Since Caro couldn’t deny that she’d done exactly that, she didn’t try. Rather, she kept quiet on the rest of the ride. She was too itchy and uncomfortable to fight with him anyway. When they arrived at her house, he went directly to the bathroom and turned on the tub.

“Do you have any oatmeal?” he asked when he returned to the kitchen.

“I think so. Why?”

“It’ll help with the itching. Put it in the bathwater.” He stood rigidly in the middle of her kitchen, seemingly making an effort to avoid looking at her.

As Caro retrieved the container of oats from the cabinet, she noticed her hands were trembling. She wasn’t sure if it was residual shock from the attack or worries of a different kind.

“I’m going to go,” he said.

She spun around to face him. “Where?”

“I don’t know. Somewhere else. When you work this stuff out in your head, love, call me. Until then, I don’t want to cause you any more distress.”

“I don’t want you to go. Please don’t go.”

“It means a lot that you want me to stay, but I can’t do this. I can’t convince you to come to grips with this situation with the force of my personality or charm you into wanting what I want. You have to figure that out for yourself.” He rested a hand on her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “When you do, if you do, call me.”

“You’re not being fair to me.”

“Maybe not, but I’m being fair to me. And right now that’s what I need to do. If you feel sick again, call Joe.” He turned and headed for the door.

“Seamus! Wait! Can’t we talk about this?”

The screen door slammed shut behind him as he walked out, the gravel driveway crunching under his feet as he made his way to the company truck he used on the island. After he drove away, Caro stared out the window for a long time before she remembered the bath and went to turn off the water.

She sprinkled the oatmeal on top of the water and then stripped off her clothes and slid into the tub. The cool water soothed her burning, itching skin but didn’t do much for the ache in her heart.

Maybe she’d finally succeeded in driving him away for good. As that thought registered, the dam broke and her sobs echoed off the bathroom walls.