That probably would have put him as a teenager. Okay. Time for a change of subject. “Well, she did a good job.”
“Thanks.”
They were quiet for a moment, the sizzling from the pan the only sound in the small apartment. It was when Caleb had thrown in the noodles and was tossing them with the rest of the ingredients that Bree’s curiosity got the best of her. “What about your dad?”
“He passed away a few years ago,” Caleb said. “He left me the dive shop.”
“I’m sorry, that must have been hard.” From his tone of voice, Bree couldn’t tell if him getting the store was a good thing or not. “Had you always known you wanted to stay in Starlight Ridge?”
Caleb threw her a side glance. “Not always. But once my mom left, I was all my dad had left.” He grabbed a couple of plates from the cupboard. “I didn’t always appreciate what my dad had built up for our family. But now?” He gave a small shrug. “This is home, and I could never leave it. It’s too much a part of me.”
Bree helped serve the food onto the two plates while Caleb grabbed a couple of limes from the fridge. “That must have been a hard choice, though. I’d imagine most of your friends didn’t stick around like you did.”
Caleb stiffened for a moment, but then he busied himself cutting the limes into wedges. “No, they didn’t.”
She could hear the pain in his voice, and Bree knew she’d pried enough. She took the plates out to the small table, then returned to the kitchen for the silverware. Another moment later and the table was set with napkins, crushed peanuts, and red pepper flakes.
“This all looks delicious,” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. “I’m going to hold you to your offer of teaching me how to cook.”
Caleb twirled a few noodles around his fork, a thoughtful look creasing his forehead. “I hope you do.”
“Do you?” Bree asked, trying to keep herself from laughing. His serious expression gave her the impression that he hoped for the opposite.
But then the creases smoothed out, and a corner of his lip tilted up. “Yes, I do. It’s hard cooking for one, knowing I’ll have a week’s worth of leftovers. And the conversation becomes quite stale after talking to myself for thirty minutes straight, with no one else to break it up.”
This time Bree didn’t stop herself from laughing. “Well, anytime you want company, please let me know. I love Adeline, but that woman does not know how to cook.”
“So I’ve heard,” he said before shoving a large forkful of food into his mouth.
Bree added crushed peanuts, lime juice, and plenty of red pepper flakes to her pad Thai before digging in. “Oh my gosh, this is amazing. Better than any of the Thai restaurants back home.”
Caleb raised an eyebrow, as if impressed. “That’s not too spicy for you?”
Bree swallowed, then took a drink of water before answering. “Please,” she said, waving him off. “I grew up in New Mexico. This has got nothing on me.” She didn’t mention that her mouth was currently on fire. She may have used more pepper flakes than she’d realized.
“Well, I’m impressed.” Caleb looked like he wanted to say more but took another bite instead.
“What?”
He shook his head, taking a moment to chew. “I don’t want to bring business home. It can wait until tomorrow.”
“You already got my curiosity up, so now you have to tell me.”
Caleb’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “It wasn’t anything important, but I had just wanted to tell you how impressed I was with you at the store today. You caught on quickly with how everything is organized in the shop, and you breezed through the written portion of the diving certification. You’re a natural.”
Bree knew she was practically glowing at the compliment, and she was probably smiling like an idiot, and all over something as silly as the fact that she’d quickly figured out where the women’s clothes were compared to the men’s. But the compliment came from Caleb, and that made all the difference. “Thank you. But book smarts aren’t the same as street smarts, and I couldn’t help but notice that you have both. Like, in a major way.”
This time it was Caleb’s turn to beam at the compliment, though he tried to cover it up with a small laugh. “I don’t know that I would go that far, but thanks anyway.”
“No, I’m serious,” she insisted. “Thanks to you, I can now have a semi-coherent conversation about scuba diving, but when you were teaching me this morning, I saw how happy scuba diving makes you. That’s why you’re so good at what you do—whether you knew it at the time your father left you the store or not, you’ve been able to follow your passion.”
Caleb mused over those words before saying, “That I have.” He spun the bottle of lime juice before saying, “I just wish it wasn’t such a lonely endeavor. You’d think more people around here would be into diving, but they seem to be all about the public displays of talent.”
Bree thought of Isaac. “Surfing.”
Caleb nodded. “That and sailing. Heck, the whole town even gets into beach volleyball competitions.” His voice dropped to a mumble. “I don’t know why that’s even a thing.”
“Teach me.” As soon as the words left Bree’s mouth, she wished she could grab them and shove them back in. What was it about this guy that made her completely go against her better judgment? Letting him cook for her was one thing. But asking him to teach her how to scuba dive? She’d end up hyperventilating on the beach while Caleb tried to figure out how to calm her down.
Caleb must have misunderstood her question, because he said, “Teach you…what? How to play volleyball? Don’t do the beach variety; it’s just an excuse for men to take off their shirts and women to get sand up their bikinis.”
This was Bree’s chance to back out. He had no idea what she’d been referring to. But it was also her chance to start her life anew. That was why she was in Starlight Ridge, wasn’t it? If she could overcome her fear of water—if she could scuba dive—she could handle anything life threw at her.
“I want you to teach me how to scuba dive. You’ve already taught me the basic mechanics of how it works, and I’ll be wearing a mask with oxygen. This isn’t like surfing or anything crazy like that.” Being thrown off a board into the onslaught of incoming waves? Yeah, no thanks.
Caleb still stared, like she was a stranger. Maybe he still thought of her as one. “You want to learn how to scuba dive. After you freaked out when you thought that I was going to make you do it.”
“I’d say that’s a little harsh. I didn’t exactly freak out—”
“You ran out of my store.”
Bree felt heat rush up her neck. Yeah, she had totally freaked out. “Is it just me, or is it hot in here?” She grabbed her napkin and attempted to fan herself with it, though it fell limp in her hand, not even pretending to do its duty.
“It’s okay to not want to scuba dive,” Caleb said, placing a hand over Bree’s and wrapping his fingers around hers. “Just because no one else around here enjoys it doesn’t mean you have to pretend to.” He smiled. “The fact that you’d even consider it, when I know how scary diving would be for you, is enough.”
Bree nodded slowly, acutely aware of every point where his skin met hers. She hoped he’d never let go. “Will you at least give me a chance? To try?” She tried to swallow the fear she already felt at the prospect of entering the water. “I might fail. But if you promise that we’ll go slow, I’d like to give it a shot.”
Caleb searched her face, as if looking for a clue to what she was thinking. “Why?”
“Because I have something to prove.”
“You don’t have anything to prove to me. You already know how incredible I think you are.”
Those words flipped her stomach upside down, and it took everything in her not to jump onto Caleb’s lap and give him a demonstration of how incredible she was. “Thank you. But I have something to prove to myself.”
“And scuba diving is going to help you accomplish that?”
Bree had no idea. It might just prove that her fear was still in control, as it had been since the day she was born. Her mother had told Bree that as a baby, if anyone even looked at her wrong, Bree would burst into a high-pitched wail. “I hope so.”
Although Caleb clearly still had reservations, his lips turned up into a half-smile. “All right. We’ll do our initial training in the cove beneath Starlight Ridge. The water is calm there, and it’s shallow enough that if you ever feel panicked, you can stand right up. Once you feel comfortable with that, we can move on from there.”
That sounded doable.
“You’ll be with me the entire time?”
This time, he gave her a full-on smile, though it was more tender than she would have expected. “Absolutely. Nothing will happen to you on my watch.” He looked at her as if he not only intended to keep her safe, but he intended to be by her side, whatever came her way, and for much longer than just their scuba diving lesson.
And she found that she really hoped he would be.
18
Caleb was just coming down to the shop when he noticed someone standing in front of the front doors. He tried to rub the sleep from his eyes and make himself as presentable as possible. He’d had trouble sleeping the previous night, unable to think of anything—or anyone—but Bree. Their date had gone better than he had expected. Much better.
“We’re not open yet,” he said, even as he unlocked the door. He paused when he realized who stood there at this early hour.
“I know,” Isaac said, his usual boyish grin back in place. He was shirtless but wore shorts, along with a pair of flip flops. “But I saw your light flip on and thought I’d stop by on my way home. I caught an epic wave this morning. I wish you could have seen it.”
“That would have required I wake up before the sun.” Caleb gestured for his friend to come in, then locked the door back up behind him.
Isaac was still grinning, like he knew something he shouldn’t. Something he wanted to tell Caleb. And Caleb was sure it had to do with Bree.
“How’s the last couple of days been?” Caleb asked, trying to steer the conversation more towards Isaac. Last time Caleb had staged an intervention, it had taken Isaac an entire week to start acting like his normal self again, but it seemed he’d bounced back a lot quicker this time.
Isaac followed Caleb to the cashier’s counter. “Hard. But also awesome. I’ve started reading again. It had been a long time since I picked up an actual book.” He paused. “Thank you for that, by the way. And for the wetsuit. It’s more than I deserved.”
“What good would I be if I didn’t help out my friends when they needed it?”
Isaac leaned forward, resting his arms on the counter. “Glad I could return the favor this time.”
Caleb had wondered if the conversation would take this turn. And he’d dreaded it. This was the problem with living in a small town. News traveled quickly and didn’t give a person time to slow down and figure things out for themselves. “I’m glad you stopped by to say hi, but I have to get a few things done before I open up in a couple of hours—"
“That’s not why I came to see you.”
Caleb had figured as much, and he braced himself for the inevitable. “Oh, you aren’t here to express your undying gratitude?”
“Of course there is that,” Isaac said. He leaned toward Caleb and raised his eyebrows, his obvious curiosity practically oozing. He lowered his voice. “I heard your date went well.”
And there it was.
“It was all right,” Caleb said, trying to act like he was already bored of the conversation.
Isaac stepped back and snorted, obviously not believing a word Caleb had said. “I heard from reliable sources that you two were seen going up to your apartment together.”
He groaned. “She manages my store; she could have been here working.”
“You left your apartment at approximately eleven p.m., and you walked her home. That sounds like you’re working the poor woman too hard,” Isaac said with a grin.
Who had been spying on them? Probably Jessie. If she had been home, she had a vantage point of the whole street from her upstairs window. He really needed to find her a boyfriend, or at least a hobby, so she didn’t have so much time on her hands. “Fine. So Bree came over for dinner. And then stayed for a while longer after.” They had only talked, despite him desperately wanting to kiss her. He didn’t want to scare her off, though, and he hadn’t wanted to confuse things further, not until he figured things out on his end.
“So you kept your part of the bargain. And you liked it. And you want more of it,” Isaac said, thumping the counter once before moving back toward the front door. “That’s all I wanted to know.”
Caleb was about to deny it, and then threaten Isaac to keep his gossiping mouth shut—he could be worse than Jessie sometimes—but then Bree walked in through the back door.
“Hello, Bree,” Isaac said. “I see you came through the back door. Without knocking.” He gave her an exaggerated wink, and Caleb wanted to curl into a ball, armadillo style.
She threw a confused glance Caleb’s way, and he stepped in to rescue her from Isaac’s badgering.
“That’s because she works here,” he said. “All of my employees enter through the back door.”
“Sure they do,” Isaac said, giving her another wink.
Isaac really needed to leave.
“Don’t you need to be getting ready for work?” Caleb asked, practically pushing his friend out the door. “And try not to let anyone drown today.” He shut the door behind Isaac and turned the key.
Isaac may have been locked out, but that didn’t stop him from fogging up the glass and then drawing a heart with an arrow going through it.
Real mature.
No wonder the man had a video game addiction. He was the classic example of a man-child.
Caleb knew his face must be bright red, but he pretended everything was normal as he turned to face Bree. “Anyway, good morning. And sorry. I didn’t realize what time it was. Or that Isaac would be stopping by.”
Bree didn’t seem at all embarrassed, and just laughed. “It’s all right. I like Isaac. He’s like the annoying younger brother I never had.”
“That’s exactly how I feel about him too. Emphasis on the annoying.”
Bree stowed her purse beneath the cashier’s counter. “Don’t pretend. I can see how much you care about him. And vice versa.”
“A blessing and a curse.” Caleb turned to the schedule he’d outlined for the morning. “I thought I’d start with teaching you how to run inventory this morning.”
“Riveting.”
He glanced up, surprised at the sarcasm that had accented that one word. She was watching him and wearing a playful smirk. “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.”
“You’re saying that you enjoy it?”
She had him there.
“I’m saying that it might not be as bad as you think.”
Bree laughed and plucked the piece of paper from his hand. “What I think is that you’re happy I’m here so you can finally get out of all the tasks you’ve had to do and can’t stand.”
Caleb gave her a half-smile. “I deserve a little happiness.”
She studied him for a moment before quietly saying, “Yes, you do.” She then turned her attention to the schedule. After a moment of looking over the day’s events, she said, “Can we get rid of all of this stuff that you’ve planned after lunch?”
Caleb stared, unsure how to respond. Bree didn’t seem like the type who tried to get out of having to work. “We have a lot to cover before the tourists begin arriving. Next week is when we’ll start getting the ones who got a jump start on spring break.”
“I know. And I promise I’ll learn it all before then.”
Now Caleb’s curiosity was piqued. “What did you have in mind?”
Bree showed her first sign of hesitancy, an indication that she was nervous about whatever it was she wa
s going to request. Did she think he would say no? Bree must have figured out by now that, for better or worse, he was incapable of telling her no.
“I want to have my first lesson. Today. This afternoon.”
That caught Caleb by surprise. He’d figured it had been a spur-of-the-moment thing when Bree had requested he give her scuba diving lessons. They were on a date, there was some chemistry going on—but the way she was looking at him right now, she was completely serious. And she didn’t appear to be overcome by hormones.
“If you’re sure…”
“I am,” she said quickly.
Caleb could tell she was determined—a fire resided beneath her firm gaze, like this wasn’t just something she wanted. She needed it. “All right, then. We’ll get the boring stuff over with this morning, then we’ll suit up, and you’ll have your first diving lesson.”
He hoped she knew what she was getting herself into.
19
The morning had gone smoothly, despite her nerves being on edge the entire time. The paperwork and inventory she could handle. But it was when Caleb began to help her choose her diving equipment that she began to second-guess her decision. Caleb showed her the masks, fins, and a wetsuit that would be best for her body type, then he took care of things like the oxygen tanks.
It was when they were nearly to the cove that her breaths began to shorten. “Remind me what we’re going to do today,” she said, hoping he didn’t hear the panic in her voice.
“We’re just going to get used to the water,” he said, his voice soft, like he was trying to soothe her nerves. He totally knew she was freaking out. “We’re going to wear our wetsuits while we swim and hang out, and then I’m going to teach you about the equipment.”
“And there’s no waves?” she asked for the thirtieth time. She just wanted to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood anything along the way.
“No waves,” he said, also for the thirtieth time. They pulled off the road, and Caleb turned to her. “You okay?”
Diving into Love Page 13