The sea floor was only about thirty feet below the surface. It wasn’t flat and smooth. It was actually quite rocky and cavernous like the island nearby, only it was underwater. The water was so clear that if it weren’t for the rugged landscape she’d be able to see quite far.
A little fish darted between her legs and she jerked.
Nick got her attention and pointed ahead.
There was a school of large tuna swimming between two large rock clusters that connected to the tiny islands above.
He then pointed up and they went up for air.
“We’ll get in position, and I’ll give you the gun,” Nick said.
“Wait, I thought we were going to practice some more.”
“No, my Annie Oakley doesn’t need more practice. You’ll be fine.”
Joanna was going to protest but he plunged back down.
Beneath the water, they kicked with their finned feet closer to the school of large tuna. Nick handed her the speargun and gave her a thumbs up. The tuna were each three if not four feet long, and there were a lot of them.
The gun was easier to maneuver beneath the water and so she decided to hold it like a pistol this time.
The spear zipped through the water with the line attached and struck the tuna straight into its side. Puffy clouds of red erupted around it, and it darted and pulled the line out.
Joanna gripped the gun in case it should jerk out of her hands, but after a moment the reel stopped spinning. The tuna had met its end.
Nick pointed up and they surfaced.
“Great job, Joanna!” She laughed as he made gun sounds with his mouth as he pretended his hands were pistols.
They swam back to the boat and he reeled it in. It was a four footer.
“Wow, this baby weighs at least thirty pounds,” he said muscling up. “Are you hungry now?”
Joanna bounced on her heels and nodded.
Chapter Fourteen
Nick fried the fish while they both drank another beer. He told her she could steer them back to the dock if she wanted, but she didn’t have to.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Joanna asked him conversationally, dangling her feet off the side of the boat. “Any family in Skiathos?”
“No, I am all that is left,” Nick said. “I think our mothers died around the same time. Did your mother have any more children?”
Joanna snorted. “No, my mother would have rather died than have another kid. Parenthood didn’t suit her.”
“So have you discovered anything from the letters so far?”
Joanna hesitated, then said, “She loved him very much… in the beginning. I’ve only read the first two. They were difficult for me to read. She was a completely different person when they met. She was… more like me, as I am now. Or how I wish I could be. What they had together… in the beginning, was a magical thing for her. I just can’t bear to find out how it ended.”
“He kept every one of those letters,” Nick said, absently, flipping the fish.
“I know. And I also know my mom was probably the one who screwed it up.”
“Still,” Nick added, “she kept you, didn't she? She could have given you up, but she kept you. Something was going on within her.” He flipped the fish over one more time and said, “OK, let’s eat.”
He got them some paper plates and they sat cross legged on his bed and ate as they continued their conversation.
“Do you know what happened and just aren’t telling me?” Joanna asked in between bites.
