Lawrence thought giving Maizee some space was a good thing. It had always worked in the past. But watching her walk out of Will’s office, the bank, and his life, he realized that he was dead wrong.

He should’ve called her and then gone to her house the very night Winn had showed up and said such horrible things about him. He knew how Maizee’s mind worked, and she probably hadn’t slept more than a few hours each night as she went round and round everything.

“I really need a statement,” Will said.

“Why?” Lawrence barked. “We both know Winthrop Porter made that complaint, not anyone here at this branch, and that he’s just looking to get me and this company in trouble.”

Lawrence had really tried with the man, but he wasn’t any good at his job and the remediation hadn’t gone well. Lawrence supposed he was ruthless when it came to dealing with Winn, but meetings and checks and the probation period were the same things he would’ve done with any employee at Gladstone.

Winn had not responded well, and Lawrence didn’t want to work today. He stood, left Will sitting in his office with two blank papers, and left the office. He wanted to rush over to Maizee’s house, but he suspected she wouldn’t go there.

No, she’d go somewhere she loved best, where she could think. Maybe the beach. Maybe a waterfall. Maybe out in the middle of nowhere with a sack lunch and a bottle of sunscreen.

He pulled out his phone and called her, silently praying that she’d answer. Relief hit him hard in the gut when the phone stopped ringing after only two bleeps!

“Lawrence,” she said, her voice soft and even and absolutely wonderful in his ears. “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Please.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Yeah? About what?”

He wasn’t sure, and he apparently took too long to say, because she said, “Call me back when you figure it out.” The line went dead, and Lawrence stared at the screen as it went back to his homepage.

“Is that it?” he asked the air around him. “Did she just break up with me?”

“Do you always talk to yourself?”

He glanced over at the same woman sitting on the bench where she’d been the last time he was here, telling her about his great email. That seemed like it had happened such a long time ago, not just three days.

That had been one of the highest moments of his life. And this, standing here on the sidewalk without Maizee and with Winn’s ridiculous claim, felt like one of the lowest.

“Not always,” he said, adjusting his jacket. He didn’t know where to go next, so he simply walked. He ignored the beach to his right and continued around the bend in the road, Sweet Breeze coming into view up ahead.

His Nine-0 Club. They’d know what to do. Well, at least about the false claim by his former branch manager in Lanai. At least Will was a decent manager, and he’d agreed to drag his feet on it before escalating it up the chain of command. And there was no way Lawrence’s father could find out.

His stride lengthened, and he reached Sweet Breeze a few minutes later. “Mister Gladstone,” one of the security guards said as he walked in. “Welcome.”

“Hey, Maxim,” he said, taking a minute to shake the man’s hand.

“Your tip about the clothing stock was right on,” Maxim said.

“Hmm,” he said, not wanting to give away that he knew the owners personally and that they’d discussed their launch during one of their Club meetings. “Is Fisher in?”

“Owen would know.”

Lawrence nodded and headed over to the registration desk. He stepped to the right, toward the concierge, who usually knew if Owen was in or out and where he might be if he was gone.

“Hey, Jean,” Lawrence said with a quick smile. “Have you seen Owen?”

The woman tucked her dark hair and batted her eyelashes at him. Lawrence had never paid much attention to her, but all of a sudden he realized she’d been flirting with him for months. He felt a twinge of guilt about not noticing and looked away.

“He’s in his office,” she said. “I think Fisher’s there too.”

“Great.” He tapped twice on the counter and moved down the hallway toward the offices of his friends. The door to Owen’s office was open, and voices filtered into the hall. Lawrence stalled. Sure, he was friends with Fisher and Owen, but he wouldn’t call them besties. He’d always related more to Ira, but he was on a cruise with Gabi, probably getting engaged as the sun set into the ocean.

Lawrence thought of the last time he’d been on a boat, the sun sinking into the ocean. Maizee’s favorite time of the day, she’d said. And how wonderful had it felt to hold her, his heart thumping in his chest, telling him that it was scared but it didn’t want to stop.

So Lawrence continued on into the office, a little on the scared side but unable to keep holding himself back.

He knocked on the door and said, “Hey,” to get their attention. Owen sat at his desk, seemingly working, while Fisher relaxed in a chair opposite of him. He jumped to his feet when he saw Lawrence.

“Hey.” Surprise filled his face and the word, but he shook Lawrence’s hand. “What brings you by?”

Owen likewise stopped working, his face also full of curiosity. “Water?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” Lawrence said, immediately thirsty. He sat in another chair, glad when Fisher sat too. “Actually, I will take some water.”

Owen bent and pulled a bottle of water out from underneath his desk. He obviously had a little fridge down there, because the water was cold as it slid down Lawrence’s throat.

“I need some advice,” he said, capping his bottle again.

“Marshall will be here in a few minutes,” Fisher said. “Do you want to wait?”

“I think he can get caught up.” Lawrence wiped his hand down his face. “My branch manager in Lanai has been on probation for several weeks. His ex-fiancée is now the loan manager at the branch here, having moved after they broke up.” He hesitated and pulled at his collar.

“Uh, when we met, we sort of hit it off and have been seeing each other since she got here.”

Fisher’s face broke into a grin. “Lawrence. I didn’t know you dated.”

“No wonder we haven’t seen him at meetings recently,” Marshall said from his position in the doorway.

Lawrence whipped his head toward him. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to hear you have a girlfriend.”

“Had,” Lawrence said. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“I’m sure he didn’t come here for dating advice.” Marshall accepted the bottle of water Owen handed to him and sat on the black leather couch against the wall.

Lawrence gave himself a mental shake. “No, I’m not. That branch manager found out that Maizee and I were dating, and he’s filed a complaint with the company. It’s anonymous, but I know it’s him.”

“What kind of claim?” Owen asked.

“He made it sound like it came from a female at the branch here, and that Maizee got the promotion because of our relationship.”

“True or not?” Marshall asked, always wanting the facts before saying much of anything.

“Completely untrue,” Lawrence said. “She transferred here from the Lanai branch, because Bennie retired. In fact, we hadn’t had a loan officer for about three weeks before her transfer request came in. Of course Will took it.”

“So there’s a third party,” Fisher said. “Who’s Will?”

“My Getaway Bay branch manager.”

“So he would know that you didn’t have anything to do with the job appointment.”

“Of course. But we have protocols.”

“Follow them,” Owen said.

“He wanted a statement.” Lawrence rolled his eyes, realizing how stupid some of the policies at Gladstone Financial were.

“Better give it then,” Fisher said. “Tell your side of the story. Say what you just told us so it’s put on someone else.”

He nodded, realizing he should’ve filled out the form. “Maizee quit. I’m worried that will imply she was guilty.”

Fisher and Owen exchanged a look, but Lawrence couldn’t tell if it was a good one or a bad one. “It could,” Owen said. “But we lose people all the time. It’s best to follow the procedures.”

“At the very least, it protects you,” Fisher said.

Lawrence nodded, and the conversation turned to something else. Something light. The men went down the hall to the bistro off the lobby for lunch, and Lawrence joined them. He had missed several of the last Nine-0 Club meetings, preferring to spend his free time with Maizee, and he missed his friends.

He thought through the happenings of the last few days, through everything that had brought him to be sitting here in the middle of the day. He’d been quiet when he should’ve said something. He’d given her space when she didn’t want or need it.

He’d laid low, waiting for her to come to him. He should’ve been the one to go to her, and he slid to the end of the bench. “I have to go.”

“Go where?” Fisher asked.

“To talk to Maizee.” He reached into back pocket and withdrew his wallet. After tossing some cash on the table for his part of the meal, he said, “I’ve got to be brave.” He wasn’t sure if he was telling his friends or himself. He just knew he’d figured out at least one thing he needed to apologize for, and he wanted to find Maizee as soon as possible to do that.

He pulled his phone out as soon as he hit the great outdoors, but Maizee’s phone just rang and rang and rang. Frustrated, he walked faster.