We stopped at the rental shack, and Wes signed a bunch of paperwork before paying and collecting keys and the snorkeling gear. The boat was navy and white, probably about twenty-five-feet long, and had a small canopy over the driver’s console for a bit of shade. But otherwise, it was open to the sun. Its deck was clean and uncluttered, with cushioned bench seats along the sides and a cooler tucked under the captain’s chair. Wes held out a hand to help me on, then lifted a compartment door in the bow and stowed the snorkel gear.
“You good to go?” he asked as he took off his shirt.
Miraculously, my mood started to improve. “Yep.”
He put the key in and turned it, and the engine hummed to life. “I’m just going to punch the coordinates of the cave into the GPS before we go.”
It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining in a perfect blue sky. As we started to drive, the smell of the saltwater made me forget whatever I’d been annoyed about earlier. We went slow until we got out of the marina area, past the docked boats, and then Wes yelled, “You ready to hit the gas?”
I smiled. “Yes!”
He pushed the throttle, and we shot forward, the boat slicing through the water. I hadn’t thought to bring a hair tie since I didn’t know where we were going, so the wind whipped my hair all around. But it felt exhilarating—so freeing. Saltwater sprayed as we crossed over the back of another boat’s wake, making me squeal.
After a while, we slowed as we approached a hidden cove. The water inside it glowed bright turquoise. Wes killed the engine, and we drifted for a moment, listening to the gentle lap of water against the hull before he got the anchor out of another compartment in the back.
Once he was done setting it, he turned to me with a big smile. “Beautiful, right?”
I looked over the side and saw sand at the bottom. “How deep is it?”
He checked the electronic depth finder on the dash. “Twenty feet.”
“Wow. It looks like I can stand.”
“It will probably get shallower as we get closer to the cave entrance. But there’s a lot of coral, so don’t try to reach for the bottom or touch the reef. It can be razor sharp.”
“Oh. Okay.” I glanced over the side of the boat again, feeling wary.
“You ready?”
I took a deep breath and nodded, even though my heart pounded. When I stood, I could see fish swimming around the boat. I liked marine life, but generally on my plate or in an aquarium. Though, at least part of me was excited to try something new with Wes. We put on our fins and snorkels and then stood on the ledge at the side of the boat together.
“Onthree?” he asked.
I bit my bottom lip but nodded.
“One. Two. Three!”
We jumped in at the same time. The cool water was a shock, and I squealed as I surfaced. Wes popped up beside me, grinning. “You good?”
“I’m sort of terrified.” I laughed.
“I won’t let anything hurt you, in or out of the water.” He held out his hand. “Come on. We’ll swim into the cave together.”
Goggles and snorkel ready, I took a deep breath and stuck my face into the ocean, kicking my legs behind me. The water was so crystal clear, I could see all the way to the rocks of the cave up ahead. Tiny yellow and black fish swam around us as we moved toward it. Wes squeezed my hand and pointed to a bright blue fish with yellow and black fins that looked exactly like Dory fromFinding Nemo, and soon I forgot to be nervous anymore. Together, we snorkeled for more than two hours before climbing back onto the boat.
“That was incredible!” I tugged off my mask. “It felt like we were on our own little planet, just us and schools of fish.”
Wes rubbed a towel over his wet hair and smiled. “You were a natural out there.”
He handed me a towel, and while I dried off, he stowed the snorkel gear back in a cabinet. When he bent forward, I noticed how red his back was.
I pointed. “I think you’re getting burned.”
He twisted and looked over his shoulder. “Shit. Yeah.”
“I have sunscreen. Want me to put it on you so itdoesn’t get any worse?”
“If you don’t mind.”
