Page 9 of Meet Me in Tahiti
It was… stunning. She gazed to the bottom, which was probably ten feet down. Clear as day, white sands carpeted the floor like a postcard amid the colorful coral.
She lifted her head for a quick breath, treading water as she adjusted her mask, blinking at the view in disbelief. Okay, maybe she could get used to this.
All around, her friends floated and dipped with simple grace, like they’d been born in the water. Captain Russ had anchored the boat a safe distance back from the reef, and he watched on from the deck with a smile, arms crossed, while Malik puttered around in the dinghy, ready to assist.
Marin waved from a few feet away, giving her a thumbs-up before she and Kyle ducked beneath the surface again. Avery and Nate were at least ten yards away, their backs to the sky as they kicked with their fins.
Tessa grinned into her mask. See? This trip was going to be just fine. A Midwesterner, and she was conquering the ocean without a care in the world. Just like that. She didn’t need a plus-one for this. Hello, thirty.
She ducked down again, then kicked to follow an unusual fish with black-and-white stripes. But it was fast, and before she knew it, her leg slammed into something hard.
“Ouch!” she yelped, the sound garbled by thesnorkel in her mouth, and she flailed backward. A sharp pain shot up her shin.
What in the world? She surfaced, pulled the mask from her face, and glanced down at her leg—already clouding the water with a swirl of red.
Oh no. No, no. This wasn’t good.
A flash of panic rose in her throat.
“Uh, guys?” she called, treading water awkwardly. “I think I… cut myself? Kind of a lot?”
Marin turned first. Then Jenna. Then Kyle bobbed his head and looked.
In seconds, Russ’s voice rang out from the deck of the catamaran. “Out of the water. Everyone. Now.”
Tessa blinked. “Wait, is it?—”
“Now.” He called out. “Malik, grab her.”
Malik turned and headed the dinghy toward Tessa.
Captain Russ was already standing over the boat’s ladder to help the others up. Oh, my goodness. What was going on?
They swam toward the ladder of the catamaran as Malik reached over the dinghy's edge to grab Tessa’s hand. He hauled her up and over with a strength that surprised her.
He dropped her next to the boat, where she stepped onto the top rung of the ladder. Russ was beside her in a blink with a towel, his hands on her calf before she could fully sit up.
“It’s not that bad,” she babbled. “Just a scratch. A tiny… ocean scratch.”
He inspected the jagged cut along the side of hershin. “You caught a coral head. Sharp one. You’re lucky it didn’t slice deeper.”
“I didn’t even see it!” She winced as he pressed a towel to the wound.
“That’s the problem with coral,” Jules said gently, crouched beside them with a medical kit. “It doesn’t move out of your way.”
Tessa tried to laugh, but it came out more like a wheeze as Russ stopped the blood from running down her leg.
Russ glanced up at her face, his eyes serious but soft. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, but I ruined everyone’s snorkeling,” she groaned. “I’m going to be known as ‘the bleeder.’” A little humor couldn’t hurt, right?
Russ grinned. “Could be worse. We’ve had people throw up in their snorkels.”
Tessa blinked. “Seriously?”
He shook his head. “Nope, just trying to make you feel better.”
A soft laugh escaped her. He was already doing that.
