“Even if she did, does that mean they were sleeping together?”

Of course not. Why would he jump to that conclusion? It was a pretty big leap. “There’s something else.”

Her brow furrowed. He tried to ignore how cute that made her look.

“After my dad died, we found out he’d basically drained his savings account. He had some money tied up in investments, but not enough to live on. Not enough to keep Seaside. It was so shortsighted for someone so smart.”

Louisa didn’t respond, but he could practically see her trying to make sense of it.

He went on. “And I discovered this week that the amounts he withdrew were strange. Why would someone take out three different large sums of money in odd amounts? Why $52,675 and not $53,000? Why $25,382 and not $25,000?” He’d memorized the sums. Sometimes he’d think of the numbers out of the blue, repeating them over and over as if doing so would force them to make sense.

Again, Louisa frowned. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

No, it didn’t. Daniel Boggs was nothing if not perpetually prepared. He was a planner. He was a thinker. He was smart and responsible. Leaving his family with so little was the most out-of-character thing he could’ve done. Which was likely why his mother had gotten so angry, so bitter over the whole thing. She’d clearly created a scenario as to what had happened to that money.

Had that story involved JoEllen Chambers? Was that really why their families had fallen out?

“There must’ve been a reason,” Louisa said. “Did your mom ever say anything?”

“No. If she knew anything, she didn’t tell us. But she was angry about something.”

Louisa found his eyes. “She thought he was cheating?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but she didn’t even want to pack up his office. She wanted to leave him in the past. And you know how much she loved my dad.”

Louisa’s face fell. “She didn’t pack up his office?”

“No. That box I brought over the other day was all I was able to save.”

“I’m sorry, Cody,” Louisa said, “that things turned upside down for you.”

He swatted the apology away as if it didn’t matter. “It’s fine. I joined the Coast Guard. I was a good swimmer, and I—” He stopped short of saying he wanted to save lives. He wouldn’t tell Louisa that he’d joined so he could prevent the ocean from beating him ever again. And he definitely wouldn’t tell her the academy wasn’t his first choice. “I sent all the money I made back to my mom. It wasn’t much, but it helped. She got a job. Marley got a job. We made it work.”

“But I’m sure it was different than you were used to.”