“They call me by my first name.” He chuckled. “It’s like…I don’t even know. I hear that name, and I think of you, because I’m supposed to be called Boone. That’s what our friends called me, but it’s like you claimed it. Boone’s my name from you now.”

“I’m—”

Boone cut in, “Don’t say that you’re sorry. You’re not sorry, Dani. If you were, you would’ve said something to me and not left a goddamn note on the table. I read it when I was drunk, and I thought it was a joke, a horrible, sick joke.” Another bitter laugh slipped free. He gripped the back of his neck. “I kept thinking you were in the bathroom or something. I passed out thinking that.”

Dani took a deep breath and stared at her coffee. The steam had stopped rising.

“What are you doing here?” He expelled a ragged breath. “What are you doing here?”

“I grew up here. This is where my family is from.”

“That’s right. Erica O’Hara. Julia, Kathryn, Mae, Dani. You guys are like the perverted small-town Brady Bunch or something. I feel like I’m drunk again, and I’m reading your Dear John note all over.”

“You have a right to be angry at me.”

“You’re damn right I have a right to be angry.”

She flinched. “I wasn’t right, and you proposed. I didn’t know what to do. Everything was—” Everything was swirling around her as she lay helpless. She didn’t have a grasp of what was going on, but she knew she needed to stop it. “I had to get out. I wasn’t right, Boone. I was barely holding on as it was.”

She was under the surface.

Sinking.

Falling.

Drowning.

It was happening all over again.

A knock sounded on her door, and before Dani could open it, it opened itself. Jonah stepped through, an easy grin on his face that disappeared immediately. He looked at Boone. “Uh…” His eyes held a question for Dani, one that she was still helpless to answer.

She wanted to laugh. This was hilarious, in a sad and twisted way. She woke up with Jonah, was warned off by Jake, then Boone was at her table right now. It seemed fitting that Jonah would come back around, complete the odd circle in a way.

She knew a slight edge of hysteria was in her voice. She held out a hand. “Boone, this is Jonah Bannon. Jonah, this is Mitch Quandry, my ex-fiancé.”

Boone cursed.

“I’ve met your brother.” Jonah’s tone was cold. “His company’s here to build where the mussels are.”

“I don’t know much about it, to be honest.” Boone nodded and shook his head. “Wow. This is all messed up. I—uh—I should get going. This isn’t the time for this.”

Jonah stepped aside as Boone moved toward the door. Just before he stepped outside, he stopped and looked at Dani. “I…” The words died in his throat.

Dani didn’t say anything. She could only watch him back.

“Nevermind.” He shouldered through the door.

It slammed shut behind him, too.

“They’re here because of the mussels?”

Jonah nodded. “It’s a lot of money in those pearls. Everything will go up in worth now.”

She couldn’t digest that, but Jonah didn’t say anything else. There was silence for a beat. Dani inhaled it in like she was starving. Her insides were trembling. The tsunami was back, it was inside of her, and she couldn’t focus for a moment. She only heard the waves, the cries, the screams, then the silence. A gasp for breath. Then nothing again.

Her heart was going crazy. She felt that it actually wanted out of her. She looked down as if to see if it was still there, still inside of her.

Jonah was sitting down. She recognized it in the background, but the sounds were distant. He was saying something. A question. She frowned, trying to concentrate more. Oh, yes—he was asking, “You want to talk about that?”

That was the last thing she wanted. “No.”

“Okay. Come on.” He nodded, then started to lead her toward the bedroom.

“I’m not tired.”

“Liar.” Jonah chastised and he turned back the blankets. Dani crawled in and looked up at him.

Jonah stood, uncertainly, as he held her gaze.

“I don’t want to have the nightmares.”

The decision was made. Jonah toed off his shoes and he slipped in beside her. Dani tucked her head in the crook of his arm and shoulder. He reached down, caught her hand and a moment later, her eyelids weighed down.

Jonah wasn’t there when she woke the next day, so she went for a run, and ended up at the end of Mrs. Bendsfield’s driveway. She wanted to go inside, see if she could find out more answers, but…it was Mrs. Bendsfield. Dani doubted she’d be as open this time around, but still. She found herself migrating there, and she went past the house, right to the milking barn this time. The cats scattered just inside the stable door, and Dani saw the owner wasn’t in her pottery studio that day.

The designs were beautiful and intricately made. Why didn’t she display her work? Why else does an artist create if not for someone else to view?

Her eye caught on one pot in particular. It was large and oval with dolphins carved around the top brim. Lilies and daisies were between each of the dolphins. They were Erica’s favorite flowers. They were her mother’s favorite flowers, and now, Dani remembered that she always saw Mrs. Bendsfield with those two flowers. They were embroidered in her shirts, pants, sweaters, or socks. She had them painted on her van. Even her sign that proclaimed her false age—it had with a border of lilies and daisies.