Derrolyn Anderson - [Marinas Tales #1] - Between The Land And The Sea (21 page)

“At least I got your Prada back from her!”

Megan and Cruz looked at each other and laughed. I turned to face Ethan. He was not amused.

“Come on,” he said, walking away. I trailed behind him.

Ethan’s place was on the second floor, and I followed him up the stairs on stiff legs. The front of the building was covered with a huge blooming bougainvillea, creating a wall of brilliant fuchsia. He opened the door and let me in wordlessly, avoiding eye contact.

I stood there awkwardly, feeling like I had ruined our friendship. Ethan left the room and I looked around nervously. His apartment was comfortable but spare; you could tell that no woman lived there. An overstuffed couch sat facing a big TV, and there were stacks of sports and surfing magazines. A desk in the corner held a computer and printer, piled high with mounds of papers.

He came back in the room, brusquely handing me a folded towel, sweats and a T-shirt. He pointed in the direction of the bathroom. “Give me your wetsuit and I’ll get it cleaned up for you.

You need to rinse off.”

I nodded, “Thanks,” I said weakly. I stripped off my wetsuit and handed it to him through the cracked door. When I peeled off my swimsuit I could see the outline of a nasty sunburn flaming on my back. I shuddered with the chills, and got into the shower. The warm water felt like heaven, and I wanted to curl up and go to sleep right there. I rinsed out my swimsuit and hung it on the rod.

I slipped into Ethan’s clothes and looked in the mirror. My bruised face was now sporting a sunburn across the bridge of my nose and my cheeks. My lip was still swollen with a big scab where the split had closed. My wet hair was tangled and messy, and I looked comical swimming in Ethan’s too big clothes. I came out to find him sitting on the couch. He looked up and tried to suppress a smile.

“I know,” I said, “I’m a mess.”

“Have a seat,” he gestured to the couch. I sat down, clenching my hands in my lap.

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking down.

He exhaled hard. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked with a twinge of annoyance in his voice.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

“I have time,” he said.

And so I started talking and it all spilled out. I told him how I saw Lorelei the day I first saw him, and felt her hand pull me up from underwater when I got hit by the sleeper wave. I told him about taking Cruz and Megan to see her and talking to her for the first time.

“They can talk?” he asked, shocked and curious.

“Yes, but I’m the only one who can... I’m the only one who understands her,” He looked surprised, raising his eyebrows at me.

I went on to explain, “Her voice– it sounds like bells to me. But Cruz and Megan can only hear water.”

“Marina, Cruz told me that she nearly killed you,” he said gravely, “I can’t believe she dragged you all that way... and without a wetsuit? Twice!” He looked angry again.

“It’s not like that! She didn’t know!” I felt strangely protective of her, as if she needed me to defend her, “She didn’t understand why I got so cold.”

“That explains why you had no water in your lungs,” he shook his head, “You must have been freezing to death!”

“Literally,” I said, meeting his eyes. I had to look away, remembering when he asked me about it before.

“Why weren’t you afraid to go back?” he asked quietly.

I told him that Lorelei didn’t know anything about people, and that she was the one who had saved me from Shayla’s panicked death grip. I explained how she had peeled Shayla off of me, and ended up saving both of us. I told him how I’d made plans to meet with her again on that day. I went on to try and describe her childlike nature; I wanted him to understand that she was joyful and naive, lighthearted and carefree. Whatever she was, I knew that she meant me no harm.

“She’s innocent... she just doesn’t understand humans,” I was struck with the realization that I was only half human, and shivered suddenly as a cold chill passed through me.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asked.

I nodded mutely, suddenly speechless.

“Was she the girl, the one who stopped the shark?”

“I think so... she was there that day we were surfing. She saw you teaching me. I tried to ask her about it but she was being... difficult.”

“What do you mean by difficult?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

I looked at him with pained eyes, “She kept trying to show me things that she’d collected...

things that were my–” my voice caught in my throat. I could see the hairless baby doll in my mind and I squeezed my eyes shut.

“She sent the dolphins that day,” he said flatly, the truth dawning on him.

“I guess... I didn’t have a chance to ask.”

“Is that the only reason you wanted me to teach you to surf?” he asked, sounding a little hurt.

I shook my head vehemently, meeting his eyes sincerely, “No! I really wanted to try, it looked like so much fun! And it was fun! Probably the most fun thing I’ve ever done,” I dropped my gaze, a little ashamed, “But it did occur to me that I could use the board to try and find out more...”

“What happened yesterday?” he asked firmly, “Why did she leave you there?” Something in his tone demanded the truth.

I heaved a shaky breath, “After she brought me out to the buoy another one showed up.” He looked shocked and listened intently as I described the other mermaid’s arrival and the horrible screeching fight that ensued. Their wild thrashing struggle was fresh in my mind as I tried to explain the frightening speed and power of the battling creatures. I told him how I had been left there alone, and how scary it was in the dark.

“I lost my surfboard...”

Ethan let out a long breath, shaking his head, “What I don’t– can’t– understand is why you would go off to meet her again after you nearly died because of her!” he said angrily.

I swallowed hard, my throat sore from the ordeal, “She told me something that day, the first time she dragged me out there... just before I blacked out. Something I haven’t told anyone.” I looked up at him as my eyes filled with involuntary tears, “I had to find out for sure... I had to know.” I dropped my head, biting down on my lip to keep it from trembling.

“Know what?”

I wrung my hands in anguish, looking for a way out, fighting the urge to run for the door.

After everything he’d done for me he had a right to know.

“She told me... she said...”

“What?” he asked again, his voice quietly insistent.

“M-my mother...” my voice was quavery, “My mother was one of them... a mermaid.” I turned away, afraid to see the look on his face. He paused for a moment, as if to let it sink in.

“How do you know she isn’t lying?” he asked gently.

“Her name,” I whispered, “She knew her name.”

I turned to look up at him fearfully, startled by the sudden tenderness in his eyes. He leaned in and wrapped his arms around me.

“No wonder you’re so beautiful,” he said, drawing me into him.

I was shaking as I laid my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He was warm, and he smelled good. I concentrated on the steady rhythm and started to calm down. I could have stayed like that forever, rocking slightly with the rise and fall of his breathing, taking refuge in the circle of his arms.

A knock on the door broke us apart. Ethan patted my knee reassuringly and got up. It was Cruz, and he came in the room, eying us speculatively. I could almost hear him thinking as he looked me over. When he handed me my clothes, I thanked him and excused myself to the bathroom to change.

I emerged to find him sitting on the couch talking with Ethan about their good luck in finding me. Cruz asked me questions about what had happened overnight and I recounted the tale– most of it. Ethan caught my eye as I skipped over the mother part in my recitation. Cruz thought the spray bottle was hilarious, and his eyes flew open in horror when I told him about the other mermaid and the violent screeching fight.

“You mean there’s more than one?” he grimaced theatrically.

“Apparently the ocean is crawling with them,” I snarked back.

“Just your luck,” Cruz joked, “You really bring them out of the woodwork, don’t you?”

“Everything would have been fine if the other one hadn’t have shown up. How was I supposed to anticipate that?” I said defensively.

“You shouldn’t have gone in the first place,” his tone was uncharacteristically serious. I felt a fresh flush of guilt for putting him the whole ordeal.

“I couldn’t resist the temptation,” I said quietly, truthfully.

“That’s what
she
said,” Cruz flashed me an impish grin, making me laugh in spite of my guilty conscience.

When my stomach growled audibly, Cruz and I exchanged a look and laughed again.

“You must be starving!” Ethan said. I was, but I hadn’t noticed it until now.

Cruz sprang up to go, “I’m supposed to be at work, so uh... you kids have fun surfing!” He sounded just like Abby. He smirked, eyes glittering with amusement, “Seriously, mom doesn’t expect you home until later this evening. See you tonight.” He was out the door before I could even say anything.

“What do you want to eat?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t care,” I said, suddenly overcome with exhaustion, “I really can’t go anywhere right now– could you please just take me home?”

“Are you kidding?” he asked, “We’re surfing, remember?” He left the room and came back with a soft blanket. “You must be tired. Why don’t you just kick back and I’ll make you my famous grilled cheese.”

“Sounds good,” I said, nestling down on the couch, watching him as he tucked the blanket around me. I wondered why he was being so nice to me after all the lies I’d told.

I was on a small boat in a dark stormy sea when the water beneath me began to churn. I
twisted around to see something coming up from the depths towards me. As it drew closer it
fractured into multiple shapes. A score of mermaid heads broke the surface, surrounding me...

I started awake, breathing hard and looking around in confusion. I was on Ethan’s couch, curled up into a ball. I slowly came back to reality, hugging my knees to my chest. He walked in carrying two plates of grilled cheese sandwiches with mugs of tomato soup, and I sat up selfconsciously, blinking groggily.

“Can I help with anything?” I asked.

“Just eat,” he said, and I did.

I don’t think anything ever tasted so good.

We sat on the couch side by side and talked after we ate. I told him about my mystical encounter with the humpback the night before. He listened, impressed, as I described reaching out to touch it and how its eyes met mine. I tried to explain how the sound of its song was comforting, but words failed me, and I ended up frustrated and silent.

“I still can’t believe you were out there all that time,” he said.

“It was scary,” I said, “So I think she sent the whale to me...” I remembered how much better it made me feel, “to keep me company.”

Ethan told me about some of the times he’d come close to them when he crewed on his dad’s whale-watching trips. He said that the whales seemed curious about the boats, and would circle around, surfacing to thrust their heads out of the water for closer inspection. Sometimes a whale would even swim near the surfers, but one had never come up right alongside them.

I told him how Lorelei talked to the sea lions, and could command them. I described the way she had used them as a diversion to allow me climb out to her unnoticed.

“You know,” he said gravely, “We’re lucky those dolphins showed up when they did. I don’t think we would have found you without them.” He was quiet for a minute, as if imagining me still out there.

“Ethan, thanks for coming out to look for me... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I smiled ruefully,

“It’s funny really... because you’re the only person who would have believed me.”

“You can trust me,” His blue eyes were so intense I had to look away.

I took a deep breath, “I appreciate you not saying anything to Cruz. I– I’m just really not ready to talk about it,” I looked at him, “I need to talk to my father.” He nodded. I leaned back on the couch and flinched.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think I scorched my back,” I replied.

“Let’s see,” he said.

I twisted around and lifted up the back of my shirt. I could feel the heat radiating off my sunburned skin.

“Ouch,” he said wincing, “I have something for that.” He left and came back with some Aloe Vera gel. “This oughta help– turn around,” he said.

I turned away on the couch and he peeled up my shirt. Flustered, my face burned as hot as my back. He put some on his hands and rubbed it on gently, carefully. It felt cool and soothing and I sighed with relief.

“There,” he said, his voice strange. I turned around and he looked... intense. “We better go.” We pulled up to Abby’s, and as I started to climb out as he came around the side of the truck, holding my door solicitously and taking my bag for me.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, searching my eyes.

“I’m okay,” I said gratefully, “Thank you so much... for everything,” We walked to the porch side by side.

“Get some rest,” he said, standing closer than necessary.

I looked up at him, “I will.”

The door swung open and we came face to face with Abby.

“Hi guys!” she beamed, “How was surfing? Gosh Marina, you look like you got some sun!” CHAPTER SIXTEEN

INHEIRITANCE

I spent the next day lounging around with Cruz, watching TV and recuperating from my ordeal. Megan came over and I gave another recitation of my night on the buoy. We made popcorn and watched a couple of old horror movies. Nothing seemed even remotely as scary as the horrible screeching mermaid fight. We spent most of the day laughing and making jokes about my latest misadventure. Megan told me how upset Ethan was when he found out that I had gone missing.

“He
really
likes you,” she gave me a knowing look.

“Totally,” added Cruz, “He was freaking out when we told him what you’d been up to.”

“We were just lucky he believed us… and had his dad’s boat!” said Megan.

Cruz smiled slyly at me, “Did you notice the masterful way I made myself scarce yesterday?