d known each other, Laney had become a huge part of his life. He finally understood what Dane had meant about finding the right woman to share his life with. He eyed the vodka, then thought better of it, taking the bottle to the kitchen and shoving it to the back of a top shelf.

Had he been wrong to let her walk away from him? When he was in Fortune’s Bay he should have fought to make her understand. Now he was home and couldn’t do anything about it. Would she ever forgive him?

* * *

Laney and Becki grabbed their iced coffees from the café and walked down the street toward the beach. An iced vanilla latte was normally her favorite drink, but today the coffee drink tasted overly bitter instead of sweet. Or maybe it was just her outlook on life. She sighed. A little over a week ago, she’d made the discovery of a lifetime and had been involved in the first good romantic relationship she’d had in way too long. Now, after going back to her regular life, she was keenly aware of the difference in her mood.

“Are you sure you’re not overreacting?” Becki regarded Laney with skepticism. “He asked you to come visit him in Ambright. He obviously cares about you. Maybe you misunderstood about the conference. And maybe the California thing is nothing to worry about.”

“I saw the program for the conference. It can’t get more definite than that. Also, his secretary confirmed he’d be presenting ‘his find’ at the conference. There was no mention of me,” Laney said flatly. She stared out the window. She’d really thought Jack was different.

“But he said he wanted to give you credit for finding the shipwreck, right? Maybe you didn’t give him a chance to explain.” Becki slurped her iced mocha up through a straw, swirling the chocolate around at the bottom of the cup.

Laney squirmed. “I know what I saw on that flyer. We’d talked about going to that conference together. And now he’ll be presenting our find by himself—no, my find at the conference.” She frowned, then stared defiantly at Becki. “He came here, took advantage of my trusting nature, and grabbed all the credit for himself. I wish I’d never called him about the shipwreck in the first place. Then I could have avoided all of this.”

“You were so happy when you went up there. Now you’re miserable.” Becki put her hand on Laney’s arm and turned her around to make eye contact.

Laney’s eyes filled with tears. Her sister was right. Her stomach was queasy, her eyes burned from crying, and nothing seemed right. How had Jack gotten under her skin so quickly? They’d only known each other for a couple of weeks. Surely that wasn’t long enough for him to have become such a big part of her life.

“Even when he came to Fortune’s Bay after I didn’t meet him at the college, he didn’t deny it.” She shook her head, the tears dripping down her face. “I don’t know why he bothered to show up here. Maybe he thought he’d be able to sweet talk me into staying with him.”

“What did he say?”

Laney shrugged. “Not much. I told him we were too different and things wouldn’t work out between us. Then I walked away. He didn’t try to follow me.” She winced, remembering the pain she’d seen in Jack’s eyes.

Becki’s eyes widened. “I don’t know. From everything you’ve said about him in the past, he seems like a pretty nice guy.”

“I don’t know. Maybe he is, but that’s not what I’m seeing.” Laney finished her drink and threw the cup in the garbage. “Thanks for taking a walk with me. I’ve got to get back to work now though.”

Becki hugged her. “Sure. No problem. Let me know if you want to get together after work sometime this week.” She looked her up and down. “I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Thanks.” Laney hugged her back. “I’ll see you later.” She walked away toward the library, her mind spinning. Had she been too tough on Jack? What if he had wanted to explain and she’d kept him from doing so?

She entered the library’s office and put her purse back in her desk drawer. Andrea stuck her head into the office.

“You look like you’re recovering from the flu,” she observed.

“Thanks.” Laney mock-glared at her friend.

“I just meant you’ve seemed pretty down in the last few days.”

“Yeah.” Laney stared at the paperwork piling up on her desk, then flashed her coworker a high-wattage smile. “I’m fine now though.”

“Okay,” Andrea said dubiously. “But let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do.” Laney sat down at her desk and turned on her computer. The screen flashed on, but she couldn’t focus on anything. Being a part of exploring the shipwreck had brought out a side of her that she hadn’t seen in a long time. While she loved her job at the library, checking out books to patrons didn’t always excite her.

On the dive boat, she’d felt more alive than she had in a long time. No matter how things turned out with Jack, she was going to consider taking classes to pursue her passion for underwater archaeology. It was something she needed to do for herself.

But what about Jack? What if Becki was right and he’d been trying to apologize—or what if she’d misunderstood the situation? Their whirlwind romance had given her hope for the future. Had she thrown their relationship away without giving him a chance to explain himself?

The only way to find out was to ask. The conference was the next day and she intended to be there. She’d get closure on their relationship, or things would work out. Either way, she’d have given it a chance to succeed.