Charli sighed. The newspaper files for that time period weren’t online, so it would require a search through the films. She stretched her neck side to side—this could take hours. She sighed again, she couldn’t remember doing this much research since law school. But there was no help for it. Determined to unravel this puzzle, she made her way to the librarian’s desk and requested the films.
Within an hour, she found what was she was looking for in an extensive article published in November 1870. Because Key West had lost over one hundred men between the two storms, each ship and person that had gone down had been named. Ian Kennedy of the Marybeth was listed only fifteen lines down.
Charli frowned. It was what she had been looking for, and from the stories of Amelia’s ghost, she already knew what had happened to Ian. But reading it in the article made it feel so final, so incrediblyheartbreaking that an overwhelming feeling of melancholy swept over her.
* * * *
“I just don’t get it,” Charli complained as she stared at her wine glass. “There has to be something more here that we’re not seeing.”
Jack glanced at her over his shoulder, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I’ve found Amelia’s sailor, the ship he was on and the storm that took it down. What else is there to find? What more do we search for?” Charli shrugged, hands in the air. “I feel like we’re missing something really important and it’s right in front of my face. I just can’t see it and it’s driving me crazy. It’s like an itch that I need to scratch but can’t reach, you know?”
Jack shrugged and turned his attention back to the sea bass he was preparing. “Considering that we didn’t know about the diaries or the box a few weeks ago and that if you hadn’t gone up to the Widow’s Walk even though we told you not to...”
He threw a pointed stare at Charli. “Then you never would have found them and we wouldn’t have known who her sailor was. So I’d say we shouldn’t worry about it for now. Whatever it is that we need to discover will appear and we’ll piece the puzzletogether.” He stretched over and grabbed several bottles of spices, applying them liberally to the fish.
“And who knows,” he continued, “maybe we’re not supposed to figure everything out right now. Maybe it’ll take us years.”
Years...
The thought made the blood pound in her head. She felt torn between her overwhelming and soul-sucking responsibilities in Boston and what felt like freedom—and maybe even love—in the keys. Only a few months ago, the idea of living in Key West would have seemed ridiculous to her.
Now it was not just a possibility, but a comfortable reality. What really surprised her was that not only did it feel like she needed to be here, but she wanted to be here...with Jack.
Charli took a deep breath and watched, mesmerized, as he made dinner. “A man cooking dinner is so incredibly sexy,” she murmured before taking a sip of her chardonnay.
He grinned at her, his chocolate eyes sparkling. “Oh yeah?”
Charli gave him her best leer. “Oh yeah. Sexy as hell.”
“Happened to you before, huh?” he asked, clearly digging for information.
Charli smiled and shook her head slowly. “No. This is the first time a man has ever cooked for me. The closest anyone’s ever come is buying me dinner. My career has been my focal point since I left law school, and there never seemed to be time for relationships with the demands of the firm.”
That earned her another grin. He closed the parchment paper and sealed it with twine. After he placed the baking sheet loaded with the fish into the oven, he turned and grabbed his wine glass. Leaning on the kitchen island, he pursed his lips as he considered her, the expression on his face contemplative and slightly mischievous.
“I hope it’s just one of many ‘firsts’ I can give you.” His eyes seared her as he took a sip of his wine.
Charli giggled. “Well, if you’re looking for some reassurance, you’ve provided me with many new ‘firsts’ since I got here.”
Jack’s face brightened and he twirled his wine glass between his fingers. “Oh really? Which ones?”
Charli looked up at the ceiling as if she were counting, trying to keep a straight face. “Hmmmm...well, I’ve never had anyone pick me up at the airport with a cardboard sign, then there’s flying in a sea plane, which was amazing by the way,” she started, holding up her fingers to count off. “Then,there’s dinner on a balcony, a sunset cruise, spending a weekend in a cottage on a beach...”
His eyes squinted and his mouth open and closed several times, yet nothing came out.
“What?” she asked, her tone defensive.
His forehead crinkled. “Were you locked in a closet in Boston? Did no one ever do anything romantic for you?”
Charli smiled to herself. He was still fishing for information.
“No.” She sighed. “More like I was either in an office, a courtroom, or a library. I worked eighty hour weeks—sometimes more—and I almost never dated. I’d get home at eight o’clock at night and be back in the office at six the next morning.”
She grinned at the incredulous look on Jack’s face. “The one time I did go on a blind date was because I lost a bet to Annette, who made me go on a date with her cousin. I haven’t been on a date since then, and we’ll just leave it at that. Let’s just say that most men are uncomfortable around a strong woman.”
Jack grunted. “Doesn’t sound like much of a life to me.”
