CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Caitlin leaned back in the small boat, looking out at the breaking sky of dawn, and wished the world would end. As they headed further out into the Grand Canal, no land in sight, all she could see was water—and a part of her wished that she could just keep going, never stop, into the horizon, and off the face of the earth. She was so sad, so confused…she just wanted to curl up and die.

She had never felt so alone. The person rowing the boat was not Blake, or Caleb, but a complete stranger, a gondola driver that she had found at the pier, who she’d hired to bring her back to Polly’s island. Luckily, Polly had given her money earlier in the night, in case anything happened.

Blake had insisted on at least taking her home, but she had refused. Her feelings for him were too strong, and after seeing Caleb, she couldn’t bear to be in a boat with him for one more second. She needed a chance to sort out her feelings, to try to process it all.

The irony was that, if they hadn’t run into Caleb