Their worlds were no closer together now than they’d been four years ago. Their desires no more in tune. With the gold she’d leave for him, he’d be able to do what he wanted with his life. She needed no treasure for that.

If she stayed… Unable to stop herself, Kate reached out to touch his cheek. If she stayed she’d bury herself for him. Eventually, she’d despise herself for it, and he’d resent her. Better that they take what they’d had for a few weeks than cover it with years of disappoinments.

The treasure was important to him. He’d taken risks for it, worked for it. She’d give her father his memorial. Ky would have the rest.

Quietly, still watching him sleep, she dressed.

It didn’t take Kate long to gather what she’d come with. Taking her suitcase downstairs, she carefully packed what she’d taken with her from the Liberty. In a box, she placed the pottery bowl wrapped in layers of newspaper. The coins, the blackened silver and the shiny gold she zipped into a small pouch. With equal care, she packed the film she’d taken during their days under the ocean.

What she’d designated for the museum she’d already marked. Leaving the list on the table, she left the house.

She told herself it would be cleaner if she left no note, yet she found herself hesitating. How could she make him understand? After putting her suitcase in her car, she went back into the house. Quietly, she took the five gold coins upstairs and placed them on Ky’s dresser. With a last look at him as he slept, she went back out again.

She’d have a final moment with the sea. In the quiet air of morning, Kate walked over the dunes. She’d remember it this way—empty, endless and full of sound. Surf foamed against the sand, white on white. What was beneath the surface would always call her—the memories of peace, of excitement, of sharing both with Ky. Only a summer, she thought. Life was made of four seasons, not one.

Day was strengthening, and her time was up. Turning, she scanned the island until she saw the tip of the lighthouse. Some things lasted, she thought with a smile. She’d learned a great deal in a few short weeks. She was her own woman at last. She could make her own way. As a teacher, she told herself that knowledge was precious. But it made her ache with loneliness. She left the empty sea behind her.

Though she wanted to, Kate deliberately kept herself from looking at the house as she walked back to her car. She didn’t need to see it again to remember it. If things had been different… Kate reached for the door handle of her car. Her fingers were still inches from it when she was spun around.