“On three,” I said again. “One, two—”
As soon as the wordthreeleft my mouth, we jumped. For a moment I felt weightless, and then we fell, and the thrill of it made me forget everything, even Alex. I’d jumped off this yacht more times than I could count last charter season. Every leap gave me a delicious moment of freedom, shoving me back into the world for a few blissful seconds. We plunged into the water too soon, and the world around me disappeared. I’d let go of Alex’s hand as soon as the water swallowed us up, but when I resurfaced, he was already treading water in front of me.
“Holy shit,” he said. He shook the water from his hair and swam closer. “Are you all right?” I thought I felt his fingers graze my waist, but the sensation was gone as quickly as I’d noticed it. A fish. It had to have been a fish.
“I told you we wouldn’t die,” I said. “How’s your hand?”
“What?”
Adrenaline zipped through me, and I laughed at the awed look on his face. “Your hand, Alex.”
“Oh.” He pulled the Ziploc-bagged hand from the water. “It’s fine. I forgot about it, honestly.”
“See? Clears the head.”
“I get it now,” he said, still out of breath. “What the big deal is aboutyacht jumping. My heart...” He took my hand and pressed it to his chest. “It’s racing.”
I glanced at his hand holding mine against him. His skin was warm under my palm, and sure enough, I could feel his heart thudding away. “Mine too,” I said, the nervousness I’d felt standing on the edge of the yacht coursing through me. “Still thinking about that charter?” I asked.
When he spoke, his voice was quieter than it had been a moment before. “No, I’m not,” he said.
I looked up. The moment his eyes met mine the adrenaline faded, and all I felt was fear. But it wasn’t the same fear I’d had the very first time I stood on the edge of the yacht, ready to jump. This was entirely different and exponentially more terrifying. More frightening than the bungee jumping, and skydiving, and zip-lining I’d done for my list. More frightening than suffering through twenty dog charters.
“It’s getting dark,” I said. I pulled my hand from his chest and looked up at theSerendipitytowering beside us. “Maybe we should...”
“Go home,” Alex said.
Right as I turned back to him, the sun slipped beneath the horizon. In the span of a few seconds, the sky softened into a solid wall of pink where before there had only been fire. It was still beautiful, but it reminded me the color would drain from the sky at a rapid pace now, daylight fading until there was nothing but night. “Yeah,” I said. “We better go home.”
—
That evening, Mia, Kitty, and Greyson came outside while I was watering the peperomias. Ever since I’d gotten home, I’d been trying to shake off that look Alex had given me when we were in the water and the feeling of his heart beneath my hand.
After the girls settled on the lounge chairs, I told them all about Alex’s idea to spend the night at Coral Castle.
“That place issoweird,” Greyson said. “I went there on a field trip once, and the tour guide was this super-creepy guy who kept talking about magnetic fields. Some people say the guy who made it levitated all the stones. But other people think it was aliens. I’d believe aliens before the levitating thing.”
“Don’t get too excited,” I said when Greyson paused to take a breath. “Your dad has to talk to the event planner first. It might not even happen.”
Greyson turned toward Kitty. “We should ask him if he’s called yet, and if he hasn’t, we should make him callright now.”
I tried to stop Greyson and said there was no rush, but she’d already dragged Kitty back through the condo.
I moved on to the camellia shrub, hoping Alex wouldn’t think I’d sent the girls over to rush him, when I noticed one person seemed decidedly unexcited about this plan. Mia had her knees drawn up to her chin, silent since coming outside. She stared out at the palm trees lining the back of the condo, picking absentmindedly at the leaves of my hibiscus bush.
“I know it’s not the coolest thing in the world, but it might be fun,” I said.
Mia shrugged. “I guess.”
“You could drive us down there if you wanted. You haven’t gotten any driving time in.”
Mia’s mouth parted, then snapped shut again. “No thanks. I don’t really like driving.”
What newly licensed sixteen-year-old didn’t like to drive? I thought about the conversation I’d had with my sister that morning. Was this a moody teenager thing or a grief thing?Just ask how they’re feeling, I heard Beth say.
Everything in me resisted Beth’s request. I wasn’t good at this sort of thing. What I wanted to do was suggest we watch an episode ofMy Super Sweet 16. That always cheered them up. But I couldn’t let Beth down. Not when she’d specifically asked me to do this.
I sat at Mia’s feet and spoke before I could chicken out. “How are you... feeling?”
