Chapter Five

“We’ve got a full boat this morning.” Billy parked the pickup truck in the small lot at the marina.

John followed the man and his sister to a sweet boat. “How big is she?”

“Fifty feet. We picked her up about the same time your sister came to the island.” Billy smiled at the dive boat the way a man home from war grinned at his sexy bride. With pride, joy and sheer lust. “If you want to take a load off, you can hang out over here, while we set up things for the morning run.”

Forrest nodded and turned halfway toward the shady bench, when he spotted Billy’s sister heaving a cooler from the back of the pickup. Spinning on his heel, he dashed across the short distance and grabbed the handles, lifting the blue-and-white container from her hands and over the tailgate. “Allow me.”

Ava nodded and reached for a nearby shopping bag, then tipped her chin toward the slip where the Island Girl II was tied to the dock. “Billy will show you where to put that.”

After the cooler came another. Then gear bags and air tanks. Each piece of equipment had to be tested before set in place on the boat. No wonder they’d picked him up so early in the morning. At one point, when they’d run out of things to haul from the truck, John leaned back and just watched the siblings working side by side. Billy would spout an instruction, and Ava—he liked that name—would nod and do as directed. He’d yet to see her balk or bark at her brother. To the contrary, a few times a bright smile overtook her face, and he wished he could be in on the camaraderie.

“Anything I can do?” He never was any good at sitting on the sidelines, watching. Probably one of the reasons he’d started his own company, taking everything he’d learned from years of summers and high-school afternoons working for his father, along with a great deal about discipline and good order, which he’d learned from Uncle Sam.

“Sit tight.” Billy flipped his wrist to look at his watch. “It’s a little after seven. The rest of the passengers should be arriving shortly.”

John nodded and went back to watching Ava move about the boat, setting things to right. With those huge brown eyes and a cascade of dark hair draped about her shoulders, she reminded him of the princess in an epic Hawaiian movie. Or perhaps the virgin about to be sacrificed to the volcano, awaiting the swashbuckling hero to swoop in and save her from a fiery death. A caustic snicker rose to his throat. Good thing she was neither, because the chances of him swooping in and saving the damsel in distress were pretty slim. He was more likely to be the one she’d need saving from.

Voices clamored behind him, dragging his thoughts away from pirates, virtuous maidens and sword-yielding film stars. John noticed a suntanned young man climb aboard, grab a clipboard and then return to the dock. A group of three or four people circled around him. Heads bobbed, as the young man appeared to check their names off a list. Each person kicked off their shoes and dropped them into a bucket. Another cluster of people made their way down from the parking lot. The pattern continued until Billy gave the waiting crowd the all-clear signal to board.

“You’ll be in my group.” Ava sidled up beside him. “There will be four of us altogether. Jonathan will be the dive leader for the rest of the passengers.”

“What about Billy?”

“Someone has to stay on board and keep a lookout for anyone in trouble.”

“Bubble-watcher?”

Ava’s lips curled upward in the slightest of smiles. “That’s right.” Her smile was as beautiful as her name.

“Jonathan has a few experienced divers going for certifications. There’s one family who will only be snorkeling. They’re Billy’s responsibility. Another couple on their first ocean dive will be with us. I’ll run through some safety points first and do a little double-checking of gear, etc. This should give you a chance to catch up. If at any point you feel you’re in over your head—”

He smothered a smile at the unnoticed pun.

“—let me know, and we’ll regroup.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He nodded.

With all the passengers aboard and the preliminary introductions by Billy out of the way, the boat’s engine roared to life, and the Island Girl cut her way out of the marina, stopping at the mouth of the expansive ocean.

“What’s wrong?” one half of the beginner couple whispered to her husband.

“Oh, look!” squealed someone from the other side of the boat. “Dolphins.”

The two tweens scheduled to snorkel darted past everyone to the other side. By the time John followed the trail of passengers, the dolphins were in full performance mode. He wasn’t sure if there were only six or more, but they would swim alongside the boat in pairs, disappear underneath and then burst out of the water ahead, only to arc back into the ocean and swim around them again.

Several people had pulled out their phones, their GoPros and even a few sleek-looking waterproof cameras, snapping away. John had to admit, the sight was fabulous. And relaxing. And almost worth leaving his work behind.

The engine’s roar increased, and the divers settled in their previous places, most keeping their gazes on the still playful dolphins, as the boat turned into open waters. Sitting back, John watched the enthusiasm of everyone around him. The almost-teens laughing and poking at each other. He remembered how he and his siblings used to tussle. Only Heather had been the prissy-girly type, but, even so, as kids, all three of his sisters had kept him on his toes.

A sputter of emotion coughed inside him. It had been too long since all the Maplewood children were together. The tween sister stopped her teasing long enough to concentrate on helping her brother zip up. That could have been him with any one of his sisters. Though Magnolia was the one who tended to butt into his life the most often. He suddenly realized just how much he missed all his sisters, and being in Kona with them seemed the most important thing he’d done in a very long time. Maybe staying on a few extra days wouldn’t be such a bad thing at all.

* * *

Beyond the shadow of any doubt, Ava should have told her boss to shove it a hell of a long time ago.

“Okay, I’m going in first. That way I can help with any issues in the water. Billy will help with anything on board. Everyone check your gear once more, before we go. Remember, it’s like stepping into a room, but don’t let go of your mask and regulator until you’re in the water. And what’s the signal to let Billy know you got in okay?”

“Fist bump on top of my head.” The male half of the diving duo demonstrated for everyone. His wife beamed up at him, as though he’d just announced a cure for the common cold.

Maybe Ava had more of her mother’s matchmaking heart in her than she liked to believe, because she was having a hard time not grinning at how cute the two lovebirds looked.

“And how will you be able to recognize me from the others, once we’re underwater?”

“You and Jonathan have on two different-colored fins. Yours are yellow and blue.”

“Right.” She watched the last of Jonathan’s group step in the ocean and disappear. Waiting just a few seconds, she allowed the more experienced divers time to clear the boat and get underway with their rescue and instructor certifications, before glancing over her shoulder to her group. “All right, here we go. I’m off.” Securing her gauges with her left hand, and her mask and regulator with her right, she took a large scissor step off the boat and into the water. The cool Pacific hugged her, and she wanted to shout with glee. Damn she’d missed this.

For only a flash of a second she wondered if she should have paid more attention to her ex, Danny. All those nights he’d nagged her to stop working, to slow down, to enjoy life a little, to take it easy. Maybe he’d been right. Maybe she’d been too hasty ending the relationship so abruptly.

Forrest was the first off the boat. Then Mr. Newlywed smiled at his bride, gave her a nod of encouragement, a kiss on the lips, and he watched her carefully step off the boat. All laughter was gone from his eyes, until she popped up again, giving the signal for all was okay. His beaming grin was back; he followed his wife into the water, and Ava clearly remembered that Danny’s concern had been more focused on someone to play with—at what he wanted to play—than he was concerned for her quality of life. And how he had wanted her home earlier, so she had time to cook a real dinner, like his mother. Heaven forbid Danny should have learned to boil water. And, of course, all that fun living and good eating he wanted to do didn’t come cheap.

Nope. Plunging underwater, feeling instantly weightless and free, she had no doubt that dumping Danny and her boss were two of the smartest things she’d done in one hell of a long time. She could only hope moving home turned out to be an equally good idea.

Doing her best to keep an eye out for everyone in her group, Ava also kept a lookout for something that might be especially fun for her people. Within minutes the first opportunity swam past her. Tucking her knees and spinning about, she waved her arm in the direction of the passing gray tipped shark. A common and generally harmless staple of the local waters, they didn’t always cooperate and come out to play with the tourists. So this one’s unlikely appearance she would take as a good sign.

For the remainder of the dive she pointed out the raccoon butterfly fish and a school of yellow tang. At one point Forrest tapped her to point out the whitemouth moray eel that seemed to be lounging about waiting for them. By the end of their time, Forrest was showing the other couple more colorful fish and corals than she was. At first it surprised her that he even noticed his surroundings, but something about the way he sought out the eager young couple, sharing his discoveries, tugged at her already-curious heart strings. If she were a betting woman, she’d wager that Mr. Can’t Put Down His Cell Phone would catch on quick to the concept of R and R. And, maybe, she’d make sure to be along for the ride.