Page 114 of Guilty as Sin
Jace’s parents sat there, too. The skipper showed the others how to hold onto a strap between their legs and said over the noise of the purring engines as they motored out of their sheltered little cove, “We’ve got two 500-horsepower engines here, and we like to have a bit of fun once we’re out on the water on the way to our snorkeling spot, so hang tight. If I do this right, you’ll go home today with your ears blown back and a new hairstyle. Everybody ready to go fast?”
Jace hadn’t been wrong. He’d wanted to give Paige a special day, and for Paige, that didn’t mean a stroll on the beach. It meant surfing another powerboat’s wake, flying through the water at fifty kilometers an hour, zigging and zagging and doing it again until Paige was breathless, laughing, whooping. Until her fist was pumping the air with the joy of speed and the exhilaration of not knowing what would come next. Exactly where he wanted her.
The skipper steered the boat fast around an island, then slowed and nosed his way into a deserted bay where the turquoise of the water was interrupted by paler patches. “Got some of the prettiest fish you’ll ever see here,” he announced. “And snorkels and fins for you so you can go see them. Oh, and…” He pulled down an overhead compartment. “Self-service noodle bar, in case anybody needs extra help floating. Wouldn’t want to miss a chance at snorkeling with a sea turtle. We’ll be getting in the water as well, and we’ll see if we can round one up for you.”
Foam noodles, exactly as ordered. The deckhand was pulling open bins of snorkels and fins, and Paige was standing up.Whoops.Jace pulled her back down, grabbed the water bottle the skipper handed him, and said, “Better hydrate first.”
“What?” she said. “I don’t need water. I need to getinthe water. Look how clear it is.”
“No,” he said, feeling a little desperate. He should’ve done this back at the house, but he’d wanted her to have the fun of the ride first without thinking of anything else. “This is, ah, especially good water. Right, Lily?”
Lily looked startled, as well she might. Across the boat, Rafe dropped his head into his hand and shook it, and Jace scowled at him. Yeah, Rafe could’ve done it more smoothly. But it wasn’t his girl, and it wasn’t his day. Paige was just going to have to make do with Jace.
Lily must have taken pity on Jace, though, because she said, “I’m sure Jace is right. It’s pretty warm, Paige.”
Paigefinallytook the bottle, drank down half of it, handed it back to Jace and said, “There. Satisfied?”
Rafe was laughing now. Jace gave up. “Oh, look,” he said. “What’s this?” He was just glad nobody was videotaping him.
Paige finally saw the rubber bands holding the piece of paper in place. “Oh,” she said. “Is it a note?”
“The paper’spink,”Jace pointed out. “I thought that would be a giveaway.”
“I’m sorry.” She was already pulling at the rubber bands, going too fast in her haste, and Jace took the bottle from her, rolled the bands down, and handed her the paper. “This went much more smoothly,” he told her, “in my ops plan.”
She was smiling, and then she wasn’t. She read aloud:
I promise you it won’t be futile
If you search amongst the noodles.
“Amongst the…noodles?”Paige asked. “Is that some kind of fish?”
“Mate,” Rafe said, looking pained. “Never tell me that’s your best effort.”
“Oi,” Jace said. “You try to find a rhyme for ‘noodle.’ I couldn’t use ‘poodle.’ We’re on a boat.”
“Quiet, Rafe,” their mother said. “I think it’s very sweet.”
Lily was all but bouncing up and down. “Paige,” she said. “The noodles. Thepoolnoodles! We have to search among the pool noodles!”
Paige jumped up so fast, she nearly hit her head. The two of them had a dozen of the huge foam rolls down onto the deck as fast as you could say it, with everybody else laughing and moving out of the way. Paige was sorting through them, but Lily said, “Oh! Oh, I found it! Here!”
The note was taped onto a pink one. Jace hadtriedto make it at least a bit trickier by camouflaging it. Lily handed the foam noodle to Paige and said, “I should let you do it.”
“Nah,” Rafe said. “You should both do it. Heaps more fun to watch.”
Lily glanced at him sharply, then snapped her mouth shut with a not-Lily expression on her face, and Jace looked across at his brother and sent the message.Seriously, mate? No.Rafe ducked his head, and Jace got it.Message received.
Good.
Once again, Paige was ripping at the note. When she finally got it loose, she read aloud again.
You make me feel like a king,
So what you seek is in the ring.
Pink’s the color of some coral
