CHAPTER

thirty-seven

I WOKE UP BEFORE dawn the next day for a surfing lesson with Brandon. He’d been booked the previous afternoon and evening, but this morning’s dawn slot was available. And I knew why as I yawned in the near darkness. I had to pass by the sound-asleep cats on my way out the door.

At All Tide Up, I read and signed the waiver form, gulping at the terms and conditions. Then Brandon gave me a hang loose sign. “Ready to ride the waves, Mimi?”

Uh, no. But I still managed to change into the rental wetsuit. It smelled like seaweed and clung to me in an unflattering way. I felt like a human version of a sushi hand roll when I finally left the dressing room.

Brandon selected two boards. “We’re on dawn patrol today.”

I didn’t manage to ask him any questions while walking down the beach, what with the early morning hour and trying to trudge through the sand without falling flat on my face. Thank goodness not many people were around to witness my wobbly gait. But Brandon himself seemed to be a chatterbox today.

“This is the best time to go out,” he said. “Look at the precious water.”

We’d reached the edge of where damp met dry sand. “The ocean seems gentle this morning,” I said.

“It’s called, ‘glassy,’” he said. “Smooth water and great to learn on. Here’s your official funboard for today.”

“My what?” I asked. “Will it guarantee my fun?”

“Surfing is always a refreshing experience,” he said. “And we call any medium-length surfboard a ‘funboard.’”

So he wasn’t making me any promises then.

Brandon wasn’t a bad trainer. After chalking a line on the middle of the board, he advised me to balance on its center. He even had me practice sliding from tummy to standing, with the board positioned on the sand first.

However, I was a horrible student when actually in the water. After wiping out for the fifth time, I licked the salt off my lips and said, “Let’s take a breather.”

On the shore, Brandon gazed out to the sea, but he put down his board. My own funboard already lay in the sand, and I longed to sprawl next to it but refrained. Brandon wouldn’t take me seriously if I questioned him while prone.

I wrung out my waterlogged hair. “You know, I couldn’t help but admire Helen’s engagement ring.”

His back stiffened. “You’ve seen it?”

“It’s beautiful. In fact, I’ve been meaning to take the next steps with my boyfriend.” A slight white lie. I wasn’t anywhere close to getting hitched. “Where’s it from?”

“Er, probably the Jewelry Square,” he mumbled.

“Huh?”

“That downtown area with all the stores.” He pointed south. I guess he wasn’t very good with directions because the heart of Los Angeles lay northeast of us.

“Do you mean the Jewelry District?” The section, near Hill Street in downtown, was filled with merchants who peddled gold, silver, and precious gemstones at wholesale prices.

“Right, that’s it.” He started tapping his fingers against his thigh.

“The diamond was huge. How many carats again?”

He held up three fingers, furrowed his brow, and then said, “Maybe two?”

Hmm. Merlin had mentioned the stone weighing about a carat.

To continue my ruse, I said, “I know you mentioned a Vegas wedding. Any venues you’d recommend there?”

A genuine smile lit up his face. “I did discover this far-out place in Vegas. It’s a surfing-themed chapel. You can get married there with the roar of the ocean piped in through subwoofers.

“And get this,” he continued, “a large screen on the wall simulates being in a green room.”

“That sitting area before you go on a show?” I’d heard the term mentioned by Nicola before.

“Nah, it’s that secret spot when you’re in the barrel of a wave. The entire world around you turns green.”

“Gee,” I said, “that chapel sounds like a great fit since you two met surfing.”

His smile faltered, and his voice grew flat. “Helen didn’t go for it. She wanted, er, a different sort of ceremony.”

“Oh, too bad.” I started shivering in the breeze that whipped at me, even through my wetsuit. Or maybe it was from the ice that had crept into his tone.

“You’re cold,” he said. “Do you want to go back into the water?”

“No, I’m done with the lesson.” I lifted my board and wiped away the sand.

We traveled in awkward silence back to All Tide Up. I wanted to change the chilly atmosphere as we walked along and thought of an excellent way to break the tension. “So, Brandon, I never did get the full story. How did you pop the question?”

His board slipped from his fingers, but he managed to snag it before it fell all the way down. “I didn’t.”

We’d arrived at the storefront, but I stopped and turned to face him. “What’s that?”

He blinked at me. “Helen proposed to me.”

Huh? Then I remembered our previous conversation about how the proposal had been “a simple ask” and that Helen had hated drama. I hurried into the store to cover up my surprise, mumbling about needing to change.

In the dressing room, I reevaluated my entire conversation with Brandon on the beach. No wonder he hadn’t known much about the ring. Helen had purchased it herself.

I took a while mulling over my thoughts, as well as getting the sand (that had somehow managed to seep through the suit) off my body. So long, in fact, that Brandon had to leave for his next appointment by the time I’d finished changing. I gave him a quick thank-you right before he stepped out the door.

Then I returned the wetsuit to the employee at the front.

“How did you like your lesson?” the woman with tousled pink locks asked me.

“I think I’m a natural . . . landlubber,” I said.

The woman shook her head, making her colored hair fly. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Did something go wrong during your session? Would you like to file a complaint?”

I held my hands up. “Nothing like that. Brandon’s a great teacher. I think it’s my fault I couldn’t follow his instructions.”

“Well, practice makes perfect.” She painted a broad smile on her face. “We do offer a discount if you buy a package of lessons.”

“I think—”

She’d already turned to the computer and started clicking on the mouse. “Except Brandon’s unavailable in early March.”

“That’s fine. This one lesson is enough for me,” I said.

She continued staring at the screen, fascinated. “He’s blocked out time for a trip to Fiji. I so have FOMO.”

I’d also have fear of missing out on a great vacay to the South Pacific. “Wait a minute. Fiji?” How could he pay for such an extravagant trip? “That’s a nice vacation.”

“I know, right?” She ran her fingers through her messy hair. “But whatever. He said he’d be coming into big money soon, so he can afford it.”

Come again? I must have turned pale because the woman suggested that I sit down.

“Maybe the roiling waves got to you,” she said.

No, it was her statement that had rocked me. I exited All Tide Up, determined to go back home and relay the latest discovery to Marshmallow.