Page 22 of Heart Marks the Spot

Fifteen

Stella

When I rose in the morning, the beach was empty.

Soft sunlight set the fog aglow. Huck was gone.

His absence left me unsettled—people’s absence often did—but I told myself that the feeling was just my history rearing up against this new connection and the empty vastness of the black beach against the pale gray sky intensifying the sense of desolation.

He’d left my clothes folded right next to me in a neat, thoughtful pile.

He was falling for me hard, he’d said that.

Mind-blowing-sex hard. Sleeping-in-each-other’s-arms hard.

Folding-clothes-in-neat-stacks hard. I pushed my worry down while I packed up the few things left out from the previous evening: the empty bottle of birch liquor, with its stick leaning against the glass, and the remaining cheese.

I trekked back to the cabin, tracing the footprints we left the night before in the dark sand, and let myself in.

I half expected to find Huck in the kitchen making us breakfast. Instead, Teddy stood at the counter, hair still wet from a shower, wearing an apron and humming to himself while he poured steaming coffee into two mugs.

“Morning,” I said.

He stopped humming. “Quite a night,” he said, a question hanging in the space between us.

I reached for the mug Teddy slid toward me. My mind immediately returned to my night on the beach, but that memory still felt a bit dangerous, so I moved earlier in the evening to safer things. “Sure was, I still can’t believe we freaking found it.”

“I can. I knew you’d lead us to the treasure. For me it’s always been more a matter of time than anything else.”

“I’m glad one of us felt that way.”

“I could never stop believing in you, Stell.”

“We still haven’t found the Elephant’s Heart,” I confessed.

“Not yet, but we will. You brought us to Gunnarsson’s Gold, it’s only a matter of time before you discover the Stolen Treasure and the Heart.”

Even after all the years we’d known each other, Teddy’s unwavering faith in me came as a surprise. It shouldn’t have. He’d dealt with coral rash, leeches, sunburns, a host of other maladies courtesy of my quests, but none of that ever deterred him. He barely even complained.

“Have you seen Huck?” I asked, trying to sound casual. I listened for the sound of the shower.

Ted tore a sugar packet and dumped it into my coffee, just how I liked it. “I took him into town about an hour ago.”

“Oh, when will he be back? Do we need to go get him?”

Teddy retrieved the cream from the refrigerator. “He’s not coming back, Stell.”

I swallowed. The room suddenly felt off-kilter.

“Look, he’s a great friend, don’t get me wrong.

I love the guy, but he’s always been kind of obsessed with his writing.

A treasure hunt was enough to hold his attention for a bit, and now he’s off looking for more book material, probably, or writing his next novel.

You get it. Nothing could deter you from the hunt.

Anyway, you know how these creative types can be.

” He paused and eyed me. “Tell me he didn’t get your hopes up for anything more than that. ”

I avoided the scrutiny of Teddy’s gaze. Had I gotten my hopes up?

Maybe a little. Getting my hopes up was kind of my personal brand.

Pretty hard to hunt treasure if you didn’t get your hopes up.

But I never risked when it came to my heart.

I reminded myself that Huck was some guy I met in a bar, a possibility.

Someone I thought could be something. That’s all.

In the context of my whole life, him not sticking around shouldn’t bother me.

But last night…we, we were falling for each other.

We’d said those words. We’d slept together, and it was amazing.

More than that though, it meant something.

It had felt so right, so good. I knew he’d felt that too. I couldn’t have been wrong about this.

No. He changed his mind, I told myself. People do that.

Hell, I’d pulled this exact move more times than I cared to admit.

It was the safe one. Have a little temporary fun and then dip out before anyone gets attached.

So maybe it kind of sucked being on the other side, but it was nothing significant compared to the other things I’d endured.

Those were so much worse than being deserted by a guy I’d known for a few days.

But oh, it was so familiar a feeling, and I didn’t like it.

Still, I refused to let this hurt me.

I was fine. I would be fine.

Fine. I took a gulp of the scalding coffee before Teddy added the cream. It was bitter and burned my tongue.

I hated how foolish I felt. I stepped to the window and looked out at the view.

The beach was almost visible in the distance, but everything looked different in the light.

A little less magical. What was otherworldly and enchanted the night before beneath the Northern Lights seemed alien and unwelcoming today.

I stared out for a moment, watching a few birds swoop in the wind.

“He did say that maybe he’d tag along for our next adventure.

Though, if his performance on our sophomore year whale-watching trip is any indication, he’ll probably spend the entire trip dry heaving over the ship’s railing.

” Teddy chuckled to himself before sucking some rogue sugar crystals from his thumb.

I tried to laugh and picture the scene to make myself feel better.

But I just couldn’t believe that I’d been so off base.

I’d always been able to trust my instincts.

They’d led me straight to Gunnarsson’s treasure less than twenty-four hours ago.

Huck’s and my connection seemed so natural and strong and he hadn’t even said goodbye; after everything we’d shared last night and the feelings we’d expressed, Huck had actually left me alone on a beach without a word.

Maybe he was a good friend, like Teddy said, but my feelings for him were quickly transforming from someone I wanted around to someone I couldn’t stand.

“Sounds perfect for him,” I said, surprised at the bitterness in my voice.

Teddy wrapped his arms around me and nestled his chin over my shoulder. “You’re not sad, are you, kid?”

“No way. I just didn’t realize he was leaving.

It’s not like I care.” I wanted to mean this.

It wasn’t a lie, not really. It was truth adjacent.

When I really thought about it, the normal me, the before-Huck me wouldn’t have cared.

In fact, if he were any other guy, I would have done this exact same thing to him.

Had my fun and then bailed before it got too real.

But he wasn’t just some guy. I’d let him in.

We’d let each other in, hadn’t we? And now I couldn’t escape the gnawing in the pit of my stomach, the heaviness in my chest. I wished back the vulnerable words I’d shared the night before, the way my lips yielded to his, how I’d pressed my body against him and marveled at how well we fit together.

I’d wanted more. More time, more of him.

I’d stupidly pictured a future together and thought this could be the beginning of something special.

I needed to get myself together. Teddy knew me, and if I kept thinking about this, he would know.

And I couldn’t have that. The only thing worse than being broken was breaking in front of people.

“Honestly, Ted, I’m not sure he’s invited on our next expedition,” I said. “Though two weeks of seasickness would serve him right for being so rude and just taking off. That’s my move.”

Teddy spun me around for a tight hug. “Forget about it. You should feel like a superhero right now,” he said.

“People have been searching for Gunnarsson’s treasure for centuries, and you, we…

we found it. And next we’re going to find the Stolen Treasure and the Elephant’s Heart and then we’ll be actual legends.

You and me, one adventure at a time, just how it should be. ”

I bit my lip. I didn’t care about being a legend, but I wanted to show the entire world what I was worth.

That was why finding the Heart was more important than this, more important than anything.

More important than the twinge in my chest and the stinging sensation in my nose. “You’re right,” I told him.

“Of course I’m right…and I’ve got those donut kleina things you love.”

The vibration of Teddy’s voice against my cheek and the promise of fried doughy goodness soothed me a little.

In the landscape of my life and the things I’d experienced, Huck Sullivan’s short appearance barely warranted a footnote.

It was just a couple of good conversations.

A few fun amorous activities. If I reflected purely on the facts, the whole stupid business had gotten sand in my nether regions in an unpleasant manner.

I blamed the Northern Lights and the elation of finding treasure for making me think whatever passed between us was more.

“How many kleinas did you buy?”

“Boatloads of kleinas, mountains of kleinas.” He spread his arms wide.

“Mountains?”

“A galaxy of kleinas,” he shouted.

I arched an eyebrow. A heartbreak’s worth of kleinas? “A universe?”

“Enough, Stella. Enough for a celebration, and we’re celebrating today.”

“Why is that? Because of Gunnarsson?” I took a bite. It didn’t taste as good as I remembered. Apparently, Huck Sullivan had gotten sand in my nether regions and ruined my second-favorite Icelandic breakfast treat.

Teddy shook his head. “Nope. I mean, yes, but that’s not all.” He went and got the ancient axe from the case that we’d placed it in to protect it. Holding it out in front of me, he said, “Look closely at the markings. What do you see?”

I squinted at the handle. Carved into the silver were a series of pictographs. A set of boats, a waterfall, an elephant with a tiny red stone pressed into its heart. I looked at Ted and he nodded.

I swallowed. If this meant what I thought it did, then my hunch had been correct.

Gunnarsson had found the fabled Stolen Treasure and the red diamond that the Sea People had robbed ages earlier during their days terrorizing the Mediterranean Sea at the northern tip of Africa.

It was the missing piece that tied together a history that stretched from the beginning of civilization…

to us. The diamond had many names—Hjarta Fílsins, Inhliziyo Yendlovu, Elephant’s Heart.

Gunnarsson had found it and given it to England or lost it to them…

I couldn’t be sure. Either way, this information, when combined with what I already knew from my years of research, meant that the stone had yet another name, one given to it much later—Heart of England—and I knew where to find it.

Teddy did a series of extremely bad dance moves in his apron.

“Come on, Stell—dance! You were right!”

I shoved the rest of the kleina in my mouth.

My own heart was a little raw this morning.

But if I kept pushing, and forgot about Huck Sullivan, I could have a new heart, a priceless one, the one humanity had been seeking from the beginning of time.

I would be set for life…the most famous treasure hunter ever.

Screw that guy , I thought and shook my ass.

I’m about to make history.