Her shoulders slumped so slightly he almost didn’t catch it. She searched his face, getting too close to the places he kept hidden, the places he didn’t want her to see.

“On purpose?”

He didn’t answer. It was too complicated to explain. “I just decided not to start digging around. It’s nothing personal.”

“Feels personal.”

“It’s not.”

“I know you’re not dropping this.” She’d always known which of his buttons to push, and she made a point of pushing them. “I know this is bugging you as much as it’s bugging me.”

“Why is it bugging you?”

She fidgeted. “Because I want to help.”

“Louisa, what I said back then—”

Her upheld hand silenced him. “Forget it.”

But she obviously hadn’t forgotten it or she wouldn’t have brought it up.

He’d yelled at her—he’d been so angry with her the day after his dad died. She’d come over that morning with her parents, and even his mom treated her badly. It was obvious she blamed Louisa. After all, if Louisa hadn’t upset him, Cody wouldn’t have been in the water. He would’ve been out somewhere with Lou. He would’ve come home, gotten into bed, and gone to sleep. He would’ve woken up the next day with two parents and one less tragedy.

But that wasn’t the way things went. So he blamed Louisa. It was easier than blaming himself. Not that he’d ever stopped doing that.

“I’m dropping it,” he said. “I decided it’s not important who put that cross up.”

She squinted up at him. “What did you find?”

He chewed the inside of his cheek. There she was—reading him like a book. Sometimes that charmed him. Sometimes it didn’t. Guess which it was today.

“I didn’t find anything,” he lied.

There was the smallest quirk of her eyebrow, and he knew she didn’t buy it.

“It’s nothing, Lou.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You know I’m not going to let this go until you tell me the truth.”

That was a fact. He glanced back at the ship and found several of the guys still watching him from the deck. Vanishing into thin air sounded really good right about now.

“What is it?” she pressed.

“Louisa, just let it go,” he said through gritted teeth.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“You can,” he said. “And I didn’t find anything, so nothing I tell you here is going to ease your guilty conscience.”

Her face took the words like a slap. She clung to the strap of her bag across her chest and took a step back.

“Sorry,” he said.

“I’ll see ya.” She turned and walked away so quickly he couldn’t have caught her without jogging.

He raked a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh.