Lauren eyed the bright red snorkel in Grey’s hands warily. “It’s clean, right?” she asked as Grey clipped it onto the strap of her mask.
“Yes, it’s clean.” Grey rolled her eyes as she gave the snorkel a light tug to make sure it was on tight. “All of this is my personal gear. I never lend it out to guests, and I can swear to you that you’re not going to catch any communicable diseases from using it.”
“If I get sick…”
“You are more than welcome to kick my ass. And if I get sick from using it after you…”
Lauren laughed and shook her head. “You won’t.”
“Well then, yay everybody for being disease-free,” Grey drawled. She winked at Lauren as she pulled her mask on, and then picked up her fins. “Do you have any questions?”
“Nope. I’m good.” Lauren picked up the remaining fins from the table and looked out at the rocks behind Grey. “Let’s go.”
Once they were both in the water and Grey was sure that Lauren’s equipment was fitted properly, she slipped her snorkel into her mouth and started toward the Indians.
They swam side-by-side through a gap between two of the jutting rocks, and Grey smiled when Lauren grabbed her arm and pointed at a burst of purple coral with the most excited look on her face. Grey followed Lauren around the gardens, occasionally touching Lauren’s arm to get her attention when they happenedupon something she thought Lauren would like. Though she had swam at this particular spot more times than she could count over the years, Lauren’s excitement over every reef fish or different grouping of coral made Grey feel like she was seeing all for the first time as well.
Sunlight cut through the water in golden rays, making the coral lining the walls of the shallow pool practically glow, and Grey was only dimly aware of the fact that she had all but stopped swimming just to watch Lauren. She smiled sheepishly when Lauren turned toward her, one hand held out in a ‘what are you doing?’ type of gesture, and shook her head as she hurried to catch up.
She had no idea what she was doing. She just knew that she did not want to stop.
They explored the gardens for a couple hours, eventually meeting up with the Muellers. The boys had fun showing off their skills, and Grey found herself laughing more than she had in longer than she could remember. It was the perfect morning, just sun and fun and the water she loved, and Grey’s smile was as wide as everyone else’s when she finally climbed back onto theVeritas.
“That was incredible,” Lauren enthused as she wrapped a towel around her waist.
“Yeah.” Grey watched a drop of water make its way slowly down Lauren’s stomach, and she smiled as she looked up into Lauren’s eyes. Her breath felt light in her chest when their gazes locked, and she nodded slowly. “Absolutely incredible.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
GREY’S FACE WAS a mask of concentration as she backed theVeritastoward its assigned berth in Soper’s Hole Marina. The marina was situated on the northern edge of Frenchman’s Cay, a small island connected to Tortola’s West End by a sandbar and a small bridge, and at one time the sheltered bay served as Blackbeard’s base of operations. The village itself was small, and the buildings overlooking the harbor were painted in a rainbow of bright, pastel colors. Like Sandy Spit, this was a stop she usually worked into most of her charters—it was a great location to give her guests a taste of the islands, and it also gave them a place to stretch their legs after being cooped up on the boat.
She inched theVeritascloser to the dock in small bursts, revving the cat’s twin engines to guide them slowly into the slip. Her brow was furrowed as she focused on the distance between the rear dive platforms and the dock, and she bumped the throttle forward just enough to bring the boat to a stop as she watched Lauren leap onto the dock with the stern line grasped firmly in her hand. Lauren was pulling the starboard line tight when Grey hopped down beside her, port line in hand. Once she had looped the line around a cleat, they pulled together guiding the boat back until the bumpers were snug against the dock.
When they were done, Grey turned to Lauren and offered her a small smile. “Nicely done.”
Lauren grinned and gave Grey a purposefully awful salute. “Thank you, Cap’n.”
“That is the worst salute I have ever seen,” Grey chuckled, shaking her head.
“Are we good to go into town now?” Kim called out, interrupting whatever retort Lauren looked ready to hurl in Grey’s direction.
“Absolutely.” Grey waved the Muellers down. She and Lauren helped the boys make the short hop onto the dock and, once they were all assembled, she pulled a key from her pocket. It was attached to a bright red foam keychain that would float if accidentally dropped into the water, and she smiled as she handed it to Kim. “This is a key to the salon doors, just in case either of us aren’t here when you guys get back.”
Kim nodded and slipped the key into her purse. “Any suggestions for where we should go?”
“The shops are all fun to poke around in.” Grey shrugged and hooked a thumb toward the bright buildings behind her that fronted the wide boardwalk. “And Pusser’s Landing is good for dinner. Downstairs is more laid back than up, and there’s usually some kind of live entertainment, so if the boys are still wiggly they would be able to get up and move around without disturbing anyone.”
“Oh, I think that’s where we’ll be then.” Kim looked at her boys, who were already running down the dock toward town, eager to explore, and shook her head as she slipped her hand into Will’s. “Here’s to hoping they can run off some of that energy.” She smiled affectionately at her children’s backs, and sighed as she looked back at Grey and Lauren. “Enjoy your night. We’ll see you guys later.”
Grey waited until the Muellers were on their way before she hopped back onto the boat, and she looked over her shoulder at Lauren as she climbed the steps to the back deck. “Are there any provisions we need to stock up on since we’re here?”
“I don’t think so.” Lauren shook her head as she followed Grey into the salon. “I mean, we pretty much have everything I’ll need for the rest of the trip, unless you can think of something.”
“Not really. I do want to offload our trash and top off the water and fuel, though.”
“Okay. So, what do you need me to do?”
“Nothing. I’m just going to hook up the water, and then I’ll call down to the harbormaster’s office for a trash pickup. There’s not that much, but I’m not in the mood to haul it all over to the dumpster myself.”
