12
C ork glanced at her bag on the bed, then at her. He’d never seen her angry before. Her expression was dark and ominous. Those lips that had given him so much pleasure drew into a thin line.
“I don’t understand. What’s happened?” A cold pit of fear settled in his belly.
She closed her eyes and shook her head, then opened them, raising her hand in the air with her fingers spread. “I need to be alone and think. I feel I’m getting distracted from my work.”
There was something she wasn’t telling him. He had no clue what it was. They’d come back from Love Beach on a high, eager to begin the next phase of their search for the Sirena . And earlier, at sunset on the beach, she hadn’t been upset. So whatever it was, it was recent.
“I don’t get it. What changed in the last few hours?” He walked closer to her.
She pulled the straps of her bags over her shoulder, getting ready to leave.
He wasn’t gonna let her go without telling him what was going on. And he stepped in front of her.
“Really? You’re blocking my way.” She stared at him, their eyes locked.
“No, I just want you to stay. Don’t leave like this without telling me why. Let’s talk about whatever has upset you. I’m sure we can work it out.” He stepped aside and followed her into the living room.
“I’m not sure I want to stay anymore.” She glanced out the open patio door, and the breeze blew strands of her hair across her face.
Cork walked towards her and was glad she didn’t move. He reached up and tucked the wayward strands of hair behind her ear. “Come on, let’s talk about this. Tell me what’s got you so upset. Because I have no idea.”
She was quiet, and he waited, but she didn’t say anything.
“Please, Daisy, we’ve just begun with the venture of finding Sirena . Beck’s new involvement, diving in the morning. Us.” He didn’t want to plead with her, nor did he want her to do something she didn’t want anymore. The thought of her leaving like this broke him.
He was on the other end of goodbyes this time, and he didn’t like the feeling at all. Now he understood the emotions his actions had caused others, but he still wouldn’t beg her to stay. He wanted her to want to stay.
Her silence lingered, but her expression softened somewhat. “Daisy, I’m not gonna force you to do anything or make you feel bad about your decision. I want you to do what’s best for you. But I want you to know that I want you to stay.”
Fire jumped into her eyes. “Why? So you can steal everything we find?”
“What?” He was taken aback. “What are you talking about? I don’t steal.” Now he was totally confused, as well as offended. “I think you need to explain.”
Daisy was silent, and she continued to stare at him, her hands tightened on the handles of her bag. She was going to leave. He raised his hands and dropped them next to his hips.
“I saw something. In the papers that Beck gave me.” She didn’t move to the door or put her bags down.
“What did you see?” He was curious what could’ve caused such a reaction from her.
She sighed and walked over to the table, dropped her bags on the floor, and riffled through one of them until she pulled out a file. She slapped it on the table and pointed at it. “In there.”
“OK, something in there upset you. Let’s look at it.” He opened the folder and scanned the papers. “I don’t see anything concerning.”
“For crying out loud, you’re not looking very hard.” She pushed some papers around and pulled out sticky notes clipped together. “This. Right here. Your name.”
Cork picked them up and narrowed his eyes. He glanced at her and then back at the pages. “How can you read anything on these? They’re water stained, and the writing has faded.”
Cork picked up on Daisy’s frustration. She plucked the papers from his fingers, selected one and held it to him. “Read this one.”
He squinted and held it close. Barely legible, he could make out smudged words written in pencil and his eyebrows shot up when he saw his name. He looked at Daisy, held up the paper. “OK, so my name is on it, why has it got you so upset?”
“Can you see the other words there?”
He refocused. “Not really. Oh, it looks like it says treasure and collector.” He put the paper on the table and faced her. “So? I am a treasure hunter and a collector. That’s nothing new.”
“I know that, but why is your name in with this pile of information? Beck gave us all this paperwork, sent us on a wild goose chase to that site, then invested in my museum and time. It all seems so contrived. Like you guys are working in cahoots with each other. You’re both rich, you can get whatever you want, and what if you want the Sirena ?
Cork was stunned, then burst out laughing. But he quickly clapped his mouth shut when he saw the thunder in her face.
He reached forward to hold her shoulders and gazed deep into her eyes. “You have an extremely vivid imagination. Which is wonderful because that’s what helps you find all these wonderful treasures. But you’ve got this all wrong. I’m in cahoots with you. Maybe in the beginning I was interested in adding to my collection, but after working with you and seeing your dedication and love for finding lost treasure, I want to help you preserve it.”
The look on her face dismayed him. She didn’t believe him.
“Daisy, I have enjoyed these last weeks with you so much. You’ve taught me a lot, challenged my thinking, taken me on a journey unlike any I’ve been on before.” He paused and dropped his arms by his side, feeling defeated. “I’m not sure what more I can say.”
Silence filled the suite. Cork pulled out a chair and sat, spreading the papers before him. He fingered the sticky note and leaned over it. It was so damn hard to read, but it appeared to be Beck’s writing. He pulled out his phone.
He dialed and handed the phone to Daisy. “Here, you ask Beck about the papers. I won’t say a word and let him answer of his own accord.”
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and took the phone, pressing speaker. Moments later Beck’s voice boomed through the phone.
“Cork! Missing me already?”
“Actually, Beck, it’s Daisy.”
“Oh hey, great to hear from you. I was thinking about you. What’s up?
“I have to ask you something about the research papers you gave me.”
“Shoot, what do you need to know?”
She didn’t hesitate at all and dove right into the question. “Some papers are difficult to read and I want to confirm what’s on some sticky notes. Do you recall those slips of paper?”
“Yeah, I do. What can’t you read? They got a bit waterlogged and I had to let them dry out before putting them away.”
Daisy glanced at me and then at the papers on the desk. “Well, you’re right, they are difficult to read and look smudged from being wet. But on one of them, there’s a name and a few other words that are barely legible. I wanted to ask you about those. “
“What about them? They aren’t very old, I think I was scribbling on them when talking about this location a few months ago with the people that brought it to my attention.”
“Do you remember what you wrote on them?” she asked him.
“Yeah, I made some notes about who I was speaking with. I wrote some dates down, and basically was doodling while on the phone. Oh, yeah, I mentioned Cork.”
Daisy pinned Cork with a stare, and he had no qualms about what Beck was going to say.
“Really? What did you write about Cork?”
“They asked me if I knew any treasure hunters, or collectors, so obviously I told them about him. And that normally he didn’t do any of the searching, but bought things for his own collection.” He was quiet for a moment, then continued, “Daisy, what’s going on? That’s a lot of questions specifically directed at Cork.”
She was chewing her lower lip again, and Cork was hard-pressed to keep from saying something. But he promised her. He raised his eyebrows and a shoulder. Was she satisfied with what Beck told her?
“It’s all good. I just wanted to know if you remembered what was on those papers because they were so difficult to read.” She sat in the chair beside him and reached for his hand.
That simple move meant more to him than he could have imagined. She believed him.
“I’m glad to hear it. Because I’m really looking forward to moving ahead with you on our new venture. I’d also like to get down to visit the museum. It would be great to see where all these artifacts will be on display.”
“Just let me know when you want to come. Perhaps Cork will still be here on island too.” She smiled when Cork nodded.
“Is he there by chance? I assume he is hanging around since you’re using his phone.”
“Yes, he’s right here.” She handed the phone to him and stood.
Cork stood as well and held the phone against his chest. “Now, why don’t you put your stuff back in the bedroom.”
“I’m sorry for accusing you. We can talk about it after if you like.” She lifted her face, and they kissed.
“Now go unpack. I won’t be long.”
Cork watched her carry her bags back into the bedroom, relief flooding through him. He was going to roll out the red carpet for her tonight—dinner, candles, wine, then a night of lovemaking. One thing for sure, he didn’t want to have to go through that again.
They did need to have a conversation about this and communicate about any concerns. By not doing so, they leave room for misinterpretation. They needed to trust each other, and not run from a conflict, or be suspicious otherwise this would never work.