"You want to talk here or somewhere more private?" He sighed with barely restrained frustration when Sue seemed to retreat within herself, her shoulders curving inwardly as if for protection. Squatting so he could meet her downcast eyes, he surprised her with his question. "Are you upset with me?"

"No," she answered swiftly, unable to hide her confusion with his question. "I thought you were upset with me," she clarified.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because it's what your body was saying. Your brows were furrowed, your mouth was all straight with your lips pressed together, and your hands were planted on your hips. That's usually how you look when you are upset."

He chuckled, raking his hand across his face, nodding his head as he acknowledged her words. "You're right. I am upset, but not with you. I'm upset with myself, for letting my male ego rear its ugly head, wanting you to remember, and for not realizing how upset you were at not being able to."

"I'm sorry I ruined our day, Jack. The parts I can remember were incredible. It's the parts I can't remember that have me feeling nervous. I can't imagine what you must be thinking about me."

He stood and straddled the bench where she sat, sitting as closely as he could for their conversation. "No, you can't imagine what all I'm thinking," he agreed, "But I can assure you that it is all good."

"I've pretty much figured out that I got drunk. How can you think anything good about that?"

He nodded. "True. But you did it quite innocently and completely without my knowing it. What does that tell you about my observation skills?"

She laughed at the face he made, appreciating his efforts to downplay her worries. "It tells me that you are on vacation and should be allowed to let those skills rest."

"It tells me that I was totally captivated by my company."

She didn't have a response to his unexpected revelation. Biting her lower lip, hoping to maintain her composure, she searched for something to say, anything to ease the sudden, unnerving tension between them. "Um, so did I make a fool of myself? Or worse yet, embarrass you?"

Reaching out and covering her constantly twisting hands, he squeezed them reassuringly, "No, not at all."

Staring at him, trying to read his expression, she finally asked, "So what aren't you telling me, Hudson?"

He shook his head, unable to hide the small grin on his face. "Whatever do you mean, Miss Thomas?"

"I mean, what aren't you telling me? Something had to have happened."

"Why? So you accidentally got drunk," he shrugged it off, looking out over the water. "Why does something else have to have happened?"

"Because when I woke up this morning, you were there."

"I'm your wake up dog, remember? I have to be in the room to wake you up."

"And you called me Sweetheart."

He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it just as quickly, pursing his lips while he searched for a response.

"See? I knew it! Something did happen." Dropping her head into her hands, she groaned.

Reaching out, he pulled her hands away from her eyes so she could see what he was saying. "You don't have any reason to worry, Sue. We had a good time on the boat trip and I'm more than willing to answer any of your questions, as your memories surface. And they will," he reassured her. "You'll slowly begin to remember everything that happened."

"But do I want to, that's the question," she muttered, heaving a big sigh.

"I want you to," he answered honestly, hiding nothing in his expression. Giving her just a few moments to digest his words, he pulled her from the bench and pointed toward the expansive porch at the back of the hotel where the rest of the wedding party was seated. "We need to get back to the group and see what's on the schedule for the rest of the day." He told her.

Sue started toward the luncheon in progress, relaxing until Jack laced his fingers with hers and uttered one more word...

"Sweetheart."