“Because you’d let me.”
Truth be told, I’d been too afraid that something would happen to her if I got out of the water first, so I’d always let her remain in front of me. That way, I never took my eyes off her. “I’ll even give you a head-start if you’re scared.”
“Not a chance,” she says. “You ready?”
“One. Two?—”
“Three!” she yells, then starts swimming as fast as she can through the water. I laugh and follow, stride after stride, moving through the water with the proficiency that comes from spending a lifetime swimming. First as a kid living on the coast, then as a Navy SEAL.
And no matter how many swim minutes I log, I’ll never get tired of it. Being out on the water has a way of putting things into perspective. Especially when I think of Peter and the apostles as they were out on that storm-tossed lake.
It’s a reminder that, no matter how stormy things get, Jesus is always there.
I fix my attention back to Tessa. She’s leading us, with me keeping pace a few feet back.
In her darkest moments, she turned away from Him. Is that why she’s here? Did He give her a nudge back to Stormwatch so she could find her way home again?
Chapter 18
Tessa
Being out here with Zane is soothing an ache I hadn’t realized was there. My entire existence over the last eighteen years has been simply surviving. Day after day, it’s all I could focus on because daring to think about anything but rock bottom was too dangerous.
I move along the rocky beach, scanning tide pools for signs of life. Out here, surrounded by clear water, it’s easy to forget all of the things waiting for us back in the real world.
“Look what I found.”
I turn as Zane crosses over, his sun-kissed olive skin so distracting it should be illegal. Seriously, it’s all I can do not to reach out and run the tips of my fingers over the ink swirling on his chest. In his hand, he holds a sand dollar, and he takes a seat on a chunk of rock.
Sitting beside him, I look at the sand dollar in his hand. “We used to find these all the time.”
He smiles. “Did you know that when the Keyhole Urchin who called this home dies, and the sand dollar dries, it leaves behind tiny doves?”
“What?” I arch a brow.
Zane grins, then snaps the sand dollar in half. He gently shakes it, and five tiny white dove-shaped things fall into the palm of his hand.
“Those were inside?” I reach out and pluck one from his palm, letting it rest in mine.
“Yeah. Sand dollar doves. I didn’t know about them either. Not until Anastasia showed me before I’d left for training. We were out on the beach with Mom, and she found one. These doves are said to symbolize peace and joy that spread throughout the world when Christ rose from the dead.”
Captivated by what he’s saying, I hang on every word.
He sets the rest of the doves into my hand, then gently arranges the broken pieces of the sand dollar in his hand. “These four outer holes here are said to symbolize the four wounds in Christ’s hands and feet when he was nailed to the cross, while this fifth one here is from the Roman’s spear.”
“I never would have thought of it like that.”
He chuckles. “Me neither. Like I said, Anastasia is the one who told me. I took one of the white doves with me and still have it. It’s gone with me on every mission, and somehow—it’s still not broken.”
“Have you been on a lot of them?” I ask, tipping my face to look up at him. “Missions?”
“More than I can count.” He swallows hard, his gaze fixated on the water. “I’ve done things I wish I could take back, and I know that a lot of people would be put off by the violence I’ve carried out—and rightfully so. But I do feel like I’ve made a difference.”
“You made a difference in my life.”
He shifts his attention to me now. “I hope so.”
“Whatever happiness I’ve had in my life, it’s because of you. Then and now.”
