Page 72 of Visions of You

“Did you see them?” I shouted, wanting to jump in the water myself.

“Yeah. They are both out of the wreck and at around eighty feet.”

A cheer went up from the divers and they dispersed, now apparently taking my advice to get something to eat and drink.

Wyatt swam over to me and lowered his voice. “I’m pretty sure they were doing a deco stop. I can’t be sure, but I think I saw them sharing air. I’m going to stay in the water and watch. If they need help coming up, I’ll be ready.”

Our eyes held for a long moment, then I nodded. “Thanks, Wyatt.”

The next ten minutes took hours to pass. Giving in to my anxiety, I paced back and forth on the platform as acid tried to eat through my stomach. No one on board bothered me.

Wyatt called out the divers’ progress as they ascended, mentioning they stopped again at fifty feet, then at fifteen. He put his face back in the water but stayed on the surface. That calmed me. If there was an emergency, he would immediately submerge to help.

Finally, he lifted his head. “They’re coming up now!”

Another cheer went up and the divers returned to stand around me. I couldn’t really tell them to piss off—Ted was their friend. They had every right to be there. But I didn’t have to be happy about it.

My pulse roared in my ears, and adrenaline surged through my body. Two heads surfaced and tension drained from my stiff shoulders when I saw April’s face break the surface. Our eyes met immediately, and I couldn’t look away as she made a fist and tapped the top of her head twice.

The signal for okay.

She and Ted embraced, and she linked arms with him, helping him swim back to the boat as Wyatt shadowed his other side.

I turned around to search for Rick and found him right behind me. “Can you help Ted? I need to make sure April’s okay.”

“Absolutely.” He turned to the other divers, both his group and Wyatt’s. “All right, guys! Stand back and let these folks have some room to come back on board.” He stood at the head of the ladder as Ted handed his fins up. “Felt like some extra exploring?”

Ted shook his head, his face pale. “I turned to look at a gear assembly and guess I lost track of time. When I finished, everyone was gone. I got completely lost. If April hadn’t come back, I don’t think I could have made it out of there.”

“You’re okay, man,” Rick said softly. “That’s what counts. Welcome aboard.”

I clapped Ted on the back as he passed by, even though I felt like punching him.

You got lost, asshole? You almost got her killed.

Turning back, I bent down and hardly noticed when Wyatt moved past me. I searched April’s face as she removed her fins and climbed the ladder, but there was no sign of injury. She didn’t even look scared or tired.

Instead, she beamed at me. “Hello again!”

I wanted to crush her to me, wrap her in my arms, and convince myself she was okay. But I just stood there, my feet planted to thedeck. My throat was parched, and I had to clear my throat. “Are you all right?”

She waved a hand casually at me. “Fine. It didn’t take me long to find him, then we had to do a couple of deep stops on the way up. Normal day at the office.” She laughed and patted my chest as she walked by.

My lungs hardly seemed to work, like I couldn’t take in enough oxygen. I just stared at her as she slid down onto the bench and unhooked her BCD. Ted sat by her, and her mouth widened in her trademark sunny smile.

I almost jumped when Wyatt placed a hand on my shoulder. “Everything came out fine,” he said quietly but firmly. Reassuring me. “Everyonecame out fine. Including April, okay?”

I jerked a nod, then wrenched my eyes away from April to stare at Wyatt. “Can you get on the radio and call this into the dive shop? We need to cancel the second dive. Neither April nor Ted can dive again today.”

With a reassuring smile, my brother-in-law nodded. “Sure thing.”

With my head spinning, I hurried to the console and started the engine. My hands were clenched tight as I spun the wheel and headed toward home.

Chapter Twenty-Six

April

Shortly after westarted the trip back to Calypso Key, Wyatt pulled me aside. “You all right? Any signs of DCS?”

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