Diving into Love

by Kat Bellemore

  “Okay,” Caleb said. “I’ll continue looking for a diving instructor. But since you’re here, why don’t we suit up and go for a dive anyway? I’ll drive you home so you can grab your stuff.”

  Bree’s eyes filled with panic, and she seemed to retreat further into herself, though she attempted a smile for his benefit. “Thank you for the offer, but I have somewhere I need to be. Can’t go getting wet and all that.”

  Caleb folded his arms and studied her. “Isn’t that why you came by this morning? What had you expected? I thought you knew I’d want to see some of your technical skills.”

  She seemed surprised by the idea. “Oh, right. Um…” Her voice trailed off, and she didn’t try to come up with another excuse this time.

  Caleb frowned and leaned back against the counter. There was no way she had come to apply for the instructor position. “Bree, I don’t appreciate when people aren’t straight with me.” He winced, realizing he’d sounded like a reprimanding father. That was the opposite of how he wanted Bree to think of him. Not that she should be thinking of him at all. But if she did, it shouldn’t be because he had scolded her.

  Bree lifted herself onto the counter so she sat next to where he leaned. She still avoided his gaze, though, as she said, “You’re right. I don’t know why I’ve made such a big deal out of this.” She hesitated. “I didn’t realize you were hiring a diving instructor. I thought you were hiring a cashier.”

  Caleb stepped away from the counter so he could face her. “You would consider working here as a cashier?” That part surprised him. She was capable of so much more.

  She lifted one shoulder. “It’s not like I have a job that I’m running home to, and if it meant staying in Starlight Ridge for a few months, it could be fun. I’m sure you meet all sorts of interesting people who are passing through on vacation.”

  “That’s true.”

  “I helped manage my family’s diner before I left for college, so it would be easy enough for me.” Bree’s gaze flitted around the store, like she wished this conversation would finish.

  “I wasn’t questioning your abilities.”

  “Look, I know I’m not what you were expecting. I can’t do the job you are hiring for.” Bree’s expression held obvious disappointment that the morning had turned out this way, but to her credit, she kept her head held high. “Thanks for the chance, though. And sorry for waking you up.”

  “Can you start on Monday?” The question burst from his lips.

  Bree was so surprised that she nearly slipped off the counter. Caleb reached out and placed his hand on her waist, steadying her. Her long hair brushed across his cheek and tickled his nose. It smelled delicious. Like plums.

  After readjusting her position, Bree murmured her thanks, and then gave a pointed look to where Caleb’s hand still rested on her hip. He stepped back and clasped his hands behind his back, not wanting to give her the wrong impression. Maybe some men hired beautiful women in the hopes of starting something up, but not him. Caleb was a professional.

  “Didn’t you hear what I said?” Bree asked, her eyes searching his. “I can’t be a dive instructor.”

  “Oh, I know that,” Caleb said. “I’m hiring you as my manager.”

  Her lips parted, and she pushed herself off the counter. She landed directly in front of him. “Are you serious?”

  Yes, he was serious, though he hadn’t realized what he was going to do until the words had left his mouth. “From what I understand, you are smart. Too smart to be working here, to be honest. But if you want a job, it would be helpful to have someone running the show around here so that I can be the dive instructor. It’s where I prefer to be, but in the past, I haven’t trusted anyone else to run the business end of things.”

  “Why hand over the reins now?” she asked, scrutinizing him with her wildly blue eyes.

  Caleb held her gaze, trying to keep his mind on the conversation. “Becoming a scuba instructor is a long and difficult process, and I’m not going to find anyone in the next two weeks.” He figured if he’d expected honesty from her, he should probably do the same. “I placed an ad online, but no one wants to come out here to interview, at their expense, considering it’s a summer job. And I’m not going to hire someone based on a resume. That leaves me. And now you.”

  Bree took a small step toward him. Just enough to take his breath. “That doesn’t answer my question. You could have hired a manager and been the instructor years ago. You said you don’t trust anyone to run your business. So why are you trusting me?”

  Well, he had wanted honesty. And Bree was delivering. But how could he explain that he didn’t know why he trusted her? Just like he didn’t know why he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her for the past week, when he hadn’t looked another woman’s way in the past seven years.

  “Gut feeling,” Caleb finally said. It was as lame an answer as they come, but it was all he had.

  Surprisingly, it seemed to satisfy Bree. She gave a small nod, and her lips quirked up. Oh, that smile. It left his heart in a puddle, and he wanted to learn everything there was to know about her.

  He cleared his throat and stepped away. “We officially open for diving instruction in two weeks, though the boom won’t hit for another three to four weeks. I’d like you to come in every day so you can train for your position. It will be paid training, of course.” Not wanting to give her a false impression of the job, he added, “It doesn’t pay much, nothing close to what you received from your previous employer.”

  “I know,” Bree said. He told her the hourly wage and she didn’t blink an eye. “Okay. What time do you want me here Monday morning? An actual time. None of this ‘first thing in the morning’ crap.”

  Caleb chuckled. He liked that she seemed more relaxed around him now. “How about ten until three?”

  “Not exactly a full workday, is it?” Bree said, a small smile playing on her lips.

  He couldn’t tell if she was mocking him or not. Maybe she felt offended that he wasn’t asking her to work longer. “Would you rather work a twelve-hour day? Because you’ll get your chance. I figured you need a chance to take in the sights before things really pick up. Then, in a couple of weeks, you can start putting in a full day.”

  “No, five hours is fine,” Bree said with a laugh. Okay, not offended. “So…” She shifted in place, wringing her hands like she was suddenly nervous. “I…guess I’ll see you at ten o’clock on Monday.”

  “See you at ten,” Caleb repeated. “Oh, and bring a swimsuit.” Bree may not be a diving instructor, but it would be good if he could get her at least certified, that way she’d be better able to help the customers. It would be hard for her to help someone pick out the equipment they’d need if she’d never even been scuba diving.

  Bree’s face slackened. “Swimsuit?”

  “Not all of your training will be in the office,” he said with a grin. “When you work for me, you actually get to have fun on the job.”

  Except, Bree didn’t look as excited as she should. She was going to get paid to scuba dive; she should be thrilled. But instead, she looked like she was going to throw up.

  Caleb almost offered to grab a trash can for her, but then she asked, “Is swimming a requirement?” He would have thought she was kidding if she didn’t look sick to her stomach.

  “It would be helpful,” he said slowly. “You’ll be the only one here when I’m out on a lesson, and you’ll need to be able to answer questions about the merchandise.”

  Bree gave a tentative nod. “That makes sense.” She squeezed her eyes tight. “I’m sorry. I…don’t think I’ll be able to accept the job after all.” When she re-opened her eyes, he saw the fear, and pain, that lay behind them. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience I’ve caused.” And then she spun away and hurried out of the shop.

  Caleb tried calling after her, then followed her out through the back door. But by the time he made it outside, she’d disappeared.

  11

  Bree
burst through the front door of Adeline’s shop, her breathing heavy. What had she been thinking, that she could just waltz into town and suddenly fit in—act like she belonged?

  Adeline bustled in from the back and smiled when she saw it was Bree. But whatever expression Bree wore, it caused Adeline’s smile to waver, suddenly uncertain. “How did it go?” She asked it like she was unsure she wanted to know.

  Bree slumped onto a stool at the counter and groaned. “I ran away. Like, I literally ran away.” She gave a quick shake of her head as she recalled her parents’ admonitions about her propensity to do that. “I’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

  “What happened?” Adeline asked, her voice laced with concern. “If Caleb did something—”

  “No,” Bree said, waving her friend’s accusation away. “He was a perfect gentleman.” She dropped her chin into her palm, feeling like the biggest idiot. Caleb was kind, and attractive, and he didn’t like seafood. What else could a girl want? And yet she had run. “He offered me a position as manager for his store.”

  Adeline’s surprise was evident, and it surpassed any of the surprise Bree had felt. “Are you sure you heard him right?”

  Bree straightened. “Yeah. He said that would allow him to take over as diving instructor, and I could run the place while he was away with tourists.”

  Adeline grabbed Bree’s hands in hers, and Bree found herself on the receiving end of the most intense stare she’d ever experienced. “That. Is. A. Huge. Deal.”

  “O-kay.” Bree freed herself from Adeline’s grasp. “He said he doesn’t usually trust someone else to run his shop.”

  “No, he doesn’t trust anyone to run his shop. Not me, not Jessie…no one. The man only goes on vacation for one week each winter, and he closes everything up.”

  Bree felt a tinge of…something…in her chest. It was a little like excitement, but different. Maybe there was a little pride mixed in. Out of all the people in Caleb’s life, he’d chosen her. What did that mean? “He barely knows me. Why would he do that?”

  Adeline didn’t have to say a thing for Bree to know exactly what her friend was thinking, her grin taking up most of her face and her eyes dancing. Bree did not want to hear those thoughts out loud.

  “He thinks I’m capable,” she said in an attempt to circumvent Adeline. “He knows I managed my family’s diner, before Melinda took over.”

  “Caleb knows I’m capable,” Adeline said, her smug grin still stuck in place. “But he wouldn’t let me watch the shop for one day when he needed to run to the city for an appointment. And yet he’s offered for you to manage the place for the entire summer.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Bree said, mostly out of desperation. She didn’t have an explanation for it. And it made her feel ungrateful for not taking the job. But how could she? Adeline was nearly laughing at this point, and Bree stuck out her chin. “What is so funny?”

  It took a moment for Adeline to regain her composure enough to be able to talk in coherent sentences. “Are you purposely ignoring the obvious answer, or are you really that terrible when it comes to men?”

  Adeline didn’t mention Bree’s ex-fiancé, but the implication hung heavy in the air. Adeline sobered, her laughter dying away completely. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “I know.” Maybe Adeline was right, though. Bree hadn’t had the best luck with dating in the past, and she now wondered if it had everything to do with her, and not so much them.

  “What happened? After he offered you the position.”

  “He said…he wants to take me out scuba diving so I can answer customer questions and know what I’m talking about when he’s not at the shop.”

  Adeline nodded, confirming that this was a logical thing to require. But then her lips twisted to the side, as if she were in deep thought. “What position were you applying for in the first place?” Her friend seemed to be trying to make sense of the situation, and Bree didn’t blame her; Bree was confused, and she was the one who had experienced it.

  “I don’t even know anymore,” Bree confessed. “I thought there was an opening as a cashier, but it turns out that it was more like part-time diving instructor and part-time sales associate of some sort.”

  “And once Caleb realized you aren’t certified in diving of any sort, he offered to swap places. He’d be the instructor, and you’d stay on dry land,” Adeline finished.

  “Yup.”

  “So, what’s the problem? Do you not want to stay for the summer?”

  Bree hesitated. How could she say this in a way that wouldn’t make her sound even more lame than she already felt? “I do. I love it here. Everyone is so welcoming, and the ocean calms me in a way that New Mexico never did.”

  “So…” Adeline prompted her.

  Bree’s gaze dropped to the counter, and she began tracing small shapes with her finger as she talked. “Looking at the ocean calms me. Letting it splash over my feet as my toes dig into the wet sand calms me.” She paused. “Being under the water, with the ocean pressing in on every side, trying to drown me…that does not calm me.” She looked up.

  Adeline’s lips formed a small O. “I see. And to try to certify in scuba diving…”

  “Would trigger a panic attack so intense that Caleb would most likely have to rescue me, and I’d be scarred for life.”

  Adeline fiddled with her apron, then abruptly said, “We need chocolate.”

  “Oh my gosh, yes,” Bree said, a wave of relief crashing through her—grateful that one person now knew about her deepest fear, and that that person was Adeline.

  Her friend disappeared into the back of her shop and reappeared moments later with a small tray filled with an assortment of truffles and other chocolates. “I take it you didn’t tell Caleb that last part.”

  “No. I preferred he not know the extent of my pathetic-ness.”

  “You are not pathetic,” Adeline said, giving Bree the look of a disapproving mother. “You have a fear of water. So what? I have a fear of biscuit cans. We each have our own thing.”

  Bree couldn’t have heard correctly. “Biscuit cans?”

  “Yeah, you know, the ones you have to unwrap and pop open to get the biscuit dough out?” Adeline gave an exaggerated shudder. “It’s the adult version of a jack-in-the-box, but worse.”

  Strangely, Adeline’s admission made Bree feel a lot better about her own situation. She popped a chocolate into her mouth, chewing slowly as she savored the caramel that spilled from its center.

  “You should tell him,” Adeline said. She hadn’t taken any of the chocolates and was instead watching Bree as she ate.

  “What would be the point? I don’t belong here,” Bree said, though desperately wanting to. She loved her family and New Mexico, but she needed a new start—someplace of her very own. Without all the memories.

  Adeline snorted. “Why, because you don’t want to go scuba diving?”

  “Or eat seafood,” Bree added.

  “No one is going to care.”

  Bree gave Adeline a look that said, seriously?

  “Okay, Erwin might be a little disappointed,” Adeline conceded. “But no one else will. It’s not like you’re the first person to visit Starlight Ridge that doesn’t like seafood. Heck, even Caleb doesn’t.”

  “I actually knew that,” Bree said.

  Adeline raised an eyebrow. “The fact that he admitted that to you says something. With everyone else in town, he says he’s allergic,” she said with an eye roll. “And maybe he has a shellfish allergy or something, but who ever heard of someone who is allergic to fish?”

  Huh.

  Bree slid off the stool and grabbed a couple of truffles to go. “Thanks, Adeline. You’ve been most helpful.” The bell rang over the door and a middle-aged couple entered. “Call if you need anything,” Bree said over her shoulder as she hurried out the door.

  * * *

  The sign on the front of the dive shop was flipped to OPEN now, and Bree walked in
with new resolve. Caleb was leaning over the counter, looking at something, but straightened when he saw it was her.

  “Hi,” he said, seeming at a loss for more words than that.

  Bree saw he held her ruined phone in one hand. With everything that had occurred before, she’d forgotten about its strange reappearance. “Where’d you get that?” she asked, nodding to the phone.

  Caleb looked like he wanted to hide it, his hand momentarily moving behind his back, but he must have realized that would be ridiculous, considering she’d already seen it. He tossed it back onto the counter, like it didn’t matter. “Found it.”

  “I threw it into the ocean.”

  “And that’s where I found it,” Caleb said.

  Bree stared for a moment, trying to understand what he was telling her. “You didn’t… You went after it?”

  “Better that than something swallowing it.”

  She hadn’t thought of that when she’d destroyed her phone. All she’d wanted was to be rid of her problems—to make it all go away. And it had felt good, at the time. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize…”

  Caleb waved her apology off. “Most people don’t.”

  “But still…I am sorry. It can’t have been easy, finding it out there.”

  “I had marked the spot while we were there, and the waves had swept it fairly close to shore. I didn’t even have to put my gear on.”

  But he would have. To fix her mistake. “Thank you,” she said, hoping he heard the sincerity behind her words.

  “Anytime,” he said, giving her a soft smile. And for that brief moment, Bree believed that he really would do anything for her. Anytime. Caleb’s smile dipped, though, and his voice held exasperation when he asked, “What are you doing here?”

  Bree held his gaze, though her instinct was to run away. He had every right to ask that question, the way she’d left earlier. “You have probably changed your mind about offering me the job, considering how I acted this morning. But I wanted you to know that I did want to accept it, and if circumstances were different, I would, but I can’t. And I thought you should know why.”