Treasured Heart

Chapter 6

A/N: As always, thank you all so much for reading/reviewing, and I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying the story.

A huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesomeness. Any mistakes found are my own since I've tweaked things a bit.

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"Guess, it's back to the drawing board," Dr. Tanner said as we gathered up our equipment and stored it for the trip back to Florida.

"Looks like it. For now, anyway. Jasper said that the Nautical Society of France wants us to keep looking, but they understand that we need more information. I think he and Alice are flying to France once we get back to see if there's more information regarding the Sirène over there."

Our search for the shipwreck had been a bust. The carbon dating of the wood had come back as 20th century, and the biologists had determined that the wooden planks had only been in the water for a hundred years or so.

We'd searched a hundred mile radius using sonar and Emmett's underwater drones, but every find had been fruitless. Now, we were heading home to Miami until Jasper had another idea.

"I'll be glad to be home," Dr. T said, and I nodded my head although I loved being out on the open waters.

Once we got back to Miami, I'd finish up the scholarly paper I was writing for a journal and I'd probably guest lecture until our next trip. If I had time, I might even go on some local salvaging trips with some friends of mine who owned a salvaging company.

After Dr. T and I had put away our equipment, I made my way toward the wheelhouse to talk with Edward. I'd kept pretty busy during our three weeks at sea, so Edward and I hadn't gotten to talk as often as I'd have liked.

"What will you do now?" I asked him a few minutes later as I took a seat in the co-captain's chair.

"I'll be heading to the Philippines. A friend of mine needs a captain to run his salvaging vessel out there."

"Wow," I said quietly. I had hoped we'd get to spend some more time together because I found that I really liked the man Edward had become, and I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to him.

"Yeah, my buddy emailed me a few days ago and asked what I was up to. I told him that I'd be arriving in Miami by the end of the week, and he booked me a flight to Manila for the very next day."

"So, no downtime?"

He shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no. I'd love to go home for a few days, but that'll just have to wait until my job in the Philippines is over."

"Where exactly is home?" I asked him, staring out the windows in front of me. I didn't have a clue where Edward lived now.

"Honolulu," he said with a smile. "Have you ever been there?"

"I've been to Kona a couple of times, but never Honolulu."

"Well, we'll have to fix that. When I get back, you should come for a visit. I'll show you around. You'll love it."

"I'd like that," I told him, and a few minutes later, we'd exchanged numbers and email addresses.

"Keep in touch, Bella. I've enjoyed getting to know you again."

"Same. Oh, if Jasper finds another lead on the Sirène, would you captain the ship again?"

He nodded his head as he told me would.