The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) (43 page)

I laughed, telling Ethan what she’d said.

He looked serious, “I’m glad it came in handy.”

I studied it closely. The ring was the catalyst that set a series of events into motion, just as my necklace had done a few months before. “Funny,” I mused, “All the things you give me end up bringing me back to you.”

“I’ll have to keep giving you jewelry,” Ethan said seriously.

I smiled wryly at h
im, “
That’s not what I meant
.”

I couldn’t help wondering. There was definitely a pattern there, but what did it mean?
I was
a scientist’s
daughter, and I could understand the desire to know– to experiment, measure and quantify. But there were some things that simply could not be explained by science. Even the unpredictability of muse magic couldn’t explain it fully.

It had to be love, and love alone. Ethan’s gifts represented his hard work and sacrifice, but most of all, his love. It was love that made my mother give up her life to present me to my father, and love that made Abby struggle to raise Cruz on her own. If I didn’t love Ethan, I wouldn’t even be here; love was the only thing that enabled me to resist the irresistible siren song of the sea.

Evie was right
– love
was
the most powerful thing in the world.

The afternoon breeze picked up, making the seabirds hovering above us look like they were hanging on a wire. Wind whipped my hair around my face, making it hard to catch a breath. I remembered that we were supposed to be at Dutch and Abby’s soon.

“We better go now,” I said. It was the first time I could remember wanting to leave before I was thoroughly exhausted, and that had to be a good sign.

After we got home, Ethan and I rinsed our wetsuits out together, hanging them out to dry side by side.

“We have about an hour before we have to get going to Abby’s. I’ll take my shower first,” I told him when we stepped inside. I started towards the bathroom.

“Wait a sec!” he exclaimed, stopping me in my tracks. “That’s not very green… and
I know
you wouldn’t want to be wasteful.”

I turned to look into his laughing eyes.

His brow furrowed thoughtfully, “Don’t you think we should conserve water?”

I ran down the hall
squealing with laughter, Ethan hot on my heels.

~

C
hapter
T
hirty

ABBY’S HOUSE

~

“Help, she’s got me again!”

Adria loved to grab fistfuls of my hair, clutching it tightly and pulling it towards her face with glee.
Ethan took her from my arms while I gingerly disengaged her chubby little hands, wincing as she tugged at my scalp.

Dutch was on his way home, and Abby was busy in the kitchen, leaving Ethan and I to spend some time with Adria. We settled on the couch, taking turns holding her. She was a beautiful child, blessed with big blue eyes, plump cheeks and unusually long eyelashes. Her drooling little mouth was continually breaking into a wide gummy smile. She’d obviously inherited Abby’s sweet disposition.

“So let me get this straight,” Ethan chuckled, “
You’re
going to be her sister in law
and
her cousin
?”

“
Y
ep
,
” I said, pulling my hair back from my face and twisting it into a quick braid. I scooted closer to Ethan, looking down at Adria lying across his lap. She blew a raspberry with her perfect little rosebud lips, surprising herself at the sound. Her clear and focused eyes met mine with innocent anticipation. She reminded me of Nixie. 

I stroked the top of her downy head, marveling at the sweet softness of baby skin. I tickled her belly and got a funny little laugh out of her. Ethan couldn’t get over her tiny hands, holding them up against his, in awe at the difference in size.

“She has your toes,” he said.

“What, short, fat and stubby?” I laughed, wiggling them in my sandals.

“No, little and cute.”

“I’m just glad I have them,” I muttered.

“Me too,” He kissed my cheek, making Adria laugh again at the sound. 

I took her back from him, smacking kisses on
both of
her
cheeks to be rewarded with more baby
laughter. I thought about all of Evie’s talk of fate and smiled. If I hadn’t come to Aptos and met Ethan, Dutch and Abby would never have found each other, and Adria wouldn’t exist.

I could feel Ethan’s gaze lingering on me, and I looked up to meet his soft eyes.

“We should have one of these someday,” he said.

“Whoa! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” I chided him
.
“You haven’t changed a diaper yet!”

He smiled sheepishly, “I meant in a few years.”

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I hadn’t thought about it myself. Looking at Adria made me think about my future with Ethan. I wondered if we’d have children, and what they’d be like. Whatever the future had in store for us, I knew my decision to stay with Ethan would be the best one I’d ever made.

As carefree as undersea life was, nothing ever changed for the mermaids, and I pitied them for it. I wanted to experience the rich tapestry of life
to the fullest
, even though I knew that its joys went hand in hand with its sorrows. Happy beginnings always came with bittersweet endings
, but
without the low notes there could be no high ones.

Dutch came barreling in the front door with a smile and an armload of fresh salmon. He dropped it off to Abby in the kitchen and hurried back in to greet us. I could smell the ocean on him when he bent to kiss the baby.

“How’s my girl?” he asked her, and she cooed in response. He left to go wash up as Abby came in to scoop up Adria, excusing herself to go feed the baby and put her down for a nap. Soon the four of us were gathered around the table, dishing up the salmon Dutch quickly thr
ew
on the grill. Abby
had
made a side dish of tofu with pesto, and I had to admire her persistence in trying to change Dutch’s opinion on the subject.

“You must befriend the tofu,” she said, casting him a humorous look.

He smiled wryly, passing me the dish. I took a polite amount and
it wasn’t bad at all
.
Maybe
Dutch’s cooking
ability
w
as
rubb
ing
off on
Abby
.

“Did you hear about Bradley
’s father
?” Abby asked, passing me a bowl of greens. “H
e
passed away in some kind of horrible
car
accident.
”

“Yeah,” I said. Olivia had managed to cover that one up too.

Abby continued on, “
I know he was a terrible man, but poor Brad has been through so much lately.”

“He’s not so poor anymore,” Dutch pointed out
.
“His old man was loaded.”

She
looked at him reproachfully, “Be nice.”

Abby
had become like a second mother to Brad, and I wasn’t surprised at all that he was drawn to
her
brand of unconditional love. To know
her
was to both love her
and
be loved
by
her, and
Brad seemed to need all the support he could get.
He may not have been
very
close to his father, but the discovery of his dark
obsession
with me
had
Bradley
deeply shaken.

Ethan looked angry at the mention of Edwards, and I
patted
his knee under the table. There was no need to
explain
the horrible truth
to
Abby and Dutch
, and
even Brad need
n’
t know about his father’s
real plans and ultimate fate
.
What was done was done.

“Did you hear that Megan got nominated for a Grammy?” I piped up, changing the subject. We talked about how proud we were of her and Shayla. Abby was excited about Cruz’s plans to start a clothing line, and I described his latest clothes to her while Ethan and his dad talked about what had been going on with the boat.

“I talked to your father today– I can’t believe he’s rushing into marriage so soon!” Abby told me. She was surprised at how quickly my father had gotten involved with Amrita, and a little worried that she hadn’t had a chance to meet her yet. Dutch just smiled and raised his eyebrows at her, gently pointing out the obvious.

I laughed, because i
t seem
ed as though
speedy courtships ran in
my
family
.
T
he adults around me and
Ethan made us
look as though we
were moving at a snail’s pace.

After dinner Abby went to check on Adria, motioning for me to come. I followed along behind her, going into the baby’s room and peering into the crib alongside her. Adria was fast asleep, smacking her lips as she dreamed her baby dreams.

Abby whispered, “Do you realize it’s only been a little over a year since you
first
came to stay? Sometimes I can’t believe how much has happened… how lucky I’ve been…” She stopped, too emotional to continue.

I patted her back, “You deserve all the good things in the world.”

She gathered herself together, wiping her eyes, “When I talked to your father this morning I asked him what he thought about you and Ethan getting married.”

My heart skipped a beat, “What did he say?”

“That he liked Ethan very much… and that he decided to take Evie’s word for it.”

I was puzzled, “Her word for what?”

“She thinks that you’re ready to decide for yourself.”

“Oh
,
” I whispered, “And what do you think?”

“I think you’ve been through a lot this past year
… And I don’t think you could find a nicer young man than Ethan
.
”
S
he smiled, “I
am
biased though.”

Now we were both emotional, and we gave each other a big hug until a little squeak brought our attention back to the crib. We looked down to see Adria’s owlish eyes watching us. When
she
focused on her mother’s face she smiled. Abby and I looked back at each other and laughed. I watched Abby pick up her baby with a look of pure love on her face.

Dutch had certainly learned his lesson. Abby was
the absolute opposite of Ruby– b
eautiful on both the inside and out. Ruby was undeniably attractive, but her rotten core had turned out to be as ugly as sin. I hoped she might change someday for Ethan’s sake, but I doubted it. I couldn’t help thinking that as age burned away the last traces of her good looks, the future didn’t bode very well for her.

Abby’s future was smiling up at her in her arms.

Ethan and I drove home hand in hand, and it was actually starting to feel natural. The future was unfolding right before my eyes, and I could barely contain my excitement. I smiled over at him, “I have a surprise for you.”

“Oh really?” he smiled wolfishly, “Will I like it?”

“I certainly hope so!” I said.

When we got inside I sat Ethan down on the couch, “Wait here.”

I returned with my hand behind my back,
pulling it out to hand him a piece of paper, “Surprise.”

He took it, looking it over with a confused look, “What is this?”

“It’s the deed for your land.”

“What? Where did you get this?”

I sat down close to him, “I went out to Lue Khang’s farm this morning… I paid it all off– it’s all yours now… Ours.”

He didn’t look very happy, “Where did you get this much money?”

“I earned it.” I squirmed a little, embarrassed at how easy it had been. Ethan worked so hard for everything he got, it almost didn’t seem right. “Uhm
…
I was at Evie’s last week
…
”

He groaned, “Not Evie… I don’t want
her to
–”

I put my fingers to his lips, “Let me finish.”

“
Remember
Evie had
that
dinner for Megan
?”

“Yeah,” he said, looking at me suspiciously.

“Well,
Shayla’s modeling agent was there. He saw some pictures I took for Cruz’s stuff, and wanted to represent me too… I agreed to do a photo shoot… Well, Cruz did… But anyway, we took some
test
pictures before the concert and Jacques found me a job. I called him this morning to accept it.”