Page 124 of Ten Years and Then…
No such luck.
There she was, standing by the water in a blue two piece bathing suit, staring right at him. Her face was full of fear and confusion—and then it changed.
That smile appeared suddenly—the one that was only for him. Her eyes lit up, wide and bright and shining. And he was smiling back at her before he even realized he was doing it.
Whatever had been on his face an instant ago—worry, guilt, fear—it was gone. There was no way to deny it anymore.
He loved her. Only her. Only ever her.
He wanted to share this experience with her. Only her.
Leanne was an amazing woman. She was sweet and generous and smart and funny and a thousand other great things. She’d been nothing but kind and loving to him. But she had one overriding flaw none of that could overcome: she wasn’t Nora.
For nine months, he’d convinced himself that didn’t matter. That he could learn to love her. That she could be the one for him. That they could build a life together.
He’d kept trying to believe it even after he saw Nora in the atrium on Thursday night.
But it wasn’t true, and he had to admit that it never had been.
All he could do now was surrender to the truth. Swim with Nora. Share this moment with her.
And then tell Leanne the truth. That he couldn’t give her his heart. It wasn’t his to give. It had belonged to Nora from the very first moment they’d met.
Nora, five minutes later
The moment she jumped into the lagoon, hand-in-hand with Daniel, all her worries and fears vanished.
The cold water shocked her; she’d expected it to be warm as bathwater. But even that surprise faded an instant later when the dolphin swam up to her.
“Benny likes you!” Mitch the trainer called out. “You can touch him, don’t be afraid!”
She was anyway, despite his encouragement. What if he didn’t want her to?
But she felt Daniel grabbing her hand, gently placing it on the back of Benny’s head. The dolphin’s skin felt strange, slick and almost rubbery; her hand sliding as the dolphin bobbed in front of her. That made sense, though. Smooth skin meant less friction in the water, right?
Forget science. This was about being in the moment.
She put her other hand on Benny, and then before she even realized it, she was loosely hugging him, and he was letting her. At the same time, she felt Daniel’s arm wrap around her.
“You totally made a friend, Nora,” he said softly.
Benny was beautiful. He—Mitch had said it, but how did you even tell with dolphins?—was light gray, which surprised her a little. Weren’t dolphins supposed to be black?
It didn’t matter. Benny was perfect exactly as he was.
Just like Daniel.
Daniel, a few minutes later
Daniel didn’t notice the second dolphin until it swam right up and nudged him in the ribs.
“Say ‘hi’ to Annie,” the trainer called out. He assumed that meant this one was female, not that he could see any difference between Annie and Benny.
It didn’t matter anyway. It was more than enough that she wanted his attention. Her skin was sleek and cool, and he could feel her powerful muscles underneath.
“The boy came to me and the girl went to you,” Nora said, splashing water at him. “What do you think that means?”
“I guess Annie has the same good taste you do,” he said, grinning.
