Page 30 of Diving In

I’d hardly taken five steps before I heard someone behind me ask, “Are you Georgia?”

No longer surprised when people addressed me by my first name, I quickly responded, “Yeah, that’s me!”

The girl was behind the aquarium door as she shouted, “Cal told me he was hoping you might show up and asked if I would keep an eye out for you! I noticed you jiggling the front doors and figured you must be her,” she said, a sweet smile taking over.

“Of course he did,” I murmured, moving closer to the young girl. “Isn’t the aquarium supposed to be open right now? It’s only 3:45.”

“Normally, yes, but someone rented it out for a birthday party at 4:00, so Cal had us close a little early. He wanted to make sure we were ready for the twenty-five little hooligans that are going to be gallivanting around here.”

We smirked at each other and walked inside. She gabbed the whole time, swooning over Cal and how he’d helped her get a job for the summer. She went on and on about how “he’s the best” and “he’s always so kindhearted and genuine,” making it clear she had googly eyes for Cal—much like every other female on this island. Present company included.

We made our way through the entrance and into a room on the other side of the building, my eyes finding Cal instantly. His back was facing us, but that didn’t stop me from being able to immediately identify him.

That ass. Those damn jeans. I could’ve spotted him from a mile away.

Hell, even bent over the side of a fish tank with a bucket of smelly fish guts in his hands, the man was nothing less than pure temptation. Another day, another pair of custom-fit Levi’s. I bit my lip, resisting the desire to know what those jeans were safeguarding. These jeans had clearly lived a little more life than yesterday’s pair, with a few small holes here and there, and I wasnotcomplaining.

Today they were paired with a gray Sullivan’s Island Aquarium T-shirt that looked several years old. While most men wouldn’t be able to pull off the casual, laid-back look, it was somehow working to make Cal even more attractive. And that fucking backwards hat…

I had zero excuses for the inappropriate thoughts floating through my head, but holy shit, I really needed to focus on the task at hand, and unfortunately, that wasn’t Cal.

As if he knew I was standing behind him, Cal turned around and said, “Didn’t know if I’d see you again.”

I was still trying to calm down. My stomach felt tingly and warm, almost as if there were a tiny fire in there. I couldn’t pin down exactly what I was feeling at the moment, but I really needed to focus on why I’d decided to show up here in the first place.

“H-hi,” I stuttered. “Listen, I just wanted to come apologize in person for this morning. I—”

“Don’t. You have nothing to apologize for,” he cut me off. “Your world has been turned upside down, and the list of things that need unloading and attending to appears never-ending. I’m here for you, no matter what, just know that. But you never ever have to explain yourself to me, especially not your emotions,” he said before winking as he added, “Yours always have been a little unpredictable.”

I let out a relieved breath. Since I’d arrived on this island, being with Cal had been the only time that I’d managed to feel even remotely normal. I would take the flutters in my stomach over the overwhelming anxiety any day.

“If I’m being honest, there’s just so much that I don’t understand,” I admitted. “I don’t expect you to have all the answers though, and I know it was wrong for me to take it out on you.”

He stepped closer and placed one hand on my shoulder while the other gently nudged my chin upward until we made eye contact. The comfort I felt simply from his steadiness was startling, and I wanted it to engulf me.

“I should have told you about the letters from the beginning,” he said sincerely. “I think a part of me wondered if maybe you already knew about them… And the other part of me was selfish, only worrying about upholding my promise to Jack while ignoring how you might feel when you found out about them.”

“Why is this promise so important to you?” I asked.

His hand dropped from my face as he took a small step back. A wave of what appeared to be sadness washed across his face as he leaned his strong body against the tank behind him.

“When Jack found out he was dying, he told me about the letters and stressed the importance of making sure you received them. He didn’t tell me what was in them, but he just kept going on about how it would fix things, make the past more understandable. And while I’m not exactly sure what he meant by that, I do know that I owe Jack, and I always keep my word.”

“You and Jack were that close?”

“Yeah, we were that close,” he said, his voice wavering a bit.

The level of loyalty that he held himself too was similar to that of Ivy’s. Something I’d always cherished about her and something that I found so magnetic about Cal.

“I just wish I’d known about them before Jack died. So far, coming here has felt like being bombarded with everything all at once. There’s so much that I want to know but am afraid to learn. Because despite Jack’s wishes, I’ve spent the majority of my life trying to get as far away from this place as possible with no intent of returning. And yet, I ended up running right back to where I started.”

There it was again, the fucking word vomit, this time with tears building up in my eyes. This was different though. This felt like finally letting my walls down and allowing Cal to shoulder some of the weight that I’d been carrying, which was something I was historically awful at. I looked up, and even through the devastation, he was still there, standing right next to me.

“Hey, Kennedy,” he said, peering over my shoulder. “Would you mind checking all the tanks and making sure we’re ready for the party?” Cal asked, doing his best to divert her from the hot mess express that I had melted into.

I hadn’t realized Kennedy, the young girl who had let me in, was still standing there, and when I turned around, I was brimming with humiliation. Her eyes were the size of two full moons, not even trying to hide the embarrassment she felt for me. I couldn’t blame her as I felt my cheeks flush, instantly turning red.

“Uh, yeah, of course. Let me know what else you need me to do, Cal.” She grinned before heading out.

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