Page 75 of Visions of You

“The whole thing was my fault, and I almost let another disaster happen again today.”

I wrinkled my brow. “What do you mean? You weren’t even there when Evan and Hunter dove. How could it be your fault?”

He stared at me, his face growing grim. “Because I abandoned them to be with my girlfriend! If I’d been there that day, the accident would have never happened. I would have never let them do that dive, no matter how much they wanted to. They weren’t qualified—none of us were.”

“That doesn’t make it your fault. They made that dive out of their own free will. Yes, it was stupid, and Evan paid a terrible price. Have you been blaming yourself all these years?”

Gabe let go of my hand to rake it through his short hair. “Not really blame, but how much might be different right now if I’d told Kora to get lost and gone diving with my brothers?”

I closed the distance between us and placed my hand on his thigh. “For one thing, you might not have Hailey.”

My heart warmed when a smile rose on his lips. “That’s what I tell myself. It helps.”

“And the accident is why Evan and Hunter don’t speak?”

His smile plummeted off his face. “Yeah. Evan’s an easygoing, kind guy. But he can’t forgive Hunter for that dive. When Evan got out of the hospital and came home, he said some pretty awful things. Hunter was eighteen and had just graduated high school. He immediately joined the Marines. He spent ten years in the Corps, trying to make up for his mistake by helping others. Dad thought it was a good idea to put some distance between them, but he never envisioned them being permanently estranged and our family being split apart.”

My body was numb, but it had nothing to do with the dive. “What an awful story. I’m so sorry. For all of you.”

Gabe twitched another smile, then drew me against him. “Thanks. Hunter lives in Miami now. I’ve kept in touch with him, and so have Maia and Stella especially, but he doesn’t come home. Ever.”

“You said he works as a security guard or something?”

He barked a single, humorless laugh. “Or something. He was inSpecial Forces in the Marines. I don’t know what the hell he did. Or what he’s doing now. Not sure I want to.”

That sounded ominous, but Gabe had also said his brother joined the military to help people. That didn’t sound like someone who would become an assassin or something. “Thank you for telling me. When I first got here, Maia mentioned that Evan and Hunter weren’t on speaking terms, but she didn’t want to talk about it. Now I understand why you were so tense on the boat. I thought maybe you were mad at me for what happened.”

He tightened his arms around me and rested his cheek against my head. “Never. I just felt like the whole thing was happening all over again.”

“I understand now. I’m not injured—really. I’ve done decompression dives before, and I knew how to handle every part of that dive, Gabe.”

He kissed my temple. “And that’s the difference between you and my brothers. I hate that you went through that, but I’m really proud of you at the same time.”

I sat up and kissed him softly, glad we’d had the conversation, but needing to get one point out in the open. “Diving will never be completely safe. I do my best to mitigate the risks. And maybe today was a good reminder that I need to be more alert, even when I’m leading advanced divers with their own divemaster. But I love what I do. And I love diving that wreck. It’s one of our most popular dives—we can’t stop it because something badmighthappen.”

He swallowed. “I know. I said that in the heat of the moment, but I feel a little better after getting the story out in the open. Look, I’m not real great with words, but I care about you. And I admire you—how you approach everything you do.”

“Thanks. That means a lot.”

He rested his head against the wall again and shut his eyes. “But I really don’t want to drive the boat on that dive again, okay?”

“I don’t blame you. Can I say one more thing?”

He cracked open an eye to look at me.

“TheBensonis no different than any other site. Accidents can happen on any of them.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly. “Now I feel much better.”

I laughed, bringing an answering smile to his face.

“Okay,” I continued. “I didn’t put that well. What I’m trying to say is that theBensonisn’t some malevolent being out to get your family. It’s just a shipwreck. Stop giving it so much power. Maia doesn’t mind diving it.”

“Maia wasn’t involved in Evan and Hunter’s disaster.”

I leaned forward until our faces were inches apart. I poked him in the chest to emphasize my words. “Neither. Were. You. So stop holding yourself responsible for anaccident.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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