In Deep Waters (17 page)

"Just asking a question," Gray said. "I might not be the sharpest hook in the tackle box when it comes to females, but I'm not blind. I see the way she looks at the boss."

"Me, too," Vance added.

"It's...nothing." And that's how it would remain. Ben glanced around. "You boys--"

"Don't mind." Wolf nodded. "You weren't part of the bet. We heard what Kayla said. She's had her eye on you from the beginning, boss."

"You think so?" Ben asked.

All three men agreed, but he trusted Wolf the most.

"Go for it, boss." Gray grinned. "The Little Bit needs a mommy."

Ben slid into a chair and leaned back. This was going to take some thought, but no matter what he decided, new rules were going to be needed.

Ben had wreaked havoc on Kayla's senses, on her muscular and nervous systems, too. Thank goodness the water in the kiddie pool was as effective as a cold shower.

Not to mention how nice it felt on her legs.

Her hips and legs still hurt, but sitting in the saltwater was refreshing and relieved some of the pain. So did Madison. She was a bundle of energy and grins. They volleyed a beach ball back and forth. Kayla reached for the ball, but a knife-edged pain sliced through her side and she missed. The ball flew across the deck.

Madison giggled. "I'll get it."

"Be careful."

As Madison picked up
the
ball, Kayla felt a tightness in her legs. Her bikini bottoms cut into her hips, and she loosened the strings holding them together. A weird pulling sensation took over. She touched her legs, but that made it worse.

"Ow." She tried to grip the bottom of the pool. It felt as if the skin was being pulled off her leg. She gritted her teeth. Her eyes watered.

"Kayla?" Madison's voice sounded shaky and scared.

"I'm...I'll be fine, sweetie." Kayla struggled for a breath. It was as if someone me size of Wolf was standing on her chest. "Just a...cramp.
An--oow."

"Want a drink?"

"Please. Water."

Pain seared through her. So hot. Burning.

Air, she needed air.

The slight breeze brought a moment of relief. It wasn't enough. She gasped for a breath.

What was happening?

She rested her head on the edge of the pool and fought the rising panic. She had to keep her eyes open and watch Madison. It was so hard. Everything hurt. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

Madison handed her a bottle of water. "Here."

Kayla opened the bottle and gulped. The cool water soothed her throat. Calmed her nerves. Eased the pain.

"Can I have a tail, too?" Madison asked.

Kayla took another swig from the bottle.

Two little lines formed above Madison's nose. "Yours is pretty, but I'd like mine to be pink."

Kayla felt almost normal. "What would you like to be pink, sweetie?"

"My mermaid tail."

Madison was so adorable. Kayla smiled. "Pink it is, then."

"Can I touch your tail?"

What a vivid imagination. "Go ahead."

As Madison climbed into the pool, Kayla drank the rest of her water. She felt the little girl's touch. It didn't hurt. Kayla glanced down and spewed the water out of her mouth.

Madison giggled. "Do that again."

All Kayla could do was stare. She sat frozen, unable to think or move. Her mind reeled. Her emotions spun out of control. Her world shifted on its axis.

This can't be happening. She wasn't seeing this. Panic took hold of her. It can't be--

"Your tail is blue and green and silvery. How come it's not pink?"

Her heart twisted with fear. Kayla trembled. "I--I..."

Madison rubbed it. "It feels funny."

Kayla didn't want to touch it; she didn't want to look at it. She didn't want to frighten Madison, but Kayla couldn't stop shaking. She gasped for air.

Where were her feet? Her legs? Her bikini bottoms? She bunked. The tail shimmered in the sunlight. She had a tail. A tail! A mermaid tail. With scales and everything.

It wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

Madison glanced up. "Wait until my daddy finds out."

No one could know. Especially Ben. A wave of apprehension washed over Kayla. She swallowed around
the lump in her throat and found her voice. "Let's not tell anyone about this."

Madison's eyes grew as wide as doubloons. "You mean, keep it a secret?"

"Yes, a secret," Kayla whispered. Her pulse beat erratically. She thought her chest might explode from the thundering of her heart. "Between you and me."

"Do we cross our hearts?"

"Let's cross our hearts." Kayla struggled to carry on a coherent conversation. It wasn't a joke. It wasn't a dream. Her legs were gone and she had a tail. The knowledge twisted and turned inside her.

"What about the dolphins?"

Her brain had short-circuited. She couldn't think straight. "Dolphins?"

Madison pointed to the water. A group of dolphins swam next to the boat. "They need to cross their hearts, too."

Kayla bit back the laughter threatening to overwhelm her. She had to remain in control. Hysteria would accomplish nothing. "I don't think they heard us."

She crawled out of the pool. Not an easy task without any legs and a tail she couldn't control. She flopped onto the deck. It gave new meaning to the phrase "a fish out of water."

Madison hopped out of the pool. She placed Kayla's bikini bottoms on a deck chair. "Are you okay?"

Kayla didn't know how to answer. Saying she was fine seemed like an overstatement, but at least she'd pulled herself together. Well, sort of. "Could you bring me my towel, please?"

Madison ran, picked up her towel and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Kayla dried the tail. A tail. Her tail.

"You're a mermaid like in 'lantis."

"Like Atlantis," Kayla echoed.

She touched the silver talisman around her neck. This had to be the secret. The one her father was going to tell her when she turned sixteen. Was this why he wanted her to stay out of the ocean?

It was starting to make some sense.

Okay, maybe not sense, but the pieces were coming together. This had to be her father's big secret. She couldn't imagine learning a bigger secret than finding out you were a fish.

Wait a minute. She wasn't a fish. She couldn't be a mermaid. She was Kayla Waterton, a maritime historian.

She sat in the sun for what seemed like forever but was really only half an hour. She couldn't believe no one had come by. Shift change? Or an extreme case of luck. Magically, her tail disappeared and her legs returned. Thank goodness she and Madison were out here alone. Kayla wrapped the towel around her like a skirt.

"How did you do that?" Madison asked.

"I'm not sure."

She touched Kayla's legs. It still didn't hurt. "You're not a mermaid anymore."

"I'm not a mermaid." Saying the words was as much for her benefit as Madison's. Kayla wasn't a mermaid. She touched the talisman again. She'd never felt more alone in her life.

Madison hugged her. "It'll be okay."

Kayla held on to the little girl in her arms, soaking up her warmth and her strength. "Thank you."

"Did you have fun playing in the pool?" Ben asked.

Kayla let go of Madison and clutched the towel around her waist. She didn't want it to slip off. She
looked around nervously and saw that her bikini bottoms had slipped off the deck chair where Ben couldn't see them.

"Daddy, Daddy." Madison jumped up and down. "Kayla's a..."

Her heart pounded in her throat. She couldn't blame a three-year-old for not keeping a secret.

"A what, princess?" Ben asked.

Madison stared at Kayla and smiled. "She's a girl."

"Really?" He ruffled Madison's wet hair. "Thanks for letting me know."

Relief washed over Kayla. Her secret was safe. For now. But it made her wonder. What would Ben say when he learned she wasn't only a girl, she was also a fish?

"Don't you like fish?" Ben sat across from Kayla in the dining room and stared at her full plate. She hadn't eaten a bite of her dinner. Something was wrong. She always ate whatever Stevie made and usually went back for seconds. "It's fresh. Fitz and Zach caught them today."

Her face paled. "I'm not hungry."

"Do you feel okay?"

She nodded. "Any other questions?"

Madison shifted in her chair. "Can I have more bread?"

Ben raised a brow. "Is that the correct way to ask for something?"

"May I have more bread, please?" Madison asked.

"Yes, you may," Ben said.

"I'll get it." Kayla buttered another roll for Madison and placed it on her plate. "Here you go, sweetie."

"Thank you." Madison grinned. "It's the way I like it."

Kayla tapped the end of Madison's button nose. "I'm so glad."

Madison giggled. Kayla joined in.

Watching the two of them laugh together did funny things to his heart. Madison flourished under Kayla's attention. And Kayla...she would make a good mom.

His two girls. His.

Soothing warmth filled him. It was as if the three of them were already a real family. It could work. But the hows and the whens boggled his mind.

Madison counted her peas.

"How was learning time?" Ben asked.

She grinned. "Uncle Wolf helped me make a world. We painted it blue and cut out coun...continents."

"I can't wait to see it." Another work of art to add to his wall. Ben smiled. "Did you work on letters and numbers?"

"We counted and I sent an e-mail to Grandma and Grandpa." Her eyes lit up. "Kayla helped me."

He glanced at Kayla. "You helped her?"

"Eugene was busy debugging his program." She touched the top of Madison's hand. "We had fun and learned lots, didn't we?"

Madison nodded, her eyes twinkling. "Lots, Daddy. Did you have a good day?"

Ben wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Yes. We found a couple of targets."

Kayla held her fork midair. "Anything significant?"

He shrugged. "Could be, but we want to finish mow-ing before we investigate."

Kayla studied the food on her plate. "Good, I mean, that's great."

Her voice sounded enthusiastic, but he thought she'd be more excited. She seemed distracted. Maybe she had
the same concern as he did. If it turned out to be the
Izzy,
how much longer would Kayla stay?

Kayla had been patient during her afternoon shift and all through dinner. Now it was time. She had the privacy she needed to discover some answers.

She was a historian, not a scientist, but the best way to understand what was happening to her was to experiment. She'd borrowed a stopwatch from Wolf. She had her journal and a mechanical pencil to record observations. Curiosity had replaced the terror of the unknown. She needed to know how this all worked.

Up on the "beach," she sat in the kiddie pool of saltwater and clicked the stopwatch. The seconds ticked by. The transformation occurred faster this time. Some pulling, a little tightness and a bit of compression. Not as much pain as the first time. No struggle for air. She jotted the changes.

A membrane formed between her legs. Another joined her feet. Scales appeared, overlapping one another and taking the place of her skin from her belly button down. And she had tiny, barely noticeable gills. She hit the stopwatch and recorded the time.

Flipping her tail, Kayla took a deep breath. She was a mermaid. She felt a little detached from the realization. She wasn't sure how to act. How did one react when they learned they weren't human? Her entire life people had said she was different. If they only knew...