“Not as tough as it could have been. The feelings didn’t run deep enough for either of us, which doesn’t make for a great marriage but does make for an easier separation. We both felt the same way, untangled what we’d made, parted company and still speak occasionally.” He stooped and picked up a shell. Its pearly surface gleamed. “Now it’s your turn.”

“Are you expecting me to reveal my own romantic past?” She stopped walking, too. “Because mine is in the public domain. I’m sure you’ve read all about it.”

When things had first gone wrong with Cliff, she’d thought about Nate. When you were in a difficult situation, the mind played tricks. It showed you other images, options that seemed to have been a better choice, but Joanna had trained herself not to go there. She’d been careful not to polish and shine the past. But it was impossible not to think about it now. What if?

“I know what I’ve read. I’m sure I don’t know the truth. I’d like to hear it, if you’re willing to talk. If you’d rather not, that’s fine, too.” He walked away from the water and sat down on the sand.

She joined him.

“I’ve missed this. I’ve missed sitting on the sand early in the morning and late in the evening and just watching the ocean.” She saw the light dance, the surface of the water change color.

“It’s the best view there is. I couldn’t live without it.” Nate’s arm brushed lightly against hers. “Someone who loves the ocean as much as you do must have struggled being in a city for two decades. Didn’t you miss it?”

Joanna stared across the water. “I didn’t mind it at first. It was a new life. We were building the business.” She’d still believed that her relationship with Cliff was something solid and dependable. She’d still believed that they had a future.

“Were you in love?” His tone was raw and stripped away some of her own defenses.

She could have told him to mind his own business. That he had no right to ask her that question. But she didn’t know how not to be honest with Nate.

“Was I in love? Not in the way I’d loved before—” she couldn’t bring herself to say, Not in the way I’d loved you “—but I didn’t expect that.” I didn’t think I could have that. It was hard to articulate just how low her self-esteem had been at that point, how her confidence had been eroded by everything that had gone before, from losing her father, to her difficult relationship with her stepmother and then Nate’s rejection, and how all that had formed the foundation for her relationship with Cliff.