“He’s not here,” I reassure her and feel my chest clench. “Honey, I never asked you, and you never said, but did Joey hit you?”

I watch the clear, blue water gently lapping against the white sand below and brace myself for Maggie’s answer. I don’t need or want to know everything that happened inside their marriage, but I’ve often wondered if he laid hands on her.

“He raised his hand to me a couple of times,” she admits softly, and it takes everything in me not to tense up. “But he never actually hit me. Because he knew that if my family ever found out, they would likely kill him. And I know people use that as an expression, but you know my family.” I nod, and she keeps going. “He liked to mock me, make me feel bad about myself. He controlled what I ate because he thought I was fat.”

“What?” I pull back to frown down at her. “Mary Margaret, you are not fat. You have curves, the way a woman is supposed to. What the hell was wrong with him?”

“I know that,” she insists. “I know, Cam. I’m not fat. And even if I was, who cares?”

“Exactly. And who the hell did he think he was that he could speak to anyone that way? What a fucker. I want to beat the shit out of him.”

Maggie laughs, and her hands move up my chest and around my neck. “Easy there. Like you said, he’s gone. And I know that, deep down, but I’m nervous because that money is clearly stolen, Cam. He didn’t make that much of a salary as a financial advisor. What if the money really isn’t mine, after all? And what if I find something awful in that damn box? I’m sick and tired of surprises from him. They’re never good ones, so I guess I just don’t trust this.”

“I’ll be there with you, and we’ll deal with it as it happens. That’s all we can do.”

“I wish we didn’t have to wait until tomorrow morning,” she whispers. “I just want to get it over with.”

“It’s after six in the evening,” I remind her and kiss her nose. I can’t stop kissing this woman. “The bank is closed. But I have dinner coming up through room service, and then I thought we would take a walk on the beach.”

“Well, that sounds nice.”

“I thought so, too. We’re both too travel-weary to go out.”

“I definitely don’t want to go anywhere. What’s for dinner?”

A knock comes from the hall. “You’ll see in just a minute.”