Diving into Love

by Kat Bellemore

  Bree nodded, knowing her voice would betray her.

  They grabbed their towels, and she followed him down a small path that led them to the cove. The water was still, and a beautiful blue. She saw now why Caleb had recommended she change into her swimming suit back at the shop. There was nothing out here to change behind, and things could get awkward quickly.

  “You can leave your clothes here,” he said, gesturing to a large rock next to him. It was a few feet from the cove, and before Bree realized what was happening, he slipped his shirt off over his head and then tossed it onto the rock.

  Ay caramba.

  Bree had seen Caleb without a shirt. But that had been an accident and before their date. Before they had kissed.

  Caleb glanced toward her and lifted an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. He had caught her looking. Staring.

  Heat rushed into her cheeks, and Bree turned away, her back to him. She peeled her shorts off. She was wearing a swimsuit underneath. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Sucking in a deep breath, she removed her shirt, revealing a flowered top.

  Bree straightened, determined to not be embarrassed in front of Caleb. She steeled herself before facing him. “I’m ready.” Bree saw he was already pulling on his wetsuit, and she did the same, then watched as he jumped into the water. She immediately worried he’d downplayed how deep the water was. But then Caleb stood, and the water only came to his chest.

  Okay. Not bad. Rather than jump, Bree sat on a rock and slid into the water—like a child would. But she didn’t care, because the fact that she was there at all was saying something. The moment she met the water, though, it caused her breath to stall as it ignited all her nerves. “Oy, it’s cold.”

  “It’s warmer than it would be without the suit,” Caleb said, shaking the water from his hair. “And the quicker we get used to the water, the quicker we can move on to the fun stuff.”

  Bree was pretty sure Caleb had a different definition of fun.

  He wore a large watch on his wrist, and he pressed a couple of the buttons. “For right now, we’re going to warm up by treading water. Our heads won’t even go under. Are you okay with that?”

  That didn’t exactly sound like fun, but it could be worse. “Sure.”

  “But we have to do it for ten minutes to test your stamina.”

  Okay, that was a little more challenging. But she could touch the bottom at any time. If she couldn’t make it the full ten minutes, no big deal.

  Except, if Bree was going to fail at scuba diving, she wasn’t going to allow it to be because she couldn’t tread water. That would be lame.

  “Start the time,” she said.

  Caleb swam to the left, closer to where the ocean fed their little cove. “We’ll need to do it over here, where the water is deeper; otherwise, it’s too hard not to scrape the bottom.”

  So, she wouldn’t be able to set her feet down at will. Bree reminded herself that Caleb would be there if she needed him, and she wouldn’t have far to swim if she couldn’t go the full ten minutes.

  Bree walked until she had nearly reached him, then felt with her foot for where the ocean floor dropped.

  Caleb gave her a reassuring nod, then pressed a button on his watch. She pushed herself forward, using her arms to push the water away from her and keep herself afloat. Out. In. Out. In. After a couple of minutes, it started getting a little more difficult, but the repetitive, rhythmic motion also helped her anxiety to dissipate.

  “This is actually kind of nice,” she said, giving Caleb a small smile.

  He returned it, moving closer. “You’re a pro.”

  Bree let out a barking laugh and shifted position so that she was floating on her back. “That’s nice of you to say. It’s a complete lie. But still, nice to hear anyway.”

  “I’m serious,” he insisted. And he certainly sounded like it. It was enough for her to sit up and go back to treading water, just so she could see him. “You seem like you feel completely comfortable.”

  It was true, Bree did. The water was relaxing, even if her muscles were aching from the constant motion. But he didn’t know what was coming. What would happen if—when—she went underwater.

  “How much time left?” she asked, rather than dash his fantasy of her being a model student.

  Caleb glanced at his watch. “One minute.”

  “Wow, that went by fast.”

  “You just proved my point,” he said, his lips quirking up. “I’ve never had a student tell me that ten minutes of treading water went by quickly. Normally they’re on the brink of passing out when I call time.”

  Maybe Bree was cut out for the aquatic life after all.

  “Okay. Time’s up. You’ve passed your first test with flying colors,” Caleb said, swimming back over to the shallow end of the cove. “Let’s go over the equipment.” He motioned for her to follow him as he pulled himself out of the water. Bree tried not to notice how tightly his wetsuit clung to him. “I shouldn’t have to tell you how important your oxygen tank and your regulator are. But I’m going to.” A dramatic pause. “They are super important.”

  Bree laughed. “Okay. Oxygen. Important. Got it.”

  For the next hour, Caleb taught her how to check the gauge so she’d know when the tank was getting low and how to wear the oxygen tank, the regulator, and the mask.

  Bree was feeling pretty comfortable with the equipment when he said, “Let’s test it out.”

  Her heart stalled. “Y-you said we’d just learn about the equipment today.”

  “Yes, and this is part of it. What good is learning what a piece of equipment is called if you’ve never actually used it? We’ll just do a couple of basic techniques here in the shallow end.”

  Bree suddenly forgot everything she’d learned over the past hour and wondered how long it would take her to get home if she chose to run for it.

  Caleb must have sensed her panic, because he set down the tank he’d been holding and placed his hands on her arms. He looked Bree in the eyes and said, “You’re okay. I’m here with you, and I’ve already seen how easily you pick this stuff up.” Bree gave a quick shake of her head, but he spoke again before she had the chance to protest. “I believe in you. Now it’s time for you to trust yourself.”

  She knew he was right. This was why she had agreed to come in the first place. To prove to herself that she didn’t always run when the going got tough, like her parents had accused her of.

  I can do hard and scary things. Bree repeated the positive affirmation three times before giving him a quick nod. “All right.”

  Caleb grinned like it was Christmas and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before helping her get her gear on. “Follow my lead,” he said, before lowering himself into the cove.

  Bree felt his lips on her cheek long after she had joined him in the water, and she hoped that feeling wouldn’t wash away. It gave her the strength she needed.

  Until Caleb instructed her to practice lowering her head beneath the water and breathing through the regulator.

  “You’re sure that’s necessary?” she asked. It was a dumb question, she knew. How would she ever learn to scuba dive without having submerged her head? But still, maybe she could stall, give herself just a little more time.

  “Your head will be just below the surface. You can do that much.” Bree could tell that Caleb wasn’t going to give her any leeway on this. She had asked him to teach her how to dive, and he was going to honor that request.

  Bree situated the mask and regulator over her face, silently preparing herself. This was no different than being in a giant bathtub…that was connected to the ocean. And had living things in it. She ducked her head beneath the water.

  And forgot how to breathe.

  Bree tried to gasp for air, but it was like her lungs had shut down. Nothing was coming in or out. Her head shot up, and she tore the regulator off, finally able to suck in long breaths. “I can’t do it.”

  “Yes, you can,” Caleb said. He motioned for her to
put the regulator back on. “Practice breathing through it before you put your head in the water.”

  She grumbled about how he wasn’t showing any empathy for her condition, loudly enough that Caleb could hear, but he only smiled. With a resigned sigh, she put the regulator back in her mouth and took a few practice breaths. It came easier now.

  “Once you’re used to breathing just below the surface of the water, I want you to slowly swim out to where it’s just a little deeper and try to kneel on the cove floor. I’ll meet you down there.”

  Bree didn’t like that idea at all, but Caleb didn’t give her room to argue. He had already disappeared beneath the water and was presumably waiting for her on the ocean floor. She supposed she shouldn’t keep him waiting, though she was tempted to. Bree wondered how long he’d wait if she decided to pack up and call it quits.

  Unfortunately, she cared about Caleb too much to do that to him, and as much as she hated to admit it, she didn’t want to disappoint him. She’d seen how excited he got when she mastered each diving skill, no matter how small. It was addicting, and it made her want to do everything in her power to keep it coming.

  Bree lowered her head beneath the water before she could psych herself out, focusing on her breaths as she did so. In-two-three. Out-two-three. In-two-three. Out-two-three.

  It was after the third round of counting breaths that she started noticing her surroundings. Several fish swam to her left, bright oranges announcing their presence. She’d had no idea they were even there, which showed how intensely she’d been focusing on not dying.

  And then there was Caleb, up ahead and sitting cross-legged on the floor, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Bree attempted to do as he’d asked, join him on the bottom. It didn’t look so far down as she skimmed the surface, moving toward where he waited. She angled her body and kicked. She bent down into a squatting position, willing herself to drop. But for all her efforts, she couldn’t make her body sink. She was wearing that heavy oxygen tank, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. So much for fearing drowning; she wouldn’t be able to if she tried.

  She finally had to accept defeat and return to the shallow end of the cove, pushing up from the water. Caleb rejoined her a moment later.

  “What happened?” he asked. When he removed his mask, she could see that his eyes were laughing at her. And that he knew exactly what had happened.

  “I don’t know,” Bree said, folding her arms. “You tell me.” She tried to give him her best I know you know look.

  Caleb laughed. “Fine.” He pointed to a small belt around his waist. “I’m wearing weights.”

  Bree didn’t think it was so funny. “You conveniently forgot to mention that little detail.”

  “I wanted you to understand what happens when you haven’t calculated your diving weight and accounted for natural buoyancy. Or what happens when you’ve done it incorrectly. Now you know.”

  Bree moved close enough to elbow him in the ribs. “Yes, now I know.” She moved to swim to the edge of the cove so she could grab one of those weight belts that he had, but Caleb was quicker and grabbed the elbow she’d used against him, and pulled her close.

  “I do that with all of my students. It wasn’t to be mean.” His face was inches from hers, and she had to try not to breathe in his salty musk. “But for the record, yours was a valiant effort, and I’m impressed with what you’ve done today. You’ve progressed more quickly than most of my other students do.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I’m not. Because my other students, they’re just trying to get through it so they can spend a day or two scuba diving. They’re in it for a little fun. But they don’t care about it. Not really. If they did, they’d already be certified before they came on vacation.” Caleb moved in closer, and Bree’s breath hitched. “You, on the other hand—you want it. It means something to you. And that’s worth more. Much more.”

  Bree could tell Caleb meant what he said. But she didn’t know how to respond.

  One, because she was flattered.

  And two, because she ended up kissing him instead.

  20

  “Does this have to be a surprise?” Bree asked. She currently wore a blindfold and hated not being able to see where Caleb was leading her.

  “No, it doesn’t have to be. But it makes it more fun.” She could hear the smile in his voice.

  “For you or for me?” Bree felt the ground beneath her feet transition from the coarse road they had started out on to a smoother surface. They were probably on the boardwalk. At least she was no longer tripping, though she still held onto Caleb’s arm for balance. Bree didn’t mind that part so much.

  “Hopefully, both.”

  Maybe that was what Caleb had been hoping, but it was driving Bree nuts. He’d said she was allowed to guess where they were going, but so far, all she’d learned was that they were not going diving, to a restaurant, on a hike, or whale watching—if that was even a thing here. There was no bowling alley, movie theater, or the typical dating scene kind of stuff, so she’d run out of ideas pretty quickly.

  She was just about to insist that Caleb allow her to take off the blindfold when he said, “You’ll want to take a step down here.”

  Bree did as she was told and felt the ground squish under her feet. Sand. They were somewhere on the beach. Of course. It was the most obvious, and she didn’t know why it hadn’t been her first guess. There was no need to make her wear a bandana for that, though, considering they’d come out to watch the sunset every evening for the past week.

  Except tonight felt different. There was a buzz of energy in the air. And as they walked, she began to hear other sounds, ones that didn’t belong to the ocean. She heard big band music playing a little ways in the distance, like something someone would swing dance to. Then, after another minute, the murmur of people talking.

  They weren’t alone.

  But she’d bet she was the only one walking around with a piece of cloth wrapped around her head.

  Bree didn’t have to wait much longer for the noises to grow in volume. The aroma of cooked fish was strong, and she thought she heard the crackling of a fire. “Can I take it off now?”

  In answer to her question, she felt Caleb’s hands untying the knot he’d made in the bandana. It fell away, and she stumbled back. The sunset was just as beautiful as always, but people weren’t lounging in the sand as usual, scattered on their blankets and taking in the sight.

  Instead, a dozen bonfires dotted the sand. Tiki torches lined the beach from one end to the other, providing a mystical glow on all who walked the shoreline. The torches ended at a small stage set up near the boardwalk. A band was playing, and Bree recognized Erwin on the trumpet. People were dancing on the boardwalk, throwing each other around like they were back in the 1950s.

  “What is this?” Bree asked, confused, and yet smiling, because the grin that Caleb wore was infectious. She was glad she’d allowed herself to be blindfolded, seeing how happy the ‘big reveal’ made him.

  “Welcome to Swing into Starlight. The event that will kick off tourist season.”

  Bree slowly turned in a circle, trying to take it all in. “You do all this to celebrate the thousands of random strangers who will visit your town?”

  “Tourism is how we survive,” Caleb said. “Think of this as something akin to a Native American rain dance, but instead of moisture, we are praying for a bounty of people to visit us over the next several months. Funny enough, the event itself attracts a couple of thousand tourists, effectively starting the season. And it only gets bigger every year.”

  “Where do they all stay?” Bree had been in town for about a month and realized she hadn’t seen much beyond the boardwalk and the shops that surrounded it. But there had to be hotels for all the visitors, right?

  Caleb pointed away from there toward a string of restaurants. “Just past Erwin’s place, there are a couple of fancy resorts with their own private beach. Plus, you re
member Jules, our waitress from when we ate at that burger place a couple of weeks ago? Her parents have a bed and breakfast place just a couple of minutes from here.”

  Bree had known that tourists were important to Starlight Ridge, but she hadn’t realized to what extent. “This is incredible,” she said, still in awe of how they had transformed the beach. “I can’t believe Adeline didn’t tell me about it. How could I have missed something this big being set up?” She turned to him and placed a hand on her hip. “You should have at least warned me that I’d need my camera.”

  “Good thing I have you covered,” he said, grinning. That was when she saw a black strap across his chest. And a case hanging at his side. Her camera case.

  Warmth spread through her chest, and if Bree didn’t know better, she would say she was falling in— She stopped herself there, not allowing herself to linger on that thought, and instead meandered toward the shoreline as she took in the lights and music, steering clear of the fish-roasting bonfires.

  Caleb gave her a sheepish smile as they walked. “I asked Adeline not to tell you about tonight. And then purposely kept you inside all day, so you couldn’t see them preparing the stage and everything.” Caleb had made her lunch, and they’d eaten in his apartment. She’d just thought he was being romantic.

  “Adeline and her new employees were crazy busy at her store all week, and she was desperate enough to ask for my help, despite how big a mess I always make of things,” Bree mused. “She said she had a huge order that she had to fill, which I didn’t understand, considering how slow it usually is.” She scanned the beach. “Does she have a chocolate stand here?”

  “Yup, in front of her store on the boardwalk. I actually have to get back to my place, but I wanted to make sure I was here for this, to see you experience everything for the first time.”

  Bree laughed, thinking of the extent that Caleb must have gone to over the last couple of days to keep this from her, not wanting to ruin the surprise. She reached out to take his hand, but then saw his eyes scan the crowd, like he was unsure who would see them. He had yet to show even the smallest amount of public affection since Isaac had seen them on the beach.