by S. K Munt
Adele nodded. ‘Fair enough. It’s just that the furthest I’ve swum is from Hawaii to L.A.’
‘That’s actually quite a long distance.’ Tristan couldn’t believe she’d ever suggest flying after what he’d just been through. Maybe she was a nice girl, but sensitivity really wasn’t her strongest suit. ‘Just go pack, okay? I’m going to end this fool before he takes one more thing from-’ Tristan’s voice broke. ‘You have an hour tops, then we’re gone.’
Adele nodded dumbly. ‘Okay,’ she said quietly. ‘Tristan I-’
He held up a hand. ‘Please….’ The knowledge that Ivyanne had made her peace with his death enough to accept Lincoln’s hand was like acid in his veins, and he couldn’t even look at Adele at that moment without wanting to throttle her for her involvement. ‘One hour.’
Adele turned and scurried out of the room. Tristan sank back down at the table, put his head in his hands and let out a wrenching cry.
⁓
Lincoln awoke in the worst mood on Monday morning. After a half hour swim with Sherri, he’d gone back to Ivyanne’s house, eager to pick up where they’d left off, pleased that he’d done the right thing by his charge-and had been floored to discover that he’d been locked out.
He must have hammered on her door for twenty minutes, but if she’d heard him, she’d ignored him. When the neighbors light had flickered on, he’d seen that he was fighting a lost battle, and trudged back to his room with Sherri, who had loyally waited for him, stammering apologies-both of them wet and cold.
Lincoln had been beside himself with outrage at first. Ivyanne hadn’t seemed angry that he’d agreed to accompany Sherri to the water.
Then the : ‘Or had she?’ Moment had come. By the time Lincoln got into his own bed, he’d realized that he hadn’t even asked if it was all right. He’d just gone-without looking back, assuming Ivyanne understood.
But how would she understand? She didn’t like Sherri, and she wasn’t happy that Lincoln was working so closely with her as it was. He’d come over for their first romantic night alone and then taken off with another naked girl! Lincoln had tried to imagine Ivyanne doing the same thing to him with another guy, and he cringed from the flash of red-hot jealousy.
Okay, so he’d stuffed up-big time. Again. What was wrong with him? He finally had everything he wanted and yet he couldn’t seem to remember that it was a blessing he was supposed to be cherishing when it counted most.
Sherri was normal with him all day, acting as though nothing had happened. She was bright and bubbly, and kept his coffees coming, which he drank even though he was trying to cut back. He didn’t want to offend her-he knew she was feeling like a boat without a mooring as it was, and putting on a brave face so he wouldn’t feel guilty for having deprived her of a regular, human future as a kindness to him.
Still, Lincoln knew that he couldn’t allow Sherri to continue to come between himself and his beautiful fiancé, even if it meant hurting his waitress’s feelings, which he hated doing.
Lincoln pulled out a pad and a pen and leaned over the bar, jotting down all of the things Ivyanne loved-her favorite flower, her favorite colors, her favorite foods...Vana had called him the day before and asked him to organize the engagement party for himself and Ivyanne for that Saturday night-the night before Tristan’s memorial out on Bracken. That meant that he had four days to plan the sort of party that would leave no question in Ivyanne’s mind as to his feelings for her.
In the meantime, guests had started arriving on Saturday afternoon-guests who had shown up for Tristan’s funeral as well- so the resort was almost at capacity which had his father grinning, but Lincoln nervous. He was going to be flat out between then and the party. How was he going to make time for her as well?
In the end, he’d decided to give Ivyanne one day to cool off, sending her apologetic text messages every chance he got so she’d know that he was sorry, but giving her the physical space to calm down and hopefully-miss him. It was probably best to steer clear of her for awhile anyway-her lack of text responses told him that he wasn’t going to be getting off lightly. Why spend hours banging her door down when he could filter that energy into throwing her the most beautiful party she’d ever had?
Until then, he’d have to utilize Sherri as much as he could-by forcing her to be involved in his love life. If she did still have feelings for him, then helping him pick a cake for Pintang to bake his fiancé was sure to make his unavailability clear. And if she didn’t take the hint...well, there were bar jobs all over Seaview. She didn’t need to be in his care if she was going to screw him with his own kindness.
⁓
Ivyanne met Dalton on the dock of the small marina on Tuesday morning, her heart pounding nervously in her chest at the thought of coming face to face with Tristan’s boat again. But she’d called Dalton to organize a check up on his marine craft so that when his parents came, they’d be able to decide what to do with it.
‘Good morning princess,’ Dalton said, addressing her formally for the first time in a long time. His handsome face was full of concern. ‘I’ve been down to the boat and had a look around...but Tristan was tidy. It won’t even need a cleaning before putting it on the market.’
‘I’m still not sure if it’ll get sold that way.’ She said, stroking the side of the vessel lovingly. ‘Maybe mum will like it. I’d take it but I don’t think Link would appreciate that.’ She frowned, thinking that in her current mood, she may just buy it to piss Lincoln off. He wasn’t letting up with the woeful text messages, but she wasn’t ready to let go of her anger either. If he wanted to prove that he wasn’t into Sherri, he could do it by not pissing Ivyanne off in the first place! After all, this was incident number three.
‘Maybe not.’ He stepped on deck. ‘If you have a good idea of what was inside, best off checking that stuff out too. We had a boat stolen a few weeks ago, and a few expensive items have gone missing from others since then.’ Dalton grimaced. ‘It’s been a nightmare. This is such a sleepy area. I wasn’t prepared to deal with security stuff. I’ve barely gotten a wink of sleep since.’
‘If someone is robbing this area, then that’s just awful.’ Ivyanne commiserated, hoping that Tristan hadn’t left any personal effects of value behind.
‘So are the owners when they’ve found out.’ Dalton bemoaned.
‘If they’re giving you a hard time, just sing ‘em out of their senses.’ Ivyanne joked.
Dalton extended his hand to Ivyanne, helping her up onto the pristine white deck of Tristan’s boat. ‘How many yacht club owners do you think serenade the fishermen?’ he cracked, then sobered. ‘But even if I would-my voice doesn’t work like that.’
Ivyanne glanced up at him, surprised. ‘It doesn’t?’
He shook his head. It was reddish brown, shot through with streaks of silver and blonde and looked full of vitality under the sun. ‘Nope. I can sing-and well-but the biggest reaction I’ve ever gotten for it is a round of applause. A lot of us Court-Zara’s can’t siren.’
‘Wow. No, I didn’t know that.’ Ivyanne looked around the deck, remembering the last time she had been standing there, surging into the sea looking for Ardhi and Lincoln. She shivered at the memory. ‘You can scream though, right?’
‘For sharks? Oh yeah. But manipulating people’s emotions? Never. Your mum once told me that it had something to do with dilution of our genes. I’m fifth generation half blood-I suppose it’s not all that surprising.’
Ivyanne walked towards the cabin, chewing her bottom lip. She was assessing the boat for signs of disturbance, but her mind was focused on Dalton’s lack of sirening abilities. What if singing wasn’t the only thing to fall prey to evolution? What if the shark thing went, or the ability to breathe for longer than a few minutes? Would a fifteenth generation mermaid be no more than a human with strong swimming capabilities? It was a scary thought, and it brought her back to Eka’s tirade...obviously breeding with Ardhi wasn’t the solution-the Marked families were doing fine...b
ut perhaps it was time for her mother to do something about the dilution in the Court Zara line, which was just as significant to their species as her own side. After all, the Court-Zara’s made up seventy percent of their population-they needed protection too.
At least they had two very good solutions-Lincoln and Ardhi. The more humans they could turn-for both sides of the kingdom to breed with-the more fortified both sides would be. She’d have to get Saraya to investigate….make notes of who could do what, and which chains were the weakest. Once they knew which areas needed most addressing, they’d have a better idea of how to tackle the problem.
‘Where is Link anyway? Figured he’d be glued to your side today.’
‘Why’s that?’ Ivyanne asked, still looking around.
‘Because it’s Valentine’s Day, of course.’
Ivyanne looked up, shocked. ‘It is?’
Dalton nodded. ‘I know it’s more of a human than a mer thing, but considering how exposed we are to the human race around here, it’s pretty hard to avoid.’
‘I’ve been staying at home. And Link’s busy with work.’ Ivyanne shrugged. ‘I’ve never had a Valentine before. It honestly didn’t occur to me. Usually, I just hung out with Ardhi and made fun of those celebrating it.’ The recollection made her feel a pang in her chest. Ardhi. She’d left things with him on pretty shaky terms Saturday night, and then had agitated the situation further by her little tirade Sunday morning. He’d chosen to stay, turning his back on Lux for her benefit. Ivyanne ignoring him on top of that had to be hurting. Maybe, she should go see him in the daylight, face to face, and without having slept with someone two minutes beforehand.
‘Yeah, I’m dateless too. It’s a busy night in hospitality-I have sixteen dinner bookings already.’
Ivyanne smiled. ‘You know...there is a new single mermaid within our midst-Sherri. Have you met her yet?’
Dalton shook his head. ‘Nah, I’ve heard of her though. No offense, but I’m not really into blondes.’
‘Lies,’ Ivyanne joked. ‘Everyone’s into blondes.’
‘Hmm...maybe. Lux looked good with blonde hair, though I preferred the red…. It’s a shame she left so quickly. I would have liked to hang out with her at your engagement party this weekend.’
‘Yes well, unfortunately, she would have preferred to hang out with the groom-to-be instead, while shooting the bride-to-be death stares for not marrying her damn godson.’ Ivyanne descended into the belly of the boat, turning left to the galley, which was almost as nice as her own kitchen albeit smaller. There were two cups sitting in filmy, cold dishwater in the sink, and a tea towel was on the floor, that looked out of place.
‘I heard about that, and it’s a damn shame.’ Dalton said. ‘I mean, did she have to take off like that? Ditching Ardhi the day he returned? It’s so contradictory to what I’ve gleaned about their bond.’
‘Yeah well, that’s my doing.’ Ivyanne said. ‘I ordered her out of my house.’
‘That doesn’t mean she had to leave the region.’ Dalton muttered. ‘Poor Ardhi.’
That remark gave Ivyanne pause for thought as she knelt to pick up the dish towel. It was strange. Lux had cared enough to scream at her for hurting Ardhi, then had just taken off, leaving him behind in the state he’d been in? What had transpired between the two of them, once she’d gone upstairs? How was he feeling about it?
Probably awful. She thought. Yeah, I need to see him. Today. Her hand closed around the rag and she frowned to feel how damp it was.
‘Someone’s used the kitchen.’
Dalton was at her side. ‘Really?’
Ivyanne nodded. ‘Dirty dishes in the sink-Tristan would never leave dirty dishes especially considering he was going for..’ She cringed at the recollection of being dumped. ‘A while. And this tea towel is wet.’
‘So?’
‘So it’s still wet, or slightly-and Tristan left over two weeks ago.’ Ivyanne hung it up to dry. ‘Besides, why would a dish towel be used when the washing up wasn’t finished? Look at the sink-everything clean has been put away. I think that was used to mop up a spill.’
Dalton climbed down after her. ‘Anything else?’
‘I don’t know yet…’ Ivyanne moved to the ajar cupboard door and frowned, opening it. The contents were messy and jumbled. ‘It’s disorganized- that’s not good. Tristan is pedantic about neatness….Pintang said that when she cleaned his room, it rarely required anything. Said he lined up all of his things in the kitchenette with the labels facing the same way.’ She motioned to the cupboard. ‘This looks like it’s been ransacked.’ Ivyanne shut the door then opened the one next to it. A small plastic trash can was inside. ‘Oh wow! There’s a Big Mac wrapper in here.’
Dalton leaned against the cupboard. ‘I’d say : ‘So’ but I have a feeling you’ll be able to tell me why that’s weird…?’
‘It’s weird all right-Tristan is a vegetarian.’
‘Okay yeah...then Big Mac is bad.’ Dalton agreed.
Ivyanne shut the cupboard door and turned to the lounge area on her right, where the gleaming white corner lounge was wedged in behind a large, fixed table. ‘No doubt-someone’s been in here!’
Dalton cleared his throat. ‘Um...Ivyanne? Is it possible that Tristan had a, um...nocturnal visitor? Someone he picked up in River City maybe? Took her to McDonalds, brought her back here...had a cup of tea and then had to split in the morning?’
Ivyanne turned and smirked at him. ‘Very possible-but no.’ She pointed to the couch, where a throw blanket and the cushions from the two armchairs had been left. ‘If Tristan had a guest...they certainly wouldn’t have slept on the couch.’
Dalton blushed. ‘Probably not.’
Ivyanne sighed. ‘Sorry Dalton-but someone’s been here and crashed for a night at least. Whoever it was has been careful-I don’t think we’re talking about an average bum here-they’ve been sneaky about it.’ She shrugged. ‘But look...whoever was here is obviously gone and didn’t come here with malicious ideas.’
‘That’s a bloody relief,’ Dalton said. ‘This boat is worth…. a lot more than I think my insurance is going to cover. It’s the fanciest one here!’
‘It is?’ Ivyanne hadn’t noticed.
Dalton bobbed his head. ‘This is a tiny, local Marina. People don’t keep Princess Yachts here-they take them up north, or south to the harbor.’
‘Princess yacht?’ Ivyanne repeated.
‘That’s the brand.’ Dalton slid his hand along the gleaming timber kitchen panelling. ‘V45. Towards the lower end of their scale but still-this baby’s worth millions.’
Ivyanne was gobsmacked that Tristan had spent so much on a boat-just so he had somewhere to live while he pursued her! And one branded after royalty. It took her a moment to find her voice. The idea of buying the boat for sentimental sake went flying out the window-no way would she ask her mother for a multi-million dollar yacht when she needed so much already to buy into LoveSun.
‘Well... I don’t think there’s anything to worry about anyway.’
Dalton shrugged. ‘Okay. But I dare say I’ll be hiring a night watchmen soon.’
‘That’s probably a good idea. You can go back to work now if you want Dalton-I’ll have one last look around and then lock up.’
‘Cool. Thanks for your time Ivyanne. I guess I’ll see you on Saturday night?’
‘Saturday night?’ Ivyanne repeated. And then she remembered-the party. ‘Oh...right. Sure.’
‘Bye.’ Dalton turned and walked quickly to the small ladder leading up to the deck.
‘Bye.’
Ivyanne waited until his feet had disappeared onto the upper deck before making her way down to the owner’s stateroom, blushing in anticipation of the flashback she was about to submit herself to. She caught her breath when she entered, the memories backwashing through her bloodstream. She crossed to the bed-which was perfectly made as she’d expected, and flung herself facedown on it, burying her head in the pillows which still con
tained a whiff of Tristan’s unique and utterly heavenly scent.
I miss you, she told him morosely and hugged the pillow tight. But the back of her hand grazed something hard-something that didn’t belong there. She lifted the pillow, swallowing hard when she saw the small, blue velvet box beneath it.
Ivyanne sat up and held the box in her trembling hand, terrified of opening it but knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist. She popped the lid and gasped out loud when her eyes landed on the brilliant, diamond encrusted ring wedged on the satin pillow.
‘Tristan Tristan…..’ she whispered, holding the box up to the light. ‘What did you do?’
The ring was exquisite-Ivyanne had never seen another like it. It was either a platinum band-or white gold-Ivyanne wasn’t a jewelry connoisseur-and it twisted into the perfect shape of a shell. The entire surface, every curve and spiral, was embedded with countless diamonds. It was ostentatious and completely impractical, ‘bling’ in its truest form, and Ivyanne would never have been able to wear it a day in the ocean without fretting. It was a ring made to draw attention-the last thing on earth Ivyanne would ever have dreamed of designing herself!
And Ivyanne loved it. She held it in her hands, gazing at it, itching to try it on but knowing nothing she could ever do would be as cruel to Lincoln then to take off his engagement ring and experiment with another man’s. So Ivyanne shut the box, a tear rolling down her cheek, and replaced it under the pillow. She would come back for it-but at that moment she couldn’t bear to look at it. Because when she tried to envision him getting down on one knee and presenting it to her….Ivyanne couldn’t imagine that she would have had any answer other than yes for him.
‘Happy Valentine’s Day, Tristan,’ she said softly and walked out of the room.
23.
Lincoln was staring at the mock up of the finger food menu for his engagement party when he felt two hands slip around his waist. A second later, soft lips pressed a kiss to his cheek.