She started toward the dive shop, then turned and walked backward through the sand.
“Careful with the sandwich, Annie. I don’t want to see you on the wall of shame.”
“There’s a wall of shame?”
“Not yet, but I’m ambitious.”
Then she was gone, crossing toward the low white building with her wetsuit hanging at her hips and her laugh carrying back when someone near the tanks called her name.
I sat there with cooling coffee, half a sandwich, and a business card I had no business keeping.
My phone buzzed inside my tote.
RACHEL DONOVAN CALLING.
I turned it face down.
Rachel knew I had promised to rest, which meant she was probably calling to make sure my definition of rest did notinvolve adopting a boat, changing my name, joining a cult, or dating someone professionally inconvenient.
I looked at Ellie’s card.
Private beginner sessions.
Rachel’s voice appeared in my head, clear and horrified.
Absolutely not. You do not scuba dive. You have a voice people insure. You have ears. You have tour dates. You have a brand.
For the first time in weeks, the word brand made me want to laugh instead of scream.
I opened Reef Rascal’s website on my phone.
The home page showed a turtle, a coral reef, and Ellie hanging upside down underwater while giving the camera two thumbs-down. Beneath it, a banner read:
PRIVATE BEGINNER DIVE: ONE OPENING TOMORROW AT 8:00 A.M.
I had come to Pelican Key to be invisible, not reckless.
I had not come here to let a pretty dive instructor talk me into putting on a wetsuit and making eye contact with judgmental fish.
But Ellie Parker had looked at me like I was nobody.
And God help me, I wanted her to do it again.
The booking form asked for my name.
Not stage name.
Not billing entity.
Not the name people screamed from crowds until it stopped sounding human.
Just name.
I typedAnnie Millerbefore I could talk myself out of it.
The emergency contact box appeared beneath it.
I entered Rachel’s number, because recklessness had limits and because the thought of Rachel receiving a call from a diveshop after I had ignored her all morning was almost funny enough to justify the danger.
